Halton Hills will once again be celebrating Canada Day with two major community events. Glen Williams is a historic village featuring a former woolen mill and flour mill that are now used as artisan and antique markets. Glen Williams should be on every ones list to start the day with a pancake breakfast. Noon hour is the parade followed by opening ceremonies, Duck Races and many more family events. Special thanks to the volunteers who work so hard in putting on the Canada Day Festivities in the Glen. Glen Williams has been a Canada Day tradition for decades attracting 1000's of families. St. Albin's church will also have a barbecue followed by fireworks.
Acton's Prospect Park will also be a hub of activity as the annual Canada Day Concerts in the Park. Local entertainment will be provided by last year's Acton Idol winner Kelsey Kirkpatrick. A fireworks display will be held at Prospect Park. Bring your lawn chairs. What better place to see these brilliant fireworks reflect on the waters of Fairy Lake. The fireworks are put on by the Acton Fire Association. Although the fireworks are free a donation will be very much appreciated.
Again, special thanks to the Acton B.I.A. and the Acton Firefighters Association for their efforts in making Prospect Park a special place to celebrate Canada's 143rd birthday.
Also, I would like to add that Norval will also have a BBQ and fireworks at the Norval United Church.
Happy Canada Day.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Enjoy the Summer but be Safe!
Summer is now upon us and many of you will be enjoying the great outdoors with your families. I want as many of you as possible to be physically active. Run, cycle, blade, hike, golf or camp. What I would like to tell you is that you must beware when enjoying the outdoors.
Besides the concerns of mosquitoes there are also two other concerns that I want to share with you. The first are ticks. Some of these nasty ticks can carry Lyme disease. This is caused by the bite of an infected tick. It was once thought that we did not have the species of ticks that carry this disease in this part of Southern Ontario. Limehouse resident Keith Poullos found a such tick recently on his dog. Keith, himself has suffered Lyme disease for a number of years proving that these little buggers do exist in our midst.
The symptoms of Lyme disease can be extensive and that is partly why physicians have a lot of trouble detecting and diagnosing the disease. Early symptoms can, but not always, include any of the following:
-flu like symptoms
-sore muscles and aches
-sore joints
-headaches and stiff neck
-rash
Please check out the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation web-site at www.canlyme.org. It is invaluable if you suspect Lyme disease and are looking for educated help.
We owe Keith Poullos alot as he has contracted the disease and has been a strong advocate to assist others as well as making many of us aware that these ticks do exist in our neck of the woods.
Also there is a weed in the rural area called the "Giant Hogweed". This is a rather tall plant that should be avoided at all costs. The sap from this weed tends to burn the skin and leaves a sore. Not treated, this can lead to skin cancer. It is unlikely that you will see this weed on trails but you will see them near farms and open spaces.
In Halton Hills and Canada we have lots of activities one can do outdoors. Just be cautious and protect yourself and your family.
Besides the concerns of mosquitoes there are also two other concerns that I want to share with you. The first are ticks. Some of these nasty ticks can carry Lyme disease. This is caused by the bite of an infected tick. It was once thought that we did not have the species of ticks that carry this disease in this part of Southern Ontario. Limehouse resident Keith Poullos found a such tick recently on his dog. Keith, himself has suffered Lyme disease for a number of years proving that these little buggers do exist in our midst.
The symptoms of Lyme disease can be extensive and that is partly why physicians have a lot of trouble detecting and diagnosing the disease. Early symptoms can, but not always, include any of the following:
-flu like symptoms
-sore muscles and aches
-sore joints
-headaches and stiff neck
-rash
Please check out the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation web-site at www.canlyme.org. It is invaluable if you suspect Lyme disease and are looking for educated help.
We owe Keith Poullos alot as he has contracted the disease and has been a strong advocate to assist others as well as making many of us aware that these ticks do exist in our neck of the woods.
Also there is a weed in the rural area called the "Giant Hogweed". This is a rather tall plant that should be avoided at all costs. The sap from this weed tends to burn the skin and leaves a sore. Not treated, this can lead to skin cancer. It is unlikely that you will see this weed on trails but you will see them near farms and open spaces.
In Halton Hills and Canada we have lots of activities one can do outdoors. Just be cautious and protect yourself and your family.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Georgetown Boys Remembered by Halton Hills and Armenian Community
On Saturday I was honored to be part of a ceremony to designate Cedarvale Park, which includes the Freeman-Bradley House, Cedarvale Community Center and Cedarvale Cottage a historical site.
I must say that our Town staff did a wonderful job coordinating this event. Special thanks to Ashley Mancuso, who quarterbacked the event, Kelly Withers, Max Lawlor, Warren Harris, Kevin Okimi and Grant Harris.
All in all it was a wonderful day to reflect and to celebrate our heritage. Another reason to be proud to be a Canadian.
The Town of Halton Hills Council recognizes the important role the Armenian Farm School, as it was then known, played in the 1920's with the arrival of orphaned boys and girls who called Georgetown their first Canadian Home.
In the aftermath of the Armenian genocide, thousands of children were orphaned, having lost their parents in the slaughter that continued from April 1915 until the end of WW1 in 1918. Canada is one of a few countries who recognizes this chapter of history as a genocide.
At the wars end Canada adopted some of these orphaned children. It was then called the "Noble Experiment". These children were brought to Georgetown in 1923, where they were given new identities and trained to become good Canadian farmers. Can you imagine these poor Armenian children whose parents were killed coming across Greece and France by train, then by boat to Montreal and eventually to Geoergetown Ontario? They were brought to a new country where they had to adjust to a new language and culture.
Saturday was a marvelous event to be part of. There were many dignitaries and Halton Hills Councillors on hand who gathered for the unveiling of the plaque commemorating our history. Arman Akopian, Charges d'Affaires from the Embassy of Armenia called Canada the "nurse of the world" for our humanitarian actions. His Holiness Aram 1, the head of the Catholiscoste of the Great House of Cilicia delivered a powerful message about the genocide and the crimes against humanity.
It was an emotional affair as for many of the 600 Armenian Canadians who journey to Georgetown, Halton Hills on this rainy day. The rain didn't put a damper on this ceremony. The Georgetown Boys are part of Halton Hills history and Halton Hills is part of Armenia's history.
I must say that our Town staff did a wonderful job coordinating this event. Special thanks to Ashley Mancuso, who quarterbacked the event, Kelly Withers, Max Lawlor, Warren Harris, Kevin Okimi and Grant Harris.
All in all it was a wonderful day to reflect and to celebrate our heritage. Another reason to be proud to be a Canadian.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Save Our Hospital - Its already been Six Years
Six years ago, June 24th 2004, seven bus loads from Georgetown and one bus load from Acton and many others drove to a rally at Queens Park to Save Our Hospital. What a six weeks it was. It all started with a press release,in May of that year, from the William Osler Hospital Board to close obstetrics and paediatrics at the Georgetown Campus (hospital) on July 5th. There was no public consultation, just a closed door board decision which had enormous impacts on our community. For all intense and purposes, I was a rookie Mayor, having been on the job for 6 months and now we have a crisis.
The first thing was to put the new Health Minister George Smitherman on notice that our community was angry over the decision. I wrote a very strong letter outlining our communities deep concern with the impacts of closing our obstetrics. Many were worried that this was going to be the beginning of the end for the hospital. Georgetown hospital was opened in 1961 on Father's Day. In the mid 90's the Ontario government of the day had amalgamated Georgetown Hospital with two larger centers of Brampton and Etobicoke General to form William Osler. I always find that when there is an amalgamation the little guy always gets hurt. This was not going to happen in Halton Hills.
We organized two buses to go to Etobicoke Hospital to make plead our case to the board. I did a 10 minute deputation only to fall on deaf ears. Halton Hills had a strong council and many local doctors, community leaders plotted strategies to get to the Minister. I had daily meetings with a group of councillors I affectionately called the " War Department. " Myles Lawlor made 1000's of post cards that citizens could sign with messaging to the Minister. We collected 1000's of them and sent them directly to the Minister so every day he would receive about 100. The Independent Free Press jumped on board with clip out coupons of their own to save our hospital. There were 7039 that were collected and signed by angry Halton Hills citizens in a 10day period. I issued weekly press releases to keep this issue top of mind. Believe me it soon became the number one issue in our community.
We decided to have put a notice on a Friday edition of the paper to hold a rally for our hospital on the following Wednesday. Myself and the councillors weren't sure what the turn out was going to be but we encouraged everyone to make their own signs. The rally was to be held at Georgetown District High School. When we arrived, were we surprised as over 700 citizens crammed the gym. Man was it hot. Chants of shame, shame and Save our Hospital were loud and clear. Citizens of all ages were there and many colorful homemade placards were waving in the crowd. We had Dr. Sutherland and Dr. Debbie Zeni speak, as well as myself and Jane Fogal. Councillor Fogal received the loudest cheer when she suggested that CAO of William Osler Bob Bell dust off his resume and look for a new job. He was a pompous little ass.
That hot humid night many citizens signed up to go to a protest at Queen's Park the following Tuesday June 15th. Many were our senior citizens. On Monday afternoon I received a faxed letter from the board saying that William Osler were not going to close obstetrics on July 5th. I cancelled the protest at Queen's Park. The following day I met many people in the Moldmasters auditorium as they were prepared to go to Queen's Park. We won! We won! So we thought.
Myself, Jane Fogal and Councillor Jon Hurst drove to Toronto to let those know who we couldn't get a hold of in time, that the protest had been called off. Upon returning to the my office the phone had been ringing from nurses saying they have now been told they cannot book summer holidays as they didn't know when obstetrics was going to close. Well I got on the phone immediately and phoned Osler CAO Bob Bell to ask what the heck is going on. He said, "all I said I wasn't going to close obstetrics on July 5th but it will close sometime before the end of summer." Needless to say choice words were exchanged. The best volley came from Councillor Jon Hurst as he laid into Bell over his handling of the nurses. We hung up. They winked and we blinked.
The next day I made one of my first major decisions and decided we are going to Queen's Park on June 24th the last day of the legislature. I called Buzz Hargrove to get the CAW out. I called Sid Ryan who brought out two busloads of retired nurses from Oshawa.
Our first rally which was cancelled had 5 busloads of protesters. Now the citizens were really riled. People don't like to be fooled. Once word got out that the Osler board tricked us we had even more sign up to travel to Queen's Park. We now had enough citizens to fill 8 buses in total plus many drove down themselves. Halton Hills you now have a protest happening. There is no course called "Queen's park protest 101." I had no idea what was going to happen.
June 24th buses showed up with so many people, seniors, expectant moms, children. You name it they were there. John Vierra of JV Clothing supplied everyone with a t-shirt with " Save Our Hospital " printed on them so we all looked unified.
We had about 10 speakers on the front lawn of Queen's Park. Global TV, CHCH news as well as the French CBC.
After the hour or so demonstration we went inside and held a press conference with Dr. Zeni. This was my first taste of the Toronto media. They had been generous.
Later Dr. Zeni and myself ran into Smitherman in the cafeteria. We exchanged words and wasn't sure if this was going to be good.
We grabbed our seats in the gallery for question period as the house just sat. Out of the blue, then deputy Preimier Greg Sorbara walked out of his seat in front of everyone came up the stairs and sat down beside me. Asked how I was doing and shared some small talk. Of course the hospital came up. I wasn't sure what that gesture meant but was hoping it was a good sign.
As the debate started, Minister Smitherman announced that he was not going to sign off any documents to close Obstetrics or paediatrics at the Georgetown Hospital. The six weeks of uncertainty of our hospital was over. My wife Josey, Councillor Fogal and myself all cheered loudly. When we cheered so did all political parties cheer. We cheered so loudly that the speaker of the house, Alvin Curling, asked us not to cheer anymore as he had lost control of the house with the excitement. It was a David vs. Goliath struggle and David won. Bob Bell soon resigned his position of CAO of William Osler after the Minister over ruled the hospital board.
Later George Smitherman transferred Georgetown Hospital to Halton Health Care. We are now with Milton and Oakville. Two communities that we have in common through our ties with Halton Region. There is another long story how that had transpired. The first move was to change the name of Georgetown Campus to it's original name Georgetown Hospital. Gawd, I hated that name Campus. Today, six years later, Georgetown Hospital is flourishing. There are now two obstetricians.
This is part of Halton Hills history that I am proud to have played a role in. This was largely due to the many people of Halton Hills who rallied in those six weeks to save our hospital.
The first thing was to put the new Health Minister George Smitherman on notice that our community was angry over the decision. I wrote a very strong letter outlining our communities deep concern with the impacts of closing our obstetrics. Many were worried that this was going to be the beginning of the end for the hospital. Georgetown hospital was opened in 1961 on Father's Day. In the mid 90's the Ontario government of the day had amalgamated Georgetown Hospital with two larger centers of Brampton and Etobicoke General to form William Osler. I always find that when there is an amalgamation the little guy always gets hurt. This was not going to happen in Halton Hills.
We organized two buses to go to Etobicoke Hospital to make plead our case to the board. I did a 10 minute deputation only to fall on deaf ears. Halton Hills had a strong council and many local doctors, community leaders plotted strategies to get to the Minister. I had daily meetings with a group of councillors I affectionately called the " War Department. " Myles Lawlor made 1000's of post cards that citizens could sign with messaging to the Minister. We collected 1000's of them and sent them directly to the Minister so every day he would receive about 100. The Independent Free Press jumped on board with clip out coupons of their own to save our hospital. There were 7039 that were collected and signed by angry Halton Hills citizens in a 10day period. I issued weekly press releases to keep this issue top of mind. Believe me it soon became the number one issue in our community.
We decided to have put a notice on a Friday edition of the paper to hold a rally for our hospital on the following Wednesday. Myself and the councillors weren't sure what the turn out was going to be but we encouraged everyone to make their own signs. The rally was to be held at Georgetown District High School. When we arrived, were we surprised as over 700 citizens crammed the gym. Man was it hot. Chants of shame, shame and Save our Hospital were loud and clear. Citizens of all ages were there and many colorful homemade placards were waving in the crowd. We had Dr. Sutherland and Dr. Debbie Zeni speak, as well as myself and Jane Fogal. Councillor Fogal received the loudest cheer when she suggested that CAO of William Osler Bob Bell dust off his resume and look for a new job. He was a pompous little ass.
That hot humid night many citizens signed up to go to a protest at Queen's Park the following Tuesday June 15th. Many were our senior citizens. On Monday afternoon I received a faxed letter from the board saying that William Osler were not going to close obstetrics on July 5th. I cancelled the protest at Queen's Park. The following day I met many people in the Moldmasters auditorium as they were prepared to go to Queen's Park. We won! We won! So we thought.
Myself, Jane Fogal and Councillor Jon Hurst drove to Toronto to let those know who we couldn't get a hold of in time, that the protest had been called off. Upon returning to the my office the phone had been ringing from nurses saying they have now been told they cannot book summer holidays as they didn't know when obstetrics was going to close. Well I got on the phone immediately and phoned Osler CAO Bob Bell to ask what the heck is going on. He said, "all I said I wasn't going to close obstetrics on July 5th but it will close sometime before the end of summer." Needless to say choice words were exchanged. The best volley came from Councillor Jon Hurst as he laid into Bell over his handling of the nurses. We hung up. They winked and we blinked.
The next day I made one of my first major decisions and decided we are going to Queen's Park on June 24th the last day of the legislature. I called Buzz Hargrove to get the CAW out. I called Sid Ryan who brought out two busloads of retired nurses from Oshawa.
Our first rally which was cancelled had 5 busloads of protesters. Now the citizens were really riled. People don't like to be fooled. Once word got out that the Osler board tricked us we had even more sign up to travel to Queen's Park. We now had enough citizens to fill 8 buses in total plus many drove down themselves. Halton Hills you now have a protest happening. There is no course called "Queen's park protest 101." I had no idea what was going to happen.
June 24th buses showed up with so many people, seniors, expectant moms, children. You name it they were there. John Vierra of JV Clothing supplied everyone with a t-shirt with " Save Our Hospital " printed on them so we all looked unified.
We had about 10 speakers on the front lawn of Queen's Park. Global TV, CHCH news as well as the French CBC.
After the hour or so demonstration we went inside and held a press conference with Dr. Zeni. This was my first taste of the Toronto media. They had been generous.
Later Dr. Zeni and myself ran into Smitherman in the cafeteria. We exchanged words and wasn't sure if this was going to be good.
We grabbed our seats in the gallery for question period as the house just sat. Out of the blue, then deputy Preimier Greg Sorbara walked out of his seat in front of everyone came up the stairs and sat down beside me. Asked how I was doing and shared some small talk. Of course the hospital came up. I wasn't sure what that gesture meant but was hoping it was a good sign.
