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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2008 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It Top teacher Someone from ouAelebrated for her outstanding contributions as a teacher in the Acton community! Jen Ross at Acton District High School has been selected as a finalist in the Staples Teacher Appreciation Contest. Out of hundreds of stories submitted across the country, Jenn has been selected as one of the top three finalists in the Ontario region. Readers are encouraged to go online at www.staplescontest.ca to place their vote! Voting closes Oct. 20. Halton Sketches revistited Orginally produced as a series of articles in the Acton Free Press (circa 1970s), written by Halton Hills native John McDonald, Halton Sketches Revisited is a collection of historical stories about local fam- ilies and businesses that has become somewhat of a collectors item. The book, while popular, never had a proper distribution in Acton. This situation has been remedied. Halton Sketches Revisited is now available for purchase, in Acton, at Pharma Plus and My Cottage Dream. Card or Tag? As part of Library Card sign up month, Halton Hills libraries are of- fering a free surprise to anyone who is a first time applicant. Also newly available are library card key tags which allow you to at- tach them to your keyring and take your library card wherever you go. You can choose between a free card or keytag. For just $2 you can add a 3 tag set to your library card. For more information inquire at the Acton Branch of Halton Hills Li- braries. Hot dog day Links2Care, Acton, invites all to Come and enjoy a free hot dog on us, Wed., Oct 22 from 11am to 4pm. Come and learn all about the programs offered and associated agencies such as Service Canada, Fresh Food Box, and more. Link- s2Care is located at 47 Mill St. E., Acton, at the corner of Mill St and John St. Seniors Seminar Senior Peer Mentors from SAVIS of Halton offer Whats Age Got To Do With It? Senior Women and Vio- lence Prevention, a free 45 minute information session for small groups of senior women 55 and up. Call 905-825-3622 for information. Superior lighting Actons Superior Glove Works has always made a big impression in the hand protection industry. Now its making a big impression in the night sky. Recently, the locally-owned com- pany installed energy efficient LED rope lighting around the south fa- cing perimeter of its three buildings, which include two relatively new warehouses, at the Vimy Street lo- cation. Heading north into town on Hwy 25, the buildings now look unified with the lights that outline the build- ings. Horticultural happenings The Acton Horticultural Society will be holding their Annual Gen- eral Meeting on Tues, Oct. 21, 2008 at 7:30pm at Knox Presbyterian Church. The evening will include a pres- entation by Paul Ammit, Gardening without Flowers. All are welcome, particularly those who would like to become a member. Rural barns The Council and Heritage Com- mittee of Guelph/Eramosa are inviting all to attend a Heritage Open House on Wed., Oct. 22 at 7pm at the Marden Community Centre, 7376 Wellington Rd 30 in Guelph. The theme of this event is Histor- ical Rural Barns and will include a visual presentation relating to local structures. Mental health clarity On Wed., Oct. 22 the Halton Re- gion Health Department will host a free networking meeting for rep- resentatives of local businesses to learn and discuss ways to address and respond to mental health issues in the workplace. The meeting will be held from 9am to 11am at the Halton Region- al Centre at 1151 Bronte Road in Oakvill, with a half hour network- ing session scheduled prior to the meeting. For more information call 905-825-6000 or toll free 1-866- 442-5866. TTY 905-827-9833. Cessation strategies Members of the public are in- vited to attend a free seminar entitled Smoking Cessation Strat- egies on Thurs., Oct. 23 at 7pm in Georgetown, organized by Halton Healthcare Services. The program has been prepared in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Soci- etys Smokers Helpline; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Region of Halton; Heart and Stroke Association of Ontario and Lung As- sociation. Dr. Kiran Cherla, MD of Halton Healthcare Services, will discuss the latest research in smoking and your health and the latest advances in smoking cessation. For individuals who are now trying to quit or plan- ning to quit, you can reserve a seat for this free event or more informa- tion, please contact 905-873-0111 (ext 4379) or elittle@haltonhealth- care.on.ca Community Open House The Cooperative Program Plan- ning Committee (CPPC) of Halton Hills is holding a Open House on Sat., Oct. 18 from 10am to 4pm at Georgetown Marketplace Mall. Over 60 organizations will be on hand to showcase their services. This years theme Halton Hills Naturally! features local Master Gardener Belinda Gallagher speak- ing at 11am and 1pm to pass along green gardening tips and how to put your garden to bed for the winter. Bring your old cell phones, and ink cartridges. They will be col- lecting them at the Community Living North Halton table. A tree will be planted for every 20 items collected. DRIVEN STUDENTS: Recently, students at St. Joseph School in Acton responded to the call from Acton Foodshare with a total collection of 2,613 pounds of food, filling the bare shelves in the foodshare location in time for Thanksgiving. Special thanks are extended to the educational assistants and everyone who participated or donated. submitted photo Thanksgiving this year came complete with bittersweet mem- ories. Every year, while I do enjoy the trees as Mother Na- ture paints them in vibrant hues, I am reminded that winter is right around the corner. When I was younger I looked forward to win- ter as a skier, I couldnt wait for the snow to fly. These days, however, I shud- der when I think of the months from November through April. I am morphing into a grumpy old man who claims that this country has 10 months of winter and two months of poor sledding. Really though, am I the only one who thinks winters are get- ting colder and seem to last forever? As November nears I keep asking God where the global warming is that Ive heard so much about? My idea of an ideal winter would be a constant temperate temperature, cold at night in fall and spring would be ok, and a little snow around Christmas. After all, I do like the fall leaves and maple syrup in the spring. Last weekend we certainly couldnt complain about the weather. Not that it does any good but it is a favourite Can- adian past time. I hear the balmy temperatures are not going to last though. By the time you read this a cold front is supposed to arrive from the west. This is what the weather people tell us. Based on their historical predictions though, I often wonder if their more accurate forecasts result from them sticking their head out a window. ***** Thanksgiving comes with some tough news to handle. Every year it seems the food banks are way too busy. This year the Toronto Food Bank published some sta- tistics that were illuminating. Did you know that single people are the biggest user group at the Toronto Food Bank at 47%. Sin- gle parents and couples with kids follow at 14% and 17% respect- ively. 77% of Food Bank users are Canadian Citizens. Landed Im- migrants, a part of society many would expect to be major users only comprise 15%. I fear the numbers of people who rely on Food Banks is going to grow ex- ponentially as more and more businesses fold, throwing more people onto the unemployment rolls. While having people go hungry in this Country, is something we all have to address, its the num- bers of children going to school hungry that must concern us all. The frustrating thing is that child poverty was at the same level in 2006 (the latest year statistics are available) as they were in 1989. Thats when the Government pledged to eliminate child pov- erty by 2000. Obviously much work still needs to be done. Thats why I get so furious when I think of useless programs, like the $2 billion plus gun Control boondoggle, while children in this country go hungry. We have our priorities screwed up and all because of cheap political games. Its a sin, theres no other word for it. Well, there is, but this is a family newspaper. ***** I seldom forward jokes, peti- tions, etc, that I receive via the internet. I was sent one last week, however, that I thought was a grand idea that I happily sent on. As was widely reported, Tim Hortons has opened a store in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The proponents of the petition are asking why our brave soldiers should have to pay for their cof- fee? Good question although our troops are just happy to have a slice of home in that miserable country. What the proposition is, is that once a year Tim Hortons would conduct a Buy a soldier a coffee day. Collection baskets would be placed at all Tim Hortons cash registers. The petition is propos- ing that Buy a soldier a coffee day would be held on Nov. 12., the day after Remembrance Day. If Tims marketing department was on the ball they would match the donations dollar for dollar. The public relations benefits would be outstanding. If you want to join this peti- tion you could google it on the Net. Would the money collected in one day cover the cost of sol- diers coffee for the year? Who cares? As long as our soldiers realize the people in Canada recognize and appreciate their service and sacrifices isnt that all that counts? For those who dont support the peace making efforts in Afghanistan you can still participate. After all, this is a purely Canadian idea. You can do it with a clear conscience while still beating the Bush. Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. More than a grumpy old man