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stouffville suntribune i 1 i fvs i thursday oct 25-2007- suntnbune 6290 main st stouffvile0nl4alg7 wwwyortoegioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising york region printing distribution general manager barryblack bobdean director circulation systems lynn pashko editorial take a bow for health care support the people ofyorkregiohhave achieved a remarkable feat together with our neighbours commu- nityleaders businesses andgovemment we have succeeded in bringing muchneeded health care services and improvements to our rapidly expanding communities next spring a new community health centre will open in vaughan and just this week the last bucket of cement was poured on the roof of the 148000squarefoot expansion ofyork central hospital in rich mond hill in june markham stouffville hospital opened its new breast health centre it is time for all members of the com munity who made this happen to stand up and take a bow at the heart of these extraordinary accomplishments lies each hospitals foun dation they are a dedicated and creative group made up of a board of directors community volunteers and staff who are responsible for encouraging individual and corporate donations in varying amounts they also work with government and local health care experts to make sure new services meet the needs of our rapidly grow ing region fbr example vaughans population is expected to top 300000 within the next decade and right now more than half of them head south to toronto if they need a hospital while 36 per cent travel to the neighbouring communities of richmond hill and newmarket as york central hospitals chief of staff larry grossman said of the 36 million raised for its expansion this has to be just the beginning or five years from now were going to be in the same situatioa at its inaugural gala a week ago appro priately titled let the magic begin about 1000 people helped raise close to 1 million for a stateoftheart hospital in vaughan markham stouffville hospitals founda tion raises about 2 million annually to cover its equipment needs raising money on this scale doesnt come easy behind the numbers are hun dreds of hours of work by volunteers as well as great ingenuity in dreaming up novel ideas for initiatives to raise the money for instance guests at the vaughan galas live auction had a chance to bid on naming a new street in vaughan proceeds from next months 19th annual celebration of hope cancer fundraiser will go to markhams breast health centre who knows what they will dream up next but one thing is for certain we look forward to more fundraising events becoming a regular fixture on our communitys calendar fbr years to come are we on the h0gwart5 express ride the halloween theme heritage traim letters to the editor stouffville follows terry foxs lead our wonderful community is indeed making a difference in cancer research this years terry fox run contributed more than 85000 to cancer research more than 100 volun teers made the community event very efficient and fun and our local schools that participated raised funds and helped spread terry foxs message of hope terry fox asked in 1981 prior to his death that not one person continue his marathon of hope terry asked all canadians to do their part thank you stouffville for following his coura geous lead sandy schell kennedy the terry fox team stouffville challenge issued to new mpp open letter to newly elected mpp dr helena jaczek congratulations on your recent election victory on the heels of this election you no doubt have a good grasp of our provinces current situation economic growth but no increase in wealth for the majority of taxpayers the gtas population grows ever larger yet falls further behind in the areas of health care wait times traffic congestion green space air quality availability of quality affordable long term care and in many basic services givenyour background in public health i look forward to reading headlines someday such as mpp jaczek takes aim at poverty and educates government officials and public on the severe health effects of poverty and marginalization until this day comes any and all public policy initiatives dealing with the above issues just to name a few like all the others will forever remain on the sidelines our provinces public policy focus in these areas will continue to be on lifestyle choices while the economic and social conditions for individuals widely recognized as the determinants of health will continue to deteriorate helena ilook forward to you taking up this challenge you are in an excellent position to make some real progress here good luck ken prentice stouffville visitors artists sponsors backed tour we wish to thank all the people who helped to make the seventh annual whitchurchstouffville studio tour such a tremendous success to the visitors bothlocal and from afar we thank you for coming into the homes and studios of our participating artists all were friendly encouraging and voiced their enjoyment with the tour to our sponsors we acknowledge your gener ous financial support thank you for taking the opportunity for your services and products to be promoted along with the tour with the tour guide and website thank you to the suntribune for the com prehensive coverage and finally thanks to all the artists who worked diligently all year not only to organize the tour but to keep a high standard of craftsmanship in their creative endeavours see you next year raymcneice whitchurchstouffville studio tour off the top with jim mason quartercentury of memories and thankyous twentyfive years ago this month i had never been to stouffville heard of it mainly for its mega flea market but had never been then an interview and a phone call and i was being asked to help start a new newspaper the stouffville sun in the community there was a camera a typewriter electric and all and a desk waiting on main street we would have two weeks to get the first edition on the street stouffville in 1982 was more may- berry than it is now and in many ways that was a good thing you could walk to the downtown core and purchase all of lifes necessities including prescription drugs hardware underwear and grocer ies not necessarily in that order the western edge of the main street shopping adventure ended at the old ap now giant tiger the 404 stopped at bloomington road the ongoing saga of the day was the closure of a landfill site south of bal- lantrae suspected of poisoning clrinking water- there was one new house on the market i know i bought it for well under 100000 obviously i bit signed the papers and took the job and we got that first edition out on time with the help of so many from this community a bronzed copy of it hangs above my mac there was a bit of cake and a platter packed with memories to toast the occa sion last week the memories are almost all sweet three office locations three houses three children and countless friends and contacts in a town that still prides itself on being a community who knows where id be if i hadnt said yes to stouffville 25 years ago lifes like that i do know i made the correct deci sion thanks stouffville jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a ig7 jmasonyrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonynngcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandkwsyrmgcom advertising retail manager stacey allen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrmgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom ontario press council one canxfen onajjxtont ann bom meeker ccab editorial 9056402612 fax9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353 fax 9056408778 distribution 9056402612 suntnbune a york region media group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a division of the metroland media group ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 100 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thornhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing