CCRA PRESIDENT Joseph Pileggi: December 1998 This is my last article as President. I would like to thank the community for supporting the Association and the Executive who in my opinion deserve credit for constantly trying to "do the right thing". I shall continue to represent the interests of the Community at the Ontario Municipal Board dealing with the development of the Manson Insulation Plant land (Port Union Rd. and Lawrence). You shall be hearing more from me. Brian Denton was our "Planning chair" He had the unenviable task of trying to figure out what was going on with the Manson Insulation Factory Land. The Ontario Municipal Board has set a hearing date of Feb. 22/99, for 6 weeks to deal with the site plan approvals. I have already met with the Ministry of the Environment and shall be meeting with the West Rouge association and their solicitor. The Environmental Assessment of the Waterfront has been completed. The CCRA has been demanding for over 50 years that the waterfront be accessible to us all. Messrs. Faubert and Moeser have worked very hard to ensure that the City has provided its share of the money needed to build the project. Our MPP - Steve Gilchrist is going to have to work very hard to ensure the provincial government provides the necessary funding to complete the project. Paul Callandra is Steve's assistant. He has been a tremendous help in all of our community endeavours. Our Transportation chair is Mike White. Traffic congestion, and speeding along the ancillary roads, seems to be a most upsetting community topic. Mike has tried to make sure the municipal officials share our concerns. Our association has also been instrumental in the City agreeing to place stop lights at Charlottetown and Lawrence. This is a tremendous success and will facilitate our new neighbours needs and hopefully safeguard the Mowat students. The CCRA is very financially solvent. We have taken very active steps into community recreational endeavours. To provide just a few examples, over the last year, we helped fund the Winterfest, Community dances, Kids dance, Environmental Day, and the summer Jazz Days. As some of you might have noticed we also supported a skate board park which was built in the back of the community centre. I hope our new executive will continue to request the City to expand the skate board park and implement the Jazz Festival and open "5 k fun run", etc. We have quite a few unnamed, unheralded members who not only make sure the association works but who deliver the "News", canvas membership, and help out with other community events without any thought of recognition. All in all, we have over 150 people who I never see but who unwaveringly make sure things work. Ed Aikens is an excellent example of this. Whenever help is needed Ed can be relied upon. Some Community members might not realize this, but we prepare ten monthly issues per year of our Community paper the "News". Our editor is Allan Jones. He makes sure that all of the articles and advertising is in place. He has done a great job. Our "News" is now in Cyber space courtesy of Andy Bowers. (See the cover) Approximately 3500 papers are printed and then given to Brian Ward - our Distribution chair for delivery. For the last few years he has silently made sure that the papers were distributed to all of the houses in our community. Our Membership chair was Vic Braney. His committee, comprised of Alysson Buckingham, Thelma Baker, and Sue Mallinson, devised our "red stop sign sticker" campaign, and canvassed the entire community for membership. With great regret both Vic and Brian (for very legitimate reasons) tendered their resignations. The loss of these two gentlemen to our association is close to irreplaceable. Their work on behalf of the community has been exemplary. They are an excellent example of unparalleled community spirit. In addition some other members such as our past president Sue Mallinson and past/past president Thelma Baker have decided to not continue due to other commitments. Approximately 3 years ago the Highland Creek Heritage Day was ready to fold. Things were not working out and interest was waning. Local resident Marg Penny approached the CCRA to fund the Highland Creek parade which she undertook to organize. The Parade was fabulous and brought close to two thousand people into the Village. In my opinion she single-handedly saved Heritage day. The responsibility for the parade is now going to fall upon someone other persons shoulders. It was just too much. I would also like to thank Tony Lamanna and Mr. William Dempsey. Gotham City has Batman and Robin but our dynamic duo is Tony and Bill. They have been available on short notice to attend meetings and deal with other community matters. They have been tremendous advocates on our behalf, and have always, kindly listened to my wild ideas. One pressing issue is Heron Park Arena. At this time there are no plans to fix the rink up. The Hockey People are very upset and have started a petition to make sure their interests are protected. I would invite people to help them out. There are certainly more people on the Executive and in the Community to thank for the kindness and consideration they have shown to the Association over the years. Best Wishes & Happy Holidays. (P.S. See you at the OMB.) Joseph Pileggi