March

Lisa Clapp of Pottageville and her children Will, 2, Hailey, 3, and Carley, 5, found a friendly horse to meet at Fieldstone Farms on the 17th Sideroad. The farm was one of the stops on the tour of local farms where champion race horses are raised and trained, hosted in March by the Schomberg Agricultural Society.

Simple but starkly worded warning signs were put forth as an immediate solution to the dangers that had been identified on Canal Road in the Holland Marsh.

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The Chambers of Commerce in Nobleton and Schomberg announced talks had been going on for some weeks about merging into one body.

The talks led to reality later in the month, and the two Chambers officially became the Nobleton Schomberg District Chamber of Commerce, with Judy Craig installed as charter president.

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The municipal election activity continued in March. Two-term councillor Steve Pellegrini announced his plans to seek a promotion to the mayor's chair, citing "a bunch of issues that are coming now to light that we have to deal with."

"I know I'm the person to bring us through those issues," he declared.

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MPP Greg Sorbara decided five months was enough time for the RCMP to explain why he was named in a search warrant in October, so he announced he was going to court to get his name stricken from the documents.

"Goodwill and patience have their limits, especially when someone's reputation and integrity are in question," he declared. "The fact is my name doesn't belong in these warrants, period."

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While Sorbara was fighting to get his name cleared, his successor in the finance portfolio, Dwight Duncan, was bringing down his first budget.

"Best damned budget I've ever seen," Sorbara declared. "I've never been happier with a budget, even the ones I did."

Investments in transportation and public transit were major parts of the budget, and they even drew a bit of praise from York North MPP Julia Munro, but she had lots of problems with it too. She said the government is looking at increased revenues, but is not making much effort to balance the budget. She added interest charges on the debt account for about $10 billion annually.

King City area resident Tom Atkins celebrated his 84th birthday by accepting an Ontario Senior Achievement Award from Lt.-Gov. James Bartleman and Jim Bradley, provincial minister responsible for seniors.

He was one of 22 recipients, and was recognized as the founding president of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust, and for having turned a volunteer grassroots group into one of Canada's leading environmental organizations.

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Township council called a special meeting for the morning of March 17 to discuss what could be done to save the old Masonic Hall in Nobleton from demolition.

The meeting ended up being called off, because the wreckers' ball had fallen on the 118-year-old structure early the previous morning, leaving no building to discuss.

"One swipe, and it just fell down," commented Domenic Di Biase, owner of Tor-Con Construction, the company that handled the job. "It wasn't holding very well."

He added his company was lined up to do the job about three weeks before. They were delayed while they waited for utilities to be cut.

Piero Basile, owner of the house, said there had been talks about preserving the structure, but nothing concrete had been presented. He added the house couldn't be insured, it was in such bad shape, and worrying about that had become a burden. "I couldn't sleep at night," he said.

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Officials at Holland Marsh District Christian School were anxious to move to a property in the northeast corner of the Township, but it became obvious in March there were some in that area who did not want such a facility in their neighbourhood.

Several of them raised concerns at a public information meeting held before council, including impacts on local wells, the inconvenience of having to live next to a school and the possible impacts on local property values.

But councillors eventually accepted the recommendation from planners that the matter be referred back to staff so they could review expected comments from various agencies, as well as those offered at the meeting.

+ + + + + + + BC Instruments in Schomberg threw a party to celebrate 35 years of serving customers in the aerospace, medical, injections molding and power generation industries.

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MP Lui Temelkovski hosted a series of receptions throughout the riding to mark the Queen's 80th birthday.

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Canada Post was appealing the ruling that has cost many residents their rural mail delivery, but there wasn't a lot of hope being expressed that things would go back to the way they were.

That was the message for about 150 people who attended a town hall meeting in Ballantrae hosted in part by MP Lui Temelkovski.

Temelkovski tried opening with a joke. "We want to hear some bitching and complaining, but not too much," he quipped.

But many of the people there were not impressed with what they were hearing.

"We're here tonight and we're listening to a snow job," one man complained.

The crowd was told employees have the legal right to refuse work if there are safety concerns.

"What's our right?" one man in the audience shouted out, while another exclaimed that garbage collectors don't seem to have troubles on these routes.

The explanations from Canada Post didn't satisfy many in the room.

"I see you hearing, but I don't see you listening," commented a Kettleby woman, who also commented on how difficult it had been to get information on what was going on. She had made phone calls, and they weren't returned, adding there was little communication, apart from "one stupid little letter."

"You guys have made the decision. We're not getting our home delivery back," she added.

Another man said he had delivered mail in Willowdale during Hurricane Hazel. "You're getting too bloody soft!" he exclaimed.