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tit vimin 1 v- it economist sunjtribunesstouffville sun wednesday dec 26 2001 vj5 iribune sun 4 a metrojand community nevaper 1 heritage rd markham onl up 1m3 pubvistierlariproudfoot- general manager alvinbrouwer editor in chief breiidd larson director of advertising debraweuer f deputy editor s deborakeuy 1 editor l jim mason production manager r pam nichols distribution manager 1 barry blade o online publishing manager margaret fleming classified manager ann campbell t retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager siacey allen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian cxnetl editorial from classrooms to soccer fields volunteers make a difference in 2001 we celebrated the contribution volun teers make in our society york regions international year of volunteers campaign saw enormous attention drawn to the efforts of volunteers in our communities from the scout leader to the big brother or sister from the literacy advocate to the doortodoor canvasser kudos of course to the steering committee that put together a twoday summit onvoluntary action in may allowing an opportunity for partici pants to identify volunteerism in their communi ties and to address broad and specific issues affect ing volunteerism in york region the summit also celebrated volunteers at com munity spirit day ur september a special event designed to showcase volunteer agencies and offer families a chance to have fun both events were important tools for increasing jpublic awareness as were the special publications jour newspaper group produced to support them g in addition discussions about the establish- ment of a regional volunteer centre that would jjfiflp coordinate volunteer opportunities and jtieeds in all municipalities demonstrate the impor- plance of volunteers in keeping our comniunities running 1- v telephone v si fax 905 2941538 s r v -c- email newsioorogecoosuncom david teetzel towns scramble to return gifts they dbni want letters to the editor v there isnt a person in york region who hasnt been in contact with a volunteer of some sort at some time s there isnt a person in york region who hasnt been in contact- with avolunteer ofsome sort at rs6merimyi f i af- theyremepeoplewhoaskyoujtodropacpihin a ketdeat christmastime they knock on your door- to ask you to help fund heart research they teach they make national statistics compiled in 1997 the most recent yearjorwhich figures are available showed it would cost 29 billion annually if we had to pay the 29 million people who donated a total of 422 million hours to volunteering at a minimum wage of 685 an hour x t thats the equivalent of 200000 ftilltime jobs wij canyou imagine what would happen to agen cies if these volunteers walked away jg if they could nomonger makealcornitmcnq because of new demands at home or on the job 7 w r imake sense to make volunteerism an attractive benefit jo the- youth home in milliken vital for troubled teens open letter to markham regional councillor frank scarpit- ti councillor khalid usman and other members of markham coiin- cii r ive only readone side of the story about the proposed- girls home on jaffray road in milliken but i would like to bring some information to your attention are you aware of the number of homeless youths in york region that we in the alliance for home- pher youll learn santas a pretty good guy congratulations to photogra pher sjoerd witteveen the car toon of the politically correct santa was right on too y kaye sutherland markham give milne offleash area a chanceio succeed re drakefield road entrance to milnedam park a traffic hazard letter to the editor dec 15 as a twodog owner and a natu- lessnpss and socid isolation for yalistitm grateful there is ieash- york region have identifietlinv h 7 ferk3sfc kregk study do you ti as markliams human firpinr know about die three ha so n ing to squelch this excellent exper iment before it has a chance to prove itself so id urge us all to remember to keep our dogs leashed until into the leashfrec zone dont take dogs that are aggressive who wont stick nearby or come when called and dont use the drakefield entrance if you can use the main entrance barry kent mackay- markham i i reservoir encounter left stouffville runner shaken jrji- anavid ipnnef nd f- ji yousmlcs usffiame fherjiisedto qujeflywaldogs sion or construction sites v ive had to drive many miles w ifwewantto ensure this benefit 5 i tv continues toexist- wouldnt it business community threequarters of volunteers who responded to i the national survey said they developed great skills wolunteering they knew- how to better relate to people and how to better motivate others they became better public speakers writers and orga- tmzers they gained new organizational and man agerial skills gg so safe to say volunteerism is an allround ben- ffx t0 soc agencies benefit the volunteers benefit if however we want to ensure this benefit con tinues to exist wouldnt it make sense to make vol- hihteerism an attractive benefit to the business fcommunity f4 think about it if we can encourage the world of business to actively promote volunteerism among their employees we can be assured of a ready sup ply of volunteers ii ji v there are businesses tliat iready have taken