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6 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 5 2004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonymgcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial longer vacations could take pressure off system smart employees know the impor tance of a good long vacation and so do smart employers all work and no play makes jack a dull boy may be an overused cliche but when it comes to employees its a truism in the long run an overzealous employee who refuses to take time away from the workplace does no one any favours not himself and certainty not the boss a stressedout overworked employee can make mistakes and take more sick tima he can hurt the bottom line and affect morale still too many employees and employers are reluctant to create mean ingful vacation time the workplace wellness program of york region health services found the average vacation is only three to four days long and even more startling is the fact one in seven employees takes no vacation at all in a given work year when employees do get away they should break all ties with the workplace dump the cellphone unload the laptop and ignore the to do list simply forget work exists york region public health nurses who give work wellness seminars also suggest giving up on the notion that no one else can do the task a worker is leaving behind in a time when governments are emphasizing preventive medicine quali ty time off makes even more sense with proper exercise and nutrition vacations can help reduce health care costs over the long haul thats good for everyone unfortunately governments may agree with the value of quality vacation time but dont necessarily back up the notion canada is far behind some european countries that have legislated minimum vacation times canadian employees are entitled to a minimum of two weeks off after one year of employment but in sweden for instance employees are given five weeks off per year by law unfortunately canadian politicians havent seen the overall benefit of longer vacations if they did our legislated mini mum time off would be longer given our overburdened health care system the time is right for moving closer to the european model not only for our healths sake now but in the future the vets at the other end of main street take the bloom- ington bypass to avoid all those new traffic lights i cpflwheelt3lj ft sontwbone letters to the editor half of doors open visitors were from out of town the doors open whitchurchstouffville committee extends our sincere gratitude to the suntribune for your support by pub lishing articles on our inaugural doors open ontario event june 5 the event was a great success with more than 1300 visits recorded at our 15 sites we found 49 per cent of visitors surveyed lived outside whitchurchstouffville 29 per cent of whom were exploring our community for the first time they came from 27 townscities including altona aurora bobcaygeon downsview east gwillimbury etobicoke georgetown highland creek kitchener lindsay maple markham mississauga newmarket north york oak ridges orangeville ravenshoe richmond hill scarborough thornhill toronto tottenham unionville whitby zephyr and scotland in the area visiting friends interestingly 70 per cent of our visitors were experiencing a doors open ontario community event for the first time and more than half of those surveyed visited multiple sites these are very exciting numbers it means we attracted a huge number of visitors to our community and it was in our community the majority the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 1 54 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom of visitors were choosing to explore the won derful heritage sites for the first time as part of a provincewide program and celebration a generous grant of 10000 from the ontario trillium foundation was instrumen tal to our committee producing a topquality event we produced a fantastic street banner posters and unique door billboards a pro fessional brochure listing all sites an elabo rate interpretation flyer for each site and bright yellow tshirts for volunteers our committee is extremely pleased with the 2004 event and will soon begin planning our 2005 doors open event patricia robinson chairperson doors open whitchurchstouffville committee smtribum a metroland community newspaper 34 gvic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 9056402612 fax9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregloncom email jmasonymgcom member ontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransberryhannelore volpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vivian tneil business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci director of production john futhey managing director real estate mikerogerson sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews distribution manager barry black classified manager ann campbell general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing partnerships oebrawdler shows manager yrng events management stacey allen off the top with jim mason signs from the road and other travel tales hit the road for a couple of weeks and the mind takes notes and asks questions like why does gas cost so much more in canada than in the united states while other essential items are cheaper here cruising through seven states and one supersized province you see things that could fit very nicely back in the home town a train museum to complement the yorkdurham heritage railway a yearround water park or go- kart track for the children and a central reservations office for area golf courses others that wouldnt work as well here a strip of peeler bars adult book shops and nonmedical massage par lours and a giant muskie hammer or ox gracing the entrance to whitchurch- stouffville off hwy 404 but if theres a universal need on our roads its signage including the consis tent naming of streets and highways a road in suburban washington dc we travelled looking for our hotel had at least three names unfortunately the one on our reservation confirmation wasnt used by the locals or at least the local sign department only a perfectly executed triple lane change by yours truly saved the day we are not innocent of such crimes of tourism visitors must be thrilled to learn reesor road becomes tenth line and later durham road 30 the same goes for stouffville road becom ing main street things get stickier when vandals decide to steal street signs a big prob lem in markham that hasnt surfaced in large numbers here luckily the welcome signs telling visitors which service clubs and other organi zations exist tell a lot about a commu nitys activity and diversity returning home sunday night it was good to see such signs at the entrance to stouffville being refreshed by the whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce welcome home jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune