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The Times Advocate, 2008-11-12, Page 66 Times -Advocate Wednesday, November 12, 2008 OPINION&FORUM&NEWS Keeping Exeter beautiful I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the town of Exeter to give a big thank you to Fred Mommersteeg for all his hard work and dedication in Letters to the -Editor ers maintaining a beauti- ful downtown. For those who don t know, Fred has been hired by the Exeter BIA to care for and maintain the appearance of the flower baskets and plant - throughout the town. At our last BIA meeting a letter was read that had been published in another city s newspaper praising Exeter on its beautiful Main Street and flower ar- rangements. Recently I received a phone call from the downtown beautification and event planner for the City of Burlington complimenting us on the appearance of our town. She was interested in our flower baskets and banner program. It is a pleasure to sit at a meeting and hear positive rec- ognition from individuals from other communities. Some- times we forget how fortunate we are to live or work in such a great community; a community whose residents take pride in the appearance of their homes, where busi- nesses put that little extra in and out of their stores, com- munity groups create projects for the betterment of Exeter and where people like Fred go beyond the call of duty keeping this town beautiful. JAMES EDDINGTON, Chairperson, Exeter BIA Volunteers needed The Hensall South Huron Agricultural Society hosted its 140th Annual Spring Fair in June of this year. The event is a long-standing tradition in the community and has seen many changes over the years. In 2008, the fair hosted the Southwestern Ontario Lawn Tractor Racing Association as its feature event. Along with the racing were annual favourites such as the tug-of-war, horse show, sheep show, pedal tractor pull, midway and pork carcass competition and sale. This past year there was also a renewal of the homecraft and school exhibits, parade and pet show. The organizers of the 2008 Hensall Spring Fair would like to thank all of the people that assisted at the fair. There were many positive comments from those in attendance; these are wonderful to hear! You are all invited and encour- aged to attend the annual meeting of the board on Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the Hensall Arena. At the annual meeting it will be necessary to have new volunteers come forward to ensure the continu- ation of this important community event. There are several vacancies on the board, and the event cannot Panther Profile EXETER Well, we have arrived at our second week of school in November, which means there are still about five more weeks until we get out for Christmas holidays. Yes I m already looking to- wards our next break. Last Thursday we had Heri- tage Day and although I wasn t there very long I know I saw a few people dressed in the style of their ancestors. Thursday was also Huron Mu- sicfest at CHSS for music students and I would have to say it was the best Musicfest yet. I m sure the other bandies can confirm that our guest con- ductor was pretty much the coolest guy ever. Also in music, Senior band played at Trivitt Church for their Remembrance Day service on Sunday. Last Friday was a P.D. day we had our Remem- brance Day assembly in the morning. Wednesday is the Grad vs. Teacher broomball game during the activity period and I m just going to assume we will win. Next week is our Murder Mystery Week all week long. See if you can figure out who killed Emmett. Also next week, on Friday, Mid-term reports will come out. Hopefully they have good news. • • ' 1 JACE DOUGALL continue without new volunteers and dedicated participa- tion. Also, there will be consideration and discussion at the annual meeting regarding changing the date of the annual event. Several suggestions have been made that more peo- ple may get involved with a fall fair. Please take some time to participate in the annual meet- ing and volunteer for the 2009 event. Without new volun- teers, the Hensall Fair will not continue. HENSALL SPRING FAIR ORGANIZERS A Salute to Broadway ready to perform Take 60 singers and dancers, add some great Broadway tunes, spice it up with some fun costumes and some cheer- ful refreshments and you have what it takes for a great eve- ning of fun and entertainment. On Thurs., Nov. 20 and Fri., Nov. 21, A Salute to Broad- way will be presented at the South Huron Rec Centre. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased at the Rec Centre anytime. The doors open at 6:45 p.m. for first come, first served seating. A cash bar will be open until show time at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from the show will be given to two very wor- thy local charities, Habitat for Humanity Huron County for the Exeter build, and South Huron Big Brothers Big Sisters. Right now there are lots of tickets for both evenings. Please find a friend or a group and come out to see your neigh- bours singing and dancing through a night of great music. After 10 weeks of rehearsals we are ready for an audience, so please join us. We promise you will go home with a smile. DEB HOMUTH, Director/Producer Drug items should be banned Hello, my name is Bill Benoit. I live in