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2 Orono Weekly 'limes, Wednesday, August 29, 2001 Weekly Times Serving East Clarington and beyond since 1937 Subscriptions S28.04 + SI .96 G.S.T. = S30.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs." 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Orono Weekly Times. Letters must be signed and contain .the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will notbe responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Volunteerism builds tommunify Recently released figures on volunteerism have just confirmed what community leaders have long suspected - volunteerism is decreasing at an alarming rate. An unfortunate revelation in this the International Year of Volunteerism. ' An article published in the Saturday, August 16th edition edition of the Toronto Star states that according to Statistics Canada figures from the year 2000, 1 million fewer Canadians are volunteering their time than in 1997, (from 7.5 million in 1997 to 6.5 million in 2000), This works out to a 13.4 decrease. If the current trend continues, within the next 100 years volunteerism in Canada will be non existent. Even more disturbing is the fact that 73% of all volunteering volunteering is being done by only 7% of the population. This dramatic decrease is being attributed to societal changes that leave individuals increasingly pressed for time. Added to the time pressures are and the increased demands placed on those already in the volunteer ranks. We've all seen the decline in the number of active service service clubs in the community over the years. The remaining clubs are in a slow decline due to difficulty in attracting new members. Next week is the 149th running of the Durham Central Agricultural Fair in Orono. This the largest event held annually in the Region of Durham and has seen its fair share of volunteers through the years. However, this event too will soon suffer if more volunteers do not step forward to replace some who need a break, or are at the age they can no longer do the work required, says Fair Manager Gord Robinson. If s almost come to the point that nobody wants to be Gord Robinson's friend, because all his friends have been roped into working at the Fair. Those who run children's programs within the community community also feel the pinch when looking for new leaders to replace those that wish to step down. Lifestyle choices are made for personal reasons, and the trend toward more insular lives is the greatest threat to maintaining communities. One cannot continue to expect community services and events to be available without some level of personal involvement. Letters to the Editor Dear Margaret; I noticed Councillor Gord Robinson's letter in last week's O.W.T. about the 911 "Street Naming Fiasco". It is interesting to hear that Bell Canada or "BCE", the so- called great Communications Giant, wouldn't send a hurpan to answer questions at a meet ing. Especially a simple one like, "Why can't you just add a word?" Anyone who has tried to speak to à human who knows answers- at Bell, a bank or most other large organizations will find that these organizations organizations have done their utmost to eliminate human contact. . Push "1" for this, "2" for that arid then start the process over and over again until you start muttering expletives into the phone and give up, Any humans that Bell does have working are likely chained to a small cubicle in a large field outsite of Moncton, New Brunswick. These employees don't even know where Orono is, let alone the answer to the question, "Why can't you add Orono to Centre Street in our Municipality?" In order to set up a proper meeting with Bell, you would have to provide telephones for everyone and then all of the interested residents could, together in unison, punch in the various numbers, stars, etc. until you get to the part where we ask the question, "Why can't you put in one word?" Of course, there is no valid answer. Maybe "See our Web Site for more information". information". It is much easier to inconvenience inconvenience the residents of all these streets and villages rather than go to the expense of adding that word. Shouldn't they also be forcing us to take away a word? The street name, Grist Mill Court is a bit long isn't it? Three words, I don't know ' how they put up with it. Shouldn't they be banning Old Scugog Road and Apple Blossom Blvd. too? I don't think the folks .at Bell's voice mail and web site know about the "Concession Problem" either. There are two former townships, Clarke and Darlington (hey, could that be how they came up with the name Clarington) and those darn concession roads don't line up, so we have two sets of them right from Lake Ontario, Broken Front' up to Concession 10. So, here is my little question. Why aren't they forcing us to change the names of all the Concession Roads in Clarington? Uh, oh, Broken Fronts too. Myno Van Dyke 3rd Concession, Clarke RR#8, Newcastle Municipality of Clarington Stop the 407 I want to correct several misconceptions about the completion of the 407 through Clarington: 1. It's à "done deal" because all the land for the 407 right of way has already been purchased. purchased. Regional Councillor Rick Johnston has stated that no land east of Brock Road has yet been purchased for the 407. 2. Volume of traffic necessitates necessitates connecting the 407 with the 35/115. I have driven 35/115 frequently including Friday at 6pm at the start of a long weekend. I have never encountered a significant slowdown _ in traffic. Question: For whom is the 407 being built through Clarington? 3. Hwy. 401 has reached its capacity and therefore the 407 is. needed. Rush hour bottlenecks bottlenecks on 401 around Oshawa and Ajax occur because the widening of the 401 ran into problems at the bridges in Ajax and in Oshawa. A solution solution must be found that will not 'involve destroying hundreds hundreds of acres of the best farmland in Ontario.,1 suggest completing the widening of Taunton Road all the way to the 35/115, also the planned widening of Hwy 7. Solve the problem of the Ajax and Oshawa bridges by routing eastbound traffic along baseline road, and westbound westbound on the existing 401. Con fin Road could also carry traffic around Oshawa. Better we reorganize existing roads than destroy streams, . (continued page 3)