As published in The Erin Advocate
Kids at Erin Public School love their town, and they have lots of ideas for making it an even better place to live.
A batch of 19 letters arrived in my mailbox after I invited students to add their opinions to the Town's "visioning" project, the initial phase of the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) process. My thanks to Librarian Lesley Rowe, who read my May 13 column to many students, and held a brainstorming session.
All the letters have been emailed to SSMP Project Manager Matt Pearson (mpearson@bmross.net), with copies to the mayor and town councillors. Here are some excerpts:
• "We want Erin to stay like Erin. We don't want Erin to become overcrowded. We like the small population. More fun stuff, more parks, swimming pools."
• "What I like about Hillsburgh is that it's not so crowded. Hillsburgh would be a better place if it had more stores and more restaurants (fast food). They should have better roads so that there are not potholes, and more parks so kids have somewhere to hang out."
• "Erin is not too big, but it's also not too small. The thing that I don't like about living in Erin is that you're not allowed to skateboard in town. So to fix that, I think that we should get a skate park, so that people can skateboard without getting in trouble."
• "I think that we should have a public pool. I don't think that that there should be any more houses."
• "We should have more health care. People have to waste gas driving to Brampton, Mississauga or even Toronto to see their doctor or dentist. I think we should have a health care centre right in downtown Erin. We should have an indoor pool. Why not build one right beside the Erin District High School."
• "In the near future, I want more little shops in Erin. Also more parks, and people should plant more trees in their yards. Maybe a Tim Horton's or a Starbucks, but otherwise I like it the way it is! Please don't put any factories or giant buildings."
• "You can walk around town to go where you like and it's not too big. We should open a sports store in Erin and the school should buy new equipment."
• "I like that Erin is a small town, but that's about it. There's never anything for teenagers to do. All of the activities are sports, and it'd be nice to have a mall and a Tim Horton's. Any place to hang out'd be nice; Centre 2000 gets boring after the first six years of living here."
• "I like Erin because you basically know everyone, and they have fairs. I wish they had a Tim Horton's."
• "I think that there should be a huge mall, or a regular mall, in Erin so you can have more people in it."
• "I think Erin is a good town and is perfect the way it is. I think that if Erin had buses or got any bigger the town would be over-populated and polluted. I think the town of Erin should build a Motocross track. Erin should also get a BMX park."
• "I would like to see more trees and parks, because there's so many people who like to walk, and go up town with their dogs. I don't think Erin should change that much, because that's what makes Toronto and Erin way different – no city shops and big houses, with huge highways and traffic."
• "The town of Erin is the right size. If it grows too much it will be a mini-Brampton. It should get some more entertainment, because all you can do on the weekend is go biking, and go to the theatre. They should get either a skate/bike park or an arcade. We could get a mountain bike trail."
• "We have lots of space and lots of fresh air, and where I live, lots of forest. Everywhere around us they are tearing down trees and adding strip malls and houses. I really wouldn't like it if they start building even more houses – we would be crowded, and the space we have right now is really nice. I really wouldn't like it to be like the city. It sucks in the city in my opinion. I really don't want factories because that would pollute the air. Some people already drive far away from where they live, so why can't they keep doing that."
• "We need a recreational area with a pool. Dog parks. More trails. The roads are bad on the small roads and they also need garbage clean-up; we pay taxes for services we are not receiving. Need more tourist attractions, more restaurants, more bike racks, a bigger Humane Society and more trees. We need a mall."
• "We should make an organization that has games and stuff to do after school. It will give our parents some time away from the kids and it will keep the teens off the streets."
• "I don't like how people litter a lot. Maybe some more restaurants. No factories because it would pollute the air even more. Better roads – too many cracks. I think the population should stay the same. Maybe a few more apartments. Maybe a paintball arena where an open field is."
May 27, 2009
May 20, 2009
A new vision for Erin? What's the rush?
As published in the Erin Advocate
Last week I invited students to think about the type of place they would like Erin to become, and to put their ideas into the mix during the "visioning" phase of the Town's Master Plan project. They will surely be adults by the time the plan has its full impact.
Of course, everyone is welcome to contribute to the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP). At this early stage, we are asked 1) What do you really like about your town? and 2) What would make it a better place?
Send your responses (including photos if you want) to Project Manager Matt Pearson, who will use some of them in Erin's SSMP website. Email to: mpearson@bmross.net, or send letters to B.M. Ross, 62 North Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2T4.
It is an "early stage" for the SSMP, but really it is the start of a new chapter in a long saga that revolves around sewage, housing growth and protection of the environment.
I found an Advocate article from September 1995 on a standing-room-only public meeting regarding a $25 million sewage treatment plant for Erin Village. As soon as Reeve Terry Mundell had made his opening remarks, an audience member expressed concern about lack of information, and requested that the whole project be put on hold until there was consensus in the community. Many questioned the need for a plant, and criticized the planning process.
A sewage plant still has not been built, and while there are lingering concerns about septic systems and the type of growth we are getting, nobody seems too upset about the situation. Maybe we will still be looking for consensus 10-15 years from now.
Town Council is wise to seek people's views of the future and promise full communication, before making detailed growth plans. Ultimately, though, most people just do not care enough about municipal affairs, or do not have the time to participate. Among those who do care, some are actively opposed to any new costs or disruption of the status quo.
Nothing seems to happen quickly around here. That is frustrating at times, but like it or not, it forms part of Erin's character. We're a work-in-progress – a little rough around the edges. There are a lot of things it would be "nice" to have, but when there's not enough money or political will, they just have to wait.
And we are making progress – services and facilities are improving. For example, the new pedestrian bridge is being installed on Millwood. It provides a safer crossing of the river for students of St. John Brebeuf School, which opened 30 years ago.
We moved to Erin in 1985 because we wanted a community with lots of open space, walking trails, fresh air, clean water, views of green hills, historic buildings, safe streets, reasonable taxes and friendly, helpful people. Real estate was less expensive than in Georgetown, and it was within acceptable commuting distance for work in Brampton or Mississauga. Except for real estate prices, not much has changed.
Things that would make Erin better: a heavy truck bypass, bus links to neighboring towns, a few more stores, a better housing mix (more small homes, and apartments), a boardwalk on the Credit River, improvements to Stanley Park, more social and health care services, and high-speed internet access for everyone.
If it got really crowded here, I would want to move. But even with sewage treatment, Hillsburgh is only projected to grow by 800 people by 2031 and Erin village by 1,500 people. That does not qualify as crowded. The whole town would grow to 15,530, with 9,050 living outside the urban areas.
As part of that rural majority, I am willing to pay my share of studying Erin's future growth, since we rely on the urban areas for our local identity and economy. Obviously, though, I do not want a huge surcharge on my tax bill to pay for a sewage system to which I cannot connect.
Improvements need to be made to sewage handling in the urban areas, in order to protect the river and the groundwater, to allow moderate population growth (more customers for local stores) and to build up our commercial/industrial tax base.
I disagree with those who would oppose sewage improvements in an attempt to stop all new development, and I hope the SSMP process will come up with practical solutions that most people can support. Hoping for it to happen quickly, however, is probably hoping too much.
Last week I invited students to think about the type of place they would like Erin to become, and to put their ideas into the mix during the "visioning" phase of the Town's Master Plan project. They will surely be adults by the time the plan has its full impact.
Of course, everyone is welcome to contribute to the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP). At this early stage, we are asked 1) What do you really like about your town? and 2) What would make it a better place?
Send your responses (including photos if you want) to Project Manager Matt Pearson, who will use some of them in Erin's SSMP website. Email to: mpearson@bmross.net, or send letters to B.M. Ross, 62 North Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2T4.
It is an "early stage" for the SSMP, but really it is the start of a new chapter in a long saga that revolves around sewage, housing growth and protection of the environment.
I found an Advocate article from September 1995 on a standing-room-only public meeting regarding a $25 million sewage treatment plant for Erin Village. As soon as Reeve Terry Mundell had made his opening remarks, an audience member expressed concern about lack of information, and requested that the whole project be put on hold until there was consensus in the community. Many questioned the need for a plant, and criticized the planning process.
A sewage plant still has not been built, and while there are lingering concerns about septic systems and the type of growth we are getting, nobody seems too upset about the situation. Maybe we will still be looking for consensus 10-15 years from now.
Town Council is wise to seek people's views of the future and promise full communication, before making detailed growth plans. Ultimately, though, most people just do not care enough about municipal affairs, or do not have the time to participate. Among those who do care, some are actively opposed to any new costs or disruption of the status quo.
Nothing seems to happen quickly around here. That is frustrating at times, but like it or not, it forms part of Erin's character. We're a work-in-progress – a little rough around the edges. There are a lot of things it would be "nice" to have, but when there's not enough money or political will, they just have to wait.
And we are making progress – services and facilities are improving. For example, the new pedestrian bridge is being installed on Millwood. It provides a safer crossing of the river for students of St. John Brebeuf School, which opened 30 years ago.
We moved to Erin in 1985 because we wanted a community with lots of open space, walking trails, fresh air, clean water, views of green hills, historic buildings, safe streets, reasonable taxes and friendly, helpful people. Real estate was less expensive than in Georgetown, and it was within acceptable commuting distance for work in Brampton or Mississauga. Except for real estate prices, not much has changed.
Things that would make Erin better: a heavy truck bypass, bus links to neighboring towns, a few more stores, a better housing mix (more small homes, and apartments), a boardwalk on the Credit River, improvements to Stanley Park, more social and health care services, and high-speed internet access for everyone.
If it got really crowded here, I would want to move. But even with sewage treatment, Hillsburgh is only projected to grow by 800 people by 2031 and Erin village by 1,500 people. That does not qualify as crowded. The whole town would grow to 15,530, with 9,050 living outside the urban areas.
As part of that rural majority, I am willing to pay my share of studying Erin's future growth, since we rely on the urban areas for our local identity and economy. Obviously, though, I do not want a huge surcharge on my tax bill to pay for a sewage system to which I cannot connect.
Improvements need to be made to sewage handling in the urban areas, in order to protect the river and the groundwater, to allow moderate population growth (more customers for local stores) and to build up our commercial/industrial tax base.
I disagree with those who would oppose sewage improvements in an attempt to stop all new development, and I hope the SSMP process will come up with practical solutions that most people can support. Hoping for it to happen quickly, however, is probably hoping too much.
