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Chuifictt Anvmmsmc Advertising Manager Stephen Mathieu smalhieu@yrmg.com The Sun-Tribune welcomes your let- ters. All submissions mus‘ be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number. name and addtess. The Sun-THbune reserves the rl t to publish or not publis and to edit for clarâ€" itymdspace. memesm. MSW-mums WMSt. WON LMIGT DISTRIBUTION Circulation Manager Carrie MacFarlane @QKfi-Tfibune is comptised of 100 community publications acmss Condo. The York Regfion Newspaper Gmup also includes The liberal, serving Richmond Hill and Thomhill, Vauglan Citizen.1he Eta-Banner (Newmariet/Aumta), Markham Economist The Sun-Tn’bune, published every Thursday and Saturday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tomar Corporation. Metroiand Marketing Manager Mike Barwille mbunuilleé’yrmg. com Sun. Georgina Advocate, York Region Business Times, North of the City, yorkregionmm and York Region Printing. cmaqfarlane®yrmgcom Manager Dawna Andrews dandrewsG'yrmgcom [masoniyrmpcom York Region Media Group community newspapers Ennonm lim Mason jmasonOyrmg.com LETTERS POLICY PRODUCTION Manager Sherry Day DISTRIBUTION 905-640-2612 MEDIA Marketing ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 fled: 1-800â€"743-3353 n: 905-640~8778 EDITORIAL 05640-2612 905â€"640-8778 Same go " for your online pur- chases from hoknowswhere.com? You saved money and completed most of yo hristmas shopping. Good for ou. Or is it? We believ as many of your dollars as possible ould be spent at home. That means Whitchurch-Stouffville. Get somd good deals during your Black Frichyfitrip south of the border last weekend! And with Stouffville’s growing retail side, there‘are more opportunities than ever to spend that money at home. ' ‘ Why, you say? Because dollars spent in your home town multiply several. times over. They pay the wages of your neigh- bours, who then buy food, gasoline, clothes, movies and other items here. Those dollars sponsor local clubs, sports teams, festivals and other events. They pay taxes at several levels of government, which supply services and facilities we all use. There’s also the matter of build- ing community, of getting to know store clerks and managers. It comes in handy when you need something repaired or replaced. .At the same time, you’re saving time and money by not driving out of this area or even the country. You’re also reducing your carbon footprint. Even better, walk to a neighbourhood store. Retailers and store associations are wising up to this, too. Downtown Stouffville merchants are giving gift certificates to shoppers spending at least $150 by Dec. 12. They are holding other events, too, including a men’s shopping night, movie events and tomorrow night’s light tour. Not everyone realizes how dollars circulate in our community. A minor sports coach called The Sunâ€"Tribune to ask if we had contact names and other information for Stouffville’s gro- cery stores. The team was running a fundraiser and looking for donations of food it could serve at the event. Smart move. It gets people into their neighbourhood, hopefully to return and tell their friends and neigh- bours about the experience. When we suggested the coaches speak to a manager next time they were in the'stores, we were told the team buys their groceries out of town at a wholesale discounter. That's not how the game should be played. PUBLISHER Ian Prou N10 N Ediwrial e Bufing locally sense ‘yet some: good deals during your k Fliid’ayim'p south of the border SATURDAY YOU'RE IN STOUFFVILLE, AND MR5 CLAUS SAYS -. -~No PIES, TAKE SQUARES 0R COOKIES FROM REESORs-u YOU BARELY FIT m YOUR SLElGH NQW'. Re: Stoujfuille park's camping, BAH area scrubbed, Nov. 25. To restore means “to bring back to a previous or original condition”. The dumpsite land was cleared of its origi- nal tree cover in the early 18003 and converted to agricultural use, which continued until 2009. Fill at mill wrong move, but money must stay in park I am puzzled by the term “restora- tion area" as applied to the dumping of fill at Bruce’s Mill. If the desire was to restore the area to forest cover, then restoration would be a simple matter of replanting it to trees. What was once a valley has been converted into a massive hill that has far from finished growing. thanks to the dumping of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fill. Ask any local farmer to take you on a tour of farms where fill has been dumped; you will find the productive capability of that farm has been severe- ly compromised, at best. This isn't an open pit coal mine being restored. It is (or, at least, was) pristine agn'cultural land with a soil profile that took millions of years to establish, ideal for agricultural crops or trees in its on'ginal state. The only thing being restored is the TRCA’s bank account for revenue it will receive for those 7,000 loads of fill. The project is a serious betrayal of TRCA’s mandate of conservation and restora- tion. To add insult to injury, conserva- tion staff now inform us the revenue generated will not necessarily flow into improvements for Bruce’s Mill. Since the glory days of the early 19703, Bruce's Mill has slowly circled the drain into its current state of neglect and disrepair, demonstrating it is one Letters to the Editor thing to build buildings and trails; it is another to maintain same. There has always been a shortage of money for maintenance. I hope there will be a large turnout at the next public meeting by residents of the Stoufiville area and others who use the space to demand the same. We must use the funds generated from this ill-conceived fill dumping project to stay on site to improve cur- rent conditions and future conserva- tion projects at Bruce's Mill. Thanks to suppliers and sponsors, including Applewood Farm Winery, Truly Scrumptious and The Comer- house on Main, plus the media, for promoting this event. Many attendees hope this will be an annual event. BILL BURNETT MUSEUM ADVISORY BOARD PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot For the ambitious expansion plans to succeed and the conservation area to thrive, it is only right the money generated by the fill dumping stay at Bruce’s Mill. Girls night helps build museum As a result of your participation, we were able to make significant progress toward our objective of raising money for the museum's Build A Future for Our Past campaign. Re: Girls Night Outhas historic cause. Oct. 21. Thank you to the woman who attended the Wtchurch-Stoufiville Museum event Nov. 4 at Nineteen on the Park The money raised will be used to purchase specialized equipment to enhance the programming and pres- ervation capacity of our new visitor/ community centre building. :Ii'ibune GUY FARINTOSH WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE Emma IN Cum!I Debom Kelly Busmnss MANAGER Robert Lazu rlco Not so fast, the Toronto native V’Nho still lives in the city, told about 75 men and boys at a break- fast hosted by Springvale Church Saturday at Sleepy Hollow Coun- try Club. All our lives are pretty similar, with significant ups and downs, he said. “I don’t have the answers," he said. “But my faith helps me get through those times.” He works with Hockey Minis- tries International, which brings Christ into the game, including offering chapel in 25 leagues across North America. That wasn’t happening when Mr. Osborne, and friends Mike Gartner and Wes Jarvis who joined him for breakfast, played in the bigs 20 years ago. He’s also an analyst with Leafs TV, where an edge remains in his game. “The last time the Leafs won the Cup, I was in diapers,” he said, tongue in cheek, “and the next time they win it, I'll be in diapers again.” Downs? Try figuring out your dad committing suicide while you're on top of the hockey world with the New York Rangers. Or another family member, a Presby- terian preacher, being killed in a car accident. Lately, it's been the deaths of former coach Pat Burns and Leaf teammate Luke Richardson's daughter, Daron. Already a church-goer, Mr. Osborne, now 49, turned to Chris- tianity at 14, thanks to a preacher from the Billy Graham organiza- tion, and hasn’t looked back. He married a Hollywood actress, played 14 years under the NHL’s brightest lights â€" in Manâ€" hattan, Toronto and Detroit and retired to work in the game â€" he still loves. Mark Osborne would appear to have lived the dream. ' Iim Mason is editor of The Sun- Tribune. Dumcmn. Oran/moss Barry Black Living the dream has its nightmares 'Wi‘t’h’ Iifr‘l‘Mdébfz ' Off The Top Dnncron, REGIONAL Plonucxs, Cussmnn, Tom‘s How Debra Weller Amm'umc. Dlmon Nicole Fletcher