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Today marks the kickâ€"off of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region‘s annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. And the need this year is greater than ever. Food for thought An increase in homelessness is largely to blame. Food bank offiâ€" cials report that 62 per cent more people in this community last year had no choice but to rely on emerâ€" gency shelters, hostels and soup kitchens for hot meals. And since the food bank stocks the shelves of our emergency shelâ€" ters, hostels and soup kitchens, its down to us to stock the shelves of the food bank 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1P2 Chronicle V Phone: 886â€"2830 Fax; 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wehronicle@sentex.net EDIT 0R 1A l Congrats to the City of Waterloo for its fine showing in the provincial level of the Communities in Bloom competition. In its first kick at the can, Waterloo earned last weekend a score of "Four Blooms" (whatever that means), and is now eligible to compete next year at the nationat level of the competition. Organized by the Ontario Parks Association and the Organization of Small Urban Municipalities, the competition honours communities for the way Bet they‘re waiting with bated breath for winter, when the whole green mess goes under cover. At the same time, a big green f * thumbs up to all the local residents C 1 who are winners in the City of LA â€" Waterloo‘s second annual Communiâ€" fi * t . ties in Bloom competition. Ward 3 A winners Thomas and Katherine Reuel, John and Sharon Carey, Wilâ€" Deborah Crandall helm and Helga Napl, Frederick and Pearl Zarnke and Karl and Johanna Hirzer will all be honoured at Monday night‘s council meeting for the spectacular front yards they so lovingly and painstakingly keep. But I must say I‘m a bit miffed that John and Brenda Semple will be receiving the award for best alternative/environmentally friendly front yard. 1 think 1 should have won that one, hands down. _ My front yard is nothing if it isn‘t environmentally friendly. There‘s not a pesticide in sight. Or a garden hoe, for that matter. Or a spade, or garden gloves, or hedge clippers, or pruners. â€" Nope, my yardâ€"or natural habitat, as 1 call ‘erâ€"has developed without much nurturing on my part. Sure, at the beginning of the summer I planted a few colourful things in the flower beds in front and along side my house. But they‘ve long since been dwarfed by mother nature. And who am I to argue with mother? _ I‘m sure my neighbours would agree. And I‘m baffled as to why they didn‘t nominate me for the award. S Chronicle International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 AND ANOTHER # C P _A In praise of green thumbs ee o they, well, bloom Things like environmental effort, urban forestry (for which Waterloo won a special award), and floral arrangement are all part of the picâ€" ture that determines winners. And Waterloo scored big on all counts. Yay us! The Thanksgiving Food Drive is the most ambitious of the food bank‘s annual campaigns. This year‘s goal is 300,000 Ib. of food. And there‘s no doubt Waterâ€" loo Region residents are up for the challenge. We‘ve always come through. Rare has been the occaâ€" sion when a local food drive was extended due to lack of support. But lets not rest on our laurels. Let‘s not assume the other guy will take care of things. So this week when you‘re tallyâ€" ing up the things you have to be thankful for, add to the list the fact that you‘re able to give. & â€" * £ lej 2 6 r ‘ ‘y&- sadk L ] [' 2 ] | C3 ' ues fiim Cns amauke es me en | o e 2e Martice D& Kerges Norma Cyca Mirchell Kim Broderich Fall is officially here, and some morning soon the frost will be on the pumpkin and the longjohns will come out of storâ€" age. This is going to be a glorious autumn. We can already see three things turning yellowâ€"the leaves, the trees, and a neighbor who‘s getting jaundice. 1 suppose a few people hate it because of their meanness of spirit. They just can‘t stand the thought that somewhere someone is having fun. They‘re to be pitied. _ For better or wurst, Oktoberfest is upon us For Better or Wurst: Hail it or hate it, Oktoberfest is upon us again. Still, I don‘t know why anyone should have strong feelings against it. After all, it isn‘t compulsory. So if you‘re not living close enough to a festhall to be torâ€" mented by traffic, deafened by comâ€"pahâ€"pah music, or nauseated by the stench of seared schnitzel, you have no reason to complain. “Nfll And let me remind youâ€"as Oktoberfest offiâ€" cials will endlesslyâ€"there are scores of nonâ€" drinking events. Bone dry, they are. Still, for my money the biggest event is the spectacular Thanksgiving Day Parade, the finest of its kind in the province. But pray for good weather. A downpour dampens everyâ€" thing, including the spirit. 1 can recall an Oktoberfest years ago when 1 was one of the judges. It was raining cats and dogs. (I know because I stepped in a poodle}. It was so wet our notepads became pulp. The nonâ€"winners should have demanded a recount. Still, the winning floats and bands were honored. But the prizes were awarded for best swim strokesâ€"Australian crawl and so on. Ah well, to sum up, if you dislike Oktoberfest and are feelâ€" ing sorry for yourself, just be thankful you don‘t have to wear lederthosen. How‘s Zat? Municipal councils are deferring action on regional reform on the grounds they want to hear what Queen‘s Park has to say. That‘s OK as long as it‘s the real reaâ€" On the Road Again: There‘s been another fatality on that muchâ€"condemned Highway 7 strip to Guelph, and lets hope the opponents of a new highway are keeping careful score. After all, lack of decisiveness is probably a bad trait ...on the other hand, maybe not. On second thought, that‘s unfair. The opponents of the new |[hipa2zorN T ) CCL OncE over JJGHTY road may be misguided, but they‘re sincere. They‘re just unre alistic in their "solutions." For example, they talk about car pools and transit facilines as alternatives. Fact is, there aren‘t enough folks willing to participate in them to make them work Meanwhile conditions on Highway 7 get worse and worse And there‘s no point in contending that a new highway will fill up promptly. If we followed that logic, we‘d still have oneâ€" lane gravel roads. Incidentally, free trade and the province‘s economic boom have revealed Highway 401 for the death trap it‘s become And an exâ€"bureaucrat has confirmed its shortcomings by sayâ€" iess _ you‘re Damp Right Well, Waterloo Region is wrestling with the crucial decision on where it will get its water after 2018 when the present sources are not enough There are three options and the costs run to a high of $550 million for a pipeline. The other two choices simply use more groundwater and offerings from the everâ€"tasty Grand River. As complete and final soulutions, those options aren‘t. The pipeline would cost more, but we could split the cost with other municipalities, or we cotld buy water from Hamilionâ€" Wentworth and pipe it in. A pipeline is the only answer. It would mean we could entice factories to locate here and we could let plants expand without a worty. And I hope I‘ve made myself clear, as the water said when it passed through the filter. ing it was built on the cheap with an awareness of its limitations. A sharply increased volume, particularly in tractorâ€"trailer rigs, has shown its tragic flaws The quick fix to be given some trouble spots should be a help. Lets hope it works. It had better or soon autopsy verdicts will read; "We find the deceased died a natural death. He was killed in a crash on Highway 401." Just the Ticket: If you‘re looking for a busiâ€" ness that has no slow periods, get a lottery ticket franchise. Selling to suckers? Of course but the guy who says you can‘t get something for nothing has obviously never received junk Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group = A division of Southam Inc, The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views ol the newspaper Mailed subscription rates: $65 yearly in Canada, $90 yearly outside Canada. + G S.T