May 13, 2009
Help create a vision of Erin's future
As published in The Erin Advocate
When an important decision has to be made, everyone should have the chance to say what they think. When it is something that will affect the lives of kids in Erin, their ideas should get some attention.
Right now, the mayor and town councillors are trying to decide how Erin will grow for the next 20 years, and they want some advice. There was a meeting last week at Centre 2000, and about 40 people came to share their ideas about the future. That was good, but since 11,000 people live here, it is not enough.
I am inviting the students of Erin to get involved in creating the town's Master Plan. When I say Erin, I mean the whole town, including Hillsburgh, all the farms and rural homes, all the small hamlets and Erin village.
A Master Plan might sound complicated, but what we need right now is very simple – answers to just two questions. 1) What do you really like about your town? and 2) What would make it a better place?
You can answer in different ways. Write only a few sentences, or write as much as you like. Take a photo of something interesting in your area or send in a copy of a picture you already have.
I am hoping that people will cut out this article, show it to their kids and encourage them to respond, make copies for people they know, send it to the schools and help generate some energy for the project. By next week, the column will also be on my blog: www.erininsight.blogspot.com
The Town has hired a company, B.M. Ross, to organize this "visioning". Once we decide the type of town we want, they will make detailed plans for future growth. The project will take two years and cost us about $420,000. No more new homes will be allowed until it is done.
The project manager is Matt Pearson, a very friendly planning expert who was the host of last week's meeting. He wants us to email our ideas to him (with photos attached, if you want). He will be creating a website (it's not ready yet) dedicated to the Master Plan. Many of our comments and pictures will appear on the site.
"Erin is very brave to do this," he said. "It is risky, because you don't know what you're going to get at the end."
His email address is: mpearson@bmross.net. If you don't use email, send your letters to B.M. Ross, 62 North Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2T4.
We need to imagine ourselves living here 20 years from now. Here are some more questions to help us think about the future. You don't have to answer them, just use them for ideas.
What should it feel like to live here in 2031? Will we take good care of our river, our forests and our air? What would make you want to stay – or to move away?
Should Erin have a few thousand more people, or stay about the same? If we grow, should new houses be large, medium or small? Should we have townhouses, and more apartments to rent? What about homes for senior citizens?
Do we need more stores, and how big should they be? Should we allow large factories, so people don't have to drive to Toronto, Mississauga or Brampton for their jobs?
Do we need more doctors or police officers? Do we need to give more help to people who are in trouble?
Do we want more schools, or larger ones? Do we need more parks? Do we need more restaurants and entertainment? Do we need more roads, or better ones? Should we have bus service? How about more trails and bike paths? Do we have enough places for sports and recreation?
If we get more of everything, will we still be a small town? Will we be the same as all the big towns, or can we be someplace special?
When an important decision has to be made, everyone should have the chance to say what they think. When it is something that will affect the lives of kids in Erin, their ideas should get some attention.
Right now, the mayor and town councillors are trying to decide how Erin will grow for the next 20 years, and they want some advice. There was a meeting last week at Centre 2000, and about 40 people came to share their ideas about the future. That was good, but since 11,000 people live here, it is not enough.
I am inviting the students of Erin to get involved in creating the town's Master Plan. When I say Erin, I mean the whole town, including Hillsburgh, all the farms and rural homes, all the small hamlets and Erin village.
A Master Plan might sound complicated, but what we need right now is very simple – answers to just two questions. 1) What do you really like about your town? and 2) What would make it a better place?
You can answer in different ways. Write only a few sentences, or write as much as you like. Take a photo of something interesting in your area or send in a copy of a picture you already have.
I am hoping that people will cut out this article, show it to their kids and encourage them to respond, make copies for people they know, send it to the schools and help generate some energy for the project. By next week, the column will also be on my blog: www.erininsight.blogspot.com
The Town has hired a company, B.M. Ross, to organize this "visioning". Once we decide the type of town we want, they will make detailed plans for future growth. The project will take two years and cost us about $420,000. No more new homes will be allowed until it is done.
The project manager is Matt Pearson, a very friendly planning expert who was the host of last week's meeting. He wants us to email our ideas to him (with photos attached, if you want). He will be creating a website (it's not ready yet) dedicated to the Master Plan. Many of our comments and pictures will appear on the site.
"Erin is very brave to do this," he said. "It is risky, because you don't know what you're going to get at the end."
His email address is: mpearson@bmross.net. If you don't use email, send your letters to B.M. Ross, 62 North Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2T4.
We need to imagine ourselves living here 20 years from now. Here are some more questions to help us think about the future. You don't have to answer them, just use them for ideas.
What should it feel like to live here in 2031? Will we take good care of our river, our forests and our air? What would make you want to stay – or to move away?
Should Erin have a few thousand more people, or stay about the same? If we grow, should new houses be large, medium or small? Should we have townhouses, and more apartments to rent? What about homes for senior citizens?
Do we need more stores, and how big should they be? Should we allow large factories, so people don't have to drive to Toronto, Mississauga or Brampton for their jobs?
Do we need more doctors or police officers? Do we need to give more help to people who are in trouble?
Do we want more schools, or larger ones? Do we need more parks? Do we need more restaurants and entertainment? Do we need more roads, or better ones? Should we have bus service? How about more trails and bike paths? Do we have enough places for sports and recreation?
If we get more of everything, will we still be a small town? Will we be the same as all the big towns, or can we be someplace special?
May 06, 2009
Paying the price of doing it yourself
As published in The Erin Advocate
I was just cutting a horizontal strip of drywall out of my bathroom wall, near the floor, where the vanity used to be, so my electrician could run a new wire to an outlet on the other side of the new counter. For better or for worse, I am one of those amateur home renovators who want to do some of the work themselves.
Sometimes, you save some money (as long as you do not count too many dollars per hour for your own time). Sometimes, you get the satisfaction of doing a good job on a practical task. And then, there are days like last Sunday.
I was hacking away with my manual drywall saw, and getting pretty tired, so I decided to get out my Sawzall, with enough power to chop my whole house into little pieces. I was able to glide through that drywall like butter, just working my way around the studs.
Later, I checked the operating manual for that reciprocating saw, which clearly said, "Make sure hidden wiring, water pipes, or other hazards are not in the cutting path." It also advised me to, "Stay alert, watch what you are doing and use common sense."
As the saw approached the sink area, I heard a metallic ping, and was hit with a spray of hot water from the copper pipe behind the drywall. It took about two seconds for the nature of the problem to sink in, and another 20 seconds for a mad dash into the crawl space to turn off the water supply.
When I returned to the bathroom, the paint in the open can on the other side of the room had been diluted, and my plugged-in power tools lay in a pool of water on the floor. Fortunately, this story does not have a shocking conclusion (unless you count the bill from the plumber); I was able to cut the power, clean up the mess and assemble a logical explanation for when Jean got home.
My plumber retired a few years ago, and I have not needed one for a while, so I looked in the Advocate's Community Service Directory – no plumbers. I checked the Orangeville and Georgetown Yellow Pages, but could find no Erin-based plumbers, and there are none in Erin's "Who Does It" directory.
There must be some Erin plumbers, but I couldn't find one on short notice. (It only costs $10.50 a week to be in the Service Directory.) So I used a big plumbing company with a branch in Georgetown.
They charge $39.50 to show up, then quote you a flat rate once they see the nature of your problem. If you have them stay to do the work, the $39.50 is waived, which seems reasonable, until you hear the flat rate.
In the meantime, I had trimmed away the wet drywall so the nicked pipe was fully exposed. The price to replace three inches of pipe was $192 plus tax. It took the guy only 20 minutes. I guess I could have just paid the $39.50 and got someone else in to quote on the job, but for all I know, $192 is the normal price for fixing a pipe. In retrospect, I probably should have looked for a firm that charged an hourly rate.
Also, I know I was paying for more than just that 20 minutes of work. I was paying for the answering service on a Sunday, for the dispatcher who called first thing Monday morning, for the privilege of having a tradesman at my door within two hours, and for the quality control phone call later in the day to ask if the plumber had been prompt, courteous and successful in fixing my problem.
As a kid, I remember people being in awe of plumbers, because at that time they were said to make $10 per hour, which seemed an extremely high wage. I guess these things never really change: when you have an emergency, your bargaining power and ability to shop around are limited.
The kicker came when the electrician showed up. It turns out he did not really need that strip of drywall to be cut out of the wall after all.
I was just cutting a horizontal strip of drywall out of my bathroom wall, near the floor, where the vanity used to be, so my electrician could run a new wire to an outlet on the other side of the new counter. For better or for worse, I am one of those amateur home renovators who want to do some of the work themselves.
Sometimes, you save some money (as long as you do not count too many dollars per hour for your own time). Sometimes, you get the satisfaction of doing a good job on a practical task. And then, there are days like last Sunday.
I was hacking away with my manual drywall saw, and getting pretty tired, so I decided to get out my Sawzall, with enough power to chop my whole house into little pieces. I was able to glide through that drywall like butter, just working my way around the studs.
Later, I checked the operating manual for that reciprocating saw, which clearly said, "Make sure hidden wiring, water pipes, or other hazards are not in the cutting path." It also advised me to, "Stay alert, watch what you are doing and use common sense."
As the saw approached the sink area, I heard a metallic ping, and was hit with a spray of hot water from the copper pipe behind the drywall. It took about two seconds for the nature of the problem to sink in, and another 20 seconds for a mad dash into the crawl space to turn off the water supply.
When I returned to the bathroom, the paint in the open can on the other side of the room had been diluted, and my plugged-in power tools lay in a pool of water on the floor. Fortunately, this story does not have a shocking conclusion (unless you count the bill from the plumber); I was able to cut the power, clean up the mess and assemble a logical explanation for when Jean got home.
My plumber retired a few years ago, and I have not needed one for a while, so I looked in the Advocate's Community Service Directory – no plumbers. I checked the Orangeville and Georgetown Yellow Pages, but could find no Erin-based plumbers, and there are none in Erin's "Who Does It" directory.
There must be some Erin plumbers, but I couldn't find one on short notice. (It only costs $10.50 a week to be in the Service Directory.) So I used a big plumbing company with a branch in Georgetown.
They charge $39.50 to show up, then quote you a flat rate once they see the nature of your problem. If you have them stay to do the work, the $39.50 is waived, which seems reasonable, until you hear the flat rate.
In the meantime, I had trimmed away the wet drywall so the nicked pipe was fully exposed. The price to replace three inches of pipe was $192 plus tax. It took the guy only 20 minutes. I guess I could have just paid the $39.50 and got someone else in to quote on the job, but for all I know, $192 is the normal price for fixing a pipe. In retrospect, I probably should have looked for a firm that charged an hourly rate.
Also, I know I was paying for more than just that 20 minutes of work. I was paying for the answering service on a Sunday, for the dispatcher who called first thing Monday morning, for the privilege of having a tradesman at my door within two hours, and for the quality control phone call later in the day to ask if the plumber had been prompt, courteous and successful in fixing my problem.
As a kid, I remember people being in awe of plumbers, because at that time they were said to make $10 per hour, which seemed an extremely high wage. I guess these things never really change: when you have an emergency, your bargaining power and ability to shop around are limited.
The kicker came when the electrician showed up. It turns out he did not really need that strip of drywall to be cut out of the wall after all.
April 29, 2009
Province demanding higher densities for new housing
As published in The Erin Advocate
Smaller, more affordable homes will be a key part of any new residential development in Erin, once Ontario's new Places to Grow guidelines take effect.
Designed to limit urban sprawl and make more efficient use of existing land within built-up areas, the plan requires Wellington County to take its share of Southern Ontario's growing population. In turn, Wellington wants Erin to take some of that growth.
The town is not obliged to grow, however, until it has the capacity to treat sewage in its urban areas. Since 2007, new housing has been frozen while the Town organizes its Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP). Public input meetings start next week, on Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m., at Centre 2000. The examination of sewage and other growth issues will take another two years.
At a public open house last week at Erin council chambers, County Planning Director Gary Cousins said Wellington is committed to maintaining "small town character" in its communities.
County projections show almost no urban growth in Erin until 2016. The forecast for 2016 to 2031 is for Erin village to grow by 1,300, to a total of 4,400 people (up 42%); Hillsburgh would grow by 700 to a total of 2,080 people (up 51%); the rural population would grow only by 1,040, to a total of 9,050 (up 13%).
The projected total of 15,530 residents is based on having sewage service by 2016. Cousins said projections will be revised as needed, and conceded that if the town decided against a sewage system, it would be difficult for the province to force it upon us.
"There would probably be some disappointment in the County," he said. "Other communities are having to take growth, and I'm sure they would like to see some of it go into Erin."
The idea of resisting all growth is dangerous, said Mayor Rod Finnie, predicting that it would result in fewer public services. "You grow, or you die," he said. Erin Councillor John Brennan asked, "How do you grow, and not lose what is precious?"
As several people at the meeting pointed out, growth in well-paying employment is crucial. If you are only earning $10 per hour, you will not be able to buy even a so-called "affordable" home for $200,000. One of the province's goals is to develop self-sustaining communities, with less need for commuting to big-city jobs.
"You have to bring in the work if you are going to bring the people in," said County Councillor Lou Maieron. He believes there is too much pressure on the SSMP process to develop services for potential new subdivisions on land within the urban boundaries, especially in the northeast area of Erin village.
"Council has a very open mind," said Erin Councillor Barb Tocher. "It is our community who will determine how we will grow, and there will be lots of opportunity for everyone to have their input."
Resident John Sutherland, a member of the SSMP Liaison Committee, said new technologies could eliminate the need for a central sewage facility. "We need to look forward, and maybe have a decentralized system," he said.
If and when the growth comes, here are the basic requirements that the county plans to set, with an amendment to its official plan. The County as a whole would have to meet the targets, so there will be local variations.
• 25 per cent of new housing would have to be affordable for low and moderate-income households.
• For currently vacant land within urban boundaries, known as Greenfield areas, new development would have to have a density of 40 residents and jobs per hectare (1 hectare = 2.47 acres). This would mean about 6 housing units per acre in new subdivisions. Wellington has requested exemption (not yet approved) from the provincial target of 50, which could push density to more than 8 housing units per acre. Developers with subdivisions approved, but not yet built, will be asked to consider revising their plans to add more homes per acre.
• By 2015, 20 per cent of new development would have to be in urban areas that are already built-up, with "a broader mix of housing types than has been the norm in small towns" and encouragement of new rental accommodation. Wellington has requested a major reduction from the provincial "Intensification" target of 40 per cent (also not yet approved).
• Only minimal growth will be allowed for hamlets and rural areas, and new settlement areas will not be allowed.
Smaller, more affordable homes will be a key part of any new residential development in Erin, once Ontario's new Places to Grow guidelines take effect.
Designed to limit urban sprawl and make more efficient use of existing land within built-up areas, the plan requires Wellington County to take its share of Southern Ontario's growing population. In turn, Wellington wants Erin to take some of that growth.
The town is not obliged to grow, however, until it has the capacity to treat sewage in its urban areas. Since 2007, new housing has been frozen while the Town organizes its Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP). Public input meetings start next week, on Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m., at Centre 2000. The examination of sewage and other growth issues will take another two years.
At a public open house last week at Erin council chambers, County Planning Director Gary Cousins said Wellington is committed to maintaining "small town character" in its communities.
County projections show almost no urban growth in Erin until 2016. The forecast for 2016 to 2031 is for Erin village to grow by 1,300, to a total of 4,400 people (up 42%); Hillsburgh would grow by 700 to a total of 2,080 people (up 51%); the rural population would grow only by 1,040, to a total of 9,050 (up 13%).
The projected total of 15,530 residents is based on having sewage service by 2016. Cousins said projections will be revised as needed, and conceded that if the town decided against a sewage system, it would be difficult for the province to force it upon us.
"There would probably be some disappointment in the County," he said. "Other communities are having to take growth, and I'm sure they would like to see some of it go into Erin."
The idea of resisting all growth is dangerous, said Mayor Rod Finnie, predicting that it would result in fewer public services. "You grow, or you die," he said. Erin Councillor John Brennan asked, "How do you grow, and not lose what is precious?"
As several people at the meeting pointed out, growth in well-paying employment is crucial. If you are only earning $10 per hour, you will not be able to buy even a so-called "affordable" home for $200,000. One of the province's goals is to develop self-sustaining communities, with less need for commuting to big-city jobs.
"You have to bring in the work if you are going to bring the people in," said County Councillor Lou Maieron. He believes there is too much pressure on the SSMP process to develop services for potential new subdivisions on land within the urban boundaries, especially in the northeast area of Erin village.
"Council has a very open mind," said Erin Councillor Barb Tocher. "It is our community who will determine how we will grow, and there will be lots of opportunity for everyone to have their input."
Resident John Sutherland, a member of the SSMP Liaison Committee, said new technologies could eliminate the need for a central sewage facility. "We need to look forward, and maybe have a decentralized system," he said.
If and when the growth comes, here are the basic requirements that the county plans to set, with an amendment to its official plan. The County as a whole would have to meet the targets, so there will be local variations.
• 25 per cent of new housing would have to be affordable for low and moderate-income households.
• For currently vacant land within urban boundaries, known as Greenfield areas, new development would have to have a density of 40 residents and jobs per hectare (1 hectare = 2.47 acres). This would mean about 6 housing units per acre in new subdivisions. Wellington has requested exemption (not yet approved) from the provincial target of 50, which could push density to more than 8 housing units per acre. Developers with subdivisions approved, but not yet built, will be asked to consider revising their plans to add more homes per acre.
• By 2015, 20 per cent of new development would have to be in urban areas that are already built-up, with "a broader mix of housing types than has been the norm in small towns" and encouragement of new rental accommodation. Wellington has requested a major reduction from the provincial "Intensification" target of 40 per cent (also not yet approved).
• Only minimal growth will be allowed for hamlets and rural areas, and new settlement areas will not be allowed.
April 22, 2009
Breaking your lawn's addiction to pesticides
As published in The Erin Advocate
Every year, I look forward to the burst of colour on my lawn that confirms the arrival of warm, spring weather. Living out in the country, I have made a virtue of necessity, learning to love the dandelion and its many cousins. There are too many to pluck and I have no desire to attack them with chemicals.
For those who maintain formal distinctions between the "good" and "bad" plants, things have just become more complicated. To celebrate Earth Day today (April 22), the Ontario government has put into effect its Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act. More than 250 products are now banned from sale, including many popular insecticides, herbicides and weed-and-feed mixtures.
Golf courses are exempt, along with specialty turf users such as lawn bowling clubs, but even these must make public their plans to minimize pesticide use. Farming and forestry are exempt, and you can still use chemicals to control poison ivy, giant hogweed, stinging insects and various indoor pests.
Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen says the new rules eliminate an "unnecessary risk to our environment, our families, and especially our children". According to the David Suzuki Foundation, "Researchers have found that pesticides can be associated with serious illnesses, including cancer, damage to the immune system and neurological problems."
Although there is the possibility of lower-risk biopesticides, many people may revert to old-fashioned methods of developing a healthy lawn. Naturally, there are businesses ready to help.
Dave Dittmar of Backyard Organics in Guelph was the guest speaker at the first of three events sponsored by the Climate Change Action Group of Erin (CCAGE), held recently at Centre 2000. His firm helps clients "grow healthy food and landscapes using ecologically sound methods".
Many lawns have become dependent on pesticides, requiring high levels of watering and maintenance to appear healthy, he said. Fertilizers that are not well-absorbed by your lawn are likely to be washed away by the rain, adding to pollution in our waterways. Some people have replaced their lawns with attractive alternatives, but the idea of a green open space is still very appealing.
"Lawns should not be toxic zones or water hogs," said Dittmar. "These are not intrinsic qualities of a lawn, but the result of chemical lawn maintenance. It requires a shift in the way you think about a lawn, look at a lawn and feed your lawn."
A truly healthy lawn requires lots of microbes in the soil to enable plants to absorb nutrients, but pesticides kill off many microbes. Dittmarr advocates a boost in microbes and slow-release nutrients by coating the lawn with lots of high-quality compost in the spring and fall, especially if you are trying to make the transition away from chemicals.
"If there only one thing you're going to do, top-dress with compost as thick as possible, even two to three inches. Hammer it on there, and your lawn will thank you for it," he said.
Follow up with over-seeding, using a mixture of different seeds that will be more hardy than a single species. The initial cost of this process will pay off with reduced maintenance costs in the long term, he said.
When you cut your lawn, set your mower to its highest possible level, and leave the clippings as free fertilizer. Thicker, longer grass, with strong, deep roots will crowd out many weeds and make your lawn less vulnerable to insect damage. Longer grass also shades the soil, allowing it to retain more moisture and still look good during dry spells. You can also aerate, with a machine that removes plugs of soil from a lawn to help water and nutrients reach the roots.
For those not ready to go for the full compost treatment, Dittmar suggests Compost Tea. You will need a special machine to brew it ($140 US at www.simplici-tea.com). Essentially, a pump bubbles air through a container with water and a small amount of compost, producing a supply of microbe-rich liquid that you can spray on your lawn.
Find out more about healthy lawns at www.backyardorganics.ca, www.organiclandscape.org, or search out lawns on the Health Canada website, www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
Lorraine Johnson, author of "100 Easy-To-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens", is the next speaker in the CCAGE Environmentally Sustainable Gardening Series. It is on Wednesday, May 13, 7-9 p.m., in the Shamrock Room at Centre 2000. Admission is $5.00. She will show how it is possible to achieve beautiful, low-maintenance gardens – naturally resistant to pests and requiring little or no watering. CCAGE is also planning a self-guided Organic Gardening Tour in June.
Every year, I look forward to the burst of colour on my lawn that confirms the arrival of warm, spring weather. Living out in the country, I have made a virtue of necessity, learning to love the dandelion and its many cousins. There are too many to pluck and I have no desire to attack them with chemicals.
For those who maintain formal distinctions between the "good" and "bad" plants, things have just become more complicated. To celebrate Earth Day today (April 22), the Ontario government has put into effect its Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act. More than 250 products are now banned from sale, including many popular insecticides, herbicides and weed-and-feed mixtures.
Golf courses are exempt, along with specialty turf users such as lawn bowling clubs, but even these must make public their plans to minimize pesticide use. Farming and forestry are exempt, and you can still use chemicals to control poison ivy, giant hogweed, stinging insects and various indoor pests.
Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen says the new rules eliminate an "unnecessary risk to our environment, our families, and especially our children". According to the David Suzuki Foundation, "Researchers have found that pesticides can be associated with serious illnesses, including cancer, damage to the immune system and neurological problems."
Although there is the possibility of lower-risk biopesticides, many people may revert to old-fashioned methods of developing a healthy lawn. Naturally, there are businesses ready to help.
Dave Dittmar of Backyard Organics in Guelph was the guest speaker at the first of three events sponsored by the Climate Change Action Group of Erin (CCAGE), held recently at Centre 2000. His firm helps clients "grow healthy food and landscapes using ecologically sound methods".
Many lawns have become dependent on pesticides, requiring high levels of watering and maintenance to appear healthy, he said. Fertilizers that are not well-absorbed by your lawn are likely to be washed away by the rain, adding to pollution in our waterways. Some people have replaced their lawns with attractive alternatives, but the idea of a green open space is still very appealing.
"Lawns should not be toxic zones or water hogs," said Dittmar. "These are not intrinsic qualities of a lawn, but the result of chemical lawn maintenance. It requires a shift in the way you think about a lawn, look at a lawn and feed your lawn."
A truly healthy lawn requires lots of microbes in the soil to enable plants to absorb nutrients, but pesticides kill off many microbes. Dittmarr advocates a boost in microbes and slow-release nutrients by coating the lawn with lots of high-quality compost in the spring and fall, especially if you are trying to make the transition away from chemicals.
"If there only one thing you're going to do, top-dress with compost as thick as possible, even two to three inches. Hammer it on there, and your lawn will thank you for it," he said.
Follow up with over-seeding, using a mixture of different seeds that will be more hardy than a single species. The initial cost of this process will pay off with reduced maintenance costs in the long term, he said.
When you cut your lawn, set your mower to its highest possible level, and leave the clippings as free fertilizer. Thicker, longer grass, with strong, deep roots will crowd out many weeds and make your lawn less vulnerable to insect damage. Longer grass also shades the soil, allowing it to retain more moisture and still look good during dry spells. You can also aerate, with a machine that removes plugs of soil from a lawn to help water and nutrients reach the roots.
For those not ready to go for the full compost treatment, Dittmar suggests Compost Tea. You will need a special machine to brew it ($140 US at www.simplici-tea.com). Essentially, a pump bubbles air through a container with water and a small amount of compost, producing a supply of microbe-rich liquid that you can spray on your lawn.
Find out more about healthy lawns at www.backyardorganics.ca, www.organiclandscape.org, or search out lawns on the Health Canada website, www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
Lorraine Johnson, author of "100 Easy-To-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens", is the next speaker in the CCAGE Environmentally Sustainable Gardening Series. It is on Wednesday, May 13, 7-9 p.m., in the Shamrock Room at Centre 2000. Admission is $5.00. She will show how it is possible to achieve beautiful, low-maintenance gardens – naturally resistant to pests and requiring little or no watering. CCAGE is also planning a self-guided Organic Gardening Tour in June.
April 15, 2009
Erin Tennis Club offers exercise and fun for all
As published in The Erin Advocate
Whether you are looking for hard-hitting competition or a place to meet people and have fun, the Erin Tennis Club offers a great atmosphere, at a very reasonable price.
With five courts located behind Centre 2000, the club provides everyone from kids to seniors with an opportunity for exercise and development of skills. I will admit to a certain bias, since I've been a member for more than ten years. It has been a real benefit to me and my family.
"We have a huge cross-section of people, and it works," said Brian Gentles, president of the club. "We have a really good time."
The courts will be open and you can register this Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the clubhouse. The cost is $140 per family, or $85 for adults and $50 for juniors (17 and under). Members do not have to pay court fees, and all activities are at no extra cost – including four lessons at the start of the season.
Membership even comes with special bonuses, such as the humour on the courts, which is high in quantity, if not quality. For example, if you are looking tired after a match, do not be shocked when Brian says, "If you need mouth-to-mouth, you're going to die". As far as I know, he has not been put to the test on this matter, and members are hoping it stays that way.
When it looks like you are about to lose a match, Brian will sooner or later say, "The night is always darkest just before it goes totally black". This line was pretty funny the first time I heard it, but I can assure you it gets more humourous on each repetition.
The first special event of the season is the Spring Fling Tournament, where participants are paired up for doubles matches, on Saturday, May 9. The burgers and drinks are on the house.
Then there are the parties: Beach Blanket Tennis (beach attire encouraged) on Friday, June 19; "You're the Star" (dress up as a celebrity) on Friday, August 21; and the year-end Mexican-flavoured bash after the club championships on September 26.
For kids, there is a Junior House League Program on Friday evenings starting May 22 – ages 7-11 (7-8 p.m.), then ages 12 (8-9 p.m.) There is also the half-day Summer Camp, July 20-24 and July 27-31, with professional instruction at a very low cost, thanks to the support of the Lions Club, the Optimist Club and the Rotary Club.
For more information and names of people to contact on the various activities, go to www.erintennis.com, or send an email to info@erintennis.com.
Erin competes in the Caledon-Dufferin Interclub Tennis League, with teams in both the A and B divisions. Tryouts are in early May and matches are on Thursday nights. On Thursday mornings, the Freedom 55 Traveling Team competes with neighbouring communities.
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, there is the Adult House League, with doubles teams balanced to include people of all skill levels. It is great to win a few games, but house league is really about having fun and making sure everyone feels welcome. The club also runs a singles ladder in which people arrange their own games. Winners move up to a higher rung on the ladder. It is designed so that you normally compete with players of similar abilities.
Every weekend there is Ladies' Saturday Morning (9-11 a.m.) and Men's Sunday Morning (8-11 a.m.). Balls are provided and there is no need to sign up. Just drop in and join in the play, with a rotation of doubles partners, for as long as you want.
The tennis club is actually a self-financing committee of the Town of Erin. The club covers its own operating budget, but the facilities are owned by the Town. This year, there may be a resolution to a long-simmering dispute between the Town and the School Board, which has prevented the tennis club from hooking up its washrooms to the board's nearby sewer pipe. (Composting toilets have done a reasonable job in the meantime.) The Town is considering the more expensive option of hooking up the club to its own sewer pipe, which leads to the same treatment plant.
Whether you are looking for hard-hitting competition or a place to meet people and have fun, the Erin Tennis Club offers a great atmosphere, at a very reasonable price.
With five courts located behind Centre 2000, the club provides everyone from kids to seniors with an opportunity for exercise and development of skills. I will admit to a certain bias, since I've been a member for more than ten years. It has been a real benefit to me and my family.
"We have a huge cross-section of people, and it works," said Brian Gentles, president of the club. "We have a really good time."
The courts will be open and you can register this Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the clubhouse. The cost is $140 per family, or $85 for adults and $50 for juniors (17 and under). Members do not have to pay court fees, and all activities are at no extra cost – including four lessons at the start of the season.
Membership even comes with special bonuses, such as the humour on the courts, which is high in quantity, if not quality. For example, if you are looking tired after a match, do not be shocked when Brian says, "If you need mouth-to-mouth, you're going to die". As far as I know, he has not been put to the test on this matter, and members are hoping it stays that way.
When it looks like you are about to lose a match, Brian will sooner or later say, "The night is always darkest just before it goes totally black". This line was pretty funny the first time I heard it, but I can assure you it gets more humourous on each repetition.
The first special event of the season is the Spring Fling Tournament, where participants are paired up for doubles matches, on Saturday, May 9. The burgers and drinks are on the house.
Then there are the parties: Beach Blanket Tennis (beach attire encouraged) on Friday, June 19; "You're the Star" (dress up as a celebrity) on Friday, August 21; and the year-end Mexican-flavoured bash after the club championships on September 26.
For kids, there is a Junior House League Program on Friday evenings starting May 22 – ages 7-11 (7-8 p.m.), then ages 12 (8-9 p.m.) There is also the half-day Summer Camp, July 20-24 and July 27-31, with professional instruction at a very low cost, thanks to the support of the Lions Club, the Optimist Club and the Rotary Club.
