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Students David Amy and Erin DeMelis help Stouffville Lions Club members Clare Palmer (left) and Russ Holder put the food into a truck that was headed off to the Lions’ Christmas Hamper sorting building. BY SANDRA BOLAN Staff Writer More than 450 non-perishable food items were donated to the Stouffville Lions Club Christmas Hamper program by the students of Stouffville District Secondary School. The school recently held a semi- formal dance that required attend- ees to bring a non-perishable food item to the dance for a discount on BY ROSS ARBOUR Correspondent Stouffville’s MOTUS O theatre company has select- ed Alexis Burkholder, 16, from dozens of applicants to perform in_A Christmas Qarol. “To perform with professionals like MOTUS O, in a story everyone loves, is going to make the holiday season for me," Ms Burkholder said. Young local performers auditioned for the opporâ€" tunity to perform alongside MOTUS 0’s professional dancers. The Stouffville-based company has performed for audiences in across Canada and abroad. Co-artistic director Cynthia Croker is enthusiastic about young actors coming to the stage. TALENTED YOUTH “Reaching out to tap the talented youth in York Region is something we love to do. We build these opportunities into several of our touring shows, and the feedback from the kids is always gratifying," she said. “It's incredible training for them and allows us to teach our trademark style of performance while building dance." Mo'st 0’s A Christmas Carol will be performed on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 2 pm. the Markham Theatre for Performing Arts. Teen wins Christmas Carol audition SDSS students spread holiday spirit locally, abroad Call 905~305-SIIOW for ticket information the price of admission. About 150 students attended and donated the more than 450 food items. The students’ generosity did not stop there. They also donated a mountain of food and diapers to a Kingston, Jamaica, residential mission for orphans and elderly residents suf. fering from HIV/AIDS. The project was done in conjunction with the York Regional Police, who held the ALEXIS BURKHOLDER: Teen will perform in A Christ mas Carol at Markham Theatre with MOTUS O. food and supply dn've in honour of Const. Davis Ahlowalia, who was killed in a crash in January 2007. Const. Ahlowalia regularly vis- ited the orphanage to assist in carâ€" ing for those in need, which raised the collective consciousness of the members of York Regional Police, which led to their adoption of this orphanage and their current part- nership with Friends of the Poor Canada Inc. in 2004. STAFF PHOTO/SANDRA BOLAN BY SANDRA BOLAN Staff Writer The Migliano home is all a-glow in more than 1,000 dancing LED lights, while their front lawn is home to a reindeer and a penguin, a Christmas tree and Santa climbing the side of the house. The home, located at 22 Fred Sylvester, is this year’s Stouffville Lions/Stouffville Sun-Tribune light contest winner. The Miglianos’ inspiration for the head-turning home came from the family’s visit to Thomhill’s Lindâ€" say light home in 2006. ' “If was beautiful and they had it all dancing to music," homeowner Grace Migliano said, The family decided that when they moved into their Stoufiville home the following year, they too would make their home a holiday showpiece. Award-winning |ight show raises funds for cancer,too In December 2007, Mrs. Miglia- no’s husband, Joe, started stringing lights on their house but as he pro- gressed, he kept saying, “I think we need one more strand. I think we need one more strand." “Before you knew it, we had a lot of strands of lights on the house,” Mrs. Migliano said, noting last year, they used about 800 lights in total. Not only does the Migliano home provide a winter wonderland spec- tacle, it is also raising money for the Jam Mfzfi Am; Horn the staff, physicians and volunteets of M10!!! Shouffville Hospital. StouflS/ille Sun-'l'ribune I Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 Canadian Cancer Society. “We decided to do something because we had a lot of on-look- ers," Mrs. Migliano said, noting her father died of cancer last year. “So USE? The Miglianos have only been accepting donations since the beginning of this week, but Mrs. Migliano said it is going well. “It's hard to give a goal because there are people who come by and don’t donate. So we didn’t want to give ourselves a goal," she said. People who want to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society via the Migliano house, can do so by dropâ€" ping by the home between 6 and 10 pm. daily. Even though the holiday season is still in full swing, the Miglianos already have plans for next yea} _ “we plan bn getting more lights and maybe next year we'll have a theme," she said. People who want to take their own light tour, should also check out the following homes, which also placed in the Stouffville Lions/ Stouffville Sunâ€"Tribune sponsored contest. Second place: the Alsops, 5 Sul- livan Lane. Third place: Joseph and Marion Rose, 389 Hemlock Fourth place: Karen and Rod Hunt, 620 Elm Rd. thought, why not put it to good