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•T he I FP • H al to n H ill s •T ue sd ay , M ar ch 5 , 2 01 3 6 OPINION The Helson Gallery offi cially opened its doors to the public this past weekend and we strongly recommend residents fi nd the time to enjoy this collection of art. While a curator is yet to be hired (at a sal- ary of roughly $38,000) and the complaints of some local artists not being able to use the Gal- lery for their work yet to be addressed, there is no mistaking the artwork donated by long- time resident Fred Helson is nothing short of astounding. As is the revamped Gallery. In fact, we're hard-pressed to think of an- other community the size of Halton Hills (save Kleinburg) that has such an impressive (and expensive) collection of artwork that is avail- able for the public to enjoy. Some may argue that too often the needs of the arts community in Halton Hills are over- shadowed by other groups. But the Helson Gal- lery is certainly a jewel in the Town's crown. At Friday's 'unoffi cial' grand opening Wel- lington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong an- nounced an investment of $350,000 from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund of the Depart- ment of Canadian Heritage for upgrades to the Halton Hills Cultural Centre and the invest- ment has contributed to the renovation of the Helson Gallery. Helson, who also earlier donated $1 million to the Georgetown Hospital renovation proj- ect, is to be lauded for his philanthropy and for making a signifi cant contribution to the better- ment of Halton Hills. The Helson Gallery is an impressive facility which the Town is sure to market in an effort to attract visitors. But whether those visitors eventually come or not, local residents should savour this magnifi cent collection. The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Edi- torial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Independent & Free Press A grand Gallery Steve Nease Letters to the editor Dear editor, In your Feb 21 edition I read a Halton Hills Works Department family member's response to a com- plaint regarding tardy snow remov- ing. My hat is off to him! Let me, as an independent and newcomer to Acton, heartily ap- plaud the crews and their effi cient and well-organized staff. The original complaint seems to have come from a spoiled HH resi- dent. I only say this because I have lived in numerous cities in winters, and had never enjoyed such quick, and thorough response to a snow- storm. It's simply our taxes that have paid for such service (24-7) while it cannot possibly ensure our ease, our safety, our well-being, our commerce (24-7)... and, let's not forget, the mobility of our pets, who I could not walk on the eve of the storm due to the depth of the snow. I can only hope the reason a complaint was lodged, was that the complainant was having a "bad day" over other things. Waiting for hours or even a couple of days, under such storm conditions, may be rather inconveniencing occasionally, but let's also keep in mind it's "a piece of cake" compared to doing it yourself, seeing as we do have that option. Thanks to HH works crews and yes, to their families also. M. Sepers, Acton Letters policy 905-873-0301 Publisher: Dana Robbins General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifi eds Kristie Pells (classifi ed@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) How would you rate the job done by the Town's snow plowing crews this winter? • Good, not great (38%) • Fantastic (35%) • Less than adequate (19%) • Terrible (8%) WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) Snow-clearing crew commended Neighbours thanked Help appreciated Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Dear editor, A big thank you to all the good folks who so were so generous with their time, energy, snowblowers and snow shovels recently to help their neighbours dig out from the most recent snowstorm. Special thanks to Kelly and Jason who pitched in to give me and so many others a helping hand with the overwhelming task. Catherine Yestadt, Georgetown Dear editor, Re: Recent Halton Hills snowfalls. Thanks go to our neighbours who fi red up their snowblowers to help us clear the driveway. We will remember to cut your grass when you are away next summer. Thanks to the Town snowplow operators who are cautious on our streets and remember to honk and wave at our littlest citizens. We will note that just a few minutes before you took abuse from someone feeling the need to vent. Thanks to the young man in the yellow 4x4 pickup truck who helped push our car back out of our street be- cause it wasn't plowed yet. Thanks to the gentleman who saw our dilemma from his driveway and offered an overnight parking spot until our street was plowed. We will remember that we made it to work on time the next day because of you. Thanks Halton Hills for everything. Val Cureton, Georgetown