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6 stouffville suntribunem thursday jutie28 2007 tstouffinlle suntnbune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a1g7 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko markeiingpartnershifs director debmweber york region printing general manager bobdean editorial volunteers make our town festival successes they are we will honour two of our finest citi zens tonight audrey gibson will receive whitchurchstouffviles citizen of the year award and wayne nugent sports person of the year during opening cer emonies of the strawberry festival in memorial park mrs gibson now a senior citizen herself has been an advocate for seniors and others in our community for more than 30years quietly and always with a smile she has volunteered in her church at the local seniors centre and with fundrais- ing drives for the cancer society and heart and stroke foundation mr nugent is a fonner stouffville res- ident and teachercoach at stouffvillle district secondary school now 66 and living and working in woodbridge he retires this month from a 42year coaching career he touched the lives of many students in york region including stouffville he is a charter member of the stouffville buttermakers the mens slo- pitch team whose once massive canada day weekend tournament helped spawn the festival the suntribune is proud to sponsor and administer both of these presti gious citizen awards fortunately mrs gibson and mr nugent are not alone whitchurch- stouffville is a community of volun teers look around the activities in your neighbourhood community centres schools sports fields churches and our health care centres are powered by vol unteers the strawberry festival is prime pickings in this regard a core of vol unteers founded the festival in 1985 from the roots of ontario bicentennial canada day and buttermakers tourney festivities of recent years the faces have changed several times during the 23 years but volun teers remain the heart of the festival now a new program love stouffville has added many new faces to the festi vals roster of volunteer help thank the towns church community for this infu sion of help its hard to imagine our lives without volunteers from the hockey and soccer coaches to school council members and hospital helpers the ontario government has man dated our teenagers volunteer if they want to graduate from high school in whitchurchstouffville people of all ages still volunteer because they want to help others in their home town mm d s0ntri8un letters to the editor children wont dance again after poweroutage ouster most of stouffville was affected by the severe weather that knocked out their power for many hours june 8 for those of us with preteen children many took advantage of the dance put on at latcham hall the dances run from 7 to 930 pm and is intended for children in grades 4 to 8 although many eight and nineyearolds attend admission is 5 the organizers make more money by selling pizza pop and chocolate bars to the children the children are not allowed to enter the facility until 7 pm so the dancing never starts until 715 the power was off when the children were only into their third dance they were waiting 15 minutes in the dark with no music or lights when the lights came back on for less than two minutes with the power still off the organizers then told the children to leave the building many asked to use the phone to call their parents but they were told they could not the organizers also did not refund the chil dren their 5 for the 15 minutes they were actu ally dancing when i arrived at 920 to pick up the chil dren i was to bring home many were on main street and the majority were in the parking lot across from latcham hall all unattended and unsupervised the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters to the editor all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 6290 main st stouffville l4a 1g7 email jmasonyrmgcom or fax 9056408778 one child i was picking up was freezing as she had worn a skirt and tshirt to the dance not expecting to be outside for more- than 90 minutes my daughter and her friends will not be returning to any dances at latcham hall it is their own decision to not return as they realize how unfairly they were treated i encourage other parents to reflect on this group who are making money from our chil dren and us and not caring about their welfare or values the stouffville lions club which runs the hall or the town of whitchurchstouffville which owns the facility should also have some policies in place to protect our children i am truly hoping all the children made it home safely that night daphne court ballantrae off the top with jim mason sign of our times could be history the road into stouffville may never be the same the sign at bridon motors could soon become a memory just as the petrocanada gas bar and restaurant in ringwood is and don anderson haulage ltd and canadian tire will be theyre former pieces of smalltown life landmarks we drive by daily without taking much notice of at least until theyre gone or moved but the sign we do takenote of from at least the early 1980s when the used car lot was lloyd britton motors the sign served up a daily piece of informa tion before the immediacy of the internet cellphones and instant messaging it told us about impending marriages recent births significant birthdays business openings benefit concerts and big games it has been a part of our lives wheth er we realized it or not as of this weekend it may be no more the main street property with the grey bungalow near burger king is for sale its vacating tenant said bridon owner brian uens is moving the business to fenelon falls and amal gamating with another lot under the name kawartha kars mr uens has talked to others about carrying on the tradition of the sign without any takers theres no enthusiasm he said thats a shame the five lines of backlit black type per side that made us smile or at least take note were more than a news source the sign has been an ongoing fund raiser if you wanted to post a mes sage a donation to markham stouffville hospital was required the sign col lected 60000 for the hospital over the years dates were booked well in advance now the only message posted is about the move of the car lot its on a main street in transition running through the once small town jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number- name and address the suntribuncrcscrvcs the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 6290 main st stouffville on l4ai67 jmasonyrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrmgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrcwsyrmgcom advertising retail manager stacey allen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeaiiyrmgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom distribution manager megan pike mpikeyrmgcom attritilt fdsa canadun ctattta auh8oart ess member editorial 9056402612 fax9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353 fax9056408778 distribution 9056402612 suntnbune a york region media group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a division of the metroland media group ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 100 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and tnornhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing