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6 economist stsunsuntribune tuesday dec 262006 s nion suntribune a metroiand community newspaper 6290 main st stouflvibeonl4alg7 eimiob l chief dehor a kelly business manager robert lazurko duuxroa advertising disthibution barry black dleectoe lstesacmx mebtkhnoiocy johnfuthey direcioborculuion swiems lynn pashko mutkehncpaklxershlps director debraweller york region prentlno genhui manages bobdean editorial holiday edition highlights people who make a difference with the frenzy of preholiday shop ping and preparations receding in memory and the celebrations of christmas still fresh in our minds boxing day is a good time to relax a little count our blessings and reflect on the new year about to begin for many of us christmas is a happy time a festive season to spend time with family and meet up with dear friends a chance to revel in the one time of year that is specifically earmarked for warmth and sharing so today can be a pleasant moment perhaps amid braving some boxing day sales to think back on all the good things in our lives that this holiday has highlighted for others of course christmas may have been difficult for reasons such as loneliness ill health financial hardship or family tensions if we know people in that situation this is a time when it would be particularly nice to reach out to them to let them know they are not alone or forgotten it is also a time for people who are not feeling particularly cheery to take heart and to find hope in the prospect the new year ahead may be much better it was with this in mind our group of commu- nity newspapers decided to dig around in our communities to find angels who make a differ- ence in the lives of others it was not a difficult task as you will discover when reading through todays special holiday edi tion it seems there is no limit to the creativity drive and passion in the kind of initiatives people dream up take the i dream ferrari event for one this is a nonmonetary charity that exists to give serious ly ill children a 10kilometre ride around vaughan in a ferrari in the words of organizer kristopher simpson its just to give the kids some spirit and give them what is for some of them a dream of a lifetime which is to ride in a ferrari despite leading busy lives packed with full- time jobs parental responsibilities and various other time commitments many of you considerit a priority to give back to your community j avhen you see a need you act s when musing about what might lie ahead in 2007 we asked several key people in our commu nities what their wish would be for the new year graham woodward chairperson of york region food network has a wish that succinctly captures what it means to be part of a community i wish i lived in a community where we knew and trusted each other so well that my neighbour might ask me to help feed his children and i might ask them to help care for my parents that he might ask me to shelter his struggling sibling and i would do it he said york regional police chief armand la barge has a rather sobering wish for the new year obviously safe and safer communities we pride ourselves here in york region as having one of the safest communities in canada statistically but regardless of what those statistics say i still see lives torn apart because of things like impaired driving domestic violence i see far too many drugs in our community too many guns and gang issues in our community what id like to see is an end to the senseless violence an end to the young lives being shattered because of people making unhealthy lifestyle choices this gives everyone something to think about as we approach the new year this symbolically important turning of the page a time of renewal and new beginnings sure in one sense it is just a changing of the date on a calendar and overhyping it may some times seem silly but years are importanfmile- stones in our lives and that makes the start of a new year a potentially valuable springboard for change as culture reporter simone joseph reports in todays story exploring the christmas debate that may already be happening a bank in richmond hill last week hung a ban ner wishing customers happy eid fjd ul adha is a muslim celebration that recognizes prophet ibrahims willingness to sacrifice his son ishmael for god this shows that people in our communities are acknowledging each others holidays traditions and celebrations and there are many in the past few weeks alone for example our newspapers have helped celebrate christmas hanukkah and kwanzaa the spirit of these holidays gives us an opportuni ty to look beyond ourselves and offer our neigh bours friendship caring and appreciation somebody once said new years resolutions just go in one year and out the other that may be true but what better time to take stock of what is going on in our own lives in our community in our nation the approach of a new year invites us to think a little about how we can make 2007 better than 2006 heres hoping for everyone in the community 2007 will be a year of health happiness and pros perity enjoy the rest of the festive season and happy new year letters to the editor calling all area youth in the oak ridgesmarkham area many intelligent well- informed and opinionated youth go about their daily business i am writing in the hopes of attracting young people whether 10 or 20 it doesnt matter all that matters is involvement i am ayouth chairperson in the oak ridgesmarkham area and am looking for young people to form a youth association we are the future and the deci sions of today affect us tomorrow we should not stand by and let decisions be made for us raise your voice speak and shape your world regardless of any party alliance please email me at tylersom- merszingnetca i will do everything i can to get you involved an email is the first step for those looking for commu nity service experience or an open door to their future we will be running our country why not start now tyler sommers stouffvule stephane dion will give us back our true identity liberal leader stephane dion is clearly an outstanding leader who can give back canadians their true identity as a compas sionate humane and dignified nation 1 can understand concerns about mr dion if one has not bothered to check into this mans truly remarkable background however even a cursory glance into the remarkable achievements of mr dion academically politi cally and socially would immedi ately render all concerns null and void already mr dion has done more to represent true canadian values and aspirations than any other leader of any other political party to date not only is he prepared to give canada a made in canada for eign policy he is fully prepared to restore global confidence in cana da as a world leader in peace keeping not peace making he is fully prepared to restore global credibility in canada as a nation that will keep its kyoto promises and deliver on protect ing the rights of canadian citizens to have affordable child care pro grams at first 1 was not happy about the prospect of another prime minister from quebec but a little bit of research has clearly shown me this man is better qualified than any in the country to lead canada back to being an autonomous nation of nations he is first and foremost a true canadian federalist unlike prime minister stephen harper who is clearly wanting to be the father of deconfederation mr dion will preserve canadian unity in diversity in a truly canadi an manner that will once again unite us from sea to shining sea dorian baxter newmarket why is every holiday ok except christmas something was amiss with the spirit of christmas this year when did it become accept able to proclaim the equity of eth nic religious practices and in doing so severely restrict the cele bration of christmas the christmas i remember as a child consisted of decorating the christmas tree at school having a christmas party singing christ mas carols now i am to believe these practices are not politically cor rect i am told we must put our stars on top of a holiday tree and attend holiday parties it is no longer acceptable to sing carols and the largest insult of all i am told that it is political ly incorrect to wish my neigh bour a merry christmas i do not want to be mistaken i fully support religions different from my own i do not however condone the concept that these religions can post their religious symbols in schools and their sup porters can wish each other a wonderful diwali or a happy hanukkah etc in the halls and yet i am looked down upon for wishing someone a merry christ mas so what is the real issue here if the other religions have felt their beliefs have been suppressed i would fully understand but in public schools like mine we fully support the diversity of our com munity and treat each religion as a separate and unique entity and yet still i am to call the coniferous tree in my school atri um a holiday tree jennifer pagliaro markham bob hunter had nothing to do with cedar grove on nov 15 there was an open house for bob hunter memorial park at cedar grove community centre although i was not able to attend i picked up an information package since they were asking for comments i sent the follow ing i find it amusingyour group asks for our opinion right from the start you are doing what you want take the name i am familiar with who bob hunter was and i am sorry for his family that he passed away but in cedar grove many residents dont know who he was markham is always spouting off how important our heritage is and it is trying to protect the rural hamlets and their heritage as far as i know mr hunter didnt have much to do with the birth of cedar grove he never cleared land to reveal rich class 1 soil to make a productive farm to support his family he never ran the cider mill or general store or black smiths shop he never attended cedar grove community club meetings he never helped us with work bees at either cedarena or the corner lot ball diamond bob who we do know who christian reesor was and we know many more wonderful people with sur names such as lapp clendenen milroy tapscott and burkholder they helped settle markham and more specifically cedar grove even more recent folks such as blodwin davies austin reesor pat mcclennan and david ritchie sr all these people and many others as time goes by have done great and memorable things in this special corner of markham all of a sudden there is an announcement a piece of our neighbourhood is now the bob hunter memorial park we were not asked for our opinion even the opening ceremony was kept quiet you did manage to ask the farmer who tends the land where the ceremony was to take place if he would like to drop by i guess that was the right thing to do since he was asked to clean up the garbage someone had dumped at the site keep this in mind the toronto regional conservation authority cant even keep the buildings it already has in good repair more and more houses are being vacated vandalized and boarded up the trca andor rouge park are now the landlords of bams and outbuildings that are in desperate need of repair land the trca and rouge park have taken over is noth ing but great tracts of weeds dis sected by roads that are used as transfer stations for garbage and do you have to look at this only once in a while when you come out for a drive to show off this park to some politician but we have to look at it every day properly manage what you have before taking more gary mount cedar grove david teetzel ode to year of living with the stunned i have never been a fan of auld lang syne so heres a little ditty to ring out the old year if you remember terry jacks you can sing it to the tune of seasons in the sun if you dont count yourself lucky goodbye to you 2006 ayear of letdowns lies and dirty tricks ive composed this sad lament for the ladies and the gents i hope ill never see again we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned i picked the worst song i could think for a year that really stinks speaking of stench that halton plant has made newmarket excessively fra grant composting grass and kitchen waste its getting in the neighbours face now council wants the thing displaced we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned but an order had been lodged to get rid of your garbage farewell oh former mayor ofvaughan no guarantee that he is really gone found stolen emails at his door turned a parade into a war to clear vaughans name will be a chore we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned onlydibiase could call an election best two of three goodbye to you aurora pols who made your meetings into endless brawls perhaps a new mayor will be a saviour to clean up the bad behaviour just use the brains the good lord gave ya we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned put a lid on the offenders who beat each other with agendas goodbye taxpayerfunded ads in hospital you feel twice as bad to see commercials on tv claiming dalton mcguinty is running health care perfectly we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned but its time to realize its just another pack of lies say au revoir oh urban sprawl they saved the moraine by covering it all developers and omb want to build 20 storeys but they still pave all our grass and trees we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned they like rules i suppose but only bout where we hang our clothes farewell to you peter mckay we know what you said or didnt say its never good to dis your ex call her a dog and youll catch heck and her new boyfriend has no neck we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned when she coloured her hair it was big news everywhere get lost disposable celebrities famous only for your wealth and sleaze how we all would gladly cheer to see the end of britney spears now put some clothing on your rear we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned madonna brad and paris will you please make yourselves scarce goodbye mahmoud ahmadinejad hes building nukes and hes completely mad and kim jong ii is going to try to put more missiles in the sky maybe saddam wasnt such a bad guy we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned all these wars and rumour of war make me ask how many seasons more goodbye old year i have to say i griped as much bout 2005 and 4 and 3 seems every season has its share of aggravations woes and cares it isnt more than we can bear we had joy we had fun we had seasons with the stunned and next year at this time ill probably sing another whine letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and o edit for clarity and space wrxe letters to u eor suntrfsun m ls4stou5rfsseua 725 eni kctrsestoeffriilccoa editorial editor jim mason jmaxymtcofn interactive media marketing advert wng man age dauna andrtut 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