New Tanner (Acton, ON), 13 Nov 2003, p. 7

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2003 GRAPEVIN RON ROAST/TOAST The stories and fond memories will be part anecdote and part evidence tomorrow (Friday) night, as Acton native Ron McKnight is roasted and toasted at a retirement tribute at the Ac- ton Legion. Hosted. by the Town's public works department and Acton Rotary Club, the event will thank McKnight, for his many years of dedicated service to the Town and the service club. The party begins at 7 p.m. with cocktails; dinner is at 7:30. LITERACY HELP Adults wanting to improve their reading, writing, math or basic computer skills should con- tact Literacy North Halton, which offers free training, either in small classes or with one-on-one tutor- ing. Call 905-873-2200 for details. BETH-EL BAZAAR Good deals and a hot lunch will greet shoppers at the annual ba- zaar at Acton Beth-El Christian Reformed Church on Saturday (November 15.) Along with books, crafts and baking, there 'will be a white el- ephant table and a grab barrel. Lunch includes soup, buns and croquettes. The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CRAFT FAIR Robert Little Public School will be holding a craft fair on Fri- day Dec 5 from 1lam-Spm, in the gym, 41 School Lane. The fair will include; bake table, pizza lunch, fleece clothing, Tupperware, chocolate treats, plush toys, Mary Kay cosmetics, Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies and many more items to stock up on your holiday gifts. CHURCHHILL CHAOS Churchill Rd. South residents were delighted to see the sea of mud which enveloped their road, transformed this week in to a flat usable surface. Roadwork contin- ues and likely will be finished by Christmas, according to one resi- dent. ST.JOSEPH BAZAAR St. Joseph's parish on Church St. in Acton is hosting their an- nual bazaar and tea in the church hall on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 10am to 2pm. Times are planned so people can visit before and after the Santa Claus parade, which starts at lpm. The bazaar will feature a penny sale, homemade baking, 50/50 draw and this year's "Kid's Cor- ner" with face painting and gingerbread decorating. LIGHTS ARE UP Christmas must be just around the corner because the coloured Yule lights are all up in the down- town, a sure indication the Christmas shopping season is here. Santa's parade Saturday will officially mark the beginning of the season. Many stores al- ready have their decorations and lights up to go with the holiday season. Scout/Guide food drive nets 9000 lbs of food To the Editor, We want to thank everyone who was involved in the Scout/ Guide Food Drive. All the young people, their leaders and parents worked together to organize, col- lect and sort over 9,000 pounds of food and $300 in monetary. donations. This annual event brings in the food needed to provide for the winter months ahead, and is so much appreciated by the Food- Share and by those in need in our community. Thank you for caring and shar- ing, The Acton FoodShare. Glad he wasn't barefoot on street To the Editor, Today I was shopping and came out of a store with my spouse. I thought there is a poop and scoop law in Acton. Anyway my spouse was able to keep from walking in IT! When I looked down at my feet, just say I was glad that I was not bare-footed. I hope that some dog owners, please, in future, clean up after your dog. Thank you for your time. Yours truly, Norman Foote Apologies for omission... continued from page 6 codes for rest homes and lack of capital to upgrade the old build- ing saw the residefits scattered." What the article neglected to say was that there were several owners after Mrs. Kelly. She had no hand in its closing and redun- dancy. Apologies to daughter Pat Kelly for not making it clear that her mother was not involved in its closing. THE NEW TANNER 7 TEMPTING TREATS: Acton High School held its annual Craft Show on Saturday and there were lots of goodies for all. Emily Wiesner, 8, Rebecca Golden, 5, Gillian Golden, 7 and Chantal Wiesner, 8 found lots of Christmas chocolates and gingerbread men that were being sold by vendor Jackie Vaccaro from Glen Williams. - Angela Tyler photo If [had hair, I would have pulled it out around 9:45 on election night. We had a house full of family and friends waiting to see the results of the mu- nicipal election. The Town's computer had crashed shutting down the election website. Cogeco Cable had some problems so, while we were up to date on what happened in Milton, it seemed like the Acton race had fallen into a black hole. Finally, almost four hours after the polls closed, we had enough returns to indicate a result. The people of ward 1 had elected Jon Hurst and I as councillors representing Acton. Clark Somerville handily took the Regional ¢ouncillor's chair and, in what was to my mind a stunning re- sult, Acton's own Rick Bonnette was elected mayor by a tidy margin. I would like to thank all the people who supported my campaign in so many ways. Your words of encour- agement and confidence are deeply appreciated. To all those who turned out to vote, thank you for participat- ing