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12 stouffville suntribune thursday may 19 2005 byjoaninsberry staff writer a drive is oh to get you out of your car a campaign designed to have motorists choose a different way to get to and from work kicked off in the markham and richmond hill business community tuesday v the smart commute 4047 transportation management association joined forces with the markham board of trade and the richmond hill chamber of commerce to encourage local businesses to register for the 2005 national commuter challenge which runs from jurie5to 1l invitations to join the campaign have also been sent to more than 150 busi- riess in the markham and richmond hill area in par- ticular business owner sare being reminded that june 8 is clean air day the nationwide pro- gram invites participants to use public transit car pool walk cycleor telework during the week motorists will be encour aged to get out of their cars ride a bike take a bus share a ride with a friend or work from home richmond hill chamber ceo leslie walker said it will help the environment and help business lets see if- we can make a differ ence traffic congestion is the biggest business problem in this afeav board of trade pfesidentkeith bray told a gathering oh the 16thfloor rooftop of the radisson hotel torontomarkham at east valhalla drive and hwy 7 the group got a birdseye view of the slow- moving traffic on hwy 7 george flint a smart commute 404 coordina tor stressed that now is the time for business leaders to act they have to get involved and see what they can do to make a change mr flint said the envi ronment depends on it philip gunn a 1988 f 2005 vyears fmmmmmwwwmmwswmmm us fjwsu 0 um umhuvirt ostttki n vmtumblsiujiuummiinumtw save up to mum r y ton a pair of digital hearing aids t f and receive a t- free 1 year supply of batteries call for details and to book your hearing test offer valid with ad expires may 31 2005 hearing ps hearjngalu batteriesand stpm hearin additional savings v ah inclusive loss and damage insurance bibghar6evvv v all inclusive y j ivlanufacturers warranty frill satisfaction guarantee 1 1 y f every pay is seniors day 10 discount off all accessories batteries free hearing aid cleaning ear care i wapmq epgmcmemm s north york the aucfiblogy centre markham etobicoke west end hearing 1333 sheppard ave e s 340 markham stouffville hearing services 1243i 377 church st suite 203 1 visit oun website at wwwtotalhearingnet spokesperson for gwl realty advisors issued a challenge to other busi nesses in the area to join the campaign were promoting clean air and clean driving mr gunn said its an oppor tunity for businesses par ticularly those along the hwy 7 corridor to pitch in and make a difference in 2004 more than 60000 participants took part in the national chal lenge in vancouver calgary hamilton and ottawa this marks the first year that the challenge has been taken up in markham and richmond hill local com- panies are being encour aged to engage in this friendly competition there is no prize con nected to the challenge municipalities and busi ness are however recog nized for their involve ment the challenge was developed to recognize reward and thank individ uals and businesses that support environmentally healthy community options said lorenzo mele markhams transportatibn demand management co ordinator we encourage other commuters to make healthy choices and to emphasize the personal social and environmental benefits of healthy com muting he added local businesses recog nize traffic in the 4047 cor ridor as a problem mr bray said the commuter chal lenge gives each of us a chance to take some responsibility for solutions to congestion and to make a difference he said participants can register online challengers can sign up their companies departments and organiza tions or as individuals once registered partici pants are encouraged to log their results online daily to register for the chal lenge visit httpwww smartcommute4047ca through the commuter challenge logo or call 905- 4777000ext 4000 announcement wmm f s r i am pleased to announce the following appointment as part of the continued growth of our events group for the york region newspaper group bonnie rondeau yrng events manager bonnie has been in the publishing industry for more than 25 years during the past 4 years with yrng she has worked as a senior s sales representative in our events group and with pur directories bonnie has also been representative at the stouffville- suntriburie7andvon our special projects she previously was an ad rep at the uxbridge tribune timesjournal wbrkjngan classified and real estete rogers working forrlarelv1agazin post and maclinvaswelhat aeyeiop ana growoureyentesandljshowssijnk partnership with ouradvertisersandrtothefberiefitf f pjfkpur readers llf5fes4 lent orour reaaers kti g6rd t k tdivisiomof met3ajprinting1 distributing