mhatstep tlieitankihgcommunit fpr example i regularly lends employees including senior mah- agers to agencies and boards to help them with planning development and fundraising km eh trnt 4vfetbways4r markham i flwfcippw ateirow subdiypw formef councillorralph asclin iisfi5 rai olives despite nimby syndrome they do not appear to present any problems are you aware the chief reasons foryouths leaving home are verbal or physical abuse alcoholic or addicted parents dysfunctional families sexual abuse and lincest if kids especially females do not receive assistance arid support from the community a number end up as hookersin downtown i toronto- l so we are rid of these prob- lem disposable kids and have pushed them into a cycle of prosti- tution drugs control by pimps crime gangs homelessness and more abuse il these are our communitys kids we have a responsibility to assist them in acquiring the life agjjadpassed byarijyiiei lahenoly stqufwiljnqd r as if was treading along i i v s noticed a couple walking their andor use unsafe areas to provide hot on a leash my dogs and myself fresh air and exercise it nothings perfect of course but i find some of the complaints beingmadea bitselfish v ive used the drakefield j entrance and never seen a hazard to traffic any worse than on any other residential street where peo- pie park including my own i prefer the main entrance and dog on a leash i immediately noticed they had a difficult time in calming the animal i stopped anil moved off the t path to allow the couple and their dog to pass it was here the dog lunged and to my astonishment had grabbed my right pant leg luckily it didnt ust like millions of people the world over york region municipalities are observing the boxing day tradition of reflecting on all they have received this year and trying to exchange it for the stuff they really wanted ok so no store accepts exchanges on boxing day but for gifts that didnt necessarily come from a store it looks like there will be a long line at the exchange counter this year starting with king township which received the gift of a big pipe two years ago and decided to exchange it for something more suitable then as so often happens it got the same unwant ed gift again this year indeed the big pipe was a popular gift item as stouffville is getting one too the big pipe is the gift that keeps on giving which is exacdy what some peo ple in king are afraid of next year that pipe connection might lead to an overflow of brightly packaged development industry pre sents under kings christmas tree sort of like the huge haul richmond hill got this year there was legislation to save the oak ridges moraine a bayview avenue extension through the jefferson forest and 8000 new residents ready to live amid the pristine beauty of an unspoiled moraine richmond hill isnt planning to exchange these gifts but may have difficulty maintaining them all- some folks in east gwillimbury are keen to exchange their big present from york region a transfer station for the regions garbage i seems thfeywcjre talkirtg tonevvmar- after345pm that is a particular benefit to peoplevvho because of physical limitations or time constraints- cannot walk- infrom mccowan road i- in his letter wright has offered suggestions thatjnconve- nience dog owners so hedoes not j experience a lesser degree of skills and educanon they require inconvenience just thesame as your and my chil- places such as markham fair- v grounds or milne park are danger- they are productsof abuse and ous t0 d j are not suffi bite tlirough the couple was have7ofcetlatetyxisieft ojien upset and they yanked andf yanked until the dog let go need hove and selfesteem more than anything else their success stories will over whelm you they need the chance to succeed in life my only concern is the qualifi cations and agenda of the two ciently enclosed and require con siderable driving from residential markham wheremost people and their dogs reside the current milne park site is brilliantly chosen- as it provides sight barriers and a sense of space people operating the home is it for that is easy for dogs to comprehend financial gain pj owners howeverfnust be poey andahistoryof having- been urirtlthey are well into the leash- involved with this highly delicate free zona to the agency receives assistance from highly trained professibnalsfj i f ksj its acontributiqn to the ammunirywtkno strings attached ahd the agency ieceivassis- tance from highly trained professionals vi s j some businesses allov employees toiedicate ttwo days each year to avolunteer group without i losing pay or vacation benefits in the process ilx it allows the employee an opportunity towork for agood causethat he cares about but it also tells the employee the boss thinks his volunteer efforts are important v v rlf the federal government which launched thes national volunteers celebration this year were to examine the feasibility of tax incentives to corpbra- tionv that provided employees for volunteer efforts memovetould be commendable tti- perhaps its possible the employer could receive acharitable donation receipt that would be cquiv- alt to a portion of the employees salary for the ngjheni3rvvi v 2 slf yohmteensm is critical to our communities toour countrythen we should