in our democracy. Your attendance at the polls makes all the campaign work worthwhile. The race for Ward 1 councillor was the most contended in Halton. Eight candidates ran for two seats. I would be most remiss if I didn't congratu- late all of my fellow candidates for running excellent campaigns. Al- though we only had one all candidates meeting, I thought every- one had interesting and insightful opinions on what challenges and op- portunities lay ahead for our community. I have-contacted the other candidates and asked them for' their ongoing input. The fact that they stepped forward to contest this elec- tion speaks volumes about their personal commitment to our town. That eight citizens would energeti- cally seek one of two seats shows how vibrant our community is. [look forward to an exciting three years. Special thanks to outgoing coun- cillor Dobbie Frizzel. Dobbie ran a good campaign and was generous in his congratulations when we saw him the day after the election. Those of us who know him are not the least surprised he would conduct himself as a gentleman. He rightly deserves our appreciation not only for his serv- \ce as councillor but for a lifetime of ' THAT was an adventure! The Way F | See It with Mike O'Leary other activities in town including, but not limited to, his years as a volun- teer firefighter. 1 A know both Jon Hurst and I look forward to his counsel. Clark Somerville successfully made the transition from local to re- gional councillor. Of all the Acton area races his was the most predict- able. That said, his contest was no cakewalk. Drew Reidstra was a seri- ous and competent candidate. I had the opportunity to have a few mo- ments with Drew at the all candidates meeting and enjoyed talking with him. Rick Bonnette pulled off the coup of the century in Halton politics. As far as I know, Rick will be the first Acton based mayor of Halton Hills. When you consider the sometimes not-so-friendly rivalry between Acton and Georgetown, his victory is even more incredible. T'll tell you a secret. In conversa- tions with Rick before the vote, I kept assuring him he could win. But deep down inside, I had nagging doubts that he could overcome the "Georgetown factor". Even though Rick had served the Halton Hills community for 21 years I still thought the "Acton" label would cost him dearly in Georgetown; for instance, at the mayoral all candi- dates meeting a question was asked specifically of Rick as to how some- one from "Acton" could represent the whole town as mayor. Georgetown candidates, it appeared, were deemed to be above such tribal attitudes. Rick, obviously, handled that situation well. In my opinion, Rick won the may- or's chair by conducting an honest, principled, hard working campaign. He was supported by a majority of the sitting Georgetown councillors, a fact that didn't receive much publicity. He gained that support not by political du- plicity but through his journeyman efforts as councillor for over two dec- ades. I think it speaks volumes when you run for an office like mayor. Make no mistake about it, the may- dier, not the poet, who has given us - or'srace could have become publicly ugly. It was tough in the trenches. I think Rick's determination to focus on the issues, as he sees them, ena- bled him to avoid the potential quagmires. There's a difference be- tween tough politics and negative politics. The biggest difference be- ing -- Canadians do not react well to negative politics. We're too damn polite after having it drummed into us from birth that we must "play nice with others." Rick and his team have every rea- |~ son to be proud of their efforts. We in Acton are also justified in being proud of those same efforts. It's al- ways satisfying when a home town boy makes good. Even more so when he does so with honour. The only negative I see in the cam- paign was the underwhelming turnout of voters. Initial reports are that 37 % voted in Ward 1 and only 32% town-wide. It would be easy to rant and rave about the people who stayed home. It would also be inef- fective. One of the new council's chal- lenges will be to fire the interest of more people in municipal events. Most of us claim to enjoy our small town atmosphere. Part of that atmos- phere should be an understanding of local politics. It's up to the politicians to make their activities more inter- esting to constituents. That's something we' ll be discussing many times over the next three years. That's a political promise I have no intention of breaking. You might even say it's a political guarantee. stoke The wreaths are still on the ceno- taph. Even though the official ceremonies are over, I came across these words from U.S. Marine Corps Padre, Dennis O'Brien. "It is the sol- dier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the sol- freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to. demonstrate. It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial." "Tt is the soldier, who salutes the flag, serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who al- lows the protester to burn the flag." LEST WE FORGET. y

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