As the debate started, Minister Smitherman announced that he was not going to sign off any documents to close Obstetrics or paediatrics at the Georgetown Hospital. The six weeks of uncertainty of our hospital was over. My wife Josey, Councillor Fogal and myself all cheered loudly. When we cheered so did all political parties cheer. We cheered so loudly that the speaker of the house, Alvin Curling, asked us not to cheer anymore as he had lost control of the house with the excitement. It was a David vs. Goliath struggle and David won. Bob Bell soon resigned his position of CAO of William Osler after the Minister over ruled the hospital board.
Later George Smitherman transferred Georgetown Hospital to Halton Health Care. We are now with Milton and Oakville. Two communities that we have in common through our ties with Halton Region. There is another long story how that had transpired. The first move was to change the name of Georgetown Campus to it's original name Georgetown Hospital. Gawd, I hated that name Campus. Today, six years later, Georgetown Hospital is flourishing. There are now two obstetricians.
This is part of Halton Hills history that I am proud to have played a role in. This was largely due to the many people of Halton Hills who rallied in those six weeks to save our hospital.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Three Musketears Skateboard Park Celebrates 3 Years!
Acton's Three Musketears Skateboard Park celebrates three years since it was opened. The celebration took place on International Skateboard Day. It is hard to believe that this skateboard park has already been open for three years as it just seems like yesterday that it opened. This skateboard park is in honour of three young teenagers who were tragically killed on Sept. 28th 2000 at a rail crossing outside of Acton. Travis Toth, Mark Everson and Rory Dick were avid skateboarders among other sports they enjoyed. Their parents and friends wanted to do something in honour of the boy's legacy. There was already a group of enthusiastic parents who wanted a skateboard park built in Acton. This was the perfect fit.
The total cost of the skateboard park was $265,000 in which $115,000 was raised by the community on numerous fundraising events including the popular Three Musketears Golf Tournament which still continues today. Councillor Clark Somerville, myself, Deb Fendley,Helen Colvin, Francis Niblock, Julie Roehrig did a lot of spade work on a committee called Acton Sports Action Park. There were public meetings we hosted for sites,design of the park as well as brainstormed many fundraising events.
Today the Three Musketears Skateboard park is enjoyed by many skateboarders as well as BMX'rs. Yesterday there were many kids enjoying competition as well as many family members of the boys were on hand. The weather was perfect to celebrate.You'd be surprised how many kids skateboard. How many of you only thought it was Bart Simpson who skateboarded?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wasn't that a Party! - Big Daddy Festival a Success
The Big Daddy Festival has now come and gone. After months of planning events the weekend event in Halton Hills was a success. This is the only Festival in all of Canada that is dedicated to Father's Day.
Kudos to all of the volunteers who planned all the events. I saw countless volunteers, you couldn't miss them with their Big Daddy t-shirts, handing out brochures. Beatrice Sharkey and Laurent Thibault did an amazing job quarter backing this event. They were like City Pulse TV, they were everywhere.
The weekend was a blur for my wife Josey and I as there were so many events to go to. We were well fed from the Taste of Acton and the movie in the park was like being at the drive-in without a car. The chill zone in down town Georgetown was also a busy place all weekend.
Of course, Classics Against Cancer was a huge draw as well as the Show and Shine for Autism which featured close to 200 motorcycles.
Councillor Bob Inglis did a great job at the annual Father's Day service in the Glen. Williams Mill was also a bee hive of activity. I missed the father's and son's street hockey game but I heard it went very well. It was a real opportunity to show case Halton Hills.
I know the creative juices are flowing and there will be many more ideas that will come out for next year's event. The brochure listing all of the events and locations was excellent. I can really see this event growing and Halton Hills being the place to be on Father's Day. This well run weekend was full of activities for everyone and can only get better next year.
See you next year!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Halton Hills Hosts the Big Daddy Fesitval this Weekend!
What are your plans for Father's Day? The Halton Hills Cultural Roundtable has been organizaing many amazing events thorughout Halton Hills for the Big Daddy Festival. This will be the only Festival in all of Canada to celebrate Father's Day and it's happening right here in Halton Hills. There will be many events in Georgetown, Acton, Limehouse, Glen Williams over this weekend of June 18-20. It should be fun for the whole family! There will be beer gardens, fishing derbies, movies in the parks, Taste of Acton, Farmers Market, Classics Against Cancer, Show and Shine for autism, walks along the Bruce Trail and boat building. Just to name a few. For more information visit www.bigdaddyfestival.ca.
See you there!
See you there!
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