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10 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006 310 Guelph St. Unit5 Georgetown 905-873-4405 Past, Present, Future Three Stone Diamonds ?????????????????????????????????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? Car Rally/Scavenger Hunt & Corn Roast Saturday September 23 rd First car leaves the church at 5pm. Hot Dogs & Hamburgers. An event for the whole family. If you dont go in the rally, please join us at 6:30pm for some hot dogs, hamburgers and fellowship around the campfire!! 19 St. Albans Drive, Acton, 519-853-2711 BACK TO SCHOOL Regular Manicure/Pedicure now only $35 Spa Manicure/Pedicure now only $55 offer valid for appointments until Sept. 30th, 2006 Open Tues. - Sat. by appointment Comedy & Music AT MILL ST. CROSSING 519.853.0620 Show starts 10p.m. - 2a.m. Tickets on sale - $10 IN ADVANCE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT September 16th LIVE ENTERTAINMENT WITH TWO FOR THE SHOW HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY H A PP Y BI RT H D A Y H A PP Y BI RT H D A Y H A PP Y BI RT H D A Y HA PPY BIRTH D A Y H A PPY BIRTH D A Y H A PPY BIRTH D A Y HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Please join us... We are celebrating Leroy MacArthurs 80th Birthday September 17th, 06 1-4p.m. at the home of Tim and Anne MacArthur 5446 3rd line of Eramosa Township Chiropodist / Foot Specialist DEANNA WILSON B.Sc.,D.Ch. Thompson Wellness Centre 25 Main Street North Acton, Ontario L7J 1V9 519-853-3460 Foot/Nail Care Sports Injuries Pediatrics Diabetic /Arthritic Foot Conditioning Custom Orthotics and Footwear Home visits FAIR PREP: It takes a dedicated band of Acton Agricul- tural Society members a week to turn Prospect Park into a fairground for this weekends fair. On hand clearing out the poultry barn on Saturday were, from left: Charlie Plouffe, Frank Hanes, Hans Kuechler, Clarence Harding, Hank Walsma, Dale Hewitt, Kent Frost and Terry Foster. Frances Niblock photo By Rebecca Ring The Eden Mills Writers Festival was a wonderful weekend of words, music, art, delicious food and sunshine. Authors of all genres were on hand discussing, signing and reading books. Among them was Margaret Atwood, read- ing from her new book Moral Disorder. It was released dur- ing the festival on Sunday. Moral Disorder is a collec- tion of interconnected stories that follow the life of a central character, Nell, and the lives that intertwine with hers. The book is like a photo album in that each story captures a piece of her life, from her childhood in the 1940s to the old age of her parents in the present. Atwood pointed out the photographs on the front cover of a maid in her eve- ning uniform and her day uniform. They were taken from a cookbook written in the 1930s called The Art of Cooking and Serving, for which she named one of the stories. Her fascination with the photos seemed to suggest Nells repulsion and fascina- tion with the domestic arts in the story. In My Last Duchess, Miss Bessie is based on one of Atwoods high school Eng- lish teachers. She said, She was an excellent teacher. In her very capable hands most of us did very well on our Grade XIII exams. In one way, our generation benefi ted from discrimination against women. Universities would not hire them, so many highly qualifi ed women became high school teachers. Atwood read from White Horse, featuring Gladys, the Welsh Pit Pony/Arabian horse. The photograph in- troducing this story is of a white horse with sheep who thought they were horses, and the horse thought they were too. The story was inspired by Atwoods experi- ences on her own farm near Alliston that she shared with her husband, Graeme Gibson, for about ten years. Some of the events re- ally did take place, such as the homemade beer bottles exploding. She joked that they called their farm Tax Laws Farm, as it was not very profi table. They made hay, acquired all kinds of animals, including peacocks, but avoided pigs and goats. They had many visiting pigs from the neighbouring farm however, who enjoyed get- ting drunk on the fermenting apples fallen from their tree. She laughed as she remem- bered them lolling about in the morning, a little hungover from the previous nights festivities. Reading to the rapt audi- ence, Atwood laughed with it at the antics of Gladys and Nell, as Nell pretended to be a person riding a horse and Gladys pretended to be a horse being ridden by a person. Gladys was res- cued by Nells horse-savvy friend Billy, who was unable to keep her. Nell, a horse novice, reluctantly agreed to take her, not wanting to feel selfi sh when this wheezing, elderly, neglected animal needed her. Atwoods second read- ing of the day was certainly the Grand Finale. With wit, humour and compassion, Atwood illuminates the hu- man condition with all of its tragedy and joy in stories that provoke and entertain. More on the festival next issue. Margaret Atwood charms Writers Festival CANADIAN ICON: Mar- garet Atwood was among the many authors who made the Eden Mills Writers Festival a smashing success. Rebecca Ring Photo