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2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, May 24, 2000 ^ Subscriptions $23.36 + $1.64 G.S.T. = $25,00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline .ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwart The next long weekend... With the first long weekend of the summer behind us, the next one can't be far away. That of course would be the Canada Day Weekend, when the Great Canadian Town Band Festival comes to Orono. Organizers have been diligently working on this event for the past year making sure all the angles are covered, and that the first ever event of this kind to be held in Canada, is the best it can be. The eagerness of some of big name bands like the Hannaford Street Silver Band and Intrada Brass, to participate in the Festival from the beginning, has bpen very encouraging. The Governor General's Horse Guard Cavalry Unit, their talents underutilized as of late, have offered to perform a musical musical ride during the Friday night Military Tattoo. Because the Fairgrounds have facilities to stable horses, the Cavalry will stay-over till Saturday and be part of the Cal lithum pian Parade. With the W.P. Cyclone High Wheel Bicycle Band participating participating in the parade, the mob of kazoo players doing their thing, and the regulars all taking to the streets as they have in years past, the parade promises to be an event in itself. An event of this magnitude could never happen without the co-operation of the community itself. That co-operation has been forthcoming on many "fronts, for which the organizing committee is very grateful. This year's festival will provide the building blocks for what hopefully will become an annual event. What is obvious to one, is not necessarily obvious to another, another, and mistakes will be made, hopefully they will be small and few. The organizing committee is always open for suggestions and input. This will be a community event, depending completely completely on the community for success. I know I'm really looking forward to the next long weekend. Letter to Editor V ; : J Dear Mrs. Zwart, dogs. I wish to share a per- This is the first time ever sonal experience. Although I that I have written to the edi- . was not physically harmed, I was shaken up nonetheless. tor of a newspaper. Your paper reaches many people in the community and I want to express an opinion which, I am sure, is shared by many. Dogs should he on a leash when walked by their owners owners whether they live in an urban or rural community. My reasons for saying this are twofold: first, more often than not, people do not train their dogs properly. The dogs tend not to obey commands and when they do, it seems reluctantly. Second, dogs are animals and unpredictable. They may look friendly and docile, they may have acted that way in the past but, out of the blue, for no apparent reason, some dogs do attack children, adults and other dogs. There have been several in the news in recent months about unprovoked attacks by One day last week, Tuesday to be exact, I was gardening in our front yard when suddenly suddenly two large black dogs came running from the road, right across our property, barking ferociously. They surrounded me. One of the dogs made an attempt to jump up. Their owner was walking about three yards behind them on the north side of the road (we live on the south side) and could see me. She called and called and called.....I felt terrorized. The dogs finally did return to their owner who had kept on walking on the other side of the road. At my urgent request, she put them on the leash and with a "sorry about that" left me shaking in my shoes. Why is it that some people believe they can let their dogs roam freely when they move Orono teacher wins Prime Minister's award Gayle Esler of Orono along with 15 teachers from across Canada, received national recognition for helping students develop develop the skills and attitude required for a successful future. to a rural community? Many years ago we lost a valuable dairy animal, which injured itself, while being chased by a dog. We do riot have a dog, never had one, yet we find dog excrement on our driveway driveway and lawn from time to time. Please dog owners, put your pet on a leash unless it is trained to walk by your heel and remains there, no matter what! You may even save your pet from injury or death. Yours sincerely, Irene Konzelmann SUBSCRIBE TO THE TIMES The 1999/2000 recipients of the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence, were honoured by the Prime Minister himself, himself, in a gala event on Parliament Hill, on May 10, 2000. "It was nice enough just to be nominated," said Gayle Esler, "1 never expected it to go further." Èsler, who has been a teacher since 1968, now handles handles Co-operative Education at G.L. Roberts Collegiate in south Oshawa. Esler feels part of her success comes from just being around a long time. Esler's Principal nominated nominated her for the award last November, and heard nothing till this past April when she was selected a finalist, at the national level. Esler felt the great references references given by former students students were of great benefit. She deals with a high number of students who face many barriers to employment. A common theme with this year's award recipients Was that many worked with "at risk" children, and , most used communications technologies technologies to enrich their teaching teaching practices. In congratulating the teachers on helping students develop the skills and attitudes attitudes required for a successful successful future, Chretien stated, "through their creativity and tremendous enthusiasm for learning, they have prepared students not only to make it in the world, but also to help make it a better world." Along with the recognition recognition each teacher's school will receive $5,000 to be spent in a way that benefits the teachers and students.