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1’6h J ‘ I ‘ , ‘ ‘ Wm-rmimm‘am-‘ Yodt Region may be the'ultimate 'Ibmn- tobedmomoommunity. As GITA suburbs go, it’s the only one Mdloutaregionalsportsteamtocallits ofaflfiandmbeémdmamfllewmwa GenerahofmeOntarioHockeerague. "Iheseal'etheGenexakofBobbyOrnfiric Iinchosand,nw1,lohn'1hvams. Fae] has the Mississauga St. Midxael’s Majors Halton is home to the Brampton Battalion. "IbournorttheBarfieColtsdrawfans finmaaossSimooeruntyammtoYork asoneofflleomlsmodelfi'andfises. MostOPEteamsaveragemoreman 2,00) fans per game. Some, including the InndonKnightsandOttamWsappmadl fivefigmeseverynflm OHL. pm soccer in Vaughan and some highsdloolsports. Butthosegamesdmwfansinthehunâ€" dmds, not the thousands. Empty seats aboundatILAgamesinfiveYomRegion oentresallwimerlong. That’s pneuy sad in a community of one million people. Acommunity thathas been home to national Ir. A champion- ship teams, both from Aurora, during this OHL oomm'msioner Dave Branch, in a radio interview late lastyearwhere Aurora wasmentionedasapossiblehomeforan Oilteamblameddlelackoflocalmedia forpooramendameinPeelandHaltonHe seessimilarpmblemsinYmkRegion Would sports fans back regional team? Sme,we’vealxeadyhadtheOHLhere, briefly. The former Cornwall Royals fran- chisewasinNewmadcetforMoyearsin meearly 19906 before moving toSamia andbeoomingtheSting. More recently, there have been rumours of teams moving to Newmarke't and "Ibll us, sports fans of York Region. Would you support an OHL team in your backyard? Wedisagreelfdlere’sapmbleminflle suburbs, it’s the lack of identity. People here think of themselves as 'Ibrontonians first when it comes to entertainment and 7 Sadly, they’re Tbmnto Maple Leaf fans not hockey fans The problem is exacerbated in York Region, where we have no local team for all to rally around ' Of, are you content to spend hundreds ofdoflamonMflficketsforateamina neighbouring municipality? Ismismallyhockeyoountry, orjusta faceless suburb when it comes to sports teams? lEITERS POLICY The Sun-1Hbune welcomes your letters. All submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime hone number. name and The Sun-Wm reserves the right to publish or not publish and to ad! hr clarity nndspace. Tninkaboutit. Durham Region has the glandâ€"daddy L“ .07 jmuonflymgxom PINION Editorial INTERACI'NE MEDIA W m "M ‘ M Bonnie Rom“ Manna unndaauOyrmgmm Dam Andmvs dandme Ennom Editor Iim Mason jmavonOyrmg. mm She deserves the gratitude ’of many Stouflvillites who have met with her in their most vulnerable moments. We are all indebted to a woman who has given much of her life to making our darkest days a little easier. - Funeral director deserves salute Re: Funeral director always had compliment for her employee, column by Iim Thomas, Dec. 28. Kudos to Mr. Thomas for his praise of retired funeral director Robin Walsh. How difficult it must have been at times for her to see acquaintances forced to use other funeral homes because O'Neill was built for yesteryears, with rooms too small for large funerals compound- ed by limited parking. We have lived in Stoufl’ville since the early 19705 and question the Arbour franchise’s reluctance to build larger facilities in a fast-growing town with plenty of available industrial land. To her credit, Robin did the best with the facili- ties she had. Robin, ever gracious, accommodat- ing, dignified with a hidden sense of humour, we salute you. Enjoy your retirement. York Region’s recent contingency plan for recy- clable matters during unstable market conditions was written to address a temporary financial prob- lem: a decrease in the market for recyclables How- ever, the plan seems to have lost sight of the reason Recycling isn’t just about the money Re: York Region anticipates $6 million newnue loss this year, story by David Fleischer, Dec. 10. How To ENSURE THAT FIGHTING REMAINS A PART OF HOCKEY FOREVER= Anvmmsmc Retail Manager Dianne Mahoney dmahoncyfiyrmg. mm 'SuMfi-Tribune PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot IOSIE SCHWARZLI WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE 629094613. mmnm lG7 myhafionnun Letters to the Editor Special Events Manager Pam Burgess pbu WK. mm Pnonucnon we all started recycling in the first place â€" because it was in the best interest of the health of people and the environment. TWO of the plan's contingency options actually included diverting less-profitable recyclables and composting to landfill or to Dongara and Coventa until the market prices retum to normal. York Region Environmental Alliance has great concerns about the manufacturing of pellets from garbage currently done in Vaughan and the sub- sequent buming of the pellets in other locations There has not been suflicient environmental eval- uation and the process is seemingly exempt from the more stringent environmental assessments required by the province. We would like to see York Region or the City of Vaughan demand a full envirbnmental assessment and put into place third party testing so citizens can know the long-term effect of pelletization and the burning of pellets before considering the addition of more plastic materials Yes, we are experiencing a financial crisis, but our values and integrity should not change just because of a blip in the economy Contingency plans like this will undoubtedly lead to crises of a difienent kind, health and environmental ones It is a good time for the region and munici- palities to look at other options and engage the citizens and businesses. Why not promote the reduction of waste, particularly plastics, metals and Styrofoam? Choose products with less or no packaging, read the newspaper online or shred and compost newspaper. There are many options and it is an excellent opportunity to engage people. Au'fl'fl Burma uu Cum Debora Kelly M... UIIVVW Pluuuvw "Iul lbw V. II” lead the newspaper online or shred and Happy new Yea“ Whi‘ChurCh' gwspaper."rherearemanyopfions and“ Stouffvflle. Only two or three more emopportunitytoengagepeople. of heavy sledding to get KARENBUCKLE lim Mason is editor of The Sunâ€" YORK REGION ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE Tribune. Classified Fax Fax DISTRIBUTION 905-640-26l2 ADVERTISING 905â€"64046] 2 id: 1-800-743â€"33 a: 905â€"640-8778 905-640-2612 ‘x: 905-640â€"8778 EDITORIAI Busnmss MANAGER DmncrogAnvumsmu YORK REGION PluNnm. Robert Lazurko Dnmnuuou GENE!“ MANAGER Nicole Fletcher 30” Dal" A York Region Media Gmup community newspaper The Sun-tribune. published every Thursday and Saturday. is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd. a moliywned subsidiary otiorstar Corporation. Metroland is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario. me York Region Newspaper Group includes ihe Liberal, serving Richmond Hill and Thomhlll. Vaughan Cltizen,1he Era~Banner (Newmarket/Aurora). Mandlam Economist Sun. Georgina Advocate.York Region Business times. North of the City. yorkregionoom and Ybrk Region Printing. Leave the country for a couple of weeks and you can gain a new perspec- tive on some things. And not just that snow sucks, no mat- ter how much it can be romanticized in carols and on Chn'stmas cards. “I like my snow â€" on 1y," a smiling southern airport baggage handler told me as I headed back to reality on the weekend. Thanks. pal. More reality from a holiday sojourn: 0 When Americans aren't bemoaning their economy, they have politics on the Common themes? Trouble in Illinois and “How could we elect George W. Bush. twice?" 0 Hockey is of no consequence south of the snowbelt, unless it's the NHL’s annuai outdoor game. There’s something apparently titillat- ing about watching 40,000 people, sevâ€" eral of them shirtless and quafling cold beers, outside in Arctic conditions. 0 People from all over the world know Canada mainly forVancouver and Toron- to. They think we're nice and friendly with cleaner-than-average big cities. Many think we all speak French negu- larly. No one asked if we live in an igloo or travel on snowshoes, thankfully. 0 The Pinot Grigio I sometimes sip with dinner costs $8.95 for a 750-ml bot- tle at the 11230. Three litres of the same at a wine supermarket in Fort Lauderâ€" dale was $16. Sure, it's made in California, but that price puts duty free shopping to shame 0 You can still get an SUV limo trip home to Stouffville from Pearson Inter- national for $75. It beats the heck out of scraping ice off your own SUV after you've dug a trail to get at the scraper. 0 The Love Guru is as bad a movie as has been made. It should be banned from all inâ€"flight film offerings. Trouble in paradise? Pass the cheap wine, forget the politics {SW-Tribune with Jim Mason Off The Top