Crediton and have some concerns about some of the things being sold in the variety stores of Exeter. In early October I visited a business in Exeter. As soon as I entered the store the first thing I noticed was the smok- ing paraphernalia displayed openly throughout the store. I questioned the owner of the store about this and he told me the bongs and pipes were used for smoking tobacco. Be- ing a man from the 80s I know differently and understand that these products are openly available to the public of all ages. I have personally witnessed the sale of one of these items to a minor who claimed she was buying it for her sister s birthday. This young girl couldn t have been more than 14 years old. I understand that some young people do smoke drugs but I do feel as a parent of three that these products should either be banned from store shelves or be hidden behind plastic shelving like the cigarettes are hidden. And that anyone who wishes to buy these should show identifica- tion proving age of majority. At any time of the day anyone can walk into a variety store across Ontario and buy an oil vial, a roach clip, a bong, a pipe, a cannabis grinder, or a carrying case for any or all of this. I am looking into starting a petition to send to the On- tario government to have this banned from being sold in all stores throughout Huron County then all of Ontario. Years ago the government banned cigarette sales to minors to help them avoid starting. This did help a lot and I feel that if these items were banned then it would help with the amount of minors who start doing drugs at an early age. I am looking forward to starting this crusade to ban these items and this is only my first step. I look forward to get- ting as much help as I can and passing the word onto other concerned parents. BILL BENorr, Crediton Thanks for supporting charity game On behalf of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Precious Blood Schools we would like to thank all the people who came out to support our charity game to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. We raised a grand total of $2,500. Thank you for mak- ing the day such a huge success and a fantastic and fun afternoon. Thank you for donating teddy bears and other stuffed animals for our Teddy Bear Toss. Thank you to our coaches and volunteers, Mike Regier, Lee Gibbings, Tony Van Meirlo, John Hanson, Dwayne Overholt, Donna Gre- gus, Doug Jones, Sarah Relouw, D.J. Buckridge, and Jeff Dweyer, Craig Ivatts, Joanne Gordan, Kristen Darling, Anne Darling and Heather Foran. Thank you to our announcer, refs and timekeepers for the game, Larry Langan, Jessica Langan, Adam Hall, Justin Anstett, Melanie Smith -Lalonde, and the two other helpers whose names we didn t get. We would also like to thank all the businesses who sup- ported the event by donating prizes for the raffle and door prizes. Thank you to Joanne Fields and the South Huron Recreation Centre for helping us organize and donating some of the ice time, Tom Seip and the Exeter Hawks for letting us use their puck for our Chuck -a -Puck event. And of course a huge thank you to all the students and the staff and everyone we may have forgotten to mention of both schools for helping to make the day such a success. CARRIE DUCHARME-IVATTS AND ROCHELLE GIBBINGS Young shop- pers From left, Sydnie, Abby and Joshua Horvath were among those looking for craft and present ideas at the Lucan Christmas Craft Show held over the weekend at the Lucan arena. (photo/Pat Bolen) Forest Management This week s article highlights comments that the CIB judges made regarding the tree / urban forest management category. Our score was 88.5 out of 125 points. The following list includes the areas that were evaluated: written policies, bylaws and regula- tions, distribution of trees, inventory, variety, new plantings, main street programs, new sur- vey developments, preservation of heritage trees, commemorative trees, succession planting, plant health care and Integrated Pest Management, qualified individuals for tree maintenance. We were commended for the planting program that was started in 2007 at the landfill site. This is a 5 year pro- gram with a diverse variety of trees being planted. The Town of Exeter (which was the area judged for 2008) has many mature trees that line our streets. A tree planting program ¶iommua leII Be/ P is presently in place. It provides a guideline for tree replacement and species suitability. Recommendations were made to increase the budget, making replacement trees a priority. Also, having a succession plan in place helps keep our tree canopy as older trees are cut down. A tree inventory would provide useful informa- tion to staff for future planning and choices. An arborist could be contacted occasionally to inves- t. tigate tree health. Commemorative tree plantings should continue e"" t P11 PIM with the partners of ABCA and Haskett Funeral Home. The judges would like to see the Earth Day seed- ling distribution continue and especially liked the educational component of the project. Our Communities In Bloom committee is com- mitted to bettering our community in the upcoming years with short and long term plans. With support from the Municipality we look forward to implementing these goals and developing community pride. Part Of It!