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The Times Advocate, 2008-12-03, Page 66 Times -Advocate Wednesday, December 3, 2008 OPINION&FORUM&NEWS Where was the leaf pickup? During the summer Cathy Seip and her committee worked hard to beau- tify our town. Recently our downtown was decorated for Christmas. Soon, MacNaugh- ton Park will be all a glow. Now residents are decorating their homes for the coming holiday season. The citizens of Exeter take great pride in the ap- pearance of our town. And then there is the mixture of leaves and snow decorating our streets throughout the town. Our street had mounds of leaves waiting at least two weeks for pickup before the snow came. But that didn t happen! Now our town is spoiled by the sight of dirty old leaves and snow on most of our streets. I hope the works department has a good excuse for not pick- ing up the leaves before the arrival of snow. This service is one of the things for which we pay taxes. Audrey MacGregor, EXETER Lette to th Editor see the winner receive $100. of gas per week for a year! Second place prize is $1000. in cash, and third place is $250. in cash. Tickets are $10. each and are available from any CCCIC member. The draw is Dec. 27, so time is running out! On Sun., Dec. 7, you can purchase your gas draw tickets at the old Crediton Hall, 7 Victoria Ave, during the One Last Look social. Come out between noon and five to enjoy a chili lunch and homemade sweets for $5.00. Take a look at the historic displays and memories, enjoy some local entertainment and bring your old Crediton post cards and mem- orabilia too! On Dec. 16, this building will close for good. We are also reaching out for monetary donations from businesses, families and organizations who have benefited in the past, and who will continue to benefit from a new community centre for many years to come! We appreciate Don Giberson, Environmental Service Di- rector, Municipality of South Huron taking the time to at- tend our recent committee meeting to explain the sewer deadline extension application process and clarify that the notice of closure posted at the old Stephen Township mu- nicipal building two weeks ago was done without cause. Currently, the application for a sewer extension is in his hands. This means that the building will not be closed, despite information stating otherwise in the notice, which has since been removed. With many years and many more hours devoted to- wards multiple fundraising initiatives that are ongoing, it was very disheartening for our committee to learn of the erroneous and counter-productive closure posting go- ing up. Many members of the Crediton community were quite upset by this notice, and the misunderstandings it has created have definitely put a damper on our fundrais- ing efforts. It is our hope that the citizens of Crediton have received the new and correct information that the fate of the old municipal building is not a bleak one! We look for- ward to your support as we move ahead with working to achieve our fundraising goal, which will directly benefit our community. LEIGH ROBINSON, LORIE VAN VALKENGOED, JEFF SLAGHT, CAM STEWARDSON, CHERYL MACLEOD, CLARE MARTENE, CARISSA PERTSCHY, DEB LORD, RON HELM, HEATH PALEN, TOM TOMES AND JIM DIETRICH rs e One Last Look Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commit- ted, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead With recent infrastructure improvements in Crediton, and upcoming governmental accessibility mandates, the old Crediton Hall has been slated to close. A group of con- cerned citizens, dubbed the Crediton Community Centre Improvement Committee (CCCIC) has joined forces to work towards a common goal of creating a new, modern and accessible facility in Crediton.This building will be within the former Stephen Township municipal building to replace the soon to be derelict building at 7 Victoria Ave. This community group was started four years ago by citizens who recognize that, like any rural community, its community centre is a hub - a place for all generations, young and old and all ages in between to gather, share ideas, advice and create memories that will last a lifetime. In order to help offset the estimated $400,000 cost of transforming the former municipal building into a com- munity facility, the CCCIC is working on a number of in- itiatives to raise awareness and funds. On Sept. 6, we held a Harvest Family Fun day. Currently, we are wrapping up our first official fundraising effort a Gas Raffle that will Panther Profile EXETER Well, I believe we are down to about 12 actual school days until the holidays are upon us. If you are like me, this is good news. Last Thursday was Habitat for Hu- manity s first Coffee House of the year. It went very well and I am always sur- prised at the talent of the performers we have. On Friday, students could pay $1 and wear their Christmas sweaters and hats. Saturday, as per tra- dition, Senior band members played JAC E Christmas tunes in theDOUGALL Santa Clause Parade. Also in music, on Monday, the band traveled around to some more of our feeder schools to play songs for the students. Today (Wednesday) is also the annual Christmas Concert at 7 p.m. in the large gym and I encourage you to all come out. At school tomorrow, is Pyjama Day and students can wear their school -ap- propriate pyjamas and show their school spirit in comfort. There is no school this Friday, as it is a P.D. day. This is unfortu- nate I know, but we will prevail. Next week, we have the Semi -Formal on Thursday, which I know many non - rhythmically -challenged students are looking forward to. That s all for this week, the third last week of school until holidays. Where do the taxes go? By this time in 2008, everyone has paid or is in the process of paying their taxes. Listed below are four examples that may make you wonder where your hard-earned money is going: • The Hospital Rummage Sale held in the spring and fall brings in money for the hospital. The town no longer does a large item pickup. There is a sense that many of the items donated should really have been picked up and taken to the landfill. • Lights, entertainment and refreshments were cancelled at MacNaughton