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

rm heattttg ah condoioning systems 131 weaken elh 7 totoan 4711748 craftsmanship j tiiirjiniluiin tribune community doug hackert 6405339 j stouffville aluminum siding windows specializing in replacement doofs and windows serving whitchurchstouffville uxbridge and area a metroland community newspaper wednesday april 13 1988 surgery and rehabilitation save limb steves picking up after arm severed by bruce stapley steve navratil is picking up the pieces after a nearfatal accident which almost robbed him of the use of his right arm hes spent a lot of time trying to get back to normal at his busi ness citywide outdoor services a gravel trucking and processing business its his home away from home on cone 3 uxbridge twp north of goodwood he admits to being restless but still satisfied with his progress since the accident last fall when the world came crashing down around his shoulders love of life it was steves love of machin ery that cost him his right arm in a gravel screening machine it was his love of life that spurred him on to what doctors describe as a remarkable recovery a team of surgeons at st michaels hospital in toronto reattached the limb from the start i was deter mined to regain as much use of the arm as possible he says time spent in hospital and the recovery period at home were tough obstacles to overcome i almost went crazy you become depressed just lying there for weeks following surgery steve was plagued by night mares i was afraid the arm would drop off it felt like dead weight i kept holding onto it ev ery time i got up he recalls nerve graft however thanks to the success of the original operation and a subsequent nerve graft steves made significant progress now the arms starting to feel more and more like its part of me he says with a smile the shoulder feels great too he claims i can swing the arm and my elbows starting to func tion but theres still little feel ing or movement in his hand but this doesnt bother him doctors say it may take as long as nine months for me to notice progress in that area he explains i take physiotherapy every day to keep everything pli able while it still gnaws at him that he cant service and repair his trucks and loaders he remains in volved in a supervisory capacity my trucks and equipment are everything to me steve states i do what i can with my one good arm i like to be there to make sure everythings going right steves main function before the accident was that of chief mechanic and spare driver positive attitude i cant do that now and its driving me nuts he says its a difficult adjustment but with the help of his right- hand man he makes his presence felt the guys are great he notes they find things for me to do steve maintains a positive atti tude progression has been very good i can see something happen ing all the time he claims as for the scope of what to ex pect steve says doctors have told him hes fortunate to be so young if id been 10 years older it would have been pointless to have even attempted the nerve reat tachment he explains he says dr mahoney chief plastic surgeon at st michaels expects hell get a relatively good grip back i should have perfect thumb action and the wrist movement should return plus some sense of heat sensation he explains pain has eased hes now able to sleep most nights without pain this im provement in itself is a relief he admits steve credits his mother eva with greatly aiding his recovery she visited me in hospital ev ery day and always brought me food i think thats the only reason i survived he jokes steve navratil agrees hes come a long way since oct 9 1987 he admits too he still has a long way to go but if courage and de termination are combinations to a complete recovery he holds the key march break may collide with easter holiday in 89 claremont an early eas ter date next year could mean an extended holiday for school chil dren claremonts lyn craig wants the 1989 march break combined with easter holidays she pointed out that students will return to school only four days then go on holidays again four days of school sand wiched between two long holidays disrupts classroom instruction she told a durham region board of education meeting her protests fell on nine deaf ears trustees voted 96 against the change this means next years march break will extend from march 13 to 17 good friday is march 24 and easter monday march 27 several trustees contended the change would cause confusion among parents well get a great deal of flak from the clergy commented stephen saywell of oshawa trustee patty bowman of whit by agreed the continuous holiday would take families away from their churches during easter however lorna murphy of pickering argued many students wouldnt return to classes for so short a period four days in york region the public school board has agreed to com bine the two while the separate board is retaining the present schedule the separate school board in durham region is doing the same on the road back steve navratil of stouffville is picking up after a near fatal accident last fall the 26yearold businessman caught his arm in a gravel screening device but it was successfully reattached by doc tors at st michaels hospital in toronto now hes trying to increase the strength and agility of his arm jim thomas kitty gaits goal a home for everyone by bruce stapley kitty gait is not an activist shes not looking to bring slum housing to stouffville and shes definitely not entertaining any no tions of running for political office but ever since she accepted the position of chairperson of the loc al committee for affordable housing the britishborn mother of four has emerged as a some what controversial figure shes been trying to pressure various levels of government to address the issue of the shortage of lowrental housing in the stouff ville area and she insists that was the furthest thing from her mind when she decided to become involved we are simply trying to put the issue under peoples noses she says of her committees con tinuing attempts to initiate action from governments we want to pressure council and educate people as to the type of housing we would like to see made avail able the type of accommodation kitty and her fellow committee members would like to see would consist of attractively done basic housing small in scale but not of an unpleasant appear ance its important for a commun ity to survive to offer a total range of housing says kitty there should be options for w- ivig st james presbyterian church in stouffville the annual civic recognition service in hotfor of local government week awnfcb began monday- aitecdingthe service were frob left bob elliot principal jt sum- pmftylew public school whitchurch stenflrvniecouncmorijim sanders ham bowes trustee with the yrk region feoard of education and inspector george kydd of york v regional police fvf ifethiaas- young people starting out empty nesters who want to scale down their house size and seniors the committee is an offshoot of christ church anglicans out reach group as its leader kitty has been instrumental in bringirtg attention to the cause and some wonder if shes preparing to enter the political arena not so says kitty im definitely not looking to get into politics she insists i feel you can be much more effec tive promoting a cause from out side the restrictions of office this way we can worry about one con cern and do all we can to promote an overall awareness of what we feel is a great need experienced background the committee for affordable housing was born last year in re sponse to the united nations de signation of international year of shelter for the homeless kit tys public interest was an exten sion of her personal concern for homeless people while living in ottawa she started a home for destitute women in a church hall shes on the board of torontobased homes for tomorrows society an organization that has recently seen the completion of a 61unit building for singles at an afford able price we always think of bums as being the only ones who live on the streets says kitty but few people realize that women living on their own with children are the fastest growing group of home less people she laments that while the ex perts were able to predict such things as potential hydro shor tages and the like housing shor tages were not foreseen years ago the divorce or marriage breakup factor wasnt antici pated she says this has made for a need for two homes where only one was needed previously the committee has tried to in terest town council in the housing kitty galt looking for housing solution issue and there have been frus trations admits kitty not simple we were initially told that council could request a housing statement from the provincial government for free and that that would result in an assess ment of our housing needs but it wasnt quite that simple the province did send someone to a councilincommiltce meeting but she wasnt able to satisfy the housing committee with her answers there has been some confusion as to just what direc tions should be pursued in the meantime kitty and her group have undertaken their own housing needs study a question naire for stouffville residents were trying to show theres a need out there the reaction hasnt been favor able no ghetto housing there has been some negative feedback from those who fear the committee is trying to encourage the erection of ghettotype hous ing areas in stouffville accord ing to kitty there are alterna tives to housing ghettos she in sists there are some very attractive concepts for decent- looking housing on a small scale we want to see council get it started it must become an elec tion issue we would like to see a bit of planning down the line we want to raise the awareness and make people look further ahead she says the committee will continue to seek out and present to council proposals they hope will eventually lead to the housing projects the town requires kittys interest will continue to be ensuring that everyone in stouffville has a place to call home lets face it she concludes we dont live in a climate where shelter is an option new teen club c8 back to nature c9 bruce stapley 3c5