For more information and names of people to contact on the various activities, go to www.erintennis.com, or send an email to info@erintennis.com.
Erin competes in the Caledon-Dufferin Interclub Tennis League, with teams in both the A and B divisions. Tryouts are in early May and matches are on Thursday nights. On Thursday mornings, the Freedom 55 Traveling Team competes with neighbouring communities.
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, there is the Adult House League, with doubles teams balanced to include people of all skill levels. It is great to win a few games, but house league is really about having fun and making sure everyone feels welcome. The club also runs a singles ladder in which people arrange their own games. Winners move up to a higher rung on the ladder. It is designed so that you normally compete with players of similar abilities.
Every weekend there is Ladies' Saturday Morning (9-11 a.m.) and Men's Sunday Morning (8-11 a.m.). Balls are provided and there is no need to sign up. Just drop in and join in the play, with a rotation of doubles partners, for as long as you want.
The tennis club is actually a self-financing committee of the Town of Erin. The club covers its own operating budget, but the facilities are owned by the Town. This year, there may be a resolution to a long-simmering dispute between the Town and the School Board, which has prevented the tennis club from hooking up its washrooms to the board's nearby sewer pipe. (Composting toilets have done a reasonable job in the meantime.) The Town is considering the more expensive option of hooking up the club to its own sewer pipe, which leads to the same treatment plant.
April 08, 2009
Careful grocery shopping essential for your health
Is grocery shopping an art or a science? Perhaps it is more like puzzle, where the pieces never fit together just right; or maybe a video game, in which the forces of evil lure you to spend more money on foods that are less than nutritious.
All I know is that it can be tricky to find healthy food that you really want to eat, especially if you do not have much time or prefer not to be seen using a calculator in the aisles.
Frances Jamison is on a mission to change people's grocery habits, to make healthy eating more of an adventure and less of a chore. She is a Registered Dietician at Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, and she was at Erin's Valu Mart store last week leading an educational Supermarket Scavenger Hunt.
"The choice of food is a very personal and cultural thing," she said, while analyzing the results of the hunt (I did OK, except I had no idea about prebiotics). "We are very lucky in this country – we have so much choice."
If you want to go the more scientific route, you can learn the ideal amounts of calories, fats, carbs and proteins you should aim for in your diet, based on your age and sex. The Nutrition Facts label on manufactured foods gives you actual amounts for servings, and what percentage of your recommended daily intake that represents.
Even if you are not doing exact calculations, be aware that the daily values are based on a person eating 2,000 calories a day. So if a serving is said to give you 20 per cent of your day's fat, it will only be about 13 per cent if you normally consume 3,000 calories a day.
But enough with the math. I prefer the nice, simple suggestions in Canada's Food Guide, such as: "Have breakfast every day" or "Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day." Not that I always do it, but at least I can easily remember it and do it if I choose.
Then there are the big three: fat, sugar and salt. Not that they are bad, but most people take in too much, especially from foods in which these ingredients are added to boost flavour and texture. In general, the more highly-processed and convenient the product, the more likely it is to be loaded with stuff you do not need.
Better to buy your food naked and dress it up yourself (the food being naked, not you). That brings up the culture of cooking – making time to shop well, then planning meals with healthy ingredients. It is a skill and habit worth fostering in our children.
Sometimes the things that seem to make our lives more enjoyable are the ones we are told to have infrequently, in very small quantities, like cake, pastries, chocolates, cookies, granola bars, doughnuts, muffins, ice cream, french fries, chips, pop, fruit-flavoured drinks and alcohol.
The payoffs of the discipline are huge, but can only be felt over a longer time: healthy weight, stronger muscles and bones, more energy, looking better, and lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and various forms of cancer.
Taking care of ourselves, and not taking the easiest ways of satisfying our hunger, does not have to be a complex project. Once you have set some goals, it is a matter of comparing packages in the store and going for products with lower saturated fat, lower sodium, higher fibre, and especially for those over 50, more calcium.
Dieticians say we should not go on "unbalanced" diets, including high-protein plans, and that most vitamin supplements should not be necessary.
"Eat a wide variety of foods, and you don't have to worry. You will get all your essential nutrients," said Jamison. The few exceptions in Canada's Food Guide are a multivitamin with folic acid for women of child-bearing age, and a vitamin D supplement for everyone over 50.
Check out the Guide for new food ideas, try the interactive tools and learn more about a healthy lifestyle at:
www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide
Remember, too, that putting good food on the table is an extra challenge for families with a limited income. Support the East Wellington Community Services Foodshare Program with food donations right at the grocery store, or call 519-833-9696.
All I know is that it can be tricky to find healthy food that you really want to eat, especially if you do not have much time or prefer not to be seen using a calculator in the aisles.
Frances Jamison is on a mission to change people's grocery habits, to make healthy eating more of an adventure and less of a chore. She is a Registered Dietician at Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, and she was at Erin's Valu Mart store last week leading an educational Supermarket Scavenger Hunt.
"The choice of food is a very personal and cultural thing," she said, while analyzing the results of the hunt (I did OK, except I had no idea about prebiotics). "We are very lucky in this country – we have so much choice."
If you want to go the more scientific route, you can learn the ideal amounts of calories, fats, carbs and proteins you should aim for in your diet, based on your age and sex. The Nutrition Facts label on manufactured foods gives you actual amounts for servings, and what percentage of your recommended daily intake that represents.
Even if you are not doing exact calculations, be aware that the daily values are based on a person eating 2,000 calories a day. So if a serving is said to give you 20 per cent of your day's fat, it will only be about 13 per cent if you normally consume 3,000 calories a day.
But enough with the math. I prefer the nice, simple suggestions in Canada's Food Guide, such as: "Have breakfast every day" or "Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day." Not that I always do it, but at least I can easily remember it and do it if I choose.
Then there are the big three: fat, sugar and salt. Not that they are bad, but most people take in too much, especially from foods in which these ingredients are added to boost flavour and texture. In general, the more highly-processed and convenient the product, the more likely it is to be loaded with stuff you do not need.
Better to buy your food naked and dress it up yourself (the food being naked, not you). That brings up the culture of cooking – making time to shop well, then planning meals with healthy ingredients. It is a skill and habit worth fostering in our children.
Sometimes the things that seem to make our lives more enjoyable are the ones we are told to have infrequently, in very small quantities, like cake, pastries, chocolates, cookies, granola bars, doughnuts, muffins, ice cream, french fries, chips, pop, fruit-flavoured drinks and alcohol.
The payoffs of the discipline are huge, but can only be felt over a longer time: healthy weight, stronger muscles and bones, more energy, looking better, and lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and various forms of cancer.
Taking care of ourselves, and not taking the easiest ways of satisfying our hunger, does not have to be a complex project. Once you have set some goals, it is a matter of comparing packages in the store and going for products with lower saturated fat, lower sodium, higher fibre, and especially for those over 50, more calcium.
Dieticians say we should not go on "unbalanced" diets, including high-protein plans, and that most vitamin supplements should not be necessary.
"Eat a wide variety of foods, and you don't have to worry. You will get all your essential nutrients," said Jamison. The few exceptions in Canada's Food Guide are a multivitamin with folic acid for women of child-bearing age, and a vitamin D supplement for everyone over 50.
Check out the Guide for new food ideas, try the interactive tools and learn more about a healthy lifestyle at:
www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide
Remember, too, that putting good food on the table is an extra challenge for families with a limited income. Support the East Wellington Community Services Foodshare Program with food donations right at the grocery store, or call 519-833-9696.
April 01, 2009
Coloroso probes core of ethical behaviour
Barbara Coloroso does not simply give advice to parents. She drives to the core of what it takes to become an ethical human being.
Her appearance at Erin District High School on May 1 is rare opportunity to hear from a big name in the realm of education speakers and a respected author on topics ranging from bullying to genocide.
She will make a presentation at 7 pm in the gymnasium, after a book-signing session at 6:30, thanks to a combined effort by parents from all five Erin schools, and a grant from the Ministry of Education. Parents now can get free tickets through the schools, and the general public can get tickets as of April 10. Email parentconnectionerin@hotmail.com or call 519-833-9665, ext. 520.
Not everyone will agree with Coloroso's views on parenting. It is an idealistic vision, based on treating kids with more dignity and respect, rejecting the simple techniques of punishment and reward that are part of our culture, promoting strategies to empower young people with inner discipline and self-confidence.
That is the main thrust of her best-selling book "kids are worth it", encouraging a parenting approach that helps children grow into responsible, resilient and compassionate adults. Check out kidsareworthit.com.
How do we develop our moral values? Children get many positive messages from parents, teachers and preachers, but our culture often sends a message that the end justifies the means. It is a confusing flood of influences that includes popular bands, TV shows, T-shirt slogans, websites and the evening news. Coloroso tackles the issue of ethics in her book, Just Because It's Not Wrong Doesn't Make It Right.
A former Catholic nun and a mother of three who is based in Colorado, Coloroso has been a classroom teacher and a university instructor, and has written about breaking the cycle of violence and fear in The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. Quoted in Quill & Quire, Canada's book news magazine, she said: "The premise I take on bullying is that it's not about conflict or anger – it's about contempt for another human being."
It is that line of reasoning that took her writing career in a bold new direction, and the publication in 2007 of Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide. It may seem to have little to do with parenting, but the link is in the study of ethics and human nature. The remarkable thing about genocides is that they are not carried out by obvious monsters, but by ordinary people.
Coloroso has made a few visits to Rwanda, working with the orphans of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people, and lecturing at the National University there. In probing the conditions that lead to violence, both against large groups of people and individuals, she points out common characteristics: victims are seen as less than human, authority is unquestioned and cruelty is portrayed as routine.
The author advocates fighting this weakness by raising a citizenry that cares deeply, shares generously and helps others willingly. At the core, it is about treating others, including our children, the way we ourselves want to be treated.
It is not exactly a new idea, but one that always bears repeating in a new light.
Her appearance at Erin District High School on May 1 is rare opportunity to hear from a big name in the realm of education speakers and a respected author on topics ranging from bullying to genocide.
She will make a presentation at 7 pm in the gymnasium, after a book-signing session at 6:30, thanks to a combined effort by parents from all five Erin schools, and a grant from the Ministry of Education. Parents now can get free tickets through the schools, and the general public can get tickets as of April 10. Email parentconnectionerin@hotmail.com or call 519-833-9665, ext. 520.
Not everyone will agree with Coloroso's views on parenting. It is an idealistic vision, based on treating kids with more dignity and respect, rejecting the simple techniques of punishment and reward that are part of our culture, promoting strategies to empower young people with inner discipline and self-confidence.
That is the main thrust of her best-selling book "kids are worth it", encouraging a parenting approach that helps children grow into responsible, resilient and compassionate adults. Check out kidsareworthit.com.
How do we develop our moral values? Children get many positive messages from parents, teachers and preachers, but our culture often sends a message that the end justifies the means. It is a confusing flood of influences that includes popular bands, TV shows, T-shirt slogans, websites and the evening news. Coloroso tackles the issue of ethics in her book, Just Because It's Not Wrong Doesn't Make It Right.
A former Catholic nun and a mother of three who is based in Colorado, Coloroso has been a classroom teacher and a university instructor, and has written about breaking the cycle of violence and fear in The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. Quoted in Quill & Quire, Canada's book news magazine, she said: "The premise I take on bullying is that it's not about conflict or anger – it's about contempt for another human being."
It is that line of reasoning that took her writing career in a bold new direction, and the publication in 2007 of Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide. It may seem to have little to do with parenting, but the link is in the study of ethics and human nature. The remarkable thing about genocides is that they are not carried out by obvious monsters, but by ordinary people.
Coloroso has made a few visits to Rwanda, working with the orphans of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people, and lecturing at the National University there. In probing the conditions that lead to violence, both against large groups of people and individuals, she points out common characteristics: victims are seen as less than human, authority is unquestioned and cruelty is portrayed as routine.
The author advocates fighting this weakness by raising a citizenry that cares deeply, shares generously and helps others willingly. At the core, it is about treating others, including our children, the way we ourselves want to be treated.
It is not exactly a new idea, but one that always bears repeating in a new light.
March 25, 2009
Erin could become an exit on a major new highway
As published in The Erin Advocate
Within 30 years, Erin could be ensnared in Southern Ontario's ever-widening web of major highways.
Erin is in the middle of a huge C-shaped district called the Greater Golden Horseshoe, curving from the Niagara River up through Kitchener and east to Peterborough. Erin is also in the Greenbelt area, and while the Town is not flagged as a growth centre in Ontario's Places to Grow plan, it is located between places that may need to be connected.
Starting with the QEW, the highway grid wraps around Lake Ontario. For routes like Hwys 403 and 407, the land corridors were reserved decades in advance. Now, Ontario's transportation planners are hard at work on the next strands of the web.
The Ministry of Transportation has conceptual plans for an outer band of limited-access highways. They would not necessarily be 400-series, at least not at first. For the district between Kitchener and Brampton, how will Ontario maintain an efficient east-west flow of goods once no more lanes can be added to Hwy 401? What is the best solution for all those trucks rumbling along Main Street in Erin village?
I attended an information session in Georgetown recently, hosted by a Ministry of Transportation study team for the "GTA West Corridor". They are looking ahead 20 to 30 years, as the area experiences a huge increase in population and economic activity.
By 2031, the population of Erin is only expected to grow by about 3,500 people. But Guelph will gain more than 30,000, and there will be at least 200,000 more in Waterloo Region and 320,000 more in Peel. If new highways are needed, the MTO wants to reserve the land soon.
A formal Environmental Assessment has been launched for the area from Hwy 401 up to the south part of Erin and Caledon, and from Guelph to Highway 400. It will "examine long-term transportation problems and opportunities and consider alternative solutions to provide better linkages between Urban Growth Centres".
They are identifying issues at this stage, and want your views – go to www.gta-west.com. For a taste of the opposition, try www.shiftontario.org, an alliance of groups working to "pry provincial transportation planners away from their road-building bias".
Of course, there is plenty of talk about rail transport and public transit, but inevitably the focus is on highways. The MTO approach is incremental: make the best use of current roads, look for non-road solutions, widen roads in existing corridors, and as a last resort, build new roads.
Apart from urban zones, the major obstacle to an East-West highway is the highly-protected Niagara Escarpment, which runs North-South. To minimize environmental impact, a major highway would likely use an existing corridor through the Escarpment.
Ministry staff would not speculate about a route, but you and I are free to do so. If a new highway is needed, here is my scenario, set in the late 2030's, based on the broad "conceptual" transportation corridor in the 2006 Places to Grow plan.
From Kitchener, the new highway could come to Guelph along Hwy. 7, bypass the city to the north, then cut east, crossing Wellington 124. It could bypass Rockwood and Acton, run parallel to Hwy 7, then join Trafalgar Road near Silver Creek to descend the Escarpment. To avoid Georgetown, it would have to cut east between Glen Williams and the Escarpment, then run parallel to Mayfield Road over to Hwy 10, where it would be in perfect alignment with the latest section of Hwy 410.
If this route was unacceptable, the MTO could look north, perhaps punch through the escarpment between Glen Williams and Terra Cotta, or push the route more into Erin and use Mississauga Road to descend the Escarpment.
If they prefer to go further north, outside the current study area, they could run the highway along Wellington 124, bypass Erin village to the north, carry on to Caledon village, cut south to descend the Escarpment on Hwy 10, and join Hwy 410 at Snelgrove. The Caledon route would also extend the web towards the Hwy 9 corridor, providing a link with Alliston, Newmarket and Hwy 404.
If the possibility of a major highway through Erin seems unthinkable, we should look around the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and think again.
Within 30 years, Erin could be ensnared in Southern Ontario's ever-widening web of major highways.
Erin is in the middle of a huge C-shaped district called the Greater Golden Horseshoe, curving from the Niagara River up through Kitchener and east to Peterborough. Erin is also in the Greenbelt area, and while the Town is not flagged as a growth centre in Ontario's Places to Grow plan, it is located between places that may need to be connected.
Starting with the QEW, the highway grid wraps around Lake Ontario. For routes like Hwys 403 and 407, the land corridors were reserved decades in advance. Now, Ontario's transportation planners are hard at work on the next strands of the web.
The Ministry of Transportation has conceptual plans for an outer band of limited-access highways. They would not necessarily be 400-series, at least not at first. For the district between Kitchener and Brampton, how will Ontario maintain an efficient east-west flow of goods once no more lanes can be added to Hwy 401? What is the best solution for all those trucks rumbling along Main Street in Erin village?
I attended an information session in Georgetown recently, hosted by a Ministry of Transportation study team for the "GTA West Corridor". They are looking ahead 20 to 30 years, as the area experiences a huge increase in population and economic activity.
By 2031, the population of Erin is only expected to grow by about 3,500 people. But Guelph will gain more than 30,000, and there will be at least 200,000 more in Waterloo Region and 320,000 more in Peel. If new highways are needed, the MTO wants to reserve the land soon.
A formal Environmental Assessment has been launched for the area from Hwy 401 up to the south part of Erin and Caledon, and from Guelph to Highway 400. It will "examine long-term transportation problems and opportunities and consider alternative solutions to provide better linkages between Urban Growth Centres".
They are identifying issues at this stage, and want your views – go to www.gta-west.com. For a taste of the opposition, try www.shiftontario.org, an alliance of groups working to "pry provincial transportation planners away from their road-building bias".
Of course, there is plenty of talk about rail transport and public transit, but inevitably the focus is on highways. The MTO approach is incremental: make the best use of current roads, look for non-road solutions, widen roads in existing corridors, and as a last resort, build new roads.
Apart from urban zones, the major obstacle to an East-West highway is the highly-protected Niagara Escarpment, which runs North-South. To minimize environmental impact, a major highway would likely use an existing corridor through the Escarpment.
Ministry staff would not speculate about a route, but you and I are free to do so. If a new highway is needed, here is my scenario, set in the late 2030's, based on the broad "conceptual" transportation corridor in the 2006 Places to Grow plan.
From Kitchener, the new highway could come to Guelph along Hwy. 7, bypass the city to the north, then cut east, crossing Wellington 124. It could bypass Rockwood and Acton, run parallel to Hwy 7, then join Trafalgar Road near Silver Creek to descend the Escarpment. To avoid Georgetown, it would have to cut east between Glen Williams and the Escarpment, then run parallel to Mayfield Road over to Hwy 10, where it would be in perfect alignment with the latest section of Hwy 410.
If this route was unacceptable, the MTO could look north, perhaps punch through the escarpment between Glen Williams and Terra Cotta, or push the route more into Erin and use Mississauga Road to descend the Escarpment.
If they prefer to go further north, outside the current study area, they could run the highway along Wellington 124, bypass Erin village to the north, carry on to Caledon village, cut south to descend the Escarpment on Hwy 10, and join Hwy 410 at Snelgrove. The Caledon route would also extend the web towards the Hwy 9 corridor, providing a link with Alliston, Newmarket and Hwy 404.
If the possibility of a major highway through Erin seems unthinkable, we should look around the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and think again.
March 18, 2009
It's time to sequester more carbon dioxide
As published in The Erin Advocate
Finally, the tree-planting season is here. Time to get your hands dirty, get re-connected to the land and get on with saving the planet, one planting at a time.
Living in balance with the world that sustains us is not pie-in-the-sky idealism, it is a shift in thinking that can have real benefits where we live right now.
Everyone knows we need to reduce output of carbon dioxide to fight global warming, but our addiction to horseless carriages and electrical gadgets is going to be hard to break.
In the meantime, what if we had ingenious devices to capture and sequester (store) carbon dioxide, filter pollution out of the air, pump out pure oxygen, improve water quality, reduce heating and air conditioning costs, boost the productivity of farms and provide habitat for animals?
Fortunately, they have been invented, with a design very pleasing to the eye. We just need to put lots of them in the ground and not chop too many down.
One of the most passionate tree advocates in this neck of the woods is Rob Johnson, Program Manager for Wellington County's Green Legacy Program. He is out in the schools almost every day at this time of the year with a program that enables about 2,500 Kindergarten to Grade 3 students to learn about ecology and grow Red Oak trees from seed.
"The curriculum is getting greener all the time," he said. "The best way to moderate climate change is with trees." Another 2,500 students in Grades 4-6 travel to the nurseries to transplant trees and go on an educational hike, while Grade 7-8 students go on tree planting field trips.
