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p4 fmm mmm st stouffville ward 2 race heating up and the race is on four local residents have shown interest in the ward 2 council seat vacated by ron robb jan 1 and whoever wins the seat will certainly know what its like to meet the many demands questions and concerns of its constituents robb often called ward 2 which covers musselman lake ballantrae and surrounding areas the busiest of the towns six wards and he may be right ward 2 residents have a long list of concerns that need to be addressed musselman lake is home to a kettle lake that needs help guidance and a lot of tlc lakeshore road is in dire needed ofrepair and the ward is blessed with miles of wilderness that makes it a yearround attraction to outdoor and outoftown enthusiasts and represents a large part of whitchurchstouffvilles rural lands the residents are sometimes angry and have told contenders for the feb 25 by- election that they feel isolated from the town and from the decisions that will ultimately affect them directly its the job of the candidates to think about the issues and let people know what measures they will take to deal with them if elected and its the job of the voters the masters of the ward to tell these runners whats on their minds voters can do so by exercising their right to vote and should on feb 25 w wifes mlnnrtfe purchases a enotxrw to rve mea hbrtmcjc new stouffville tribune editor says hello itt am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that god will not make me one mark twain ive always admired mark twain but i hope hes missed the paddlesteamer on this one it has always been my dream to be an editor at least ever since i stopped wanting to be a fireman and even though i have not always done right and am not always as good as i could be i am thankful to be here please allow me to introduce myself the name is mair andrew mair and i am proud to be the new editor of the tribune of late i have occupied my waking hours as a copy editor at our sister paper in markham and before that was sports editor of the same publication prior to that i spent two years as sports editor of the paper in elliot lake i am originally from london ont but spent much of the intervening years in the wilds of the aforementioned northern ontario town i am married and bear the considerable weight of caring and feeding two feline children for the time being anyway i live in the wilds of metropolitan toronto but am desperately seeking all escape routes north as i mentioned i am used to the serenity of a more rural existence and even after three years in the big smoke i cant seem to be able to determine whether i am cut from an urban swath of cloth i rather doubt it something in my constitution just doesnt seem to jibe with sirens going off at 3 am and biweekly attempts on the life of my car i am accustomed to life in smaller communities and it is in a smaller community my wife and i have always known wed settle that is why im so excited about my new post here at the trib i am now in the midst of a growing community one with dynamic potential for the future and the tribune will be there to mirror the events of the day and to inform our readership of times past present and future our role will be the same as it has always been to bring our best to the communities we serve and we will grow along with the area maintaining and reflecting the wants and needs of our readers now some things will change right off the top weve updated our look and weve added some new features for starters there will be more to come i see my role as editor as one of liaison between you the public and the final product you get on your doorstep each week and in that role i am extending an open invitation to anyone who has comments or concerns about the paper to stop by or write to me i will make time available because it is you who we are here to serve i look forward to my new position and to meeting my new neighbors barbecues fresh air out in february stouffvilleuxbridge tribune publisher editorinchief editor advertising director business manager promotionsdistribution mgr operations manager patricia pappas jo ann stevenson andrew mair debra weller chris bertram jennifer hutt pam nichols pubsshed every wednesday by metroland printing pubeshing and distributing at 9 heritage rd markham ontario l3p 1 m3 tel 2942200 second class registration number 1 247 the stouffville tribune published every wednesday at 54 main st w stouffvilse is one of the metrofend printing publishing and distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burfngton post etobicoke advertiserguardian georgetown independent kingston this week lindsay this week markham economist and sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakvoe beaver oshawa- whitby this week peterborough this week richmond hvthomhiiwaughan libera scarborough mirror topic newsmagazine wibowdaje minor metroland printing punishing and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 6402100 8529741 17 ebruary like ben johnson saddam hussein and yolanda ballard has long been the target of bad press and i thought it was time to take an objective look at this most maligned of months on the downside february is the frozen heart of midwinter it is usually excruciatingly cold the roads can be treacherous and my husband insists its too soon to barbecue the sunday roast february is a distressingly long way from june and doesnt lend itself to activities like opening windows to let in the fresh air poolside parties or whitewater rafting its the time of year when children suddenly grow out of their winter boots and all you can find are sandals or a whole store full of boots which come only in sizes 1 1 or eight when what youre looking for are sizes five and seven by february you find youve amassed about 13 righthand gloves in a wide variety of styles and colors while their leftleaning counterparts have gone the way of significant other socks in the washing machine february is when you can no longer pretend even to yourself that kates corner kisa you could afford last christmas as you struggle just to pay the interest on a mounting deficit which is beginning to rival the provincial debt its when the garage door gets hopelessly stuck which is immaterial really because when you do finally heave it to the open position the car refuses to start at this time of year supermailboxes resist all reasonable attempts to open themjust the other day the old man lumbered off to ours deicer clutched firmly in hands weatherproofed by gardening gloves the only variety which hadnt undergone a permanent separation and squirted a blast at the recalcitrant lock the mailbox fought back he missed the lock and hit the door thereby receiving an eyefull of de- icer which ricocheted off the freezing metal it wasnt until later in the week that i managed to wrestle the door open to be greeted by a fistful of bills flyers and personalized letters addressed to mysterious individuals called gilderdack and eilderdale in february youre inundated with commercials ads flyers articles and little electronic billboards all trying to create a passionate enthusiasm for rrsps resps and other baffling but legal tax dodges which would be a great idea if only there was any money left in the battered bank account with which to purchase them february is the month we celebrate st valentines day a fact which could once have been used as a submission for the defence but that was before the government slapped gst on everything and rendered an evening out inaccessible to all but the independently wealthy in february its still snowy enough for downhill skiing an activity which my son has adopted with wholehearted enthusiasm thus further depleting the family coffers and on the plus side february although it seems endless is the shortest month of the year