dosbmethingoon- meeittureasteaoysupprofvohintccrs- exanurdngutcentrvcs for corpcatfcnsfaat least s youth work our kids are definitely the com munitys responsibility and if the mandate is similar to pathways kidswith criminal- records are probably not accepted into the program that unique character of the sitewould be lost were the leash- free area to be moved anywhere else in milne park and the closer to mccowan road the greater the danger from traffic including cars in the park to the dogs tl joyce riettie closing the drakefield entrance ifvv unionv1he would inconvenience people par- j ticularly when the parks front- santa photo biinjpliaft childhood memories r parked cars inconveniehvbut we 7 must leam to live- together and ra page lplwtqof santa and a acknmsiledge cadi oihefsneeds childlmmistsundej8yx it is precisely because this isa what a wdndejful picture on trial period that it is important to theffrontpageit brought backsee it through i memories of our- ovn children i but dog walkcrskave- to with santa never mindchristof remember there are people seek- the couple expressed their- regret and apologized j verified that i was fine arid told the couple no harm was done so i went along down the path then i encountered another larger dog but this time it was loose wth i the owners metres behind n mom dad and theirchildreri once again i stopped and wait ed until they called their animal back i told them i didnt appreciate the fact their dog was loose and ironically it was moments ago i was bit by a dog that was leashed until this fateful day 1 had accepted that in our culture the dog was an integral part of our common society to say the least dogs have an intimate place in human relation- ships then i reminded myself we had a tragic death of a stouffville child because of a dog dogs are brought into this world by human beings we have ultimate responsibility over therri- if it were a wild animal the situa- tion would be different j 4 there wasnt much i thought at the time those people could have done therdog was undents leash i was elated the animal wasv subdued and i wasnt hurt but when i met up with the second dog loose i briefly felt this wasnt u going to be my day there is a sign at the reservoir saying clogs must be on leash i feel now the sign should read no dogs allowed h rosarjodimarco j stouffvllles riiftgisvillinbury got that fancy riesirvercity movie theatre and- the big- around itbut its nbrtherrineighbour isnt- interested in rhakingtliat trade georgina asked santa for a highway to reach all the way to its borders but the jolly old elf came up a little short t instead he left a field guide to bea- itless that way when paul mccartney enters the talent show at the sutton fair nexyear people wont be caught off guard as they were when ringb passed through in september to ask die musi cal questions do you need anybody ijcould it bejahybqdy c this- yearj auroras stocking was stuffed with club memberships a junior membership in the merged hydro club and a membership in the central york fire service these gifts will not be exchanged once you have named apet project its awfully hard to partyith itx j vaughah got trafficcalming pro jectswhichdidnt make anyone calmer the citys notoriously impatient drivers had trouble telling the difference between a traffic circle and a speed bump it may be difficult to trade in a traffic circle for a spadina subway extension but vaughan will try markhams wish list included transit projects too it asked santa for a light rapid transit system a new town centre development and an improved inter change to hwy 407 what it got was a freerange dog park and all the howl ing and whining that goes with it the howling i came from resi dents notyogs our- school boards received the muchappreciated gift of relative peace and harmony at least with their teachers who didnt go on strike once cyall year the public board might have liked a little peace around the board table to go with it but why get greedy our publicly funded boards are also lining up to trade in all their provincial testing and exacting standards for a bit j of the money being directed to taxcred- its for private schools york region received a few gifts from mike harris this year including 6098 social housing units in various degrees of repair what did it really want in the immortal words of charliebrowns little sister sally just send money c so if you didnt get your wish this year at least you know youre not alone merry christmas to all and better luck nextyear 85w5isiiji xic3i mi letters policy an stoufmdetribvneand l sioufmoe sun welcome your icaaabsubmtesonimustbe lot tun 400 north and must include a diiimeidtphone number ntfne and address the newspaper reserves tfie right so pubbsh or not pobgsh ardmctftfwcbrfqrand mia hi tawrjj ho stoumvillt tribunesun serving the community since 1888 c sttutmm mm 4 son it a totem bcrtif of pvmctooa dim ammw b sugemksuibpubitfiedcvtryteidv ml to strtmt m puutlitd twy hum utt stmun ont o bit unstxtirtotoctjttitkfkiml i muon htnucwtii tent awferblfttaweefjwprt8cwcjnb fconemoivwtupcoaneclfatimiyiccraihmxtlibur oajpettfuafeoiltomlnpftfcnvtaofw urrtn ctoffjnt dynvtt n ncvt notvi imt moor oihmt vtmic oimtt sft news oiflb lodt 0aama phooe905a94iio r cussified f- distribution j raoc90jjmi53s i80o74j3j53 hht0ortmsi v j dttrib j