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THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 THE NEW TANNER 5 GRAPEVINE Festival Fun Tr u e t o f o r m , i t r a i n e d throughout Sunday afternoon for the 21st Leathertown Festival, but it didn't seem to matter to the throngs of people who ate, played, kibitzed and, in some cases, danced up and down Mill Street. Mayor Rick Bonnette welcomed the crowd ­ noting it had rained on Festival day for the past 10 years ­ and t h a n k e d t h e m a i n o rg a n izers, BIA manager Josey Bonnette and entertainment booker Kim Duncanson and the many generous sponsors. *** In the world of festivals, the successful ones draw people from up to 40-kilometres away ­ a couple from Buffalo, New York proved it was worth the drive to Acton as they visited Acton especially to see ­ and dance to ­ the bluesman Chuck Jackson and the All Stars. No wonder the self-confessed American groupies made the trip ­ Jackson and his band were hot. *** On behalf of McDonald's, staff with Prime Marketing expected to serve 3,000 free cups of coffee to Festivalgoers. Many people then went directly to the Trinity United Church pie booth for a homemade slice, or two. *** Freezies were the prize at the Rotary Club of Acton's putting booth where a steady stream of kids tried to sink balls as Rotary members did PR with the crowd and handed out bags of golf balls with information about Acton Rotary and its 36th annual golf tournament on August 27 at Victoria park East in Guelph. The tourney is a fundraiser towards the Club's $50,000 commitment to Heritage Acton for renovations and creation of a Citizen's Hall at the Acton Town Hall Centre. For tournament information call Brian Robertson at 519853-1653. Fair prep While Acton Agricultural Society officials prepare for this year's Fall Fair, they are also getting ready for next year 's milestone 100th anniversary Fair. A summer student has been hired to research past fairs and Fair Boards and will prepare a presentation detailing the rich history of Acton's fair ­ billed as the Best Little Fair in Ontario. This year's theme is "Tractors. Harvesting 99 years of Success." Cadet success Congrats to two members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 197 Air Cadets Typhoon Squadron who both earned their pilot's wings during recent flight training schools. Mark Crha got his glider pilot's licence during a training course in Vancouver, and Cadet William Richards also got his wings following a course in Nova Scotia. Hockey versus cancer Av i d h o c k e y f a n a n d coach, Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette will join author and minor hockey guru Kevin Huhn in the Princess Margaret second annual Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer event on September 29 at Ontario Place. Bonnette will suit up with his fellow GTA mayors to raise money for the fight against cancer ­ a fight he knows all to well having lost his brother-in-law and mother to the disease. "The team is designed to symbolize what is possible when people work together," Bonnette said in a press release. He will receive his official team jersey at the August 27 Council meeting. Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, presented by Boston Pizza, is a dawn-to-dusk tournament designed to raise funding for personalized cancer medicine and research. Geared up to end MS Acton's Prospect Park will again act as the start and finish of the annual RONA MS Bike Tour on the weekend, which Canada-wide is expected to raise over $8-million annually to help make a significant impact in the lives of Canadians living with multiple sclerosis. The pledge-based fundraising event gives Canadians the opportunity to ride through scenic and often spectacular parts of the country. Over 10,000 cyclists are expected to participate in the 22 one and two day tours taking place across Canada between June and September. From Acton, participants ride to the University of Waterloo to spend the night, and return to Acton on Sunday afternoon. Last year, a team of well-conditioned and motivated cyclists from Acton's Staying Alive Fitness raised $15,000 on the Ride. MUNCH & LUNCH: There was a large appreciate crowd at the Acton library on Friday for the ever-popular Munch at the Movies event. Where kids, parents and caregivers watch a film ­ in this care Chicken Little ­ while having lunch. ­ Ted Tyler photo An Olympic perspective Let me sum up my 2012 Olympic viewing: It started on Sunday night about 9:30 p.m. with a satellite feed from the west coast where the closing ceremonies were already in process. At this point the athletes were entering the stadium much less stressed then when they arrived. No doubt the reduced stress for the over 14,000 athletes was not only a result of the games being over, but also the other games that were apparently in play as well. Durex, the prophylactic manufacturer, distributed 150,000 "resources" to the athletes (a little over three p e r a t h l e t e ) . H o w e v e r, whatever the reason for it was here nor there. Besides being extremely happy, the other thing I couldn't help but notice was the team uniforms. There had been a lot of talk especially about the rather stereo-typical "French" feel of the Team USA uniforms with their berets. I realize the opening and closing ceremony uniforms for the teams could be, and usually were, different from one another however, different would be a great way to describe most of the uniforms in general. When you think about it, By Angela Tyler the countries already know when each Olympics is going to be held so it's not like they have to wait for a location before they design a uniform. Each participating country needs a winter Olympic uniform and a summer one. Even if they did wait to find out where the games are being hosted, the world knew in 2005 that London was hosting this past Olympics. There were our Canadians entering the stadium. Thankfully, they weren't wearing the glittery goldtouched opening uniforms like Great Britain or the M c D o n a l d 's r e s t a u r a n t circa 1985, reminiscent ones of Spain. Yet, I can't help but thinking that a denim jacket with patches on it was the best way our designers found to describe our country? I'm sure the denim jacket sales will be solid through HBC, especially for Christmas this year, but I was disappointed. After the parade of athletes I sat back for a few hours to watch the part of the clos- ing ceremonies I wanted to watch, which was the wide range of British musical acts performed or other musicians performed for those who had passed away such as British female artist Jesse J sang Freddy Mercury's part with his former band members of Queen. You know I could handle an aging George Michael formerly of Wham, or Spice Girls who now are all Spice mommies or even The Who whom probably should be collecting a pension, but when that young girl sang with Queen it was the second biggest disappointment of my viewing. There are so many great British male singers who could have done the part justice instead of trying to do an American Idol version of a song that was around decades before she was probably even born. However, through my moments of criticism I must say it has been quite the year so far for the Brits. I was corrected by my proudly British father in-law when I got a tad cranky at the amount of money that was spent on Queen Elizabeth's barge for her Royal water parade to celebrate her Jubilee. He reminded me that "nobody does it like we do," when it comes to celebration. I think he might be right.