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ksvta jtf the stouffville sun tuesday jan 28 2003 page 7 an attack in a town that should know better if i had been in steve mcmanns loafers that day in 1998 im not sure i would have been as restrained five springs ago whitchurch- stouffville was a powder keg under a microscope courtney trempe 8 was killed by a large dog while playing with friends in the backyard of an eastend stouffville home everyone it seemed knew the happygolucky kid with the perpetual smile the small town went into shock there were more tv cameras in stouffville than at the super bowl grief counsellors camped out at courtneys school memorials were planned people cried in public parents gave their kids an extra hug as they sent them out to school that spring and everyone suddenly looked at dogs with a cautious eye its hard to fathom but two days after courtneys death on the other side of whitchurchstouffville another little girl was attacked by a large dog word of this attack came out thursday at a hearing of the towns vicious dog committee the owner of the german shepherd was unsuccessfully appealing a muzzle order on the dog steve mcmann is a doctor at markham stouffville hospital and the father of the attack victim fortunately his daughter was only dragged by the hair by the dog it was markham stouffville where doctors tried to save the life of courtney a waiting room for families in the emergency ward is named in her memory given the mood of the community i doubt if id have gone through the legal hoops of police reports and bureaucratic committee meetings if one of my kids was attacked by a dog in the wake of courtney trempes death im not sure what my course of action would have been i dont want to think about it and i once owned and loved a german shepherd a teenager living in the same estate subdivision east of vandorf near aurora road and warden avenue wasnt as lucky as the mcmanns daughter he tried to rescue his familys poodle from the same large dog and came away with multiple bites almost five years after courtneys death and the lengthy inquest that followed are we better off this town does have a bylaw and a committee to deal with dogs that attack thats good but people will continue to raise and keep large dogs with a history of anti social behaviour in residential neighbourhoods not so good what do we need a dog prison the death sentence for dogs that attack the owner of the dog that attacked the mcmann girl said following thursdays hearing he would consider having his dog- put down its about time in a town thats too familiar with dogs behaving badly barenaked and missing where are the barenaked ladies mason someone asked thinking they were looking for directions to a strip club and knowing that whitchurchstouffville has no such entertainment palaces i was prepared to tell the inquisitors they were out of luck but since we were at the stouffville arena and it was a mom and her 10-year- old daughter asking things didnt add up you know the band the girl said they were supposed to play in the charity hockey game oh right right right right right said i retrieving my brain from the gutter they were correct ed robertson and tyler stewart of the barenaked ladies pop group were supposed to play in the game of our lives keith actons charity hockey game jan 19 but as keith an assistant coach with the toronto maple leafs told trie standing- roomonly crowd that day there would be no barenakedness on display nothing to do with local bylaws or morals either seems the ladies were in san diego for ah event the night before the game they were returning to toronto on game day but factor in the long flight over multiple time zones and there was no way theyd make it coincidentally the band sang the national anthems at a leafsrangers game in new york earlier this month and ed and tyler broke the bad news to keith in person on the up side the game has raised more than 25000 for the canadian cancer society and rose cherrys home jim mason is managing editor of the stouffville sun new fair president came by title genetically if the sun shines as brightly as kim empringhams smile markham fair 2003 is assured of success the whitchurchstouffville mother of two was elected president when the markham and east york agricultural society held its annual meeting jan 22 shes looking forward to the challenge the former kim little comes by her position honestly her father barry little was fair president in 1983 and her uncle bob little held the office in 1992 in addition her grandfather archie little renowned for his whittling skills seldom if ever missed a fair and her grandmother helens prizewinning quilts always attracted fairgoers attention kims memory of markham fair goes back to age three when she proudly led a jersey calf around the ring or maybe the jersey calf led her shes not quite sure at age five she was showing regularly advancing into 4h competitions the royal agricultural winter fair and the canadian national exhibition our whole family was involved my twinsister kelly too until she entered university kim recalls she vividly remembers as a wee gal gaining admission by sneaking through a hole in a fence the fair was then located at highways 7 and 48 kim served 17 years as a fair volunteer and a director since age 26 shes been involved in the 4h calf club the horse club the veterinary club and the homemaking club she vividly remembers competing with her sister for top piebaking honours jim thomas roaming around kim empringham in 1989 kim was selected fair princess and later served on the fair queen committee she held the position of york region dairy princess in 1988 following graduation from markham district high school kim studied veterinary technology at seneca college prior to her marriage she worked at the town and country animal hospital in ringwood kim and her husband murray have two daughters rebecca 6 and laura 4 kim describes as amazing the more than 700 volunteers who work the fair she notes many ontario fairs arent as fortunate we try and treat our volunteers well she says making a free lunchroom available during the fairs entire run and later hosting an appreciation banquet in november kim admits that as a volunteer herself she never imagined holding the office of fan- president its an honour she says the first vicepresident is paul reesor and the second vicepresident is lynne beckett harrington junior directors are gord appleton brett cosburn bryant hulshof candice lee jamie redshaw and lori howard the homecraft president is lorna sheehy and the director of finance is lesley english david morrison continues as fair general- manager a position hes held since 1990 he was fair president in 1988 kim is strongly supportive of david claiming his site rental skills accounted for an income of onequarter million dollars during 2002 and a fair net profit 60000 with many of the fairs buildings now 26 years old maintenance costs are sizeable kim says everything earned is rolled back in with the markhamunionville area undergoing major cultural change selling the fair to newcomers remains an ongoing challenge says kim these are the people we must reach she claims to let them know how important they are to the fair and how important the fair is to the community even nine months in advance of the fair wheels are already turning as planning procedures begin says kim chuckwagon and chariot races that proved so popular last year will be continued as will the firefighters challenge fair dates this year are oct 3 4 5 and 6 kim agrees the success or failure of markham fair rests in the hands of the weatherman seldom would we ever have four straight days of rain she notes keeping her fingers crossed it seems people today pay close attention to reports and come when the weathers best while the areas becoming more urbanized kim says markham fair has always been and will continue to be a place to meet your friends she claims despite ongoing buildup agriculture still has a vital role to play in peoples lives its up to us to make this point and prove to newcomers were not just another royal winter fair or a cne jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 50 years stouffville says by hannelore volpe have you ever turned to alternative medicines or therapies jane stephenson no although i have been to a chiropractor a colleague of mine is using holistic therapies and feels it has helped him he believes in it very much lorne walsh no herbal teas would be about it luckily we have been relatively healthy we eat lots of fruits and vegetables and work out and exercise regularly mary marshall no i am a fairly healthy person i would look into it if i needed it i have read articles on alternative medicine and talked to people about what they are using i dont have too much stress because i try to steer clear of it but i am on a low cholesterol no salt diet i look at all the food packages to see what is in them xzmz l8 7 t 4 mr h wfo celina davffis i try not to take too many medicines or pills for my arthritis i eat a lot of vegetables and greens they say its good for arthritis i do exercises for my legs and knees i go to aquafit classes and walk every day with my dog