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t f t r r 12 economist sunsuntribune community saturday may 7 2005 maifkham v v- golfcountrycwb 9064 woodbine avenue between 16 avenue and i lvy 7 now an affordable private golf and country club facility open house membership information wednesday may ll 700 pm inquiries 905 4777713 tournament packages available news baby on the way attend our xvelcomelfe r since 1 agon ltd since 1930 wednesday june 8 700 pm sheraton parkway hotel demonstrations displays gift bags door prizes useful hints information v admittance is free ygl but by invitation only t2sl 1 receive your invitation call ygt mary ann 9057734231 mail macoeaciorca or infowecomewagonca by roy green staff writer alf neely was tramping through thick mud in the north of italy when a fellow soldier yelled from his tanker that the war was over i was standing in a canal slogging through the mud in the north of italy when a guy in one of the sherman tanks said it was all over mr neely said this week from his newmarket home as far as mr neely 22 at die time was concerned that news meant he could go home our only source of information was die guys in die tankshe said they were giving us updates every half hour and when they said it was all over the guys went crazy we were throwing our helmets in the air and hugging one another there had been lots of shooting as we fought our way into the po valley then all the fighting stopped there was no more gunfire the second world war wasnt really over until august 1945 but most cana dians consider veday may 8 as the day for celebrations sunday marks the 60th anniversary of victory in europe when nazi ger many surrendered to allied forces after six years of war while the news didnt come as a complete surprise the world had just learned a week before that adolf hider had killed himself in a bunker in berlin it didnt dull the excitement but to understand real happiness according to auroras jack degraaf one had to be on the receiving end of staff photomike barrett newmarket resident and second world war veteran alf neely saw action in italy and europe helping free belgium and holland before ve day may 8 1945 the largesse of canadian soldiers in holland mr degraaf was barely more than a youngster living with his family near arnhem it had been a very bad winter and we had no food mr degraaf recalled this week i got sent out to the farms to get potatoes and i stole the sugar beets what they feed the cows when youve been living like that for five years you can imagine the differ ence when all of a sudden the canadi ans came in with biscuits and chocolate bars the people were so thankful they were kissing the canadians and jump ing on top of the tanks for newmarkets clay stones who was on the high seas with the merchant navy on may 8 1945 the celebration was more subdued we were on the pacific on our way to australia when the skipper announced it on the radio mr stones said we spliced the main brace a little bit navy slang for taking an extra ration of rum we did have a party but it was pret ty quiet the skipper wouldnt give us too much and when the war was over i was 19 we werent longtime veterans or anything like diat if wed been ashore or spent a long time in the trenches it might have been different today both he and mr neely volun teer in the memory project a program where canadian war veterans visit schools and share wartime experiences with students and both are concerned that with the passage of time few young people will remember dates such as may 8 1945 air over 1 000 visitors attended jthefirst ever york region retail job 8erefair premiere ballroom sl l convention centre phvfttlklui presented by mevents management wwwyorkregioncom in partnership with canadian retail congratulations prize draw national sports gift pack courtesy of national sports david l markham 250 electronic gift card courtesy of suzy shier christine pangan richmond hill fleece logoed vest courtesy ofcanadianretailcom sangeeta shah richmond hill basket of beauty products courtesy of yves rocher bronwen taylor thomhill cordless phone courtesy of the telephone booth jennifer tsoi markham 300 gift card courtesy of home show canada donna archibald newmarket gift card courtesy of petsmart alexandra lucchesi richmond hill jbjafelrlhbtogcarjliy tboutiquejdacobjnc- ipmerifc jppjsj nc ihoesgomdantfsft- itephonelbooth irtojnt prograrrm infeb pr ffibjstpres incrviv j mfru tu