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

Fire rips through a home on Abbotsford Road in Preston Lake, near Bloomington Road and Wawryk (inset) of Whitchurch-Stouifville Fire and Emergency Services works at the scene. Woodbine Avenue Sunday. The SIS-million home was destroyed. Acting Captain Trevor For an additional photograph and story, see page 15. BY SANDRA BOLAN Staff Writer It looks like the loo-mile diet may actu- ally tum into the 10-mile diet as a farmers’ market is being contemplated for downtown Stoufiville. ‘ On Monday night, the town will be hold- ing a meeting for local farmers to voice their opinions on a potential downtown farmers' market. “We want to hear from the farming com- munity," said Rebecca Mustard,M1itchurch- Stoufivifle’s economic development ofiicer. ls appetite large enough for two farmers’ markets? COUNTRY MARKET OPPOSES NEW DOWNTOWN PROPOSAL “Are they interested in having a market? If so, what will it look like to them? “The town is not super-imposing any ideas into this meeting; it’s to facilitate dis- cussions” But, there is already opposition. The downtown market would not be the only one in town. The Stouffville Country Market, located on the "lenth Line, offers customers the same type of products â€" fruit, vegetables, honey, jams, baked goods and homemade breads â€" the downtown market would provide. But $1.5-MIllION ESTATE HOME BURNS T0 GROUND “We're looking for it to be complemen- tary," she said. “We support the Stoufiville Country Market.” Ms Mustard noted the two markets would not be in competition with each other. Which is news to Norm Clements. opera- tor of the Country Market. “The town has not gotten behind the market," he said. “It is the heritage site of Stouffville. Why they haven't capitalized on that, 1 don't know." Piggy-backing on the Country Market’s success makes more sense than starting from scratch, Mr. Clements said. “I view it as a missed opportunity because they’re flying to create something new,” he said. “1 think there’s a better way to do it.” In order to bring the market into down- town, the municipality is also working with the Business Improvement Anea. “I think it's a great idea. I think anything coming to downtown Stouffville, to get peo- ple shopping downtown is great." said Ruth LeBlanc. manager of Stouffville's BIA. Things to do. Environment Sports . . . . . . Classified . . . See DOWNTOWN, pagr 7 STAFF PHOTOS/BILL ROBERTS l9