Letters to the editor..others say town is `no longer small'

Dear editor: I cannot believe some of the narrowminded, self-righteous people who live in this community. I am referring to the attacks on Mr. Scolieri regarding his recent comments in your newspaper about a new theatre in Georgetown. Heidi Noyes, in a follow-up letter writes "it is a pain to drive to Brampton or Mississauga to see a movie" but would trade that for a safe and close-knit community. Russell Foster, in another letter, describes Georgetown as "a good oldfashioned small town". Chris Gougeon states that he would like us to "support local businesses". Belinda Quinlan tells us in another letter that we "cannot enjoy small-town life and expect to have big-city conveniences at the same time." To these people I say that I have lived here for 30 years and it is not a small town. In fact, it has not been a small town for over 20 years, long before, I am sure these 19th Century hypocrites arrived here. Nor is it becoming any safer to live here. Just ask the Swiss Chalet staff or the Mac's store that have been traumatized by robberies or the stabbing at Cedarvale Park-- and this is all in the past couple of weeks. Every issue of this paper seems to reveal some violent crime in our community. Even large stores or franchises, employ or are owned by, local residents. They are trying to earn a living like everyone else. The managers and staff come from right here in Georgetown-- maybe your kids; maybe you. Can you imagine what the economy of this town would be like without WalMart, not to mention Canadian Tire and McDonald's? But I guess these whiners were among those who opposed Wal-Mart coming into town 10 years ago-- but now, no doubt, are regular shoppers there. You don't have to be small to have the small-town appeal. Just look at Streetsville or Port Credit-- small, distinct communities within a large city. Just look at Norval and Glen Williams. If any of these fine, upstanding citizens are that distraught over the closing of the cinema, maybe they should put their money where their mouth is and buy it. They would be doing the people of this great community a wonderful service with their selflessness. They might also find out just how difficult it is to run a small business in a competitive market with too many narrow-minded consumers. Georgetown is growing and, like it or not, it will continue to grow, and with that growth comes more industry, more retail, more choice and more revenue for the town to build more facilities that we can all enjoy. If Heidi, Russell, Chris and Belinda wanted to live in a small town, they should never have moved here because if it wasn't for them and thousands more, Georgetown would still be a small town. But I don't have the right to tell anybody where to live or where to work or where to shop. It seems though that some people think that they do. To them I say that, although I respect their opinion, they can all pack their bags and continue to move north or west to a real old-fashioned small town-- maybe one that hasn't heard about cars or electricity. Maybe Mr. Scolieri and I can help all of you pack. Conney Tunney, Georgetown