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the stouffville sun tuesday feb 4 2003 page 7 bigtime effort for smalltown friend men and women wept openly late saturday night at the markham fairgrounds what had been a raucous dance hall instantly became a prayer chapel that 70s cover band the funky midlife crisis halted playing the multiple bars staffed by volunteers from the stouffville kinsmen stopped pouring coolers and canadians a loudmouthed heckler was quickly silenced georgia and brad stevens took to the stage and 1400 people stopped partying and became very serious friends helping friends read the big banners plastered around the fairs twin arts and crafts buildings it could have read stouffville being stouffville a friend said later both tides fit brad georgia and their three kids connor kevin and loryn are that wpnderful young family down any of your streets or the folks you know so well from the arena or the school fundraiser they are stouffville with a sad difference four and a half years ago brad was diagnosed with leukemia hes battled it at home and in hospital with his family and an army of relatives and friends along for the ride and hes done it without losing that permanent smile and those kind words hes always had for others same for georgia you couldnt blame them if they soured it hasnt been easy the painful and lengthy hospital treatments the costly time off work for both the uncertainty but they stayed true to themselves late last fall a group of friends told the stevens of their plans for saturdays fundraiser the stevens said no but the 1 if tjj 1 1 gglh m m jim mason 1 mghf im off the top friends persisted all 1500 tickets were sold at 20 a pop with litde promotion to stouffville hockey parents folks from the stevens iron wood crescent neighbourhood and their kids school st brigid childhood friends from scarborough where brad and georgia lived before moving here 15 years ago bought in one friend flew in from vancouver coworkers from ibm were there so were people who only knew of brad through his good name i was one of them brad lived a half block away for years but we didnt meet until seven years ago when he coached our son ryan in the whitchurchstouffville minor hockey association im proud to have been a friend ever since like so many others georgia spoke for the family saturday holding back tears while all around her let them flow it is said that god shows you how much he loves you by surrounding you with people to help you when you need them the most she said no one knows better than brad and i just how true this is she thanked the committee of friends that put the event on doug and barb todd rick and heather lee jim and vicky hulshof ross and cindy todd brent and terry stachel eric and dianne challenger ellen and rick sooley rod and margaret king laura and frank austin ian and karen mcleod sandra and jim mccron she called the evening a magical night we will never forget so many agreed they lined up to bid on silent auction items lining the walls of one of the buildings they paid 20 for raffle tickets they bid thousands in a live auction on a hot tub a laptop a boat cruise and a weekend in manhattan auctioneer ray brown said hes never witnessed such an outpouring during his 15 years of volunteer work at the fairgrounds forget valentines day on this night you could feel love in the air at the fairgrounds others called such recent local events the stouffville hat trick fitting given the stevens busy hockey lives first it was the christmas holiday benefit for cycling accident victim luke anderson at latcham hall then last months game of our lives benefit hosted by another stouffville cancer fighter leafs assistant coach keith acton thousands of dollars were raised at this troika of events all from one small town if these unfortunate personal situations happened in deeper suburbia like ajax or agincourt one doubts whether any of these three events would have been as successful and with thousands of new homes on the stouffville horizon one wonders how long we will maintain this sense of community this is a place where people still care deeply about their neighbours thankfully jim mason is managing editor of the stouffville sun the caring voice of the stouffville cemetery theres nothing surer than death and taxes the latter i can handle at least the first installment the former im not so sure or wasnt so sure for i or should i say we entered year 2002 ashamedly unprepared we hadnt yet selected a site to serve as a final resting place sure wed talked about it truth is wed discussed the matter so often both had become weary however with the advent of three score years and 13 the time seemed right to translate words into actions an appointment was arranged with town licensing officer colleen clarke a lady whose multipurpose roll includes secretary of the stouffville cemetery board admittedly i felt somewhat intimidated discussing something so personal with someone i didnt really know but my nervousness quickly disappeared for this compassionate mother of two put herself in our shoes walking a path of insight and understanding so much so we analyzed issues of intimacy wed possibly withhold from our family on leaving she undoubtedly knew us better than we knew ourselves but we felt better for it strange isnt it how something so certain so important so definite as death is something we often delay discussing even worse we prefer delaying decisions until often too late theres so little time colleen agrees and so much to do because of this pre arranged funerals are becoming increasingly popular she says its unfair to place such responsibilities on the shoulders of nextofkin colleen claims shes ohsoright jjl fmprrpsrljmrerw jim thomas jfetl ft roaming around for us it came down to two choices burial or cremation we selected the former oldfashioned i guess more and more people it seems are choosing the latter to each his own in life so in death were not spendthrifts still we chose two plots side by side rather than above and below cost of the horizontal site was 147000 plus 240 for four corner markers the vertical placement would have decreased the expense by half plus four corner stones again to each his own these are basic however the cemetery boanl comprising eric button fay minton brad schmale murray wagg colleen clarke secretary mayor wayne emmerson and clerk michele kennedy exofficio have more on their plates much more for example did you know that the cemetery board comes under the jurisdiction of the ministry of consumer and business services there are approximately 400 cemetery plots still available whitchurchstouffville has 18 cemeteries but burials are conducted at only seven now for a first time the stouffville cemetery permits winter burials winter burials were approved by the board following a request from the stouffville ministerial association cemetery caretaking is handled by private contract imitation flowers are allowed but gravesite shrubs are frowned upon where a burial is handled through social services the board selects the site the storage vault for ashes is called a columbarium there are no restrictions as to where ashes may be dispersed nonresident burials are accommodated at no extra cost backyard burials are not permitted farm gravesites are no longer allowed vertical grave markers are available through the stouffville monument works with the cost averaging 3500 flat stones are 700 and pillow stones 900 delivery and installation take about eight weeks stouffvilles cemetery decoration day is the third sunday in june daily cemetery visitation hours extend from 8 am to sundown dogs are not allowed a charge of loitering carries a maximum 1000 fine all this information and more colleen has at her fingertips whitchurchstouffville is indeed fortunate i love what i do she says we loved what she did for us displaying compassion kindness patience and understanding colleen transformed an expected agonizing ordeal into a satisfying experience jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 50 years stouffville says by hannelore volpe hew important do you think standardized eqao results are in rating a schools performance trina weeks i would think it is somewhat misleading it does not encompass everything that goes on in school life but the testing still has an important role in assessing educational standards bob lott it is very unfair to the children because some teachers take it more seriously than others they are at a disadvantage if the staff is not preparing them the smaller schools where they dont have the specialty staff to prepare the kids are also at a disadvantage ruth smith i dont think it is a bad idea to have a snapshot of how education is working across the province i think my daughter is stressed when she takes these tests but that is true of any exam pppi j4sghpl is b tlpif iip w i itsjj mm mm jju9 mamie darcy i do look at the results because my child may be changing schools other than comments from other parents i dont have anything else to go on i saved the test results and studied them calvin weeks i look at other factors which have not been encouraging i believe we need more discipline and spirituality in schools my fouryearold son is home schooled if he goes to school i will look at private schools then christian and catholic schools and public schools last