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

6 stouffalle suntribune m thurshay june 2003 publisher ian proudfoot telephone 9056402612 fatim5h5408778 emailjmasonymgcom websitewwwyorkfegi6ncom editorial politicians i stop stunts focus on issues i whether the tories like it or not it is a provincial election year theyre draggingtheir feet on callingit as they languish behind the liberals in me polk and careen from one catastro phe to another this weekj that would be the dubious practice of loaning ontario pension board money to a devel oper who has put a substantial effort into lining the conservative partys coffers goodness knows most of us who care want to see the election called sooner ratherthanlater if ortoputahalttothe prolonged unofficial campaigning to which we have been subjected sinceiast fall psis wfmm dp we believe premier fjiiie ieves when hesays he isritbgtthlecupn nowbecausepf the maiiy tissues requir ing government action such as me sars crisis and recent toronto teacher lock- out or could there be some truth in the need for leadership now x timing is everything granted but politicians typically always do their best lhay what isnt worth celebrating is jthe pointless slagging arid goofy publicity stunts v v point in case would be oak ridges liberal candidate dr helena jaczeks news conference two i weeks ago put- side york gehtral hospital to condemn the funding of priyateiyim clinics including one in southern york region thats old news dr jaczekj her own event was upstaged by the tories announcement the richmond hiir hospital would receive funding for a much needeci magnetic resonance imag- ingmachmejq y0 in her eyesitis nothing but a cynical the reality is bopmihgbrk region is seiyed- by merely one mri machine vrfiichis at stoumlakerbnal- health centre in newr j earlier this year melbries announced a private clinic would open in vaughan though it may now be relocated to ftfadcham whemer me liberals like it or hot the tories remain the governing party until theyre given me boot so give us a break from the stunts candidates for afl parties and concen trate on the issues if you must scpntinue with the electioneering without an elec- tioriinsight jftt was a holldrorohm fifty yems f frn5yfc letters to the editor stoiijqryiqe pond health risk that needs cleaning my husband and i live around the corner from lehmans pond at the endpf willoway court and millard street it was privately main tained by me original land owner v uj it is stagnant and filthy it is not a catch basin as fresh water does not flow through lehmans pond is in a densely populated neighbourhood and is a publicheaith risk as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and in turn west nile virus asnearby residents we arevery concerned that ho one has taken responsibility for dealing witk this issue v we understand the municipality has received funds from the ontario government to fight west nfleyi what it is doing with tlus money and why it lias not addressed the very real threat- posed by lehmans pond i joe and grettagray stouffville chance of lifetime for children earlier this spring we spent a defightful evening watching the wizard of oz performed by me york durham academy for the performing arts at the music hall in uxbridge this is the second show mis year for this stouffvillebased organization which per formed oliver with a different cast at the the stouffvihe suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number nameand addressthe stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor ovic aye po box 154stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrng com vaughan city playhouse in early april the cast of more than 60 people between the ages of six and 16 rehearsed at orchard park public school since last september and per formed in uxbridge to three packed houses on the i mothers day weekend ydapa executive director wayne hill observed these kids are the best they are motivated cooperative and funtp be with v wecertainly observed good music and good kids in this rousing version of the classic story about dorothy gale from kansas arid her adventures in oz under trie expert organiza- tion casting and artistic direction of neil bennett the wellknown story took on a- whole newlook rv thoroughly enjoyed our visit to oz last weekend i personally applaud the york durham academys efforts to bring much needed exposure to the arts to young people in the area this is the chance of a lifetime for these chil dren and our community is certainly enriched by the many talented people involved in ydapa lillian richardson uxbridge i stouffvihe i un- a metroland community newspaper sun- 34 ovic aye 3rd floor stouffvihe ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056402612 fax905640 oassified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonyrngcom membontarioomnmunfty newspapers association canadian community newspapers association mmsz ornrcoundi editor in chief deborakelly editor jimmason reporters joan ransbenyihanneloreyoipe retail sales manager stevekane sales representative susanberry production manager pam nichols office manager vmanoneif business manager robert lazurkb director of marketing new product development v brenda larson advertising director retail sales flyers nicole hetdier advertising directoroassified real estate events management gord paolucd managing director real estate mikerogerson sales manager new business development distribution dawnaandrews production director i john futhey oassified manager anncampbell distribution manager barry black general manager york region printing bobdean managing director york region events management debra welter shows manager stacey allen off the top with jim mason town scheduling the event is a onetimer in the community calendar of the local paper- its a blip on the radar screen of the towns life but to the group organizing the bake sale fun fair or car wash its a big sdeal its me neighbourhood elementary school town service club or sports squads chance to make a splash so it prays it doesnt rain in most cases its said groupv major fundraiser of the year even if the event isnt designed to financially carry the organization through the year it is supposed to raise its profile thats why its sad to see groups competing for newspaper coverage and customers with their shindigs bottle i drives and plant sales v about 10 years ago a community resource office openedori main street part of its mandate was to run a coiri- munlty calendar listing upcoming events the idea was if you were plan ning ah event you would call the office to see if the loyal order of buffalops or any other organization was hosting ah event on me day in question- f sadly the office and the calendar died without a whimper the next year i received a hasty call from a sports team whose fundraising dance at the ballantrae community centre had turned into more of a liabil ity than a success turns out another larger group hosted an annual dance the same evening at the markham fairgrounds it was a smash hit back in miy home town a buddy boasted about his service clubs new home lottery tickets at 100 a pop sold put quickly the club cleaned up the next year two other organiza tions held their own raffle with a new home as first prize all three lotteries did poorly none were repeated everyone lost in stouffville the community went from not having a breakfast with santa to having three such buffets on year all oh the morning of the stouffville kinsmen santa claus parade somehow santa made it to all three and the afternoon parade jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune