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Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - Page 7
Cancer society extends big thanks to volunteers
To the Editor;
During National Volunteer
Week (April 19 to 25, 2009),
the Canadian Cancer Society
would like to thank each and
every one of its hundreds of
dedicated volunteers!
Volunteers are at the centre of
all we do at the Society and
without them, we simply
couldn't continue to work
together towards our mission of
eradicating cancer and improv-
ing the quality of life of those
living with cancer in communi-
ties across Ontario.
Society volunteers are work-
ing in all capacities across
Ontario to help ease the burden
of cancer from raising funds for
life-saving cancer research to
offering caring support to peo-
•
ple living with cancer to advo-
cating for healthy public policy
to administrative support in our
local offices.
In 2008:
•85 volunteer drivers assisted
197 clients, 54 escorts, made
2468 trips and traveled 216 860
kms to cancer related appoint-
ments
•Nine peer support volunteers
•
and 3 cancer support groups
were available to people living
with cancer.
•Volunteers promoted healthy
living and cancer risk reduction
in by distributing our materials
and educating others Society
volunteers have integrity, they
are caring, they have courage
and they are progressive. These
values are at the core of every -
Spring time to clean-up community
To the Editor;
It's been a long, cold, hard winter, but
spring is finally here, and it's time once
again to do our bit to help bring our
town back to being "The Prettiest Town
in Canada"! Because of all the con-
struction that has been (and still is)
going on, the task will be difficult; how-
ever, we can each do our part! For
example:
•Come out on Saturday, April 25, for
the "Community Clean-up" sponsored
by Tim Horton's. We will be meeting at
Tim's out at the Wall -Mart Mall at 9
a.m., and going to various locations in
Goderich to help pick up trash and litter
that has accumulated over the winter.
•Take some time in the next week or
so to clean up any litter and clear the
sand and salt from in front of your own
residence or business.
•Volunteer to help out with a
Communities in Bloom Garden. (There
are several small gardens in parks
around town that need some attention,
and we will provide flowers for you to
plant , and will offer the expertise to
help you.) Call me, at 524-8895, or our
chairperson, Shelley Peet at 524-4393
to find out what gardens are available!
You will be surprised how much pride
you can take in having a beautiful gar-
den that will be admired by those who
pass by!
Last year, Goderich entered the
National "Communities in Bloom" com-
petition, garnering a First Place finish
for communities of our size. This year
we are entering the International CIB
competition to compete with towns of
our size from around the globe! Let's
see if we can become "The Prettiest in
the World!"
Sincerely,
Doug R. Bundy
Communities in Bloom Volunteer
thing they do.
Together, we're strong in the
fight against cancer.
With thanks and apprecia-
tion,
Anita Looby
Volunteer Engagement
Specialist
Canadian Cancer Society
Huron -Perth Unit
Mall provides
winter refuge
To the Editor;
A group of walkers would like to
say `thank you' to Suncoast Mall for
allowing us to walk indoors during
the winter months. It is greatly appre-
ciated.
Sincerely,
J and C. Wiebe
Lloyd Eisler
Bev Lithgow
Government must not reneg on renewable contacts
To the Editor;
It was with empathy that we read the
full page notice from St. Vincent de Paul
Society about the cost of dealing with
dumped garbage. On a smaller scale, the
Rotary Club of Goderich has had to deal
with tons of book donations that we have
had to send to the landfill site each year.
For every book that you see for sale at
the Arts and Crafts Festival, three others
have had to be dumped. Dumpster fees
total hundreds of dollars each year. These
represent funds that could have been
used to help beautify the Goderich beach-
front or eradicate polio from the world.
Books don't sell if they are mouldy,
cracked , or water -marked. No one wants
to buy encyclopedia sets, Readers Digest
volumes, or text books. No one can sell a
Grade 7 geography text from 1977, we've
tried. Magazines and cassettes or VHS
tapes are dumpster fodder, if donated.
It's difficult for people to destroy
books. They are held in reverence in our
society. However, it is not immoral to
recycle a book that is worn out, damaged
or no longer relevant. Even the library
has to destroy many books each year. In
small quantities, books can be recycled
along with magazines and newspapers in
your blue box or recycling bags for your
curb -side pick-up. Soft cover or hard,
just rip the hard covers off and put them
in your regular garbage.
It is with generous donations of good
books made by the people in the Goderich
area that Rotary has been so successful in
their work within Goderich andaround
the world.
Please continue with your donations
but be selective. Help us to re -use the
good books and do your part by recycling
the rest at your curb.
Mike Henry and
Andrew Ross
Godrich Rotary
Could Goderich tout itself as a double decker town?
To the Editor;
Now that the Town has established
that harbours are for boats, —well not
exactly all boats: Not small boats, not
yachts, not sailing boats or what might
also be called small boats, like 40 foot-
ers etc. But they do include big boats -
like freighters, freighters of big national
and perhaps international companies.
And perhaps at the expense of tourism
as your posting "Opinion" of March 11,
`09 stated.
As previously stated the three chief
assets of Goderich are the Lake, the
Harbour and The Square.
In any deal made with the Salt Co.
surely there is room for some give and
take. In order to make the best of what
we have left "The Prettiest Salt Mine in
Canada", would it not be a great tourism
feature to allow, or open the mine to the
public? The mystery of being under-
ground (1700' or so) in a virtual town
with roads, lights, vehicles of all sorts
moving around, and who knows what
else, would certainly be an attraction of
note.
Of course there would be logistics and
many objects to overcome, (possibly the
Company itself) - how many tours a
day, what days, how long, and what to
be shown, a charge, etc. The Company
and the Town would have to figure out
the expense of public protection - insur-
ance etc, but it might be fairly insignifi-
cant and well worth doing in exchange
for what the salt company is getting or
being allowed to do for their expansion
plans.
Can you imagine the excitement for
schools, (perhaps only for certain ages
etc), for adults from far and wide, let
alone our own local citizens, and the
pride of the Company workers as they
make such a contribution to the com-
munity by allowing the public to see
what it is they do "down there"? Talk
about wonderment.
Now that would be another major
asset that not other town has. As previ-
ously stated "...we are not Woodstock or
London or Chatham" - we are a town on
the lake with another "city" under it,
stretching out some two miles or so into
the lake, I'm told.
If "See the Sunset Twice" is worth
marketing, how about "See the Town
upon a Town" or the "The Double
Decker Town", or "Canada's Underwater
City"- "Goderich, see the Prettiest Town
in Canada, and don't miss the Second
Town under the Prettiest Town," or
something.
Sincerely,
Richard P. Robarts
Goderich