whats inside Your Hometown Newspaper Volume 12 No. 04 Thursday, January 29, 2009 T?? NEW Newstand Price 40 + GST ??? ? ? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ? ???? ? ?? ? ???? ??? ? ? ???? ?? ?? ? ?? ? ? ?????????????????? ?????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? T & A Automotive 108 Station St. 519-856-1531 Fat Cat Dog & Car Wash Rockwood Partners in preventative maintenance OIL CHANGE $36.99 CAR WASH Station St. Guelph #7 Main St .** Sales Service Leasing Parts T HE NEW www.georgetownchrysler.ca 336 Guelph St., Georgetown 905-877-0149 email: cwiddess@georgetownchrysler.ca TO ITS WORTH THE DRIVE ACTON MOTORS 8531280 2002 Dakota ........ LOADED! Town employment picture fairly positive Halton Region Museum once again is opening its doors for the annual Herit- age Day open house on Sunday, February 15, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will be treated to two spe- cial events: a presentation on Actons Beardmore & Co. tannery and the launch of the Museums new Vis- itor Centre Art Gallery. I encourage everyone to visit the Halton Region Museum on February 15 to explore our past and learn about a distinctive piece of Haltons herit- age - Actons Beardmore tannery, said Gary Carr, Haltons Regional Chair. In addition, the museum will be welcoming vis- itors into the brand new Art Gallery which will feature the collections of renowned Halton artists. J. Mark Rowe, well known his tor ian and author will illustrate Ac- tons leathertown history and explore the company that generated its leath- er producing reputation. Rosemary Simpson, a lo- cal artist from Lowville By Frances Niblock While the job numbers paint a fairly positive em- ployment picture in Halton Hills, there have been some recent layoffs at Acton and Georgetown manufacturing plants. Cooper Standard Auto- motive plant in Georgetown went on temporary shutdown during the week of Decem- ber 15, and its workers will return to manufacturing auto sealing systems on Febru- ary 4. While attempts to reach company officials to deter- mine how many were laid off were unsuccessful, the plant employs approximate- ly 440 workers and it was a total shutdown. At the Georgetown oper- ation of Mold Masters, also an auto industry supplier, there were some minor lay- offs in early December, but all employees are reportedly back at work. There are also layoffs at Louisiana Pacifics vinyl siding plant in Acton, but at press time the extent of the layoffs was unknown as company officials had not By Frances Niblock The focus will be on spray poles and in-ground jets on February 9 when the public is invited to an information centre into plans for a splash pad in Prospect Park, slated to open in the summer of 2010. The plans are at a very preliminary stage, ac- cording to Warren Harris, the Towns manager of parks and open spaces, who said the Town wants to solicit ideas from the public for future water play op- tions in the park, that already has a wading pool. Its too preliminary to say if it would be an either/ or situation with the wading pool, Harris said when asked if the well used wading pool would remain in the park if a splash pad is built. He said they did some preliminary groundwork as part of this years Acton Fall Fair to make sure that the splash pad plans dont interfere with the operation of the fair. Harris said the need for additional water play options was identified in a 1999 park master plan and in the Towns strategic plan. The focus of the information session will be on how to maximize the water play value, both from the initial construction and long-term operating costs. The Towns 2010 capital budget forecast includes $426,000 for the project. Harris said staff would present a panel showing different water play elements, including those found at the Towns two splash pads in Georgetown, and ask for peoples preferred options. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., at the Acton arena and community centre. Public meeting about new splash pad Some layoffs at plants in both town Continued on Page 2 Beadmore to be featured at museum Continued on Page 3 BELIEVE IT OR NOT: This issue of The New Tanner starts the 12th year of publication. The first front page is shown here. Theres more on Page 6. Its Groundhog Day on Monday when the var- mint will be looking for its shadow. See Page 4 Mayor Chris White gives a mid-term report. Page 10 When local Firefighters faced off against Leaf Alumni, Chuck Tysoe was there to report the action. See Pages 12 & 13