Johnson likes to quote Albert Einstein, who said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." One of Southern Ontario's problems is that many areas were stripped of good forest to supply lumber and create farmland. Forest now covers about 17 per cent of Wellington, but Environment Canada says 30 per cent is needed to maintain healthy water quality and quantity. That could take 50 million trees.
Green Legacy collects local seeds, then grows and plants more than 150,000 trees in Wellington every year. Seedlings are distributed free to environmental groups, service clubs, schools, local municipalities and landowners (who partner with a non-profit group). All the trees are booked for 2009, but starting in October, you can order for 2010.
For this year, you can still take advantage of the Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) Tree Planting Program. It is for properties of at least two acres (though you do not have to plant the whole area). The trees and the planting are highly subsidized – up to 75 per cent.
There is a reforestation program for old fields that are not being used for crops or pasture, where they will machine-plant 1,500 or more bare root evergreen seedlings. About 125,000 seedlings were planted last year, starting new forest on 125 acres.
The naturalization program is for environmental improvement to smaller properties (not for landscaping). They transplanted about 10,000 potted seedlings last year.
"Over time, the roots of trees will develop the soil, make it more porous so it will absorb water like a sponge and release it over time, so there will be less erosion," said CVC Forester Zoltan Kovacs. You can call him at 905-702-5201 for information, or go to www.creditvalleyca.ca.
CVC will have a technician check your property and give you a detailed cost estimate. You have to agree to leave the trees growing for at least 15 years, though you can cut some Christmas trees.
If you are keen, sign up for the CVC's free tree planting workshop, March 28, 9 a.m. to noon at the Caledon Village Library on Highway 10. Contact Holly Nadalin at 905-670-1615, ext. 449 by this Friday, March 20.
Finally, the tree-planting season is here. Time to get your hands dirty, get re-connected to the land and get on with saving the planet, one planting at a time.
Living in balance with the world that sustains us is not pie-in-the-sky idealism, it is a shift in thinking that can have real benefits where we live right now.
Everyone knows we need to reduce output of carbon dioxide to fight global warming, but our addiction to horseless carriages and electrical gadgets is going to be hard to break.
In the meantime, what if we had ingenious devices to capture and sequester (store) carbon dioxide, filter pollution out of the air, pump out pure oxygen, improve water quality, reduce heating and air conditioning costs, boost the productivity of farms and provide habitat for animals?
Fortunately, they have been invented, with a design very pleasing to the eye. We just need to put lots of them in the ground and not chop too many down.
One of the most passionate tree advocates in this neck of the woods is Rob Johnson, Program Manager for Wellington County's Green Legacy Program. He is out in the schools almost every day at this time of the year with a program that enables about 2,500 Kindergarten to Grade 3 students to learn about ecology and grow Red Oak trees from seed.
"The curriculum is getting greener all the time," he said. "The best way to moderate climate change is with trees." Another 2,500 students in Grades 4-6 travel to the nurseries to transplant trees and go on an educational hike, while Grade 7-8 students go on tree planting field trips.
Johnson likes to quote Albert Einstein, who said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." One of Southern Ontario's problems is that many areas were stripped of good forest to supply lumber and create farmland. Forest now covers about 17 per cent of Wellington, but Environment Canada says 30 per cent is needed to maintain healthy water quality and quantity. That could take 50 million trees.
Green Legacy collects local seeds, then grows and plants more than 150,000 trees in Wellington every year. Seedlings are distributed free to environmental groups, service clubs, schools, local municipalities and landowners (who partner with a non-profit group). All the trees are booked for 2009, but starting in October, you can order for 2010.
For this year, you can still take advantage of the Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) Tree Planting Program. It is for properties of at least two acres (though you do not have to plant the whole area). The trees and the planting are highly subsidized – up to 75 per cent.
There is a reforestation program for old fields that are not being used for crops or pasture, where they will machine-plant 1,500 or more bare root evergreen seedlings. About 125,000 seedlings were planted last year, starting new forest on 125 acres.
The naturalization program is for environmental improvement to smaller properties (not for landscaping). They transplanted about 10,000 potted seedlings last year.
"Over time, the roots of trees will develop the soil, make it more porous so it will absorb water like a sponge and release it over time, so there will be less erosion," said CVC Forester Zoltan Kovacs. You can call him at 905-702-5201 for information, or go to www.creditvalleyca.ca.
CVC will have a technician check your property and give you a detailed cost estimate. You have to agree to leave the trees growing for at least 15 years, though you can cut some Christmas trees.
If you are keen, sign up for the CVC's free tree planting workshop, March 28, 9 a.m. to noon at the Caledon Village Library on Highway 10. Contact Holly Nadalin at 905-670-1615, ext. 449 by this Friday, March 20.
March 11, 2009
Basketball a challenge for middle-aged bones
As published in The Erin Advocate
The pains were familiar and to be expected. Your tendons feel too short, your hips need a shot of axle grease and your lungs seem too small to keep up with your heart.
I would not want to discourage anyone from coming out to Sunday afternoon community basketball at the Erin high school gym. Most people who might consider playing are either in better shape than me, or smart enough to take it easy on their first time out.
No need to buy a membership or commit to a team, just drop in with your running shoes, contribute $3 to the pot, warm up for a few minutes and take turns in the pickup game. It was just what I needed last week, feeling cooped-up and tired of winter.
"We have good sportsmanship, with a wide range of ages and skills," said Patrick Suessmuth of Erin Hoops. "Everybody blends in and everybody has fun."
I have known Pat since the mid-1990s, when I got involved with Erin Hoops as a coach, shortly after the group was started by Brian Bissell, Carolyn White, Brian Smith and Peter Olsen. I was also a referee and club registrar for a couple of years, and though I gained an appreciation of the game, I never got very good at it.
Now, after not playing at all for at least five years, my skills are minimal. Still, players much better than I were willing to pass me the ball, and I did manage four baskets in two hours. Of course, Pat was more than glad to provide advice. "Phil, you need more arc on your shots – about six feet more."
Community basketball has been going about ten years now, open to men and women. The age range on Sunday was from young teen to senior.
Pat and his team of helpers always have a lot on the go, mainly at The Main Place in the old Erin Public School at 185 Main Street. Erin Hoops gets a great deal on the space thanks to Gary Langen, who owns the building. Kids can drop in for recreational activities any day after school. Check out the programs, or learn about becoming a volunteer, at www.erinhoops.ca.
There is the March Break Basketball Camp, March 16-20, and a wide choice of affordable Summer Camps including basketball, arts & crafts, dance, badminton, baseball, tennis and floor hockey.
There are monthly Classic Movie Nights. There are monthly Bingo Nights – no need for a gaming license, since people play for Freecycle prizes. Freecycle is a worldwide movement to keep good stuff out of landfills by offering it for free to other people.
Pat got the Erin chapter started and it now has 319 members. There are another 11,500 members in the Rockwood, Acton, Georgetown, Caledon, Milton, Guelph and Brampton groups. Go to www.freecycle.org, or Google: Erin Freecycle.
As for me and my middle-aged bones, the pains have subsided, so it must be time to push myself a bit more. I will play some basketball, but soon, the ice will be gone. I will get out the bicycle and the tennis racquet. And I can hardly wait to take Lilly for a nice, long hike without worrying about the wind chill factor.
The pains were familiar and to be expected. Your tendons feel too short, your hips need a shot of axle grease and your lungs seem too small to keep up with your heart.
I would not want to discourage anyone from coming out to Sunday afternoon community basketball at the Erin high school gym. Most people who might consider playing are either in better shape than me, or smart enough to take it easy on their first time out.
No need to buy a membership or commit to a team, just drop in with your running shoes, contribute $3 to the pot, warm up for a few minutes and take turns in the pickup game. It was just what I needed last week, feeling cooped-up and tired of winter.
"We have good sportsmanship, with a wide range of ages and skills," said Patrick Suessmuth of Erin Hoops. "Everybody blends in and everybody has fun."
I have known Pat since the mid-1990s, when I got involved with Erin Hoops as a coach, shortly after the group was started by Brian Bissell, Carolyn White, Brian Smith and Peter Olsen. I was also a referee and club registrar for a couple of years, and though I gained an appreciation of the game, I never got very good at it.
Now, after not playing at all for at least five years, my skills are minimal. Still, players much better than I were willing to pass me the ball, and I did manage four baskets in two hours. Of course, Pat was more than glad to provide advice. "Phil, you need more arc on your shots – about six feet more."
Community basketball has been going about ten years now, open to men and women. The age range on Sunday was from young teen to senior.
Pat and his team of helpers always have a lot on the go, mainly at The Main Place in the old Erin Public School at 185 Main Street. Erin Hoops gets a great deal on the space thanks to Gary Langen, who owns the building. Kids can drop in for recreational activities any day after school. Check out the programs, or learn about becoming a volunteer, at www.erinhoops.ca.
There is the March Break Basketball Camp, March 16-20, and a wide choice of affordable Summer Camps including basketball, arts & crafts, dance, badminton, baseball, tennis and floor hockey.
There are monthly Classic Movie Nights. There are monthly Bingo Nights – no need for a gaming license, since people play for Freecycle prizes. Freecycle is a worldwide movement to keep good stuff out of landfills by offering it for free to other people.
Pat got the Erin chapter started and it now has 319 members. There are another 11,500 members in the Rockwood, Acton, Georgetown, Caledon, Milton, Guelph and Brampton groups. Go to www.freecycle.org, or Google: Erin Freecycle.
As for me and my middle-aged bones, the pains have subsided, so it must be time to push myself a bit more. I will play some basketball, but soon, the ice will be gone. I will get out the bicycle and the tennis racquet. And I can hardly wait to take Lilly for a nice, long hike without worrying about the wind chill factor.
March 04, 2009
New park could be a boost for downtown
As published in The Erin Advocate
The Town Centre Park proposed for 109 Main Street will be an excellent addition to the atmosphere of downtown Erin, but it will need a strong commitment from the Town if it is going to happen this year.
A committee of councillors and community representatives has put a lot of work into the project. A design was published in The Advocate last month, and an optimistic goal of completion by July 1 was set.
How much weight will this project carry in the Town budget deliberations that are now in progress? The park could be a real jewel – an attractive and practical gathering place. I hope it ranks high on the list of new projects that Council is considering.
