The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

2-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, August 19, 2003 vThursday's blackout affects businesses difftderently -y -.PAKI TL le e . The Champion icv tcdos i, dand sonie stayed the same. When it came to Thursday's black- out. each business in Milton was affected differently, depending on the product or service and alsu the length of time power was out. On Main Street in particular, some stores had power back witbin a few hours, while thers just a few doors down had to wait nearly a full day for power restoration. Main Streets Wings Up restaurant, which sells chicken wings, was one ot the unlucky ones. Since the power was out for about 20 hours, Wings Up was closed until Saturday. Thrown out were 650 pounds_ of wings and 80 pounds of boneless chicken breasts, said owner Mike Chucbmach. A new shipment uf meat arrived Saturday, and the store was open for business Saturday and Sunday with a limited menu. However, business was slow, adding insult to injury. Mr. Chuchmach said he thought it was beeause customers feared the cbicken wasn'î sale. Hes;aid ti c ner- 55.51 )1 o l dciii ptichasel myself at (another) restaurant- you don't know their standards," he said. In the end, Mr. Chuchmach said he lost about $10.0(00in food and Iost business. This week, Mr. Chuchmach said hes conceotrating on conserving ener- gy. Tbe store bas limited its hours, to 4 to 10 p.m. until Sunday. Its two main signs are tumed off, it bas only haîf its dining ruom lights on, and it bas reduced its air conditioning. I know l'm just a joite fish in the ocean, but we can aIl do our part," Mr. Chuchmach said. Another Milton venue bit bard was the Mohawk slots in Campbellville, which remained closed with other gambling facilities to conserve energy until further notice. 'We're decided to haIt the services. working in co-operation with the Province," said Teresa Roncon, public relations manager for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Employees are on stand-by, waiting until they can retumn, Ms Roncon said. Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Homne Hardware owner Angelo DeMedicis shows the remaining flashlight and batteries after customners cleaned out the shelves Friday. Then there were the lucky unes. Due to the sporadie nature of the blackouts, some businesses lost power for just a short while. and barely noticed. Jay's Ice Cream, un Main Street, was une such business. Power came back on about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, said store uwner Jason Van Der Veen. None of the ice cream was ruined and sales were the same as usal, he said. It was the same type of situation down the street at Milton Greenhouses. Although the power was out until 11:30 a.m. Friday, the flowers stayed fresh in the couler, said empluyee Sharon Hicks. Ms Hicks said there was a slight drop in business on Fridav because people didn't knoss "Fortunately, the power wasn't off for long,' she said. Then there were the really lucky unes, who actually experienced an increase io sales. Case in point- Home Hardware un Steeles Avenue, thanks tu the busi- ness sense of uwner/dealer Angelo DeMedicis. The store closed at 5 p.m. Thursday. But the next day. staff came n at 8 a.m. and ran the store "the old fasbioned way," Mr. DeMedicis said. Customers with debit were out of luck, but cash worked just fine, and credit card purcbases were processed when power was restored, at about Il1:30 a.m. Customers were escorted around the store with a flashlight. "We sold out of propane, flashlights, batteries, and there were a good num- ber of coolers sold,' Mr. DeMedicis said. He said sales for the week were up marginally due tu the increase of sales Friday momning. Stephanie Thiessen con 6e reached at sthiessen@dmiltonc-anadiane.hanîpi- on.coni. J%ýUST WHAT YOU NEED o\yý tkVsubjecu Show Your True Colours! August 13-28 Bring in your ittle artisita pick up a colouring contest entry form, and they could win a Back ta School Prize Package, valued at $50.00. "STUFF A BUS!" Teddy Bear Collection August 13-28 Help us fi the ~z~~ schooi bus in the mail, with new and neariy new Teddy Bears, for Good Bears of the World, Canada. Add a litile ight to a child's life! Close to Home 'k , 3 r 0 pm Sc 9 r)6,0' i r Nr'on "o .Î e Mr orcnd nric 9q51 878 190 S PORTC H K NS w