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ecotwmsistotfl 3 community service businessman takes on volunteer task to lead regions uw campaign leading the way bymikeadler staff writer york region is a place where employers want to move and where people want to live but to keep the region healthy mike egan says more companies and more employees have to get behind the united way if we dont treat the community as a whole then thats all jeopardized the president of markhams insystems technologies said last week the united way of york region gets about 87 per cent of its support direct from corporations or their employees this years fundraising campaign chairperson for the organization egan 49 aims to get more companies involved the united way made egan whose software firm helps financial companies manage documents its third campaign chairperson in three years from the regions fastexpanding hightech sector f the volunteer post leading 1000 helpers was ably held last year by nigel i stokes president of the markhambased f datamirror corporation and in 1997 by mark durst president of patriot i computers in thornhill egan a newmarket resident headed the 1998 campaign among technology firms and saw them double their contri- billions the giving within the technology division has skyrocketed wyn chivers the united wayfe executive director said this week this year although the official kickoff isnt until september egan wanted to start the campaign early and strong we got a very early start and think were going to have a really good year he said government cutbacks to social pro grams for children seniors and families in needmake support for the united way more essential egan added you probably know one or two peo ple that are benefitting directly from staff photosieve somerwule mike egan president of insystems technologies has been named chairperson of the york region united way fundraising campaign leading 1000 volun teers united way programs the charity umbrella has started a strong effort called youth on board to recruit younger volunteers last month the united way nominated laura tsang 19 of unionville as a board member and said 17 of its 39 member agencies have also opened a position for ayouth repre sentative they know ifs a great organization but dont know how to access it said tsang a recent markham district high school graduate carolyn smith coordinator of youth on board said a similar program in the windsor area proved people who became involved in a voluntary activity in their youth were still involved a decade later police man presumed drowned in lake simcoe by lisa queen staff writer a toronto man is presumed drowned after he jumped into lake simcoe sunday to retrieve his hat yesterday police divers and the marine unit continued to search tor dave ledrew 42 the etobicoke man was sailing with three friends on cooks bay at about 5 pml sunday he jumped overboard to recover his hat he was last seen swim ming away from the boat york regional police staffsgt al ledger said the friends turned the boat around and searched for ledrew but couldnt find him ledger who didnt know if the man was wearing a life jacket said he was at least two kilometres offshore at orchard beach when he jumped into the water york police used their marine boats to hunt for ledrew while an opp helicopter searched for him by air but they failed to find him police list him as missing and presumed drowned ironically as police searched for ledrew two georgina residents rescued a family whose canoe overturned in the same area yesterday afternoon a group of lake drive residents who were just heading out the door for a shopping trip heard cries for help com ing from the water sharon hagle pulled out her binoculars and saw two parents and their daughters clingingto the canoe about 200 yards from shore screaming for help were all on our toes because of the drowning yesterday said hagle adding both parents and their daughters were wearing lifejackets joan ransberry who is responsible for wells running dry omethings wrong within hours of each other the wells at half a dozen homes on marjorie drive in vandorf went dry recognizing a problem york region launched an investigation to find out why as an emergency measure regional staff delivered 10 water tanks to each affected homa the tanks weigh 1200 gallons each theyre big and ugly but if you cant brush your teeth theyre precious the people living in this upscale neighbourhood are taking the situation in stride instead of screaming blue murder the residents are bending over backwards to show theyre tolerant fair and understanding residents still i suspect the homeowners feel slightly shafted after all they paid the earth for their homes at the time of sale i expect purchasers were told the water supply to operate their dream home was endless and maybe no one had any reason to believe otherwise like his neighbours bill puskar and his family arent going off the deep end when the family heard the neigh bours well went dry two weeks ago the puskas family began to ration it was pointless despite efforts to con serve water their well went bone dry the puskas are how making do with the tank water and are collecting rain water to nourish their tomato plants homeowner ivanka bradley said everyone is depend ing on cooperation from york region lean take a show er wash my clothes and brush my teeth now thats progress she said nobody including the vandorf ratepayers association is pointing the finger of blame at york region bob mcneely vra executive member is emphatic york region has been more than cooperative the vra has put together an information flyer outiinr ing the water problem and the course of action to be dis- tributed to vandorf residents in a few days vandorf s water source comes from two aquifers the affected aquifer is 170 feet deep about 70 homes are connected to it of course more than 60 homeowners are now wondering if this spells trouble for them too the option of connecting vandorf to the big pipe must be gaining popularity usually when a hamlet is connected to a communal water system theres lots of kicking and screaming ifs a different story when wells go dry since the ministry of the environment provides the permits to pump die water in vandorf the province car ries responsibility whitchurchstouffville is also keeping a close eye on things mayor wayne emmerson said some people link the problem to a belownormal amount of snowfall this past winter followed by almost draught conditions i dont buy this explanation neither snow nor draught caused this theres a ppssi7 bility that nearby golf courses are taxing the aquifer to ful fill their irrigation needs still i dont think the golf courses are alone in this my gut tells me that one local industry is the main culprit ward councillor steve pliakes is dead on when he said someone has overused now all we need to know is who t 9 t 9t f