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Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Weekly Times Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issuês annually at the office of publication. 'We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) tow.ard our mailing costs." CanadS AO™ 3 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Ororio, ON LOB 1M0' Email: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax 905:983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Sports and Display Advertising - Donna Wood Front Office and Qassified Advertising - Rosey Bateman The Orono. Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor oh subjects of i le tw îsSred uSS^will TOt be i âkrowtedgSS retùmJdWe re^e thé toeditlïtaStb M and slander. Ifvour retail office* an erronri^t SSetenex. isate goes ,o 1» (tan. WeekV Tmes W no, be response tor the toss or damage o. Lems. J Reason to celebrate The draft Community Improvement Plan, (CIP) makes for some interesting reading. The actual Plan was written up by Faye Langmaid, who is the Planner in charge of special projects projects for Clarington. In the section of the Plan which deals with Orono's history, the report states that Orono is Clarington's fourth largest community. community. Orono has become a favourite with those who yearn for a lifestyle reminiscent of an earlier era-beyond small town to a more rural, country way of life. When most area residents think of Orono, they think of celebrating. celebrating. Orono is the locale for some of the most enjoyable and popular yearly events in Clarington: such as the Durham Central Fair, the Great Canadian Band Festival, and events run by the Orono BIA such as the annual Chili Cook-off. The report states that there are two notable items missing from Orono's commercial mix that should be encouraged, they are, a medical centre and a farmers market. • • •> Regardless of what the CIP recommends, states the report the commercial mix of the downtown will continue to shift and remold itself in response to the market. Opportunities exists in finding a niche market and attracting the audience, says the report. There are gaps in the commercial mix which can be filled by savvy business, in the food service industry, accommodations and in providing a unique experience for the day-tripper. . .. Though the CIP has not been widely circulated, there are people in town who have seasonal jobs and had time to read the document. . : A plan to fill in the gaps in the commercial mix and capitalize capitalize on the niche market theme, hatched in an impromptu brainstorming brainstorming session of some of the locals who find themselves underutilized at this time of the year. They came up with a plan to hold an annual groundhog festival. Since Leskard Lily s progeny is available from a local, bitter, unemployed ^ painter/groundhog rancher, there is no reason Orono couldn't host a groundhog festival to surpass the one put on by the good folks in Wiarton with their albino groundhog. Of course there would be some cost involved with putting up a Leskard Lily hotel and all the other spin-off business such an event could bring to town. There's nothing like a good idea to bring economic renewal to a once thriving community. The CIP report also recommends that the Municipality of Clarington work with local organizers to improve the crossmarketing crossmarketing of events and attractions. In fact, there might even be seed funding available through Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) for an event co-ordinator. We're not sure the local visionaries.could take direction, but HRDC have funded much hairier schemes in the past. "The more things change--the more they stay the same" Staying in Touch MPP John O'Toole Farm advocacy events continue The crisis in agriculture goes beyond impact of BSE (Mad Cow Disease). It also includes issues such as nutrient nutrient management, unfair competition competition from subsidies given farmers outside Ontario, and the implications of new Grcenbelt laws that will further further restrict farmers. It appears that agriculture is under siege on all fronts. Ontario's grain and oilseed producers report that current prices for corn and soybeans have hit a 25-year low. Today's consumer prices often don't even reflect the cost of production. Ontario's farmers produce an essential product. They are stewards of the land. Farmers and food processors contribute $30 billion a year to the provincial economy, employing 650,000 people, and shipping $8.4 billion in exports every year. 1 would encourage all Ontarians to support the men and women who put the food on Ontario's tables. There was a tractor and vehicle convoy through Clarington last Tuesday, Feb. 1, to draw attention to the fact that Ontario's farms arc in dire straits. Further public awareness awareness events are planned this spring. O'TOOLE see page 4 Imagine if you can, your family and you are traveling south on Highway 35/115 having just passed the lovely hamlet of Kirby, when your spouse suggests "let's go to the Dutch Oven for lunch". How do you go about getting there? Think about it for a minute.... I mean, you've lived here for whatever amount of years, maybe all your life, surely you know your way around, like the back of your hand! Well when you ask people, it's surprising how many people are stumped to come up with the correct answer. Some conic down the ramp from the southbound 35/115 on to westbound Taunton Rd. and make a U turn at the bottom bottom of the ramp to then go cast on Cone. 6. Not only is this illegal (there's a no U turn sign posted), but it's downright downright dangerous. Some come down that same ramp, make a right turn onto Co-op Rd. north of Taunton Rd., turn around and then make a left hand turn onto Cone. 6 going east. Still others corrie down the ramp, signal left, stopping if necessary due to oncoming traffic and make a left hand turn across two lanes on to Co-op Road South where they go to the Co-op, turn around, come back on to Taunton Road, turning east. You're not supposed to stop on a merge lane. Period. Back to being on the 115/35. If you're really stumped about how to get to the Dutch Oven, you could go south to enter Orono on Mill Street, take Millson Hill Drive west, and then go north on Main Street to Taunton, head East on Taunton, and Bob's your uncle! Or, you could ask for directions! While a lot of other people may have had to resort to all those ways you knew all along didn't you? Of course you did! You came down the 35/115 southbound over Taunton Rd. and immediately made a right hand 140 degree turn onto Coop Coop Rd. north, past the Co-op to the stop sign at Taunton and made a right hand turn heading heading East, on to your lunch at the Dutch Oven. How absurd, that someone who's lived here as long as you wouldn't know that, without even thinking about it! Probably true, but there must be a lot of people who decide to make that trip who are "from away". Anyone who travels Cone. 6 with any regularity has probably seen most, if not all the wrong scenarios scenarios listed above, countless times. It docs surprise some of us how these strangers look so much like some of the locals. Why some of these strangers VIEWPOINTS* pegs 3