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heating air c0ndtt10ning systems 1s1tteffingonsteunit7 4711748 craftsmanship t mir theltibune community serving whitchurchstouffville uxbridge and area unirichtire auto centre 374 main st east stouttvilje lal trie pxt service surfin 6406838 a metroland community newspaper wednesday july 1 1987 handicapped athlete leads by example by chris garbutt to describe what its like to live with a mentally handicapped sis ter is not easy tracey garbutt my sister is well known for her success in va rious special olympics events she is 18 now and i do not remem ber a time when she was not around ive never thought of her as my retarded sister just my sister however having her around probably makes life a little diffe rent for our family than others one of the main difficulties for tracey is keeping busy she is an active and sociable person and hates to sit around the house but she needs constant supervi sion not necessarily someone to watch her every move but some one who will be around if a prob lem arises so to keep her as busy as possi ble and to fit in with the schedules of others her days must be struc tured most of her activities require some travel because they are usually located in richmond hill or markham she goes to school in unionville because there are no integrated classes in stouffville schools tracey went to summitview pub lic school in her early years but her disabilities required more attention than a public school teacher had to offer so she attended special classes in public schools in richmond hill vhich meant long bus rides sheuater went to a private school in north york which involved longer and expensive taxi trips tracey is now at unionville high school where shell likely continue until she is 21 when shes 21 tracey will prob ably be living away from home but will still need supervision one of the more popular solutions to this problem is the group home in which several mentally re tarded people live together with a fulltime staff ii j eiimi wammm not enough group homes the problem with group homes and similar projects is that there are not enough of them waiting lists are long and tracey has already been put on one in hopes that will ensure her a place when she needs it peter gomery executive direc tor of the york central associa tion for the mentally retarded ycamr said waiting lists are the main problem for the associa tion there are close to 80 people who we cant place in our prog rams he said the programs not only include residential acco modation but also parent relief lifeskills vocational recreation al alternatives and residential camping the reason for the waiting list mr gomery claimed is govern ment underfunding theres been a limited amount of funding from the government he explained mr gomery said the ycamr is always very dependent upon public support and they are constantly holding fund raising events according to the executive director work opportunities are improving for the developmental- ly handicapped more and more industries are getting involved and were now providing coaches to work with the employer and to help the em ployee get into the work environ ment he said tracey just finished a parttime job at whitchurchstouffville public library and hopes to re sume working after the summer holidays the activity that consumes most of her energy is the special olympics she has been involved in crosscountry skiing swim ming and most successfully in track and field she went to the canadian special olympics in 1986 and sunday she returned from this years provincials where she had her most success ful meet to date winning three gold medals and one silver games a good outlet the special olympics are a good outlet for tracey and it keeps her in shape brian bull a representative from ontario spe cial olympics oso said the games ha ve many benefits for the participants it benefits their skills special olympics will provide not just physical benefits but the social benefits of meeting new people and travelling he explained and it gives them something to floats help kids learn to swim by chris garbutt angela cook wants to take the nightmare out of the swimming experience for youngsters the swimaid float suit uses styrofoam floats to keep children from going under the water and mrs cook sells them out of her musselmans lake home as well as at the stouffville sales barn mrs cook said the onepiece suits which come in sizes 1 to 6 are an effective method for chil dren learning to swim it gives them confidence she explained the styrofoam floats are re movable so parents can take them out gradually as the child becomes more confident and one can continue using the suits after the child is swimming indepen dently and they stretch in water so theyll last a couple of years mrs cook noted the floats are postioned so that the childs arms and legs can move freely and they quickly get used to the suits she added the whitchurchstouffville woman has been selling the suits for about a year but has been us ing them for her children for the past eight her three sons cameron 9 lawrence 6 and nathan 3 all learned to swim through use of the swimaid suits originally from england the suits are now made here in cana da as well mrs cook offers both english and canadianmade types she claimed parents do not have to worry if the water is too deep for the child the great thing about them is they can swim all over the water the swimaid suits may be purchased at the stouffville sales barn or by calling mrs cook at 6407172 citizens awarded hirsrssseikjsbj fof4hers g2i y rj riend in meade look forward to mr bull said the response of the public to the special olympics has been excellent but the mentally retarded still have their problems tracey can not represent all of the retarded people because their disabilities are as different as their personalis ties mr gomery noted that socie tys perception could still im prove the greatest handicap that the mentally retarded have is the atti tudes we would like all mentally retarded have an opportunity to live in a state of dignity to have employment self respect and their rightful place in the com munity mr gomery said they are more like than unlike the rest of society special olympics star tracey garbutt of stouffville is profiled by her brother chris a journalism student working for the tribune this events in brief qpjmlewqiyianmqnqbepi donna noble of gormley has received the canada volunteer award for her work founding selfhelp groups for the depressed and manic depressives the 40yearold mother of two was recently honored in ottawa by health and welfare minister jake epp the award is presented annually by health and welfare canada and mrs noble was one of 34 recipients the selfhelp group she started has led to the formation of nine others in the metropolitan toronto area plus others across canada the lake simcoe region conservation authority lsrca is concerned about the closures of beaches because of high fecal coliform bacteria levels the health units of simcoe county york and durham regions have posted signs at a number of beaches within the lake simcoe watershed due to fecal pollution the lsrca is continuing its lake simcoe rural beaches impact study by performing weekly quality testing at points along uxbridge brook the beaverton river and pefferlaw brook this study shold determine agricultural sources of bacteria and nutrient pollution for more information regarding beach closures contact your local health unit or the lsrca at 8951281 pickerinjsschopkrslthe following pickering high school grade 13 students have been recommended as ontario scholars for the 198687 year dawn adams carolyn atchison sarah bell michelle broydell jane carlsson robert chaytor andrew cherry liisa christensen rebecca clarke catherine craig tracey culling- worth cora da re stephen davis marcus dearn david durocher shawna foxton darcy grant shamayne hakim tara hall denys harasymiak cindylou hardy dawn hedley william home nan cy jones tony josevski thomas kim carole koppens miae lee ross marrs patricia miller gregory milne kelly norlock laine rankin joanne rider michael roychoudhury patricia rudik annette urquhart charlene winger and helen yeung