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economist sunsuntribune agriculture saturday sept 3 2005 history comes alive with 175th plow match markham event today includes horsedrawn competition by joan ransberry staff writer ken ferguson has been behind the plow for more than 40 years driving an international 444 trac tor and pulling a twofurrow kverneland plow mr ferguson of stouffville is con sidered the one to beat at the york region plowing match today from 9 am to 4 pm marking its 175th year the plowing match will be held at lewisview farms on mccowan road south of 19th avenue near the markham fair grounds about 50 competitors from across york and durham regions are reg istered to take part in the match which includes plows drawn by teamsof hors es the horses are always a crowd pleaser mr ferguson said held by the york region plowmens association the match includes antique tractors and plows as well 2004 queen of the furrow jenn smockum of keswick will help crown the new queen a regional provincial and national champion mr ferguson 53 has repre sented canada at six international com petitions hes plowed in australia new zealand holland and zimbabwe he competed in a match in england last year mr ferguson has won more than 25 competitions it comes down to experience mr ferguson said i started competing at plowing matches when i was 10 years old the trick is to figure out what type of soil youre dealing with and how to manipulate the plow you have one chance you cant go back and plow it over again mr ferguson has never forgotten his roots while he lives on frederick street and works as a grader operator for the town of markham he was raised on a dairy farm in markham ive plowed for more than four decades mr ferguson said its still fun plowing matches help make up our history the first one held in the local area york region was in 1830 plowing matches are part of canadas agricultural history records show in 1846 when the first provincial exhibi tion was held in toronto a special fea ture was a plowing match it took place on a farm on yonge street near st clair avenue in what is now uptown toronto past matches not only gave farmers an opportunity to handle a walking plow but to show off teams of horses many of which were imported plowing matches help make up our history mr ferguson said the first one held in the local area york region was in 1830 admission is free bp 1 ymca help build the new markham ymca donate volunteer participate markham family ymca queens 400 business centre 3rd floor 178 main street unionville ontario l3r 2g9 tel 905 948871 1 wwwymcatorontoorgmarkham are you a community agency serving the residents of york region do you need funding to help you with a community service project for 2006 the regional municipality of york invites innovative agencies both small and large to submit purchase of service proposals for projects that deliver services to vulnerable residents of york region including projects which support low income residents with children or alleviate child poverty through supports the address basic needs programs that provide experiences and opportunities otherwise unavailable because of financial barriers projects which promote capacity building and sustainability provide employment supports address homelessness interested agencies can obtain a purchase of service request psr0501 package at york region administrative centre supplies and services branch first floor 17250 yonge street newmarket successful projects will be funded under york regions community development and investment funding cdif strategy an information meeting on this purchase of service request will be held on friday september 9 at 1 30 pm in the seminar room at the york region administrative centre 17250 yonge street newmarket submissions are to be made no later than thursday september 29 2005 at 100 pm for more information visit wwwyorkca click on whats new or contact supplies and services branch at 18774649675 ext 1668 yorkmegion j notice of submission v v individual e highway 7 corridor an the regional municipality of york region has completed the highway 7 corridor and vaughan northsouth link public transit improvements environmental assessment ea which addresses public transit improvements in the highway 7 corridor extending from highway 50 to yorkdurham line the ea is being submitted to the ministry of the environment moe for formal review as required under the ontario environmental assessment act eaa the ea is being submitted under section 612 of the eaa and was prepared in accordance with the terms of reference approved by the minister of the environment on june 30 2004 the proposed undertaking includes a 41 km twolane median transitway on the preferred alignment see map below generally in the highway 7 corridor between highway 50 and the markham bypass through the city of vaughan town of richmond hill and town of markham the proposed undertaking also includes a median transitway in the vaughan northsouth link between highway 7 and york university with eventual replacement of this transitway by an extension of the spadina subway from steeles avenue at york university to highway 7 the proposed transitway will be designed to accommodate both bus and light rail transit vehicle technologies there are short sections of transit operation in mixed traffic through constrained sections of rightofway and existing underpasses of major northsouth arterial roads such as bathurst street and bayview avenue the proposed undertaking includes stations generally located at major intersections and a proposed road widening along highway 7 between woodbine avenue and sciberras road the region is requesting eaa approval to design construct and implement the proposed undertaking as required under the eaa the ea report will be available for public review and comment from september 2 2005 to october 26 2005 the documents may be reviewed during normal business hours at the following locations location address phone number 1 ministry of the environment environmental assessment approvals branch 2 st clair avenue west floor 12a toronto on m4v1l5 416 3148001 2 ministry of the environment central region office 5775 yonge street 8th floor north york on m2m4l1 416 3266700 3- regional municipality of york office of the regional clerk 17250 yonge street 4th floor newmarket on l3y6z1 h877 4649675 ext 1320 4- town of richmond hill office of the town clerk 225 east beaver creek road richmond hill on l4b3p4 905 7718800 5- town of markham office of the town clerk 101 town centre boulevard markham on l3r9w3 9054754744 6 city of vaughan office of the city clerk 2141 major mackenzie drive vaughan on l6a1t1 905 8328504 7- ansley grove library 350 ansley grove road woodbridge on l4l5c9 905 8566551 8 richmond hill central library adult reference desk 1 atkinson street richmond hill on l4c0h5 905 8849288 9- unionville library 15 library lane unionville on l3r5c4 905 5137977 anyone wishing to make comments regarding the ea must submit their comments in writing andor by fax to the ministry of the environment by october 26 2005 all comments must be addressed to ms gemma connolly special project officer project coordination environmental assessment approvals branch ministry of the environment 2 st clair avenue west floor 12a toronto on m4v1l5 phone 416 3148001 fax 416 3148452 a copy of all comments will be forwarded to the proponent if you have any questions please contact mr steve mota project manager regional municipality of york planning and development services phone 1 877 4649675 ext 5056 email stevemotayorkca under the freedom of information and protection of privacy act and the environmental assessment act unless otherwise stated in the submission any personal information such as name address telephone number and property location included in a submission will become part of the public record files for this matter and can be released if requested to any person this notice is dated september 1 2005 0 uo7rsc 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