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

6 economist suntribune saturday nov 30 2002 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot opinion editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail flyer sales nicole mathieu advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci letters to the editor christmas wish list includes better shops in stouffville as our thoughts turn to christmas we make up wish lists for ourselves our loved ones family friends and those in need i would like to share my wishes for the con fused and frustrated citizens of stouffville first in the now empty ap building on main street id like to see a giant tiger dis count foodclothing store the old td build ing and shoppers drug mart would be per fect for a family shoe store the liquor store could house a health food store supplying supplements and much needed advice that we all seem to be search ing for these days lets not forget the east end of town with the old barn torn down at the stouffville country market plenty of space is available for a movie theatre and playhouse built in a red barn style accompaning these theatres would be ma and pa food outlets supplying homebaked and homecooked delicacies if there is a santa maybe he would see how many people he would be making happy by fulfilling these wishes we could then stay in our home town and actually shop eat drink and be entertained if this list is too much to ask for would you just consider returning the wonderful gift cor ner that shoppers drug mart used to have teri mctavish stouffville markhams jack grant left legacy of working for social justice my friend jack grant is dead what a pro found loss not just to his family and friends but also to markham canada and the world jack was a man of great vision and intel lect his ability to understand the complexi ties of the political and economical realities of countries around the world was inspiring yet it was his passion for social justice his commitment to challenge the inequities and disparities between the have and the have- not countries that really defined jack as a great man jack not only challenged the status quo but also put his creative genius to work to develop meaningful economic and political alternatives to help bridge the gaps whether in his capacity as a founder of the african students foundation and canair relief to serving as director of oxfam canada the northsouth institute and the ontario development corporation or as founder and chairperson of season group jack didnt just talk about social change he lived it a twotime federal ndp candidate jack was a man of great compassion and human conscience who always thought of others before himself this was also true in his personal life whenever i visited jack even in the weeks of late when his health was extremely fragile jacks concern was always for others you werent even in the door and jack wanted to feed you hear what you were doing and listen to your views on the political injustices per vading our community and the world jacks love for his children grandchildren and his wife jill my dear friend was all encompassing you couldnt be with jack and not feel good about yourself he wouldnt let you jack we miss you but please know your legacy for truth and social justice will live on in our hearts minds and actions jaquie cushing dill markham new lobby group plans to address development in stouffville on many major streets around stouffville we can see construction and trucks are we concerned definitely what is happening in our town we are a group of residents with concerns about the future growth of our town we have formed an organization called concerned citizens of stouffville we understand there are several housing developments are proposed or approved and we are concerned these projects do not adhere to the principle of the town of whitchurchstouffville secondary plan will the necessary infrastructure water roads medical care etc be in place before the construction is completed is our council taking its secondary plan seriously the mayor indicated at a town meeting in the summer there was no shortage of water in stouffville yet we were imposed with water restrictions will town wells be in trouble in the future as the wells were in vandorf we do not want giant water tanks on our front lawns traffic congestion is a problem in stouffville now what about traffic patterns when these subdivisions are built why are we building roads through the few parks we have instead of building more parks other areas of concern are the impact on our green spaces ponds especially a duck pond on elm street woodlots mature trees and hedgerows in other words were inter ested in maintaining our country close to the city lifestyle what kind of legacy are we leaving for our children we are not against a gradual growth as was specified in the secondary plan we still have time to slow down the growth and ensure things are being done according to the agreed upon secondary plan we do not want to end up an extension of markham some members in our group are going door to door in stouffville with a petition to council about our concerns we would like council to hold public evening meetings to explain what is happening if residents would like to show their sup port or provide assistance they can contact the concerned citizens of stouffville ccstouf- fvillehotmailcom they can also express their concern by e- mailing or writing to members of council donna topping secretary concerned citizens of stouffville some fraudulent charities shouldnt stop people from giving its with great concern we read the recent toronto star series on fraudulent charities it has raised suspicions about all charities and makes people even more anxious about giving the natural reaction is to just stop giving but we need people to reconsider as an active community volunteer and as president of pathways for children youth and families i can tell you there are many great charities in york region doing good work in a very costefficient manner with the present government subsidies organizations are dependent upon fundrais- ing to augment their budgets our own organization serves homeless youth and young families with children we would quickly enter into a financial crisis without the support of our donors one of the ways we strongly encourage people to choose a quality charity would be to approach the united way by either giving directly to united way or by looking for the united way membership on the agencys letterhead you are ensured you are giving to a monitored organization the united way of york region meets with every one of its agencies board of gov ernors before renewing funding as a united way agency we go through an extensive review of our audited financial statement our organizational service prac tices are scrutinized by trained community volunteers we support the stars concerns about fraudulent or excessive administrative costs for fundraising but those articles hurt all the charities that work so hard to provide ser vices however honest effective charities really do need support to make a stronger more supportive community we cannot do it alone we encourage you to recognize member ship in the united way of york region as one of the tools to ensure the proper use of your donations johnmclean president pathways for children youth and families in markham letters policy the stouflville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom editorial editor jim mason neivsroomecoiisuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane sievckyotkrcgioncom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews landreivscmlxiniiercom classified manager ann campbell annccralxmiicrcom real estate manager mike rogerson production electronic communications manager john futbey jfiitheyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackeconsiincom administration office manager vivian oneil voneileconsiincom york region events managing director debra weller shows manager stacey allen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanyrngcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8531765 distribution 9052948244 bsaiiiibb canadian ontario press circulation audit council board member stouffville tribune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill andthomhillvaughan citizen markham economist sun stouffville tribune stouffville sun georgna advocate york region business times at home good life yorkregioncom and york region printing