The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ism-bum cor-“MN .o _ Saw V 59:88 >392: Advertising Manager Anne Beswick All submissions must be less than 400 words and Include a daytime telephone numbet. name and address The Sun-Tribune reserves the righ! to publish or not publish md to edit for clarity and space. E-mn momma". Dmnmm (Inumvr. SERVKIES Katherine Porrhemn 905-640-2612 Fu: 905-640-8778 Class: 1- 800~743-3353 DISTRIBUTION 14855-85356l3 York Region Media ( Emup community new“ The Sun-Tubune. Dubhshed every. Monday. IS a divusmn o! the Menoland Mada Gmup Lu. a many- ownod subsidiary o! Tamar Comma. DIRHTIUR, Busmrss Anmmsm'mm Robert Lazurko To speak to) customer “Mann: alwwirkm'rmg. mm Circuhuon Co-ondlnator Daphne Lawn? dlmuriefiyrmgrdm jnuumaflfyrmg mm LETTERS POLICY Delivery issues? Delhmy ‘mquines: yrcustmmm'ceo ynnuzom Dmu’mn, DISTRIfllmnN Tanya Pacheco ' szmun. Rm. Burr AND CIASSIHEI) Gard Paoluca' DIRECTOR, Amumsmc Dobm Weller Editor Jim Mason 1-5013 he Toronto (Christ- mas Market has made top 10 holi- day to~do lists in USA Today and Fodor's "Ii’avel. it's a throwback to European yesteryear, a 13-acre street market in the trendy Distillery District. the brochure writers enthuse. l'm sure it's quite lovely. 1 may even get there some year. (For the record, i couldn't find a parking spot in the gen- eral vicinity while trying to pop into the Distillery District for a bite to eat after a lays' game last summer. We ended up in Greek- town.) And while we all like to escape every now and then. there are plenty of holiday â€"- dare I say Christmas â€"â€" events right here in our home town. 7 And these soimes and gath- erings can pay dividends all year long. If you moved to Stouffville strictly because you could afford a home here. this isn't for you. You commute to your down- town career. buy your staples in Markham and recreate else- where. too. You're good. This is for thosé of you who want to make those community connections You were in the minoyity who voted in this fall’s munici- pal election. You not only pay your taxes. you make sure you get your money's worth. beyond trash pickup and snow clearing. You can find the library. town ofiices and maybe even the museum without the GPS. You've been north of Millard Street and know Musselman's Lake isn't in Muskoka. You've bought in. Maybe joined the multicul- tural association. attended a street festival or two and signed up for a pilates class. You know your neighbours» Got the kids playing soccer and maybe hockey. Christmas is prime time to take your relationship with Stouffville to the next level. caring community we want to live in. Make that most of us. JimMasmisedtoroflheMM. WMMWW Community connections found behind the tinsel You can simply attend Sat- urday's Kinsmen Santa Claus Parade and mix with the thou- sands who will line Main Street. Maybe make some new fn'ends and learn more about your community. Or you can cruise social media and discover organiza- tions (ie. the Terry Fox Run) are looking for volunteers to be in the parade. The Stouffville Christmas Day Dinner is now a delivery- only event. but volunteers are needed to peel potatoes. slice large birds and hand over sty- rofoam containers to the needy and lonely. Call the town (905- 640-1900) to sign up Stouffville is blessed with several community choirs TWO of them. Bach to Miles and Men of Note. host popular Christmas concerts. If you can carry a tune there might be room in the cho- rus. not the audience. A new community group that seems all about volunteer- ing makes its debut at Saturday's parade. It sounds an awful lot like a service club. minus the weekly meetings and dues. But really. it's not about seeing Santa singing along. Joining and taking pan are just subcultures of making or keep- ingWhitchurch-Stoui‘fviile the caring community we want to live in. with Jim Mason OffThe Top LETTER OF THE WEEK Lengthen Santa Claus Parade to include seniors residences CRTC heavy handed with decision Re: Decision could shut down station. Nov. 20. One of the nicest things about moving to Stouffville was discovering WhiStle Radio. 102.7 FM. Listening to it gives me a sense of belonging and the feeling that we have a unique identity here in Stouffville. Let me see if I understand this comedy, the sports complex on Weldon Drive takes priority over Santa Claus. something about traffic? There’s more than one route to get to the arena. Besides. I don't recall hearing from the fire department that there was an issue. or NoFrills. or the apartments and homes on the east side of Weldon Road as well as the homes on Hoover Park Drive and nearby. The CBC does much the same thing on a national basis. Not everybody listens to the CBC or agrees with all its programming, but it is allowed to exist and is a source of national pride. This CRI‘C decision is heavy handed. There are other local community radio sta- tions operating on the same frequency â€" will they be shut down as well? For me, listening to WhiStle is just one of those things that makes Stouffville feel special. Re: Arena traffic tie-ups behind shorter Santa parade. Nov. 27. Clean sweep welcome at lake I think we all should be concerned about losing our small town volunteer radio sta- tion. In recent weeks I have read comments about the new mayor Justin Altmann. First. 1 think everyone should step back and take a deep breath. the man was just sworn in Tuesday. I know Altmann and I voted for him, ii was a last-minute decision but I felt it was the right one. Altmann is no dummy. For as long as I can remember he has been going to many council meetings. learning the ins and outs. The insults are uncalled for. He must have done something right since he did get the majority of the votes. and the others did not. Richard Hartley was the only other alternative. but he did not win people over. Nor did now~formerWard 2 councillor Phil Bannon and thank evolution he did not win since he was by far the worst Ward 2 council- ShOnen this Saturday's Santa Claus GENERAL MANAGER Iohn Willems PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot STEVE MACQUARRIE STOUFFVILLE Vthl Altmann make mistakes? Of course he will, everyone does. But let's just look south to Toronto and the mayor they had. A complete disaster. I am not ashamed to admit it but I tried on the night of October 27. 2014 when I heard Altmann and Maurice Smith (Ward 2) won. They were not tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. And I did not even cry at my mother's funeral less than a year ago. lor in the history of Ward 2 councillors. l and many other Musselinan's Lake voters are hoping for big changes up here. I think the insults and complaints. should not be towards the new incoming mayor. but only 45 per cent of the voting population who put the effort in to vote. Need we remind these lazy people more than one million men and women died in two world wars to give us the right to vote and make a difference? We should all watch the news and see what the people of Hong Kong are having to deal with and the protests they are having just to keep the rights we take for granted or look at the governments of North Korea or Syria. Women did not get the right to vote until 1919 in Canada. but I bet many men and women waited in line for fast food longer than it takes the time to vote. For shame. Parade? Why not extend it even further west and let it end where the municipal offices are on Sandifond Drive? 11 just seems silly that a number of local residents in the Parkview complex for seniors. who are unable to physically attend. should be deprived of viewing an event just because of a couple of hockey games whose participants don't necessarily reside here. " Perhaps someone will step up to provide a live-feed to the residents of the seniors facility. SimiW-Tribune Let's see what happens. GET CONNECTED $ka 6290 Main St. Stouflvme, 0N. L4A 167 mymkregjoncom fatebook (om/Stouffvilie Sunlnbune 3 Hum A/ H ‘ ‘59 Ema” your comments and/or suggestwns IO )mason@yrmg.(om UK: MM” STEPHEN KORN BLU M 571 )( 'I-FVHALE MARK HARPER MUSIS‘I-ZLMANKK‘ LA KI-