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It's
Time To Acknowledge The People Making
A Difference In Our Community |
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The
Valley East Today Community Web Site has been created for one
primary purpose....TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY!
Valley East Today is a "Living History" of
this rapidly growing community which is becoming quickly
recognized as one of the preferred regions of the City of
Greater Sudbury. As this web site grows, "one story at a
time", it will help develop an image and an identity that
everyone will come to know and accept as Valley East. At this time I am extending an invitation to the entire
community to join with me in this project.
Valley East Today is the "Window To Our Community"
and we will embrace information technology as our
communication vehicle. Thousands of people are already
receiving the Valley East Today Online Community News through
their email and this number is increasing every week. The
stories and special features about the people making a
difference in this community are being sent all over the
world, and many people thinking of moving to the Greater
Sudbury Area are checking out Valley East Today before making
their decision about where to live.
Valley East Today will continue to grow into a dynamic, ever-expanding web site,
expanding one story at a time. It will become a "Living History" of the
community that will slowly build and help develop an image and an identity that
everyone will come to know and accept as Valley East.
 | When people want to know about Valley East, they will turn to the Valley
East Today Community Web Site.
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 | When people want to be kept "in the loop" they will register
to receive the Valley East Today Online News Magazine every week.
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 | When people want to express their opinion about something important,
they will speak to their neighbours through Valley East Today's Public
Forum and letters to the editor.
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 | When people want to recognize the accomplishments and achievements of
those who make a difference in our community, they will turn to Valley
East Today.
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 | And when they want to find out about the goods and
services that are available through local businesses, they
will turn to Valley East Today. |
I encourage you to use this page as a
"springboard" to a vast network of web sites and web
pages filled with information of interest about the people,
places and events that are shaping our history and moving us
forward into a great future. Make sure you pay attention to
the goods and services that are being provided by the business
community of Valley East. They are the ones who are devoting
their lives to meet the needs of you and your family.
Welcome To Valley East Today!
Robert Kirwan
Publisher & CEO
Valley East Today
Community Web Site & Newsletter |
 | TO THE SCHOOLS: Send
me all the photos and stories you can about what is
happening in your school! I want to recognize the
accomplishments and achievements of our students, teachers
and parents who are so very much involved in the education
of our children;
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 | TO THE CHURCHES:
Send me stories and information about the wonderful things
your parishioners are doing in your religious community.
When visitors to this site want to find out about the
spiritual character of Valley East we want them to truly see
the fantastic things that are happening in our religious
sector;
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 | TO SPORTS, RECREATIONAL AND
CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS: Don't keep your
activities and events such a big secret. Send me photos,
stories and announcements so that I can let the "world" know
just how much is happening in Valley East. This is an
extremely dynamic community! Let's give people a taste of
what is going on in all corners of the town.
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 | TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONALS:
We have hundreds of businesses and individuals ready to
provide local residents with all of the goods and services
they would ever need. It is time to let residents know what
you offer, so please allow me to devote a section of this
web site exclusively to your business and show, through
pictures and text just what you have to offer. Let me tell
your story so that we can all recognize your accomplishments
over the years as you have established a successful business
operation and become a significant element of our community. |
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IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO
SEND
CLICK HERE |
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CELEBRATING
OUR COMMUNITY |
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Its
Time For Everyone In Valley East To Pull Together and Build The
Foundation For A Successful Future
by Robert Kirwan
Publisher
Valley East Today!
As I stood beside the pond in my back yard admiring
the new waterfall that my wife had recently constructed, I was
reminded of a song released a long time ago by the famous singer,
Harry Belafonte.
The main feature of the pond was a bucket turned over on its side,
allowing the water to flow freely out and down the hill in a stream.
The song by Belafonte, a banter between a husband
and wife about fixing a hole in the bucket, suddenly hit me that the
lyrics were symbolic of what is happening in the Greater Sudbury
Area, and in particular in Valley East.
The song begins with Lisa, the wife, asking her
husband to go fetch some water from the well. It goes something like
this:
"There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear
Lisa, Dear Lisa. There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Lisa, a hole.
Well fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry. Well fix
it, dear Henry. Fix it!
With what shall I fix it, dear Lisa, dear
Lisa. With what shall I fix it, dear Lisa. With what?
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry. With
straw, dear Henry. With straw.
The straw is too long, dear Lisa, dear Lisa.
The straw is too long, dear Lisa, too long."
And so the song goes on and on with Henry stating
that the ax is too dull to cut the straw, and Lisa eventually
telling him to wet the stone to sharpen the ax. Henry finally comes
to the point where he asks with what he should carry the water to
wet the stone and is told to fetch it with a bucket, to which he
replies, "There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Lisa, dear Lisa.
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Lisa. A Hole."
The song is a rather silly rendition, except that it
says a lot about what is going on in our community today.
Our population is declining; our unemployment rate
is one of the highest in the country; our children are moving away
to find jobs; our small businesses are having a hard time surviving;
restructuring of our municipality is not going the way it was
planned; our hospital is in financial trouble; the list goes on and
on.
The fact is: we have a hole in our bucket and until
we fix it, we will have a great deal of difficulty generating any
kind of economic stability in this area. |
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COMMUNITY
BUILDING IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS
WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF EVERYONE |
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Having lived in Valley East since 1974, and all of
my life in the Greater Sudbury Area, I realized that if I could make
any difference at all in bringing the region out of the hole into
which we were sinking, I had to make an effort.
I have a saying that I remember whenever I am faced
with a critical moment in my life:
"There are
two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or
accept the responsibility for changing them."
I want people to remember me
as a person who was not afraid of accepting the responsibility for
making positive changes in this community.
There have always been those who say that Valley
East has no real identity and that people
living here have no real sense of community - nor do they want to
develop a sense of community. They complain about everything and
tend to give up easily.
These people remind me about a story about two
frogs which fell into a deep bowl of cream. One was an optimistic
soul, but the other took the gloomy view.
"I shall drown," cried the
pessimist. "And so shall you."
So, with a last despairing cry, he closed his
eyes and said "Good-bye" and sank into the cream and died.
The people who do not believe in the potential of
Valley East declare that we will never amount to anything. They take
on the gloomy view and say that it is useless to even try.
On the other hand, there are those who have devoted
their lives to working for the good of the community. They are
people like the volunteers who have worked so hard as part of a
multitude of community groups. You will read about those people on
this web site. Those people remind me of the other frog which fell
into the deep bowl of cream.
After its partner gave up and sank to the
bottom, the other optimistic frog said, "I can't get out, but I
won't give in! I'll swim around till my strength is spent. If I have
to die, at least I will die content knowing that I didn't give
up."
And the frog bravely swam around and around
the bowl until his struggles began to churn the cream. Finally he
came to rest on top of the hardened butter which had been made as a
result of his continuous swimming. He then hopped out of the bowl to
safety.
I admire the people who have decided to continue to
try their best to build and develop a sense of community in this
fine municipality of Valley East. At times, it must seem as if no
one is listening and your struggles are for naught. But let the
lesson of the struggling frog be an inspiration. One day the cream
will turn to butter and Valley East will hop out of the bowl to the
bright future which awaits us all.
We are proud to do what we can to make a difference
with Valley East Today. By building this web site into one of the
most comprehensive community web sites in the country, we will
ensure that people all over the world have an opportunity to share
in the celebration of our 100 plus years of existence.
I invite all residents of Valley East to make a
resolve to take the optimistic view and to support the people, who,
year after year, put in hundreds of hours to provide us with
opportunities to come together as a community. The best way that we
can show our appreciation to these people is to take part in the
events that they organize year after year. We live in one of the
finest communities in Ontario. Let's show others, through our words
and deeds, that we truly believe in the future of Valley East and
that we are proud to call this community home. |
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WE ARE NOT ONLY LIVING HISTORY
WE ARE CREATING HISTORY EVERY SINGLE DAY
MAKE SURE YOU ARE RECORDING THE RIGHT THINGS |
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Let Us All Do Our
Part
To Return To The Basics Of Life:
People, Tolerance and Love
Robert Kirwan |
As the years go by we are all reminded of the harsh reality
that our life is unfolding and that we can never change our past. This
reality becomes clearer as you get older.
I have spent a great deal of time thinking about life in general as we
celebrated 100 years of existence as a community during the year 2004. I
know many of you will be reading this editorial after the final candle is
blown out on the birthday cake, but nevertheless, now that we are in our
2nd Century, the points still apply.
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How should we approach this living history of our community? What is it
that we want to remember? Moreover, what is it that we want Valley East to
stand for?
And then, the answer seemed to jump out at me as I was reading a little
passage recently.
