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First CF walk a huge success r I The Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo and District Cystic Fibrosis Chapâ€" ter offers a huge thank you to the community and local businessâ€" es for support of our firstâ€"ever, Great Strides Walk. On May 29, at Waterloo Park, our heroes. including those who made pledges, walk participants. volunâ€" teers, and sponsors, raised $22,000. We especially thank official partâ€" ners and corporate sponsors, such as Kin Canada. Hbc, Siemens, Schneiders and local WLU students who helped keep expenses minimal and served as enthusiastic volunâ€" teers. Many local businesses donatâ€" ed supplies, refreshments, and prizes. Money raised supports the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundaâ€" tion to fund CF research and enhance treatment programs at Canadian CF clinics and transplant centres, including the Cystic Fibroâ€" sis Clinic at Grand River Hospital. Cystic fibrosis is the most comâ€" mon, fatal, genetic disorder of voung Canadians. It damages lungs and digestive systems making basic functions such as breathing and digestion difficult. This story revolves around a leisurely afternoon at the ballpark. watching our middle daughter play junior softball. I'm albways fascinated by the differences between men and women. I live in a house with four women. The cat is female. The dog and 1 have both been neutered. We also share the same leash. That‘s another story. _ The beautiful thing about ball. 1 think, is the leisurely way it unfolds. The pace of the game allows the spectaâ€" tors to enjoy some conversation, and exchange news as the events spread out in front of us. In this particular case, one of the team mothers is very excited. and understandâ€" ably so, as her older daughter is on the verge of giving birth. A grandchild!! What a great moment! It just so happens that in her purse, as any good grandmother would, she has a copy of the 3â€"D ultrasound of her soonâ€"toâ€" be new treasure. Ultrasound has come a long way since | we had our kids. B In those days it was just this murky, colâ€" lection of black, white and grey images, which 1 think the technician might have picked up from the charcoal drawing artist at the local fair. Now, they‘te threeâ€"dimensional, and in colour! So the women in the crowd â€" my wife included â€" are passing the ultrasound back and forth, aching and aghing over the detail and the clarity "You can see his little fingers and toes," they coo FEventually, since my friend and I are the only males in the group, the picture makes its way to us, and my wife helpfully points out the little details. We are quite impressed A rewarding part of the Great However, there‘s a nagging vaice in the back of my head "Who do you think vou‘re fooling," it says, "vou cant see anything there." The problem. and I‘ve learned this way too often, is the little voice in the back of my head ratrely has Another day as an insensitive male NN Strides Walk was that so many parâ€" ticipants told us they had fun and will be back again next year to help us take steps to cure cystic fibrosis. Little‘s joke was in poor taste he crude joke by Rich Little l which you featured on your editorial page on June 22 was disgusting and didn‘t belong in a family newspaper. It promotes to men the common myth that they‘ll feel youthful again if they take up with younger and younger women. It encourages infidelity to their wives and a predatory view of chilâ€" dren and young women. These are socially harmful ideas. and NOT funny. The truth is just the opposite. and needs to be told. Men who must resort to younger women are only proving how "overâ€"theâ€"hill" they are. A truly youthful man is one who can still respond warmly to a woman his own age. Please use your pages to proâ€" mote loyalty to one‘s spouse and respect for women of all ages. Karen McCulloch Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo and District Cystic Fibrosis Chapter COMMENT "Think before you speak," my mother used to say What? And ruin all the fun? the good sense to stay there, and eventually forces its way to the front. So out it comes. "Maybe it‘s just the testosterone in me, but to me that just looks like one of those picâ€" tures from the Hubble Space Telescope." My colleague looks relieved that he‘s not the only one thinking this, but since he‘s smarter than me, he immediately bails. and says, "Oh, well, I can certainly see." Thanks, CE Of buddyv! them?" Sensing danger. and seeing as how my friend has picked this opportune moment to buy a freezie, 1 retreat, and in measured tones, agree that indeed, you can see all those things, and isn‘t it amazing. Crisis averted. Motherly types glowing in the celebration of a soonâ€"to be happy addition â€" with the added bonus af a newly sensitized male, The things that happen at a ballgame! I sure hope that picture is accurate. 1‘d be quite a surprise to have a planet instead of a haby bay! * Hear more of Brian‘s thoughts on life with the KOOL Morning Crew every weekday morning from 6 to Y%a m. on Waterioo radio station 105.3 KOOL FM N Sweetly, they are very patient and KE gentle in explaining all the nuances to my remarkable thick masculine ways "There are the little fingers and the toes, see Too late! They‘re on to me. Now I‘m surrounded by a group of mothâ€" ers, and potential grandmothers. all determined to give me a little sensiâ€" tivity. It‘s not enough that they have determined | am completely full of buillpuckey (really, this should be no surprise}, now they must bring me over from the dark side. I must be converted. You have more influence than you know. Dollars could be better spent ow could anyone justify Hspending $1 million to build a pedestrian bridge to extend the Walter Bean Trail over 401 when the trail could be extendâ€" ed under the highway, and beneath the existing bridges, for practically nothing. How could anyone justify an expenditure like that when Habitat for Humanity and lowâ€"cost housing are screaming for help; when the House of Friendship and the YWCA need money; when the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and St. John‘s Kitchen both of which help thouâ€" sands need money; when the Oasis has very limited laundry and showâ€" er facilities as the only way tor the homeless to clean up; and when the Working Centre on Queen Street can‘t finish their selfâ€"help projects. Yes, extend the Walter Bean Trail. but don‘t spend $1 miltion to do it. M. Carl Kaufman Waterloo Eleanor Grant Waterloo 1| | | Ihm‘e a shameful secret to share. I‘m not originally a Waterâ€" locian. Nope, I‘m not even originally from Kitchener or Cambridge. 1 hail from the Great White North of Ontario in Thunder Bay. I was born and raised in a city that brags about being the capital of Northwestern Ontario only because I don‘t think there is any other cities with more than 100,000 people in the region. _ Thunder Bay isn‘t a tiny city, as many would initially per ceive, with a population of approximately 113,000. It doesn‘t look as small with the amount of land that it covâ€" ers, but it doesn‘t take too long to figure out where almost every street is in the city either. Upon moving to Kitchener three years ago, one of the first surprises I was hit with was how nearby other cities were. Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge border each other, which 1 found ideal for travelling from city to city. Once upon a time, Thunder Bay was divided into its own towns as well, with two major communities of Port Arthur and Fort William. The towns merged in 1970 to make one large community with help from bordering townships such as Neebing and Mcintvre. The city now operates as a whole divided into sectors from Current River to Westfort. So why can‘t that be done here? The cities already mesh into each other â€" sometimes I still don‘t know when I‘ve entered Watertoo from Kitchener while walking along King Street. I make my own assumption that once I walk past Grand River Hospital, I‘m now in Waterlooâ€"whether I‘m right or wrong, I never really know. _1 just know if I keep walking down King Street, I‘ll be in Waterloo eventuâ€" allv. 1 asked a friend that very question when 1 first moved here. opening a big can of worms in the process. As for Cambridge, 1 know it‘s just a hop. skip and a jump across the 401 and I‘m downtown Cambridge. Well, that‘s not too hard either. So if Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge are as close together as Fort William and Port Arthur in Thunder Bay, why not just amalgamate? 1 never realized how taboo the concept has become in Waterloo Region where there‘s been so much controversy surâ€" rounding just the thought of amalgamation. I also noticed that it‘s a hard topic to approach because you never know how peoâ€" ple will react. But wouldn‘t it be easier? Being simpleâ€"minded, I saw the three different cities as one tangled, confusing mess. I figured it‘d be better to merge together into one large city. reach out to surrounding townâ€" ships and eventually someday to Guelph to become the ‘new Toronto‘. 1 realize there would still be a long way to go, but it‘d get pretty close. Opening a tahoo topic It‘s not until 1 started living in the region that I realized why everything‘s just perfect the way it is. Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge are multicultural comâ€" munities that have such eclectic tastes that contrast in each of their own ways. I see the old, historical buildings in Cambridge and Waterloo that are filled with history. and 1 stand in front of Kitchener City Hall with its beautiful newâ€"age water fountains. 1 walk down the streets to see how different the people are from the communities they live in, but they work together to form a more positive, budding society. They are cities that work just as efficiently together as they do in each of their own identities. Waterloo is proud of what it has built here. It‘s a smaller city in size, but the people show how proud they are of their city. They fight for things that may seem small in perspective but truly matter to them â€" from the lightposts in Sandowne Park to just how many parking spaces are left in Waterloo‘s uptown. To some it may seem petty, but to others these are small things which work towards making Waterloo such a beautiful place that so many could be proud of It is also a massive university town that is proud of the conâ€" tributions made from the institutions with a vibrant, young community, as well as the elder community that embraces all of the hard work that Waterloo has done to get where it is today lay So why doesn‘t the region almagamate? It goes hack to the old saving: if it‘s not broken, don‘t fix it RYAN CONNELL