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After recently witnessing a delivery of gift catalogue items to children living in the most desperate of circumstances, I was humbled by the overwhelming support that residents in Stouflville have shown to these children in need. Stouffville donors make top 10 As Christian Children’s Fund of Canada's country director in Burkina Faso, I would like to thank the community of Stouffville for its generous support of our Christmas gift catalogue this year. A Since October, there has been an out- pouring of generosity from residents, mak- ing Stoufi'ville one of the top-10 most chari~ table cities in Canada to make donations through our 2008 Christmas Gift Catalogue. This is a remarkable achievement and residents should take pride in knowing they have helped thousands of impoverished children, families and communities around the world, despite any economic uncertain- ty they may personally be experiencing. Items purchased through the gift cata- logue supply families with clean water, pre- vent deadly but preventable diseases like malariafromtaldnginnocentlives, andpro~ vide livestock to extremely poor families, giv- ing them the resources they needed to feed V Wdrking 'for CCFC in Burkina Faso, 1 have seen first hand the eflect your gift purchases have on the children in these povertyâ€"stricken regions. ear Santa, How’s it going? I know, I know. It’s been a long time since I’ve written. I hope you’re not disap- pointed. I imagine you thought I simply grew up, like all the other kids. But sometimes I’m not so sure. I was thinking of writing a few years ago but had given up doing the handwritten letter thing. (I almost wrote one time and the only pen I could find was out of ink. Don’t you hate that?!) And I didn’t have your e-mail address. (I've since heard you are still not yet accepting e-mail requests for gifts and I admire that. We are all slaves to our e-mail inbox- es. Sometimes traditional things are better. Like the sleigh and reindeer. I imagine their carbon footprint is limited and you don’t get in trouble with David Suzuki. despite all the miles you are covering.) How is Mrs. Claus? I saw you at the Santa Claus parade a few weeks ago. Iwaved. I appreciate that you weren’t throwing any candy like some of lETTERS POLICY Dr. Santa: About that speeding ticket I didn’t pay on time than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number. name and address. The Sun~mbune mserws the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space. Letters to the Editor. The Sun-Tribune 6290 mm St W. GM LM IG7 The Sun-mbune welcomes your letters. All submissions must be less StouflWIe Sun-Tribune. Saturday Dec. 20, 2008 jmnsoniyvmgxom PINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR lmmcnva MEDIA Marketing 8: Advertising Manager I )awna Andrews dandmnsél‘ynng.mm EDITORIAL Editor lim Mason jmmonfi’yrmg. mm the other parade participants. I’ve got this sore tooth at the back and I don’t think sucking on a candy cane would improve the situation. If I’m not careful I might be get- ting a visit from the Tooth Fairy. (Maybe you‘ve met her at a conven- tion or seminar or something.) I must say I admire your man- agement abilities. You are off mak- ing public appearances while the elves are back at the workshop doing the grunt work. You really are a master of dele- gating tasks. I make public appear- ances but still have to go back to the workshop and lay out pages, post stories to the website, assign the photos and so on. But, hey, don’t get me wrong. It's fun. Couldn’t see myself doing anything else. The reason I’m wi'iting is that I just wanted to clarify a few things. Right around this time I’m sure you’re making your list, checking it twice, you’re going to find out who’s naughty or nice. Or maybe you've delegated that task to an assistant. Either way, about that “speed- ing” ticket I got back in the summer, and then did not pay! I just want to explain. their families and generate a steady income. Stoufiville’s gefierosity of spirit has truly made a difference in helping the world's “poorest of the p001”. MARIE-HENRIETTE SALEMBERE BURKINA FASO CHRISTIAN CHILDREN ’5 FUND OF CANADA St. Mark's Church in Stoufiville hosted a successful fundraising and awareness eve- ning called Christmas at Cuemavaca Dep. 9. Despite inclement weather, many from the Stouffville community came out to help us raise money and awareness for a com- munity we support in Cuemavaca, Mexico. We would like to thank Anne Pride and Sue Sherban for their organizational work and creativity. Special thanks to Sue’s team: Lindsay and Lisa Sherban, Ruth Hadji, and Brenda Lobraico. Our live auction was high- ly successful and entertaining because of the talents and generosity of Tom and Emily Clarkson of Clarkson Auctions. lay Cushing of Mainstreet Printing offered his artistic talent and created a keep-sake ticket. Thank you, Father Lorenzo, for sup- porting our cause and to all patrons who donated items for the silent auction. It was a magical night. Magical night aided Mexicans Classified Manager Bonnie Rondeau hmndmuQVrmgmm Retail Manager Dianne Mahoney dmahnneyfii‘yrmgmm Anvmmsmc 'Si'f'fi'iTribune PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot COLIN WHITEBREAD 5T0 UFFVILLE 6290 Main St. Stouflvifle, ON. LAA 167 www.mgonmm It was one of those roads in the rural part of town â€"â€" 10th Line â€"â€" and I was only going about 72 km/ h, according to the ticket. I did not realize the speed limit is 60 km/h, all the way down to Steeles Avenue, as the officer later explained to me. There was no one on the road. There are no houses around. I don’t know if I could have gone any more slowly without my car stalling or me falling asleep. Special Events Manager Pam Burgess phu rgpssfifiyrmg. mm Suddenly, the police officer mentioned above leaps out from behind some bushes with a radar gun pointed right at me. (Those of us who grew up watching Star Trek and Star Wars always think for an Pnonucnow Team Leader Sherry Day Bernie O’Neill A o‘knldfll Emma IN Camp Debora Kelly Classified instant that he is about to vapourize us â€"â€" or blow dry our curls, his radar gun looking like a cross between a phaser on stun and a hair dryer.) The ticket was for $12, which I could hardly believe. It was like I had received a gift from you, Mr. Claus, when l was expecting to be paying $75 or more. Still, if I didn’t know better, I’d say the officer’s time could be bet- ter spent somewhere else (like at that other speed trap people tell me is on Hwy. 7 east of McGowan â€" if you’re ever sledding near there, Santa, watch out!) The problem is, the fine was so small, I shoved the ticket into a little spot under the radio and more or less forgot about it. A couple of weeks later I got thinking about the ticket, but then couldn’t find it. So I thought, oh well, they’ll send me another ticket with some kind of $20 penalty. I'll just have to pay it then. Which is what happened. Except that with a bit of restrucâ€" turing around here. I was soooo busy. And you know those “super mailboxes" (now there's an oxymoâ€" ron if I’ve ever heard one) you can EDITORIAL 905â€"640-261 2 Fax: 905â€"640-8778 DISTRIBUTION 905-640-2612 3X ADVERTISING 905-640â€"26 l 2 ied: 1-800‘743â€"3353 .x: 905-640-8778 Nicole Fletcher A York Region Media Group community newspaper The Sun-Tribune. published every Thursday and Saturday. is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd. a whollyowned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. Metroiand is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario. The York Region Newspaper Group includesThe Liberal, serving Richmond Hill and momhiii. Vaughan Citizen.1he Era-Banner (Newmarket/Aurora), Markham Economist Sun, Georgina Advocate. York Region Business Times, North of the City. yorkregioncom and York Region Printing. (Saw-Tribune sometimes not check the mail for a week or so. And now that I’m doing Internet banking I don’t really need to check for the bills. I do it all online! (You should try it Santa. I'm sure the feed store could deliver oats for the reindeer and let you pay online in monthly instalments.) And then there was a death in my family which kind of threw things off. When I finally paid the fine, it was late. So they said I owed even more money and would have my licence suspended! So I paid the additional funds and, as far as I know, I am still licenced to drive in the province of Ontario. Although considering the justice system’s methods to this point, I can’t be 100 per cent sure. So I'm just letting you know. Meanwhile, I hope you believe my brush with the law was com- pletely unintentional â€" I am not a habitual Speeder â€" and never for a minute did I mean to not be "nice". If you are still able to give me a gift, the return of door-to-door mail delivery by Canada Post would be a great one, although I know that may be beyond even your powers. You REGION PRINTING GENERAL MANAGER Bob Dean