On one hand, Erin is running a small deficit and there are many needs in the community, from road paving to new dressing rooms at the Erin arena. The capital budget was $3.8 million in 2008, with 90 per cent of it allocated to Roads, Water and Fire Services.
On the other hand, we did get a provincial influx of $622,000 last year for new infrastructure, and it is about time we spent it. Apart from sports fields, we do not have much parkland, so a modest expenditure to create this new park could certainly be justified.
There has already been a lot of input from non-elected people, which is a sign of a healthy community, but there could still be a public meeting or at least a formal request for taxpayer feedback on the design. The estimated cost of this project should be made public.
Committee member Paul Rivers, who got involved through the Business Improvement Area, said the park will provide seniors and others a comfortable place to sit outdoors. "There are community events that are not being done because they need a venue," he said.
As Optimist Wilson Belford pointed out, the empty lot that was once the site of the village offices has become an "eyesore" for the area. The Optimists have pledged to construct the gazebo, which will be the focal point of the park.
The Town last year purchased $7,300 worth of steel for the structure, which the committee expects will be used as a stage for various musical and theatrical events. It will be surrounded by grass in the summer and a natural ice rink in the winter.
The Erin Garden Club has purchased $1,000 worth of stone for the rock garden that will provide an attractive entrance to the site, and plans to maintain the garden. A large spruce Christmas "Tree of Light" has also been donated.
More donations of building/landscape materials and cash are being requested, to help reduce the public cost. If you or your business are so inclined, call the Town office at 519-855-4407.
In the current plan, the gazebo has a central position, leaving almost equal "audience" areas on opposite sides of the performing stage. Since most performers will face mainly in one direction, it would be better to move the pavilion further from the road. This would allow a larger, primary audience area, perhaps with more stone seating.
Initially, the gazebo surface was to be 18 inches high, but now it is planned at ground level, to avoid the need for a ramp for the disabled. If you have 20 people sitting and watching a show, ground level is fine. But if you have 200 people, many of them standing or walking around, a raised stage would be much better, even if it is more trouble to build.
A winding, well-lit cobblestone-type path will extend to the parking lot at the back. That path could be part of a larger trail route, from the park, past Daniel Street and down to the West Credit River, where a foot bridge is being considered. It would link downtown to the Woolen Mills Conservation Area and nearby homes.
The Town Centre Park proposed for 109 Main Street will be an excellent addition to the atmosphere of downtown Erin, but it will need a strong commitment from the Town if it is going to happen this year.
A committee of councillors and community representatives has put a lot of work into the project. A design was published in The Advocate last month, and an optimistic goal of completion by July 1 was set.
How much weight will this project carry in the Town budget deliberations that are now in progress? The park could be a real jewel – an attractive and practical gathering place. I hope it ranks high on the list of new projects that Council is considering.
On one hand, Erin is running a small deficit and there are many needs in the community, from road paving to new dressing rooms at the Erin arena. The capital budget was $3.8 million in 2008, with 90 per cent of it allocated to Roads, Water and Fire Services.
On the other hand, we did get a provincial influx of $622,000 last year for new infrastructure, and it is about time we spent it. Apart from sports fields, we do not have much parkland, so a modest expenditure to create this new park could certainly be justified.
There has already been a lot of input from non-elected people, which is a sign of a healthy community, but there could still be a public meeting or at least a formal request for taxpayer feedback on the design. The estimated cost of this project should be made public.
Committee member Paul Rivers, who got involved through the Business Improvement Area, said the park will provide seniors and others a comfortable place to sit outdoors. "There are community events that are not being done because they need a venue," he said.
As Optimist Wilson Belford pointed out, the empty lot that was once the site of the village offices has become an "eyesore" for the area. The Optimists have pledged to construct the gazebo, which will be the focal point of the park.
The Town last year purchased $7,300 worth of steel for the structure, which the committee expects will be used as a stage for various musical and theatrical events. It will be surrounded by grass in the summer and a natural ice rink in the winter.
The Erin Garden Club has purchased $1,000 worth of stone for the rock garden that will provide an attractive entrance to the site, and plans to maintain the garden. A large spruce Christmas "Tree of Light" has also been donated.
More donations of building/landscape materials and cash are being requested, to help reduce the public cost. If you or your business are so inclined, call the Town office at 519-855-4407.
In the current plan, the gazebo has a central position, leaving almost equal "audience" areas on opposite sides of the performing stage. Since most performers will face mainly in one direction, it would be better to move the pavilion further from the road. This would allow a larger, primary audience area, perhaps with more stone seating.
Initially, the gazebo surface was to be 18 inches high, but now it is planned at ground level, to avoid the need for a ramp for the disabled. If you have 20 people sitting and watching a show, ground level is fine. But if you have 200 people, many of them standing or walking around, a raised stage would be much better, even if it is more trouble to build.
A winding, well-lit cobblestone-type path will extend to the parking lot at the back. That path could be part of a larger trail route, from the park, past Daniel Street and down to the West Credit River, where a foot bridge is being considered. It would link downtown to the Woolen Mills Conservation Area and nearby homes.
February 25, 2009
Bill Smiley was a welcome guest
As published in The Erin Advocate
Bill Smiley was a newspaper columnist who barged his way into the lives of millions of Canadians by the sheer force of his personality.
I have been reading old issues of The Erin Advocate at the library (back to 1974) and they draw a fascinating sketch of this area, even for someone who did not grow up here. Bill did not write about Erin, but he was our guest almost every week for some 22 years.
Known as Sugar and Spice, the column appeared in weeklies across Canada. It was in 18 papers when Erin picked it up in 1957, and the customer list grew to more than 130 with syndication by The Toronto Telegram, as editors and readers learned to love his small-town wit and wisdom.
He was honored as most outstanding columnist in 1974 by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association (CCNA). According to the CCNA website, he became Canada's most-read columnist and continued writing until two years before his death in 1987, at the age of 67.
Bill's column was very personal. He spoke of his father's depression and his mother's frantic work to support five kids in the 1930s. "There was no way we were going on relief. It was shameful. Somehow we staggered through." He predicted another economic depression, though it has been slow to arrive.
He often talked of being shot down during the Second World War and his time in a prison camp. He did not care for the annual gatherings of POWs who wanted to relive the experience after the war.
For 11 years, he was the editor and publisher of The Wiarton Echo. Later, he worked on "the assembly line at the pupil-factory," as head of English at the high school in Midland, and did not mince words about the quality of some of the finished product. "Some of the rottenest people, physically, morally and emotionally, whom I have ever met, have been honour students. With no sense of honour."
His grandson, however, was a great source of joy. "The existence of so much delight and charm and laughter and love, all wrapped up in one perfectly formed nine-month old creation, restores my faith, which at times becomes a little tattered around the edges, in God."
His wife Sue became well-known, though I doubt she appreciated the attention. He was calling her "old trouble and strife" in 1957. Their fighting and making-up continued as column topics for decades. In 1974, he described his feelings when she went away for a weekend: "When I put the old battleaxe on the bus, or see the car drive off, I try to look mournful. Then I give a great sigh of relief, and feel like a fellow who has just walked out the jailhouse gates."
It appears that The Advocate stopped carrying the column when the paper was sold to a new owner in 1979. A new column appeared, called The Way I See It, by James Burnett.
For all his crankiness, Bill Smiley had a wonderful way with words: "There's a certain sadness in the knowledge that summer is over, but it only lasts a day or so. Any red-blooded Canadian knows deep in his boots that summer is merely an unreal state of mind that has no more substance, no more staying power, than a pleasant dream."
I wish I had written that. Maybe I will write that, or something like it. After all, there are no new ideas waiting to be discovered – just old ones that need to be polished up.
Bill Smiley was a newspaper columnist who barged his way into the lives of millions of Canadians by the sheer force of his personality.
I have been reading old issues of The Erin Advocate at the library (back to 1974) and they draw a fascinating sketch of this area, even for someone who did not grow up here. Bill did not write about Erin, but he was our guest almost every week for some 22 years.
Known as Sugar and Spice, the column appeared in weeklies across Canada. It was in 18 papers when Erin picked it up in 1957, and the customer list grew to more than 130 with syndication by The Toronto Telegram, as editors and readers learned to love his small-town wit and wisdom.
He was honored as most outstanding columnist in 1974 by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association (CCNA). According to the CCNA website, he became Canada's most-read columnist and continued writing until two years before his death in 1987, at the age of 67.
Bill's column was very personal. He spoke of his father's depression and his mother's frantic work to support five kids in the 1930s. "There was no way we were going on relief. It was shameful. Somehow we staggered through." He predicted another economic depression, though it has been slow to arrive.
He often talked of being shot down during the Second World War and his time in a prison camp. He did not care for the annual gatherings of POWs who wanted to relive the experience after the war.
For 11 years, he was the editor and publisher of The Wiarton Echo. Later, he worked on "the assembly line at the pupil-factory," as head of English at the high school in Midland, and did not mince words about the quality of some of the finished product. "Some of the rottenest people, physically, morally and emotionally, whom I have ever met, have been honour students. With no sense of honour."
His grandson, however, was a great source of joy. "The existence of so much delight and charm and laughter and love, all wrapped up in one perfectly formed nine-month old creation, restores my faith, which at times becomes a little tattered around the edges, in God."
His wife Sue became well-known, though I doubt she appreciated the attention. He was calling her "old trouble and strife" in 1957. Their fighting and making-up continued as column topics for decades. In 1974, he described his feelings when she went away for a weekend: "When I put the old battleaxe on the bus, or see the car drive off, I try to look mournful. Then I give a great sigh of relief, and feel like a fellow who has just walked out the jailhouse gates."
It appears that The Advocate stopped carrying the column when the paper was sold to a new owner in 1979. A new column appeared, called The Way I See It, by James Burnett.
For all his crankiness, Bill Smiley had a wonderful way with words: "There's a certain sadness in the knowledge that summer is over, but it only lasts a day or so. Any red-blooded Canadian knows deep in his boots that summer is merely an unreal state of mind that has no more substance, no more staying power, than a pleasant dream."
I wish I had written that. Maybe I will write that, or something like it. After all, there are no new ideas waiting to be discovered – just old ones that need to be polished up.
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