fa ubr thursday sept 30 2004 serving the community of whitchurchstouffville 24pagess1 including gst 3 everybodys getting ready for the markham fair opinion 6 calendar 16 sports 18 classified 19 stoufiville man first male fair ambassador byjoanransberry staffwriter history has been made at the markham fair for the first time in the fairs 160- year history a male has competed in and won the fair ambassador compe tition whitchurchstouffville resident andrew fockler 20 won the ambassa dor competition at markville shopping centre sept 18 the competition was an exciting experience said mr fockler a sec ondyear student at peterboroughs fleming college being the first male ever in the competition weighed on my shoulders but being the ambassa dor is a worthwhile experience i like being a representative during the fair ill get to meet people from across the region joining him in his role of ambassa dor are team members holly norris of stoufiville and amanda davison of markham the ambassadors competition is no longer a pageant committee chair person gerri seeley stressed the competition has moved in the direction to being a professional role for the ambassador and two team members mrs seeley said open to men and women between 18 and 24 the competition attracted six contestants the ambassador team will repre sent the fair until sunday as well the team will take part in local and provin cial events including the royal winter fair and the canadian national exhibition the entire experience is always very exciting and educational for the ambassador and his team mrs seeley said the ambassador team see ambassador page 5 staff photomike barrett ferris for fair workers do a highwire act as they set up the large ferris wheel at the markham fairgrounds monday the 160th edition of the fair opens today and continues through sunday for more on the fair see jim thomas column on page 7 or go to wwwmarldiarhfairca at least one ball field lost with redevelopment big changes coming for memorial park by hannelore volpe staffwriter developing memorial park to meet the needs of citizens 10 to 15 years from now received the go- ahead from whitchurchstouffville council last week the park in downtown stouffville will eventually be split in half and one or two of its three ball diamonds will eventually be removed because of the extension of park drive from burkholder street across stouffville creek to connect with hoover park drive the extension to be built in the next two or three years will allow the residents in subdivisions in the towns south end to have better access to downtown removing the diamonds doesnt sit well with softbalf players and their parents according to june doner of the whitchurchstouffville softball association the diamonds are very conven ient where they are now she said ms doner wonders how young dia mondliners and junior umpires will get to new diamonds which will most likely be in the new 51 acre bethesda park between ninth line and hwy 48 ms doner the associations pres ident for nine years anticipates softball registration to increase in the coming years because of popu lation growth registration rose this year to more than 500 players on 37 teams in addition there are three rep teams the rethink group basterfield and associates was chosen from among six contenders to complete a see residents page 2 v o ur m o ivi e x o w ia moutoni houston ford ltd 57s6 main st stouffville 305604541 v www billhoustonford com swmmk i i- the newd5 fogus is here car fi driver 10 best 5 years in a rpw various models and colours to choose from 36312 main stf stouffvble 9p5i