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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1998 THE NEW TANNER GRAPEVIN Food drive bonanza Fewer Acton area residents will go hungry this winter thanks to the generosity of local residents and the hard work of the children and adults with the Acton Scouting movement. The 8th annual Scout and Calvin- ist Cadet food drive gathered 8,600 pounds of non-perishable food on Saturday -- enough to stock the shelves at Acton's food bank - FoodShare - for months to come. The amount of donated food was up a whopping 35 per cent over last year, a "phenomenal community ef- fort" according to First Acton Scout- ing group committee chair Jan Inns. FoodShare spokesperson Eileen Dix said the food drive results are "fantastic" and noted that the total will increase as they continue to ac- cept donated food this week. "Thanksgiving was also an amaz- ingly generous time in Acton and now with this food drive we are in good shape." Coats, Coats, Coats You can help fight winter's icy blast for someone less fortunate by donating your used coats and snowsuits to the Coats for the Needy Halton Hills program -- a joint effort by Barrager's Cleaners, the Masonic Lodge and Halton Hills Community Support and Information (HHCSD). Coats can be dropped off to the Acton IGA and the Willow Street office of HHCSI (formerly ASSIC). Barrager's will clean the coats and they'll be available for distribution in Acton at HHCSI from November 23 to December 24. Beetle man At first, Acton's Peter Roehrig didn't believe he'd won the grand prize of a 1971. Volkswagen Beetle . inthe McKenzie-Smith Bennett fund. raising raffle. When reached at home by phone just minutes after the draw at 10 p.m. Saturday, Roehrig was incredulous and then very happy. Roehrig, who grew up driving Bugs -- his dad owned a VW repair shop in Toronto and his mother drives a 1973 Bug convertible -- isn't sure what he'll do with his prize. "T think ['ll store it for the win- ter, go over it and see what shape it's in and then decide what to do in the spring," Roehrig said, adding his 10-year-old daughter wants him to put it away for her. Roehrig's wife purchased two raf- fle tickets from MSB vice-principal Brian Speed and put her husband's name on one of them. Wins award Kudos to Country Reflections whose dedicated customers nomi- nated the Mill Street gift store as November's Chamber of Commerce business of the month. Owner Judy McDonald was thrilled that her store was chosen, but not surprised be- cause her regulars love the eclectic, high quality stock and personal serv- ice. Posties help Sally Ann The staff at the Acton post office is accepting donations of toys and miscellaneous items on behalf of the Salvation Army, which is gearing up for its annual Christmas hamper pro- gram to provide holiday food, gifts and treats to needy Acton residents. Last year the hamper program - a joint effort of the Salvation Army, Acton J.0.D.E., Acton Rotary and St. Vincent de Paul - helped brighten the Christmas of approximately 65 families and individuals. Donations ofnon-perishable foods and gifts can be left at the post office or at the church, at 114 Mill St. East. Applications for the Christmas hampers can be picked up at the church. : compassion To the Editor: Acton has shown its generosity and compassion yet again! Even though the community (mainly through schools and churches) do- nated around 2,600 pounds of food at Thanksgiving -- without being asked to! they responded over- whelmingly to last Saturday's (Nov. 7) Scout/Guide Food Drive. The eager Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Calvinist Cadets from Acton, along with the Beavers and Cubs from Limehouse, went door-to-door to pick up the bags of food and/or cash, and then helped sort the food. In total over 8,600 pounds of food and $180 were col- lected. Our sincere thanks to all the Acton shows generosity, once again youngsters, parents and leaders who helped in the food drive. Our thanks also to the New Tanner for kindly distributing the bags with the news- paper, to Acton IGA for donating the bags, to Leathertown Lumber for supplying tape for boxes, and to eve- ryone who donated food or cash. If anyone still has a donation, please call the FoodShare at 853- 0457 or drop in on Tuesday 9-2 or Saturday 10-12. We are located at 153 Perth Street. You can also drop food or cash donations at the many stores and banks in town who dis- play our boxes. On behalf of the less fortunate in our town - Thank you for your kind- ness! Acton FoodShare Bill S-143 aimed at teens Continued from Page 4 make a dent on the tobacco use among young people, many of whom see the weed as a way of countering parental pressures, peer pressures, image pressures and all the rest. Tt would be easy for powerful peo- ple - be they tobacco lobbyists, bu- reaucrats or politicians - to kill Bill S-13 in the Commons. Don't let it happen. The problem may be com- plex, but your response can be ever- so-simple: write to your MP, to Prime Minister Chretien, to Finance Min- ister Paul Martin. Tell them you want Bill S-13 to pass. Politicians aren't as intricate as young people. When you talk, it's their job to listen. Senator Colin Kenny is author . and sponsor of Bill S-13, the To- bacco Industry responsibility Act. For further information. Please visit his website at http://sen.parl.gc.ca/ ckemny. Gee Lim of Acton. His camera cau: shrouded it in morning light. FIRST PRIZE in the Acton BIA's photo contest for best photo of downtown Acton was won by Jun ght The olde Book House on Eastern Avenue just as the sun The Democrats in the States surprised the