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

@fibune o §e~ Clauificd number. name and address The Sun-Tribune reserves the ri t to publish or not publis and to edit for clar- lty and space. Letters to the Editor. The Sun-Tribune 6290 Main St. Stouflvme. ON LM IG7 is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontano. The Yam Region Newspaper Group also include‘s The Liberal, serving Richmond Hill and Thomhill, Vaughan Citizen.1he Era-Banner (Newmanet/Aurota). Matkham Economist Sun. Georgna Advocate, York Region Business Times, North of the City. yorkregionmm and York Region Printing. York Rayon Media Group community newspapers The Sun-Tribune, published every Thursday and Saturday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tamar Comoration. Metroland The Sun-mbune welcomes your let- ters. All submissions must be less than 400 words and must Include a daytime telephone Classified Manager Bonnie Rondeau cmatfarlane®yrmgcom DISTRIBUTION Circulation Supervisor Carrie MacFarlane 1muon.yvmg.com dandreu/3@yrmg,wm mbanullleibyrmgrom brondeau®yrmgmm mormanfi’yrmgcom Manager Da wna Andrews Stoufl'vflle Manager Carolyn Norman Fax lETTERS POLICY Anvamsmc Retail Manager Mike Ban ville Borrow Editor lim Mason jmason @yrmg.mm Pnooucnon Manager Sherry Day sdayél‘yrmg. com MEDIA ammmg DISTRIBUTION 905-640-2612 INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 fled: 1-800-743-3353 n: 905-640-8778 905-640-2612 1:: 905440-8778 EDITORIAL Cedar Beach, the only park within distance. is a half-hour walk away and the cost for entrance is $8 for adults and $4 for children. The roads 0 politics make a bad playground? And just where will Musselman’s Lake’s first municipal park be located? While rumours circulate that it will be behind the old Wagon Wheel Ranch on the southeast side of the lake. Councillor Phil Bannon said private negotiations with the three or four landowners, from whom the purchase of the park site would be made, are still under way. It may be late in the ball game but, still wanting to come up to bat with my opinion, I will pitch my favoured location. ThegoodfolksinurbanStouffvillle may not understand why a play- ground generates controversy up the Ninth Line at the lake. But then. playgrounds are commonplace in Stouffville proper. At the lake, things are different. Mthin a lO-door span of where I live I can count 14 children â€" five around the age of my two-year-old son. There are 20 kids at the comer that wait for the bus. Some of the families are low income, have no access to a car or, like myself. are single working moms. Lang-awaited lake park belongs on beach, council Region not helping those most in need Re: Transit riders share blame, letter to the editor by Nora Marek, Feb. 13. Mobility Plus is not the only York Region service mired in a Since then, I am not allowed to have any flu shots and I have had no further problems. Best wishes from fellow GBS flu shot sufferer The Sun-"fi'ibune printed another letter from me after I got GBS from a flu shot in 2000. I am now 85 and still going strong â€" most of the time! My best wishes to Mr. Gib- son for a speedy recovery. I read with great interest the story by Jim Thomas and Tif- fany Hsieh on Don Gibson of Stouffville and his illness. Re: Million to one shot, Feb. 11. PUBLISHER Ian Prou . ' . @W-‘Ii‘ibun I J Swmfiéi’éofi" MARIAN DISSETI‘E WHITCH URCH-STO UFFVILLE lETTERS TO THE EDITOR Recently, the staff of the York Region transportation commit- ,tee recommended rejecting subsidies for mentally disabled clients living on Ontario Dis- ability Support Plan payments because they did not fit into its business plan. It also recom- mended cancelling a pilot pro- gram of subsidized transit fares for a shelter in Aurora. As usual with bureaucratic organizations, the tail is wag- ging the dog. York Region staff do not seem to share these sentiments and have forgotten their man- date â€" to serve the people of York Region, all of them, according to their needs. Canadians gave $82 million to Haiti relief recently, indiâ€" cating we are a compassion- ate and humane people who would certainly support these initiatives, even at a cost. dispassionate corporate culture that does not include human objectives in its planning Those of you who live close by a park â€" the best of which. I believe, is Memo- rial Park in downtown Stouffville â€" will know of the benefits to a community a good park provides. Memorial Park is the place we fre- quented most last summer because it was central. It is a social space where people meet and interact and the facili- ties draw people to it: a ball diamond. swimming pool, library, open field and picnic area are all within steps. With monkey bars and bridges. a good park provides a launching point for physical activity and the inspira- around the lake lack sidewalks and are dangerous. There have been a number of tragic accidents. Kids at the lake lack access to a public playground â€" unless they drive! Deborah Waddington DR. R. BAHLIEDA NEWMARKET In fact. the Glendale site is the obvious choice for a park because it is already being used in this manner despite the posted “1l‘espassers will be There is a great toboggan hill, a wooded path. a short stretch of beach from which tobeginthe project that the subwatershed report calls “lake shore namralization” and even a smatter of parking spaces. A central clearing would provide for a decent ball diamond, a run for dog walkers and a site for a sand-sub- merged ship hull where kids could climb and play. Across from the variety store, at the crux of the only two routes around the lake, Glendale has the slogan “location. location, location” written all over its 5.5 acres. There is a site at the lake that is the obvious choice for a good park: the Glendale beach site on the lake’s southern tip, which, until recently, was a popular destination for the public. A public park is an economic leveller because no one is prohibited access and it gives parents a few blessed moments of peace and the pleasure of watching happy faces tion for imaginative games. Good parks have a natural feature that engenders interaction. PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot At Glendale, kids throw stones in Tribune Folks at the lake have been waiting a long time for 50 cents to be spent to strengthen our community infrasch- ture. Common sense says put a park where children are playing. and that is at Glendale beach. Deborah Mddlngton is a member of The Sun Tdbune’s Community Unks panel. Councillor Bannon has argued to council it “spends 50 cents in the outly- ing area for every dollar spent in town". We have seen some beautiful new buildings, roads and facilities built in Stouffville recently. Even the clock tower now sports a silver sequined sleeve. But back at the ranch, the Wagon Wheel property has property but zero street presence. It could provide a link to the Oak Ridges Tl'ails but may not be compatible with the requirements for a playground. However, I hope the process alone will not determine the outcome because the results may be lukewarm all around. I respect established protocols and trust the processes of consultation and feasibility studies will generate a solu- tion. trees, kids build a bike ramp, kids jump along the concrete barriers, a man catches grasshoppers to feed his dragon and folks walk their dogs. the lake, kids throw Frisbees, kids climb Emma m CHIEF Debora Kelly Busmnss MANAGER Robert Lazurlco Duncmn, Amnmsmc, Dlrrununou Nicole Fletcher Damon, Grumman: Barry Black