Park this year. I suppose we now think Exeter is in the sunny south and we don t get snow starting in No- vember. • The fallen leaves are still on many streets covered with snow, sometimes making roads slippery and drains plugged. • The sidewalk plow has stripped at least a foot off our grass. By the way, the lawn was landscaped and grass planted this spring only to be ruined again. COLLEEN SWANSON Fair needs volunteers Recently the Hensall South Huron Agricultural Society (Hensall Spring Fair) held their Annual General Meeting. Members of the Hensall community were encouraged to at- tend, and to participate, to ensure the continuation of this im- portant community event. The current organizing group was pleased to welcome some new faces to that meeting. These new volunteers came for a variety of reasons, but the primary concern of all in atten- dance was the continuation of the annual fair. We are moving in the right direction, but we have a long way to go! The com- munity centre facility has been booked for June 12 -13 for the fair event. The group will meet again Wed., Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Hensall Community Centre. There will be further assessment as to the feasibility of continuing the fair at that time. Mem- bers of the community are encouraged to attend, and to give of their time, to contribute to the continued success of the fair. It is absolutely necessary to fill the vacant officers positions with the Society and to have adequate volunteers to staff the event. We look forward to your attendance at the Jan. 14, 2009, fair board meeting. BARB WESTLAKE-POWER AND LUANNE PHAIR Hensall South Huron Agricultural Society A salute I am writing to say a big thank you to each and everyone involved in the Salute to Broadway put on at the Rec Centre Nov. 20-21, which was a great evening of song and dance. The local talent who gave of their time to help local charities Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Huron you all shone that night with great enthusiasm. You deserve a pat on the back. Kathy Hayter String of thefts results in two years of probation for Exeter man EXETER A man charged in connection with a series of thefts in Exeter was sen- tenced Nov 27. Steve Clipperton, 33, of Exeter, pleaded guilty to four counts EXETER of theft under $5,000, two counts of mischief under $5,000 and one count of cocaine possession. Evidence presented by the Crown suggests Clipperton broke into a number of cars in Exeter in May, stealing purses as he went. Clipperton s defence lawyer asked that Clipperton be placed on probation, citing a troubled past that includes drug addiction and mental health problems. Clipperton s lawyer claimed Clipperton has bipo- lar disorder and post- traumatic stress disor- der, and was unable to COURT take his medication during the time the thefts took place. Judge R.G. Hunter sentenced Clipperton to two years proba- tion, during which he will be required to take counselling and abstain from drugs. He will also be required to com- plete 50 hours of community ser- vice and pay $200 in restitution. Forged documents Jonathan Schenk, 36, of Exeter, pleaded guilty to three counts of uttering a forged document. Schenk had been charged with forging three cheques in the name of his grandmother. He received 18 months probation, will be required to pay $1,080 in restitu- tion to his grandmother, and will complete 75 hours of community service. Other matters Jordan McAuslin of Huron Park pleaded guilty to one count of as- sault causing bodily harm stem- ming from an incident in Septem- ber 2007 and one count of assault due to an incident in September 2008. McAuslin received a sentence of 21 days in jail for each offence, to be served concurrently. He also received 12 months probation and a five-year weapon prohibition. Ronald Frank of Goderich pleaded guilty to two counts of a controlled substance, receiv- ing fines totalling $850 and 12 months probation. Steven Lightfoot of Hensall pleaded guilty to a charge of over 80 mg. He was given a $1,000 fine and 12 -month driving prohibi- tion. Michael Dick of Stratford plead- ed guilty to a charge of ability impaired and was given a $1,500 fine. He also received a 12 -month driving ban. The Little Hospital That Does.... Bone Mineral Density Testing South Huron Hospital Foundation is continu- ing its mission to keep quality care and services close home. The Foundation is raising $110,000 to purchase a Bone Mineral Density Scan- ner for the Spring of 2009. Our Hospital will then add Bone Mineral Density / Osteoporosis testing to our list of services. Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone density. This leads to increased bone weakness and risk of broken bones. 1.4 million Canadians suffer from os- teoporosis. Assessing your risk and testing for bone loss are keys to diagnosing osteoporosis. By identifying these patients early, we can pro- vide treatment and prevent the overall number of fractures. The Bone Mineral Densitometry (BMD) test accurately measures the density of your bones. It can tell you whether or not you have osteo- , porosis or how likely you are to develop it in the future. A bone densitometer measures 14 the amount of x-rays that pass through the bone thus providing a picture of how thick or thin your bones are; less x-rays passing through, thicker bones. The information from the BMD test is used to de- cide whether prescription therapy is needed to help reduce the risk of fractures. In patients with a BMD in the osteoporosis range, there is approximately a five times increase in the oc- currence of osteoporotic fractures. BMD testing is recommended for all women over the age of 65 and postmenopausal women under 65 who have risk factors for osteoporo- sis. These include a previous history of frac- tures, low body weight, cigarette smoking and a family history. Scanning takes 10 to 20 min- utes to complete and is safe and painless. The x-ray exposure from a BMD scan is much less than that from a chest x-ray. South Huron Hospital and Foundation thanks you for helping provide the best pos- sible care and quality services for our commu- nity. Wishing you all the best in the upcoming holiday season!!