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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 31 ,2 02 0 | 12 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Dec 27 28 29 30 31 NewYear's Day January 1 2 HaltonHills NewYear'sDay Householdwaste collectionnotice 12 31 20 Please note collection day changes. HaltonWasteManagement Site Please place yourwaste at the curb by 7 a.m. on your scheduled holiday collection day. Garbage tag exemption AreasAandB:Your first garbage collection day after Christmas Day (December 25) will not require garbage tags. The six garbage bag/can limit applies. Christmas tree collection AreasAandB: Place Christmas trees at the curb for collection onWednesday, January 13 and 20, 2021. There is no tree collection for areas C andD. Visithalton.ca/waste formore information. Gary Carr Regional Chair 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone and I knowmany of us are looking forward to the beginning of a new year. Thank you for continuing to take public health direction seriously and celebrating this NewYear's Eve with your friends and family virtually. I know I speak for our entire community when I say how grateful we are for our frontline workers and Public Health who have continued to respond to COVID-19 throughout the holidays and will continue to do so in 2021. As always, please visit halton.ca/COVID19 or call 311 for the latest public health direction. I wish you all a safe and healthy NewYear! Wishing a safe and healthy NewYear Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. Meetings at Halton Region Regional Council meetings are taking place through web conferencing until further notice. Videos will be posted to halton.ca. RegularOperatingHours Monday to Saturday | 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 5400 Regional Road 25,Milton Closed Friday, January 1, 2021 Areas A, B & C No change Area D Collection moves Waste collection calendar Check yourmailbox--the 2021Halton RegionGuide &Waste Collection Calendars have beenmailed to homes across the region. Access yourwaste collection in theway that works best for you: • go online to use our online calendar tool; • use theOneHalton app; or • sign up for weekly collections by email, phone orTwitter. If you have not received your calendar by January 6, 2021, please visithalton.ca/waste, email accesshalton@halton.ca or call 311 to order a print copy. While most people will be hap- py to see the end of 2020 next week, there were some positives that came out what was a difficult year. Halton Hills continued to dem- onstrate its community spirit, even through very trying times. Here is what Halton Hills did to help its neighbours through 2020. Caremongering Halton Hills Rebecca Burtney wanted to do something to help her communi- ty, but felt a little helpless -- until she stumbled across the Care- mongering movement. With resi- dents urged to stay home as the province approached its first lockdown in March, she started a Facebook group to connect peo- ple willing to lend a hand with those who needed help by offer- ing to pick up and deliver grocer- ies for seniors and share supplies like toilet paper and Lysol wipes that were scarce. Chalk it up to positive thinking When COVID-19 began to spread, people were cut off from friends and family when Ontario went into lockdown, and with the fear of a virus people were just starting to learn about, it was a difficult time for many. Then spontaneous feel-good messages began appearing on sidewalks and driveways, on rocks left along trails and by mailboxes. Of- ten created by our youngest resi- dents, you couldn't help but feel that maybe you weren't in this alone. Light up the Hills Many holiday traditions fell victim to COVID-19, but one that started with the intent of spread- ing holiday cheer carried on. While the lighting ceremony was cancelled, the lights continue to shine through the holidays, re- minding us that in a year where so much has changed, there were some constants. Salute to front line workers Health care workers have of- ten taken the brunt of the pan- demic. While most residents did their part by staying home and physical distancing, those work- ing in hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care facili- ties risked their own safety to help people with COVID-19 and our most vulnerable residents. Parades by first responders and councillors served as a reminder that their efforts were not going unnoticed. Santa puts tradition in reverse If kids were worried that San- ta may not be able to make his rounds on Christmas Day, some creative thinking by the George- town Lions Club and the Acton Firefighters Association put those fears to rest. While many communities cancelled their Santa Claus parade to avoid hav- ing large gatherings, George- town and Acton kept their tradi- tions alive with a non-traditional parade. Santa and the floats were stationary and the attendees be- came the parade, driving by the floats to keep everyone safe be- fore the holidays. COMMUNITY Police, firefighters and paramedics were joined by Halton Hills councillors as they paid tribute to staff at the Georgetown hospital Wednesday. Herb Garbutt / Metroland 5 LOCAL INITIATIVES THAT KEEP COMMUNITY SPIRIT ALIVE THROUGH PANDEMIC HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR TODAY!