pundits and actually picked up some seats in Congress during last week's election. The White House was quick to claim a victory for Mr. Clinton. I don't see it that way. I think the Republi- cans beat themselves. They over- played their hand. Last July your correspondent reported that conservative Ameri- cans were sick and tired of the whole Clinton/Lewinski mess. It's not that they approved of the presi- dent's shenanigans. Quite frankly, they were embarrassed by the man. But they didn't think the whole exercise was worth the $40 plus million spent by prosecutor Starr. They also did not want to put the country through another impeach- ment process. The Nixon experi- ence was deeply damaging to the American psyche. This is perhaps especially true for middle-aged white guys who grew up believ- ing that the Commander-in Chief stood for something. They didn't want to see the office of president dragged through the mud - again. For some reason the Republi- can leaders had a brain-cramp when devising the party's election strategy. I can't believe that they didn't know that their constituents wanted the whole "oral office" controversy behind them. The only explanation was that the Republi- can hierarchy hated (and I think that's the right word) Clinton so much they became blind to the political reality. They pushed and pushed at an issue that had "no legs", as the pollsters say. Demo- crats didn't win the election. The Republicans lost it. Blew it, actu- ally. This was confirmed last week when speaker of the House Newt Gingrich resigned not only his prestigious office but also his seat, ending a 20 year congressional career. At least he had the decency to fall on his sword. The reason for noting all of this is that, to a degree, I see the same thing hap- pening here in Ontario. I have noticed that every time Dalton McGinty or Howard Hampton vilify the government it's hardly ever the "Conservative govern- ment" or the "Tory government". XS The Way I See It with Mike O'Leary It's almost always the "Mike Harris government". The same is true of Sid Ryan, Buzz Hargrove, teacher union heads, etc. It's always Mike Harris this and Mike Harris that. Obviously one tactic the opposition intends to use is to personify all the perceived ills on the shoulders of one man. I guess if you're going to spin horror stories you have to have a boogeyman. It's no secret that the political elites resent Mike Harris. They are outraged that a "golf pro" outmanouvered them and copped the big job. I mean, the man isn't a law- yer or anything. Obviously he couldn't possibly have the brain power to run the government. Think about it. How often do you hear about McGinty's or Hampton's previous occupations? In fact, the only two premiers in recent memory whose previous employment I heard were Frank Miller (used car salesman) and David Peterson (lawyer.) Only Miller was heckled because of his past job. The intelligencia go ba- nanas when some ordinary Joe tries to rise to the political heights. That's their domain, after all. Methinks the Liberals and NDP may be making the same mistake the Republicans did. They resent Mike Harris so much that they're going to try and pin every government policy on him personally. I think they're underestimating the people of On- tario. Most of us understand that to- day's government is immense. No one person could possibly micro- manage it. The best any premier or prime minister can hope to do is set a general direction and trust the min- isters and bureaucrats to make the appropriate policy happen. Generally speaking, Canadians don't react well to negative attack political campaigns. Remember the dumb commercial highlighting Jean Gotta know when to fold 'em Chretien's speech impediment. How much did that cost Kim Campbell? Only time will tell if the oppo- sition will continue to attack the premier personally. If they do, it says here it's a mistake and such a campaign will actually help the Tories get re-elected. Wouldn't that be poetic justice? Speaking of off the wall poli- tics, what was that charade about regarding school closings in Acton? Can no one at the Board interpret policy using a little bit of common sense? What position, exactly, does Chicken Little oc- cupy down there? And nov, after a board meeting, our trustees have saved our schools. Sure, and the Toronto Board was really going to close 138 schools. Give me a break. I'm really tired of hearing doomsday scenarios from board officials. First it was 10,000 teach- ers going to be fired in Ontario. Now I see'boards advertising for more teachers. What happened? Did they lose the addresses of the 10,000 out-of-work teachers? Be- fore making another announce- ment perhaps the educrats should go down to the library and read a good book. I would recommend the one about the little boy who cried wolf. This whole takeover thing be- tween the Sun and the Star has me worried. What happens if it doesn't go through? The Star would still be hungry for an ac- quisition. It could very well be the New Tanner. Suppose the Star engineers a merger with The New Tanner? I couldn't stand it. Trying to dodge Michelle Lansburg and her mis- tletoe at the Christmas party. Hav- ing to smile as Dalton Camp sells Joe Clark as Canada's saviour. Listening to Slinger go on, and on, and on. Being told to write a col- umn on the great legislation passed by the NDP (a short col- umn for sure.) I won't rest until all of this is settled. If you see the El Chiefo Grando implore him not to sell; under any circumstance. Please, (sob) I look lousy in bow ties. oy WHAT'S YOUR BEEF? Put it in a letter to the Editor! Deadline is Tuesday at noon.