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6 siffinwsiihribtinem thursday dee 62007 suntnbune 6290 main st stoufmlleonl4alg7 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor m chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising york region printing distrd3ution general manager barry black bob dean director circulation systems lynn pashko editorial paying itfonvard at christmas halloween wasnt even upon us and the excesses of christmas and whatever other holidays you are cel ebrating at this time of year were upon us the messages were every where buy this do that give this and cook this meal for the perfect holiday trouble is none of the above express the true meaning of the sea son its about giving especially giving back for those who are able in a community as affluent as whitchurchstouffville most of us have so much and many of us are giving back through our families businesses churches and service clubs but if youre looking for an outlet for your generosity here are some suggestions the stouffville lions club runs the granddaddy of all christmas drives in this community the service club collects items and money to fill holiday baskets that it delivers to needy families if you parked in a snow route and paid the fine with a toy you have con tributed to the lions effort for more information call 9056404087 york regional police who often see the negative side of our commu nity are doing something about the 11th annual toys for tots drive aided locally by stouffville canadian tire puts gifts in the hands of needy children you can leave donations at any york regional police station and the com munity safety village in whitchurch- stouffville member churches of the stouffville ministerial association do good deeds year round at christmas they also deal with special requests to assist the less fortunate the new whitchurchstouffville emergency care fund does exactly that provides care in times of emer gency you can make a donation year round at rbc or the mayors office in stouffville the stouffville christmas din ner serves up fellowship food gifts and entertainment on the big day at eastridge evangelical missionary church the event is always looking for donations of money and volunteers enjoy the holidays spread the kindness pay it forward whitchurch- stouffville and you got upset cause i got a little nose stud letters to the editor chamber president should be constructive instead of insulting re downtown merchants blasted by chamber nov 24 i take exception to whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce president helene john sons insensitive and unrealistic comments made during the annual mayors luncheon i think ms johnson is out of touch with the very serious issues concerning main street merchants who does she think would set up business in downtown if it werent for small entrepreneurial minded people does she think the big box stores would be interested in consistently run down locations that without enough parking not a chance so yes maybe these businesses are not open late enough but has she ever stopped to think about why small business owners unlike big box stores dont haveiinlimited funds to staff the store seven days a week until 9 or 10 pm therefore they are forced to make decisions based on what their core customer period is if they hardly see a customer in their store after 3 or 330 pm paying staff to work until 8 or 9 pm is hardly economically viable the alternative would be for the owners themselves to be working all the hours of the day to accommodate what ms johnson is proposing that is hardly realistic as i see it the biggest problem is not enough people shopping main street if there were enough shoppers to validate the owners paying staff to stay open later then i can assure you it would already be happening if ms johnson wants to blast anybody perhaps she should be blasting the lack of consistent shop pers shoppers want every convenience at any given time there is no main street in any small town that would be able to accommodate shop pers demanding exceptional service if there are niche stores that shoppers frequent because of their individuality of their exceptional service then the shopper should make the time to frequent them during their business hours i am astonished the head of the chamber which v supposed to support and encourage small busi ness could be so unsuppportive and myopic i am no longer a member of the chamber and i would encourage other businesses on main street that are members to seriously consider if it is in their best interest to belong to a group whose leader is blatantly opposed to all their efforts instead of insulting and alienating hardwork ing business hours ms johnson would be better to direct her energy to more constructive issues sara marsala tempest in a teapot stouffville warm welcome on cold concert night thank you from bach to blues to all who attend ed our concert sunday despite the inclement weather our audience support was overwhelming our guests and visit ing alumni were thrilled to be welcomed by such enthusiasm we collected 774 for the santa wish fund thank you to stouffville united church for allowing us the use of your sanctuary it held a per fect christmas concert pat wild bach to blues company stouffville off the top with jim mason want a rush enter the 2008 santa parade now if you do one thing before you leave this place go in the stouffville kinsmen santa claus parade dont just watch participate ifs one of the coolest experiences trust me imagine getting the opportunity to say hi to hundreds of your closest friends in a onehour time slot youll see folks you havent seen in months maybe years the down side is you dont get to see much of your fellow parade participants youll live and its far easier to stay warm by walking the mile or more of main street or driving a mustang convertible with the dashboard heater on full bore as i did saturday suntribune citizen of the year audrey gibson was in the back doing her best queen elizabeth wave to the thou sands on the route congratulations audrey came calls from the crowd way to go hats off too to the kinsmen who run a firstclass parade with their small membership one suggestion guys how about naming a parade marshal it could be the citizen of the year or anoth er worthy person in our community stouffville may be losing some of its traditions this parade isnt one of them in spite very frigid conditions this years crowd was massive especially in the east end and downtown core you realize how many hundreds of hockey parents and players wear stouffville clipper coats and you see ingenuity at its best with folks hauling out makeshift benches to the route from where they consume beverages some of a questionable variety the decision of town council to dish out hotdogs and hot chocolate before providing commentary over loud speak ers was a wise one it harkened back to the 1980s when my old golf buddy the late great eddie luther of cfrb fame announced the parade from the entrance of the iga next years parade date is dec 6 be there youll thank me later 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 suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space utters to the editor the suntribune 6290 main st stouffville on l4aig7 jmasoneyrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmason0yrmscom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrews0ytmgcom advertising retail manager stacey allen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbell0yrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeau0yrmgcom production team leader sherry day sday0yrmgcom ortaiio press cwnd ope cnulibcra ccab editorial 9056402612 fxc 9056408778 advertising 9056402612 chained 18007433353 fix 9056408778 distribution 9056402612 suntribune 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 thomhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing