aboutvet

It's Time To Acknowledge The People Making
A Difference In Our Community

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.
	When people want to be kept "in the loop" they will register to receive the Valley East Today Online News Magazine every week.
	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.
	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.
	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;
	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;
	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.
	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.

IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SEND CLICK HERE

CELEBRATING OUR COMMUNITY

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.

COMMUNITY BUILDING IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS
WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF EVERYONE

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.

WE ARE NOT ONLY LIVING HISTORY
WE ARE CREATING HISTORY EVERY SINGLE DAY
MAKE SURE YOU ARE RECORDING THE RIGHT THINGS

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.

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".

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

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.

VALLEY EAST... A Symbol of Community Pride

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.

A Diverse Heritage Where People Make The Difference

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.