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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 THE NEW TANNER 5 Grapevine SNOW KING AND QUEEN There was wild lunging and jockeying for position on the dance floor on Saturday night at the Winter Carnival dance as couples in the Town Hall Centre vied to possess a large paper snowflake ­ thinking it would lead to a prize. Larry & Kim DeBruyn Instead, couples with the snowflake when the music stopped were eliminated until only Larry and Kim DeBruyn of rural Acton were left, and they were crowned King and Queen of the Carnival by a boisterous crowd. Their "reign" included a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning at the Town Hall Centre where they again donned their quite-cool crowns, and were regal, yet approachable, as they enjoyed a pancake breakfast, hosted by parents of Typhoon squadron Acton Air Cadets, who were busy helping set up in Prospect Park for the Carnival's opening ceremonies. WHO DO YOU KNOW? Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader, one of the two old men in the TD Canada Trust commercials currently in heavy rotation has been identified as former Acton High School vice-principal Ian Downie. Downie, a veteran character actor, is the thinner of two curmudgeons ­ he wears glasses ­ in the spots. it was another 20 years before Downie acted again ­ playing Scrooge in a Wintario commercial which earned him a Bessie ­ the ad world's equivalent of an Oscar. *** Grapevine loves subjects to sing over the phone ­ even if literally, as was the case recently when Acton resident John Hendry sang the first few lines of You Raise Me Up to identify the song he performed on the George Stroumboulopoulos show. Hendry is a member of The Entertainers , a barbershop group whose recent after-practice performance at an Oakville Tim Hortons went YouTube viral with over one million hits. Hendry was not in that video but sang in a subsequent Global TV news segment, on CBC TV and Canada AM. As to his 15 minutes of fame ­ Hendry likes the extra attention from family and friends, and the offer of free coffee and donuts, and summer performance shirts, from Tim Hortons, which also invited The Entertainers , as guests and performers, to an annual company meeting. Hendry, who said he's been singing "all my life" sings lead with The Entertainers, but has full range. He appeared on stage in Acton last March at the Town Hall Centre in a presentation of the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber. TOYS-FOR-TOTS Toys donated to the Halton police Toys-for-Tots program during the Acton Santa Claus parade made the holidays a whole lot happier for 3,700 Halton families. Region-wide, the donations ­ $284,000 in toys, gift cards, cash and $3,000 from individual platoon fundraisers ­ prompted Chief Steve Tanner to say "the generosity of the community, partners and police is a true reflection of their willingness to assist those less fortunate." REALTY NEWS A new name has gone up at the former ReMax office at the four corners. Building owner Steve Fontana has purchased a Royal LePage franchise and has opened as Royal LePage Escarpment Realty. Fontana had been a ReMax employee and was that company's Acton landlord. "Royal LePage is Canadian owned and Canadian operated and that was a draw for me," Fontana said recently, adding new awnings are going up in readiness for a grand opening slated for mid-February. He and his wife Susanne Fontana, owner of Country Reflections, own the new brokerage. ACTON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY: The Acton Agricultural Society held its annual general meeting and Director elections recently at the Dufferin Rural Heritage Centre. On hand were, front from left: Marg Aitken Homecraft President Jill Medland, SecretaryTreasurer, Brad Swackhamer, President, Kathryn Brown, 1st Vice-President, and Brian Kuechler, 2nd Vice-President. Middle: Janeen Swackhamer, Mary Walsma, Anjali Viegas. Back: George Henderson, Ken McIsaac, Alaina Love, Keith Hutchinson, Susan Kuechler, Natalie Tuitman, Willy Tallon, Dominique Evans, Hank Walsma and John Miller. Absent; Stacey Hewitt, Dale Hewitt and Bill Lasby. ­ Submitted photo Letters Seasonal complaints To the Editor, I read your papers every week, so I'm writing to tell you how seniors are treated. People have written in your paper about new comers, what about old people, we have feelings too. The "grinch" (housing people) came into the seniors building a week before Christmas to "paint" the walls of our common rooms (that by the way were decorated for Christmas). We had no prior notice that this was going to happen. They tore down the decorations and put the Christmas trees and all of the furniture in the middle of the rooms and proceeded to paint the walls with smelly paint. The place was a mess and stinky. We usually have school children come and they sing Christmas carols for us. This had to be cancelled. We also had a luncheon planned, with use of the kitchen, and we had to set up tables in the hallway. The Bingo and exercise classes also had to be cancelled, and people who like to play cards and do puzzles were displaced. We have noticed now that we have notices in our parking lot with no parking for visitors (and there is no parking on the road outside). Some of us have our family come over to check on us and see that were okay, it's like a prison. So don't feel too bad new residents to Acton, we were all new comers once. Signed, Irene Shortman Acton, ON Acton again shows Hometown Spirit To the Editor, This is an example of the Acton area showing that they are a caring and compassionate community. Last year, Darrelle London, who has a powerful passion for music, suggested we hold a benefit concert and because of the enthusiasm of Kevin Hazzard for the project the idea began to take shape. Cathy Gerrow, of Acton's Social Services gave us valuable advice on the format. Our LAMP committee along with the entire church fellowship gave their support by hosting the show. Bruce Graham, a former Knox choir member and a retired CBC audio technician, and Bob Jeffries, Knox technician and cameraman also contributed greatly to the success of the concert. An "Artist Assistance Fund" was set up for the free will donations, and the first concert was held in January 2012. Darrelle London was the featured performer, and many other local talented individuals and groups took the stage to entertain the large audience. From the funds totalling over $1,000. We chose applicants who received awards to further their artistic endeavours. Thank you to all for supporting and showing your hometown spirit for this community benefit concert. We also thank Sobeys and Giant Tiger for the contributions of food for the lunch. Thank you to this community for again generously donating to the Artist Assistance Fund, and for supporting and encouraging local talent, as they strive to achieve their dreams. Four young artists have received awards for the art contest that was held during the concert. They are Paisley Britton, Lilly Egbert, Abby Sweezie and Gregory Britton. If you live in the Acton area and wish to pursue your special God-given talent, application forms are available at Knox Church, 44 Main St. N., Acton (call 519-853-2360 for hours) to qualify for financial aid from this fund. Application forms will be accepted until April 30, 2013. Knox Presbyterian Church Acton Mr. Downie Downie had varied careers as an accountant, production planner in a jet engine plant, teacher in Rainy River and in Burlington, and VP in Acton in the mid-1970s. His first professional acting job was in 1967 as a butler in a Shaw Festival production. Life got in the way and