HomeMy WebLinkAboutNA2005_04_22P PAGE 6 THE NEWS ADVERTISER, APRIL 22, 2005 durhamregion.com
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EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
infodurhamregion.com
Council serves night to remember
To the editor:
On Saturday, April 9, I was volunteered for kitchen duty at
the annual Branch 606 Royal Canadian Legion Awards dinner
in Pickering.
The ladies’ auxiliary prepared a roast beef dinner and this
year Joanne Dickerson was responsible for the preparation
and serving of the meal.
Joanne had arranged for the mayor and members of council
to serve the dinner and asked my wife Bonnie to help with the
preparation. That‘s how I was volunteered.
When I heard the mayor and councillors were going to serve
the dinner I figured these guys would blow in and out very
quickly, but to my surprise the opposite was true.
I have to say that all of their wives were class acts from serv-
ing to washing up.
There were other volunteers who helped, including my
daughter Deneane and her two daughters, Kaela and Kasey,
Robert White and cadets.
It should be mentioned that it was not a press event or a
photo opportunity. The dinner was a success and all of the
volunteers went home tired but happy.
Wayne Buksa, Pickering
EDITORIAL
Martin’s speech
may not be enough
Election call has become necessary
I t will either save him or slay him.
Paul Martin made, arguably, the most important speech
of his political career Thursday night. It lasted just a few
minutes but could have profound reverberations in the months
ahead.
Mr. Martin’s chief goal was to buy some time for his belea-
guered minority Liberal government. Elected just 10 months
ago, the Liberals have already had several defections over the
sponsorship scandal and have suffered a steep nosedive in the
public opinion polls as lurid details over payoffs and kickbacks
have made Quebec Liberal federal politics look rife with cor-
ruption. Mr. Martin swore it would not be him who would force
a spring, summer or fall election. He guaranteed we will have a
winter one though, as he promised he would call the next elec-
tion within 30 days of the release of Judge John Gomery’s final
report on the sponsorship program. The report is scheduled
to go public Dec. 15 so we could be heading to the polls next
February or March.
The prime minister was strong but contrite over his govern-
ment’s track record since 1995 in Quebec. He admitted the
scandal, which involved paying hundreds of millions of dollars
to Liberal-connected Quebec advertising firms for little or no
work, took place while he was a senior member of govern-
ment. What he did not say, but certainly inferred, was that the
wrongdoing took place directly under his predecessor. And Ca-
nadians, by and large, believe him. They blame former PM Jean
Chretien, first and foremost for the scandal, then the Liberal
Party, and finally, well down the list Mr. Martin. This speech is
Mr. Martin’s way of saying, ‘I want to get to the bottom of this
and I will.’
The Liberals, however, may not have the time to regroup. If
the polls show a new appetite for an election and a sincere de-
sire to change governments, the opposition parties, all of whom
stand to gain from going to the polls, may pull the plug on Mr.
Martin.
An election, as unpalatable as it might be to voters, has be-
come necessary to ensure this scandal does not continue to
consume federal politics and hamper the running of our coun-
try.
Veteran Veltman back in
the fold for a second season
I t’s no wonder the Ajax-Pickering
Rock is rolling into its third senior
‘B’ lacrosse campaign with plenty of
confidence.
First and foremost, the team has its
signature player back on the rock pile
again this season in the form of Jim Velt-
man. For those not acquainted with Mr.
Veltman, he’s been the rock of the To-
ronto Rock’s foundation in the National
Lacrosse League and is captaining that
team once again this season.
And, last season, the perennial NLL
all-star was the catalyst behind the Ajax-
Pickering Rock’s amazing run through
the senior ‘B’ playoffs, which ended
a win short of the league finals when
they were ousted by the Owen Sound
Woodsmen in the fifth and deciding
game of a captivating best-of-five semi-
final series last August.
Make no mistake, the Ajax-Pickering
Rock brain trust, namely head coach
and GM Paul St. John and co-owner Rob
Roche, are over the moon to have Mr.
Veltman back. And, it was no small feat,
as Mr. Veltman, better known as ‘Scoop’
for getting to almost every loose ball
on the floor, was heavily courted by the
newest Major Series team, the Barrie
Lakeshores, which played in the senior
‘B’ loop last year.
But, Veltman, true to his word, agreed
to return to Ajax-Pickering this summer
following the NLL season, and Roche
couldn’t be happier.
“He’s a great leader and we would like
to keep him in-house for as long as we
can,” says Mr. Roche.
Mr. Veltman will certainly be the pil-
lar of a current 26-member squad that
started training camp in early April.
Workouts continue over the next week
in preparation for the league opener on
the road against the Kitchener-Waterloo
Kodiaks on April 30.
According to Mr. Roche, in addition
to Mr. Veltman, the team has 14 players
returning from last year’s squad. The
defence — the cornerstone of the 2004
team — will be virtually intact, with the
notable exception of starting goaltender
Mike Miron. The goal-stopper, who’s
currently playing with the NLL’s Arizona
Sting, has opted instead to play for the
Lakeshores.
His loss, says Mr. Roche, will be less-
ened with the return of last year’s back-
up netminder Jay Preece, who’ll assume
the starting chores this season. Mr. Pre-
ece is also the backup to Bob Watson on
the Toronto Rock roster.
The Rock’s home opener is at the
Pickering Recreation Complex on
Sunday, May 1 against the Ennismore
Shamrocks at 7 p.m.
Al Rivett’s column appears every
third Friday. E-mail arivett@durham
region.com.
Rock ready to roll into 2005
Al
Rivett
sports editor
durhamregion.com THE NEWS ADVERTISER, APRIL 22, 2005 PAGE 27 P
Pickering civic awards
honour top citizens
By Danielle Milley
Staff Writer
PICKERING — Doug Morden
hasn’t quite been volunteering his
whole life, but 50 years is still pretty
impressive.
Mr. Morden was one of three
individuals presented with a Life-
time Achievement Award Monday
night at the City of Pickering’s 2004
Civic Awards ceremony.
“I’m still up on Cloud 9,” he said.
“You don’t think it about it, but
when it comes down to it, it is an
honour to be recognized.”
The Greenwood resident began
volunteering in 1955. His oldest
son, who was about seven at the
time, wanted to play baseball but
there were no ball diamonds in the
community.
“I was renting a 25-acre piece of
land (so I) put up a ball stand and
organized a team,” Mr. Morden
said. “Things went from there.
“Being a small community, it just
made you feel good to be doing
something.”
He went on to organize events
for the Greenwood Public School
centennial in the 1960s; he estab-
lished the first Greenwood Boy
Scout Troop and served as its
leader for 16 years; and he helped
in the building of the Greenwood
Community Centre. Today, he
is involved with the Greenwood
Church, the Greenwood Senior Cit-
izens’ Club and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows in Brooklin.
Pat O’Brien and William Ain-
sworth also received Lifetime
awards. Mr. O’Brien has volun-
teered with many community
groups since moving to Pickering
in 1997, including the Ajax-Picker-
ing-Uxbridge United Way. He was
the chairman of its fundraising
campaign last year.
In his 10 years in the commu-
nity, Mr. Ainsworth has been in-
volved with the Pickering Perenni-
als, an entertainment troupe that
performs at nursing and retire-
ment homes, the South Pickering
Seniors’ Club, and the South Pick-
ering Lawn Bowling Club.
In total, nearly two dozen in-
dividuals and groups were recog-
nized by the City this week.
One award was presented for
the first time. The Access Award
for Disability Issues is for individu-
als, groups or businesses making
a significant contribution — going
beyond legislative requirements
— to the well-being and advance-
ment of those with disabilities.
The Special Children’s Swim
Program was one of three recipi-
ents.
The program, which has been
operating at the Pickering Recre-
ation Complex for more than 20
years, offers lessons to physically-
disabled children and teens who
need one-on-one support. It cur-
rently has 32 participants, as well
as 32 volunteers.
Judy Rynbeek, who oversees the
program, and longtime volunteer
Eira Martin were on hand to re-
ceive the award on behalf of the
group.
“Its a group effort. We couldn’t
do it without the young kids who
volunteer their time,” Ms. Martin
said, adding some of the volun-
teers are as young as 12 years old.
Ms. Martin has been volunteer-
ing for 15 years.
“I was bringing a special-needs
child so I thought I better bring my
bathing suit too,” she said. “She fin-
ished with the program but I kept
going.”
Ms. Rynbeek began volunteer-
ing more than 20 years ago when
she was studying early childhood
education.
“I really enjoyed it and it was
my one volunteer hour a week I
thought that was important,” she
said of why she kept with it.
Neil Killens, deputy general
manager of the Ajax-Pickering
Transit Authority, and the Pick-
ering Accessibility Advisory Com-
mittee also received the award.
Other winners were: Jan de Vries
(special citation); Anna Mariani,
Philip Morgan and William Soules
(individual volunteer); Rotary Club
of Pickering (service group); Al-
tona West Community Association
(community group); Terry Gariba
and Beth Hurren (amateur sports);
Jessica Kearon (youth volunteer);
Sara Barclay (youth leadership);
Pickering Community Concert
Band (arts); Ajax-Pickering Toast-
masters (cultural diversity); Har-
mony Logistics Inc. and Runny-
mede Development Corporations
Limited (economic development);
Andrew Chung and James Skent-
zos (local business); and Gail Law-
lor (environment).
Jason Liebregts/ News Advertiser photo
Learning the ABCs
PICKERING — Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan discusses the importance of
education with Ajax resident Nadine Bon. The two were taking part in Sylvan
Learning Centre’s 25th anniversary celebrations, and Nadine was curious
about the mayor’s job and how one gets elected.
If he builds it, Greenwood will come
Find city safe, clean
and organized
By Mike Ruta
Staff Writer
PICKERING — Grilled cheese
sandwiches, hot tubbing while it’s
snowing outside, and friendly peo-
ple.
Those are some of the memo-
ries 10 students from Mexico City
took back to their homeland after
spending an Easter vacation in
Pickering.
The students came from the Si-
erra Nevada private school system,
which has four campuses offering
half a day of English instruction
every day. They visited Niagara
Falls, learned how maple syrup was
made and hit some of the tourist
stops in Toronto, namely the CN
Tower, Eaton Centre and the Air
Canada Centre. Their school-away-
from-home was E. B. Phin Pub-
lic School, where the Mexican flag
flew and the national anthem was
played every day in their honour.
Three of the students, all aged 11,
talked about their impressions of
school and life in general in Picker-
ing, and how it differs from Mexico
City which, with almost 30 million
people, almost as many as in all of
Canada, is the world’s largest city.
“It’s very different, in a good way,
not in a bad way,” said Carolina
Paez. “I like it here because it’s like
the schools in the movies.”
Asked to explain, she said “It’s
very organized; all the teachers are
nice.”
Fernanda Solorio was impressed
with the school’s large gym and
that there was a microwave in the
class where students could heat up
their lunch.
Going to school in Pickering, the
students said, is much easier than
at home. Carolina said “there’s little
homework” compared to what she
deals with. And while the Mexican
students are in school from 8 a.m.
to 2:10 p.m., they only get one, half-
hour break to eat their lunch. They
enjoyed having two recesses and a
longer lunch at E.B. Phin.
Spencer Voglewede said there’s a
lot of pollution in his city compared
to Toronto and area. And at home,
Spencer said the public schools are
“ugly” and in disrepair. Teacher
Ann Templeton, who accompanied
the students to Canada, confirmed
Spencer’s assessment, saying the
public schools are “very poor” and
underfunded by the government.
She found the E.B. Phin environ-
ment very safe compared to home,
where the school is surrounded
by a wall topped with barbed wire
because kidnappings are always a
concern.
“Beyond the facility and the
services that are available, there
is a feeling in this school that is
very warm and very receptive,” Ms.
Templeton said.
While classes in her school aver-
age 20 students, she said the class-
rooms themselves are physically
larger at E.B. Phin than in Mexico.
She said the students had a won-
derful time. Apart from improving
their English, the main goal of the
trip, Ms. Templeton noted the stu-
dents all come from affluent fami-
lies where a lot is done for them.
“They’re learning to pick up after
themselves and be independent,”
she said.
The Mexicans stayed with E.B.
Phin students and staff members’
families. Fernanda was introduced
to the grilled cheese sandwich and
the novelty of soaking in a hot tub
while it’s snowing. Spencer said his
host family was “really cool” and
he hoped to visit again. Carolina
says her father gave her permission
to return the favour by inviting her
hosts to her place in Mexico.
They weren’t looking forward to
returning home because they liked
it here so much.
E.B. Phin principal Brian Jones
said the students easily adapted to
the classroom environment at his
school, participating and showing
a lot of interest.
Mexican students take in local sights, Pickering life
A.J. Groen/ News Advertiser photo
On their first day in Canada, a group of Mexican students visited E.B. Phin Pub-
lic School. The students found the Pickering school like ‘those in the movies.’
PICKERING — The Pickering
Horticultural Society is planning
three upcoming events.
The first is Saturday, May 7, when
the society holds its annual plant
sale at the Gazebo in Pickering’s Es-
planade Park. This event is to raise
funds for the club and begins at 8
a.m. The plant sale allows anyone to
bring their surplus plants and to buy
someone else’s.
On Tuesday, May 10, the soci-
ety gathers at 8 p.m. for a ‘create
a planter’ workshop at its monthly
meeting, in the O’Brien Room at the
Pickering Recreation Complex, 1867
Valley Farm Rd. Bring an eight-inch
pot and transform it.
On Tuesday, June 7, guest speaker
Sandy Spearing discusses the topic
of ground cover plants. The meeting
is in the O’Brien Room at 8 p.m.
For more information, e-mail
asquire8347@rogers.com or visit
www.pickeringhorticulturalsociety.
com.
Get growing in Pickering