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stouffville suntribune thursday april 24 2003 3 stouffville says by hahnelore vojpe y do you think of the provincial tories plan to scrap mandatory retirement lisa mcknight some people might need to work at an older age because of finances arid this will give them the chance peter alexander if someone is able to work they should not be forced to retire at 65 older people can contribute experience and are more depend able reliable and loyal alice killick some people at 65 are in really good health and dont want to sit around jobs for younger people should not be affected because only a few older workers will want to stay on rayshantz i think it is great because we keep the peo ple who are doing the job well in the busi ness force experienced workers know how to deal with problems better downtown gem stouffville fine furniture pro prietor vflle papas and her hus band george won business entrepreneur of the year award at the whitchurch stouffville chamber of commerce awards night recently she is pho tographed at their store in the former iga at 6327 main street in downtown stouffville staff photosjoerdwitteveen award winners have big plans the first in a threepart series on whitchurch- stbuffvilles 2003 business awards winners by joan ransberry staff writer the newest feature at stouffville fine furniture is not for sale the new addition the 2003 entrepreneur of the year award will never leave the store iri the heart of stouffviues downtown the award presented by the whitchurch stouffville chamber of commerce will be a permanent fixture reminding everyone when it comes to business store owners george and vtlle papas are tops the couple agree the award is priceless it represents busi ness smarts the willingness to take a chance and a great deal of hard work the work isnt over said mrs papas weve got more plans for our store mr and mrs papas joined business of the year award win ner bill bobbi of cooks canada inc and ambassador of the year jim mason editor of the suhr tribune and markham economist and sun at the awards dinner were thrilled to be named stouffvilles entrepreneurs mrs papas said since stouffville fine furniture is a family business we hope to pass the store on to our children said mrs papas we will be in stouffville for business many years to come the couples five children pitched in and helped get the store ready for its opening last july each family member takes pride in both the business and the family meanwhile son nicolas has joined stouffville fine furniture looking after the delivery service stouffville fine furnitures move downtown started with an idea about 18 months ago mr and mrs papas stood back and took a hard look at their 10- yearold furniture store in stouffvilles west end the need to double the size of the store prompted the purchase of the old iga store i invite hope the other downtown businesses to do their bit since- the grocery store had sat vacant for more than a year and was fast becomingan eye sore the downtown business community municipal officials and residents alike welcomed the large furniture store with open arms stouffvilles fine furnitures 10000square foot showroom displays high end name brand furniture to addition to tending to customers mr and mrs papas are spending- time with an architect the renovation work on this store is far from over mr papas said when were finished it will look great on the outside as well as the inside also major improvements to the stores parking lot will be carried out soon the couple will expand their business holdings even further plans include building eight apartments above the store once the apartments are iri place the storefront will get a muchneeded facelift mr papas said he estimates the cost of future work on the prop erty could run as high as 1 mil lion thats business mr papas said after spending nine months at the downtown location mrs papas is extending a challenge to her neighbours george and i are pouring energy and dollars into the downtown i invite hope the other downtown busi nesses to do their bit if we work together we can enhance our downtown mrs papas said mr and mrs papas were born in greece mr papas used to own a kitchencabinet man ufacturing business george knew quality and he taught me said mrs papas were a team aside from doing business here the papas family also lives inwhitchurchstouffville briefly birds of prey cleanup on earth day agenda a townwide cleanup arid a barbe cue in whitchurchstouffville will be included in the 4th annual mayors earth day saturday mayor wayne emmerson is invit ing the entire town to take part residents and business owners are being asked to tidy up their proper ties i meanwhile staff and students from each school in whitchurch- stouffville is busy this week with a playground cleanup after tidying up residents are invited to other activi ties to mark saturdays earth day at 9 am there will be a tree plant ing ceremony at the old library now the care and share property earth day spokesperson ralph toninger said a walk along the stouffville creek to the lebovic leisure centre will include tree identification tree planting will begin at 1030 am a workshop designed to teach people how to improve their lawns and games linked to the environ ment and wildlife activities will be held at the old library beginning at 1130 am at noon a nature walk from the old library to the reservoir is also planned a workshop involving tree wrapping and tree pruning is part of this activity at 1 pm everyone is invited to gather at the old library to attend a barbecue which includes a raffle live birds of prey will be on display at 130 at the old library correction broker misidentified in a story published in the stouffville suntribune march 27 it was incorrectly stated earl tucker represented blockbuster canada mr tucker is an associate broker with real estate marketing inc the sun- tribune apologizes for the error i cant imagine not going to the rink every day skating coach julia wilson see story on page 18 contacting us have a news tip please phone us at 9056402612 email us at jmasonyrhgcom visit us at 34 civic ave stouffville zt w wake ym beauuffid uii sfjiutfl lothers day gif certificates available remember mom on may 11th 5956hwy7atmarkhamra 9052011774 m-