It was a selection from "The Hymnbook", written by Arthur
Bowler. Every parent will understand why I was greatly moved by the story
and I’m sure every parent could also recount a similar experience. It
was then that I realized that each and every resident of Valley East is a
parent of our future. Our values today will shape the future for our
children. That is what this web site is all about. Recording details of
our past which will shape our future.
Suddenly, everything became clear to me as I read the following
passage. I now know how to approach this web site. We will record our
history, and we will focus on the things that really mean the world to us:
people, tolerance and love.
Enjoy "The Hymnbook".
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Fastest Growing Segment in
the entire City of Greater Sudbury
Since 1971, the total population of the Sudbury Region
has declined by about 10%. During that period of time, however, the
population of Valley East has increased by 25%. By comparison, the
population of the old City of Sudbury has dropped by 15%.
Also, since 1971, the number of households in the
entire Sudbury Region increased by 48%. Valley East, however, experienced
an increase of 106% in the number of households - more than double that of
the region. The old City of Sudbury grew by only 37%.
Today Valley East has the largest average household
size in the entire region with 2.9 people per household. This is directly
related to the fact that a large number of young families have chosen
Valley East as the ideal community in which to raise their children.
For a complete editorial on why Valley East is growing
so rapidly while other segments are not, CLICK
HERE
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The author wrote:
I watched intently as my little brother was caught in the act. He
sat in the corner of the living room, a pen in one hand and my father’s
hymnbook in the other. As father walked into the room, my brother cowered
slightly. He sensed that he had done something wrong. From a distance, I
saw that he had opened Dad/s brand-new book and scribbled across the
length and breadth of the entire first page with a pen. Now, staring at my
father fearfully, he and I both waited for his punishment.
My father picked up his prized hymnal, looked at it carefully,
and then sat down without saying a word. Books were precious to him. He
was a pastor and the holder of several degrees. For him, books were
knowledge, and yet, he loved his children. What he did in the next few
minutes was remarkable.
Instead of punishing my brother; instead of scolding or yelling
or reprimanding, he sat down, took the pen from my brother’s hand and
then wrote in the book himself, alongside the scribbles John had made.
"John’s words in 1959, age two. How many times have I
looked into your beautiful face and into your warm, alert eyes looking up
at me and thanked God for the one who has now scribbled in my new hymnal?
You have made the book sacred, as have your brothers and sister too so
much of my life"
Wow, I thought. This is punishment?
From time to time I take a book down—not just a cheezy
paperback, but a real book that I know I will have for many years to
come—and I give it to one of my children to ‘write’ their names in.
As I look at their artwork, I think of my father, and how he taught me
about what really matters in life: people, not objects; tolerance, not
judgement; and love, which is at the heart of a family.
I think about these things, smile, and I whisper, "Thank
you, Dad."
People, tolerance and love—the things that really matter in
life.
As I meet people in the years to come I will be asking for them to
share the things that really matter in life. Provide the stories for us so
that we can post them on this internet history book for others to read and
become inspired as they in turn create history.
Perhaps all we need to be truly happy in this world is a return to the
basics of life: people, tolerance and love.
My long range plans for this web site are going to reflect the really
important things.
If I do that, I am sure all the rest will fall into place. |
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VALLEY
EAST... A Symbol of Community Pride |
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When the official flag of the Town of Valley East
was created by the Public Affairs office of the Regional
Municipality of Sudbury, it was designed to demonstrate the
natural beauties of the community. It was proudly flown at all
public buildings and during special events.
The white off-set 'V' separates the
Town's official colours: blue on top depicting sky and water, and
green below depicting the lush vegetation of the region. The 'V'
obviously stands for Valley East and the white represents the
Northern Snow. It is a simple design, which makes it all the more
majestic.
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A Diverse
Heritage Where People Make The Difference |
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The official crest of the Town of Valley East was
included on the flag. It consists of a shield between two banners
with the name of the town on the top banner and our motto - Peace,
Plenty, Progress on the bottom banner. All wording is in both
English and French, reflecting the bilingual nature of the
community.
The shield of the crest is divided into
five sections. In the top left segment is a black plow on a green
background representing the town's agricultural sector. The top
right section contains three fleur-de-lis on a blue background
indicative of the town's French Canadian origins. In the lower
left corner, white, crossed surveyor's flags on a blue background
recall the early development days and a black stylized ore car on
a green background depicts the town's mining industry. At the
bottom of the shield are three green maple leaves on a white
background representing the Town's early forest industry. |
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