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economist sunsuntribune thursday dec 26 2003 a3 after school artists f v v- mgfcgff ijsi r r c v staff photomike barrett the office of birketthassard insurance brokers in stouffville was the site of a new display of works by these members of the latcham gallerys after school art club works by camiile copetti front john sampson and rachel dubenofsky graced the large windows of the main street stouffville offices a love of soccer earns honours for markham volunteer by martin derbyshire staff writer if youve played coached had a child in soccer or had anything at all to do with the sport over the last 23 years in this town no doubt you know lynne mcgarrigle even more than her time mrs mcgarrigle has given all she has to soc cer here in markham and helped the once small town grow right along with the ever emerging sport ask her though and shell tell you its been time well spent she started out with the markham soccer club as a volunteer in 1980 and eventually served as secretary of the ladies auxiliary and club administra- tor in 1988 she became the clubs executive director a position she holds today while mrs mcgarrigle played a major role in helping the club more than double in size to 2000 players over the last two decades she has also been very active in helping shape the game in york region and across the province never one to say no to a volunteer board she is a member of the board of directors for the central soccer league ontario youth soccer league york region soccer association and the board of governors of the soccer hall of fame and museum this november she was given a meritorious service award from the ontario soccer association the associations highest honour recognizes individuals who over no less than 20 years have rendered spe cial service to the game dedicating themselves to the assistance of others and the promotion and development of the game i was thrilled to bits she said of finding out she would be this years recipient its always nice to be validat ed by your peers isnt it especially for volunteers to even think that people notice especially somebody like me i work in the background i try to facilitate other people being in the limelight so it is nice to get some recognition its well deserved added husband tom mcgarrigle you can go any where in this province to any soccer club and theyll know lynn what she does is just for the game itself and she believes in that if you work for the game all the kids will ben efit just do whats right for the game and thats what she does mrs mcgarrigle was bom in lennoxtown scotland where they call soccer football but moved to canada in 1955 in 1968shemarriedtomabig fan of the game also from scotland and apparently quite homesick lynn mcgarrigle helping s0c- cer in ontario for more than 20 years two years later they moved back to scotland and settled near boghead park the home of dumbarton football club tom used to go to the game on a saturday and i would go out and do things like deadhead the roses i would hear the cheers and all the excitement i always want to be a part of every thing but in those days not too many women went to soccer games anyway i asked him to take me to a game she said the match he took her to just hap pened to be the one that sealed dumbartons promotion from the sec ond to first division leagues its always nice to be validated by your peers isnt it when the team scored the winning goal the fans began congratulating each other and with toms blessing almost every man in the stands gave mrs mcgarrigle a friendly hug and kiss that was my introduction to the game and ive been a soccer fan ever since she said the mcgarrigles returned to canada in 1973 and seven years later came to markham a neighbour convinced mrs mcgarrigle to get involved with the club in markham and then helped push a shy mr mcgarrigle into coach ing the game he loved i did it forlorn really its his sport right off the bat i did it for him because he loves it but then you get caught up in it she said its really rewarding you meet a lot of great people and its gratifying to see the club grow and sec the sport grow not many sports could see the growth that soccer has seen in the time ive been involved its been such a tremendous growth and change and its been nice to be a part of it mrs mcgarrigle also drove a school bus in town for many years and it was her time behind the wheel that helped her start one of the local soccer pro grams she is most proud of i used to drive specialneeds kids and always knew there wasnt a lot of opportunities for the kids to get involved in regular activities she said i met this parent of a child bom with downs syndrome and he and i were chatting one day and i think he was a little bit wistful thinking his little baby would never play soccer and i thought thats such a shame because really soccer anybody should be able to play soccer she asked the town to donate an hour of time at the mount joy community centre indoor soccer field and put together the thumbs up pro gram for special needs kids with an emphasis on participation the pro gram later garnered national media attention as one of the first of its kind in canada although the accolades for 20 years of volunteering have started to pour in mrs mcgarrigle says she been getting satisfaction from her efforts for many years a lot of things have made me proud like when a young man comes in his late 20s or early 30s just to thank you because he was part of team here that gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling some of them even come in to reg ister their own kids she said if i go to tim hortons and see that little five year old with a soccer shirt on its price less or seeing the special needs kids feel like soccer players the same as reg ular kids with full uniforms its great to see kids feel so positive about them selves mrs mcgarrigle said she is happy to see more adults playing the game these days and is impressed by the tremen- dous leaps made in the womens game but in todays busy world she is concerned less people are volunteer ing to help she still enjoys watching a match but its more about the people and the fact the game has made her family a part of the community i live in markham i live in the vil lage of markham and i love markham i think markham is a great place she said and id like to encourage people to volunteer here in any capacity but particularly in amateur sport its very rewarding charges laid after youths shot with bb guns two markham boys have been charged with assault with a weapon after two others were shot by a replica bb gun at close range friday police say two youths one 13 the other 14 followed a group of boys walk ing near the highglen avenue and hwy 48 area and had words with one of the boys before walking up closely behind him a 12yearold boy was then shot in the back of the head with a replica colt 45 bb gun he suffered what police are calling minor injuries police say a second group of boys who witnessed the incident were then followed by the suspects the group ran but was caught and a second 12yearold was held and shot in the shoulder he also suffered minor injuries both teenagers are facing two counts of assault with a weapon and posses sion of a dangerous weapon policesay the proliferation of replica weapons on the streets makes their jobs tougher since the guns look so real yes we take this very seriously these weapons are a big issue for our officers out on the street said york regional police spokesperson kathleen griffin can you imagine what its like for an officer who finds a person holding one of these things in a dark alleyway you really cant tell if its a toy they are being used in robberies and other crimes because they look real martin derbyshire 6 escape unharmed from weekend porch fire by joan ransberry staff writer six people managed to escape a fire in whitchurchstoumolle saturday the fire at an old farm house on the tenth line just south of bloomington road could have had a very different ending if the occupants of two apart ments werent alerted to the fire and if they didnt have a way out chief tim beckett of whitchurchstouffvilles fire and emergency services said working smoke alarms and having a means of escape saved lives the chief said it was a very serious situation he added the porch was engulfed in flames trapping occupants of both apartments a couple and their three children escaped by crawling but a bathroom window a man the single occupant of the second apartment realized he too couldnt make it out the front door because of the fire he escaped through a back door chief beckett said the tenants of both apartments had only lived there a week or so he saiddue to the fact that there were working smoke alarms in both apart ments and there were means of escape everybody got out this fire is a good reminder of the importance of taking measures to be safe chief beckett stressed i would like to remind residents how important it is to have escape plans in place and to practise the plans the fire which caused 60000 in damage started when one of the ten ants was burning boxes in front of the house the wind picked up a piece of burn ing material and blew it onto the porch chief beckett said burning boxes in this manner con travenes a town bylaw the party responsible for lighting the fire was issued a warning chief beckett said once firefighters extinguished the blaze and cleared the apartments of smoke tenants were able to return all winter fashions shoes boots regular ticket price 137 main st n markham 905 2943882 wwwpeppertreeca truly a fine dining experience pi 1 1 ii mil lr i mtlirii tl mlii step through our doors and you will feel the unique sensation of history surrounding you richly appoint ed private dining rooms offer the perfect atmosphere for private dining join us in our main diningroomfor a friendly casual and affordable lunch or dinner smell the aroma of our fine wines and succulent cui sine and know you have arrived at one 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