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EDITORIAL Nkt Aur Go 905477753 ADVERTISING Fax 9058534616 DISTRIBUTION Fax Industrial Pkwy N Aurora ON 4C3 Editorial Editor Aurora Editor Newmarket TedMcFadden com Editor Georgina Kibble Production Manager Jackie Smart com Advertising Retail Sales Manager Dave Williams Classified Manager Bonnie Rondeau Administration Office Manager Judy White Distribution Distribution Manager John MacKinnon com Circulation Manager Megan Pike mpikevyrmg com THE ERA THE BANNER York Region Media Group community newspapers The EraThe Banner published every Tuesday Thursday and Sunday are divisions 01 trie Media Group Ltd a wholly- owned subsidiary Torstar Corporation The family of newspapers is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario The York Region Media Group includes The Liberal serving Richmond and Thomhill Citizen Economist Sun Stouflville Sun Tribune Advocate North of the City com and York Region Printing LETTERS POLICY All submissions must be less than words and include a daytime telephone number name and address The EraThe Banner reserves the right to publish or not and to edit for clarity and space Write Letters to the Editor The Banner Box I13Y4X1 NION Established 1853 THE ERATHE BANNER wvAVyorkregioncom Steven Crt Newmarket ON 4X1 250 N Aurora ON Publisher Ian Proudfoot Editor oh Chief Debora Kelly Business Manage Robert Director Operations Barry Black Director Advertising Distribution Gord Sales Marketing Classified Todays Homes Debra Welter LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ownership has its responsibilities An oftenquoted TV commercial for a wellknown credit card used to sug gest ownership has its privileges While this may be true I think its important to remind homeowners the joy of owning a house particularly one with a sidewalk also comes with cer tain obligations When you purchase a home with a sidewalk you become the caretaker of that strip of concrete and are respon sible for ensuring your neighbours can walk jog or push a baby stroller across it safely It is troubling to see how many homeowners take time to make sure their driveways are spotless but allow the snow and ice to pile up on their sidewalks Will they be concerned if an elderly neighbour slips on the ice and breaks a hip or a child is hit by a car when walk ing on the road rather than trudging across a snowcovered sidewalk Keeping your sidewalk clear is not always convenient but it is your responsibility KEVIN ANDERSON NEWMARKET Celebration of the Arts win will lead to bigger things An open letter to York Region Media Groups Celebration of the Arts spon sors Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful event as the Celebration of the Arts I have learned so much met so many wonderful people and made lots of friends This year was a very successful year in my music studies but Celebration of the Arts was by far the most precious for me because the prizes I won allowed me to start taking music lessons The music lesgons will help me to develop an even better stage presence and acting skills 1 am looking forward to taking part in Celebration of the Arts in the future and hope to be an award win ner again Then will be able to put some money away to buy a new piano because also enjoy playing piano so much ALISON KLYMCHUK FIRST PLACE JUNIOR VOCAL INCREASED THIS IS OVER THE TOR Tough to live without electric links to world w e moved recently just a few blocks and while it was annoying not being able to find the canopener or scissors or spaghetti strainer or any number of the other items crucial to daily life that were all since found in that last unpacked cardboard box the biggest shock to the system I must admit was not being electronically connected to the rest of the world for a while via home telephone cable TV or high speed Internet The almost physical sensation of being cut off was actually kind of unnerving I thought Id get used to it but I didnt Still do I really need a land line from Bell Why not just use the cell phone I already have and save 30 a month was the kind of thing I was spouting around the new place in the first days after the move I wasnt really going to do it but the switching of eveiything from old place to new was taking some time just enough time for me to start joking about how maybe just maybe we could live without all these connections and as Scrooge would advocate save some money I said to the kids about the home Bernie ONeill phone Thats old technology lets get with the times They gave me an odd look that said What were you Charles Dickens col lege roommate or something Who the heck says Get with the times What if theres a fire Will I be able to find my cell phone to call 911 They doubted it Better to have a home phone that stays in one place and is always plugged in and ready to go so Dad can stumble through the house in the dark and bump into it What if the kids are at home alone for a couple of hours and some hap pens Will the youngest be able to find his older brothers cellphone Will his older brothers cellphone be charged Will his older brother allow him to use the phone Will a fist fight break out over the sharing of the phone Will have to buy an 11 yearold his own cellphone which will eat up the money I saved on the land line Pretty soon I was calling Bell to have my service transferred from the old house to the new one It would be a few days they told me and cost me 55 which is what they charge for flicking a switch in a secret room somewhere wonder if those switch flickers work on commission must be very lucra tive at 55 a second And then theres the cable Wecan live without cable As in cut Pull the plug 1 told the kids excitedly thinking of never having a cable bill again It was a nice feeling although fleeting As they say its a 500channel universe with nothing to watch But people were talking about the fourth Leafs game wed missed and you can only play so much indoor tennis ball catch or tease the cat for so long We just started to feel out of touch Radio and newspapers were good and we were accessing a weak Inter net signal from a neighbour which helped although that may be illegal But we still missed cable TV I went to the department store and bought some rabbit ears and before I knew it I was picking up four yes four TV channels CBC CTV Citytv and Global For free Or at least for which is what I paid for the antenna Soon we were counting the days for the cable guy to arrive as if we were waiting for Santa and should get cookies and milk ready for him and carrots for his van The kids werent impressed Soon we were counting the days for the cable guy to arrive as if we were waiting for Santa and should get cookies and milk ready for him and carrots for his van Some day when the kids are grown 1 might again try to see what its like to live without every electronic means of connecting with the rest of the worid Maybe paddle out to an island some where for a couple of months and get away from it all But for now it feels like these com munications devices are right there in our veins Its a tough cord to cut Bemie ONeill a Wi Region Media Group editor