To the editor,
I cannot believe all the fuss about the proposed beach volleyball. In 2001, the Canada Games committee held their beach volleyball tournaments here in Grand Bend. Everyone enjoyed these games and they were a huge success, with great results and participation by many volunteers and spectators.
We believe that beach volleyball can be held here again and will give not only children and young people something constructive to play, but something for everyone with open minds to watch and get involved with while bringing more visitors to our resort town.
Since arriving here back in 1976, I’ve supported most activities, volunteered for lots of them, and always enjoyed our public beachfront. Bravo to Mark Reilly for bringing back a participation sport for everyone to dive into.
Give volleyball your support,
Lynne Desjardine-Herrington
Grand Bend

Re: PVB
The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot, and if you place any credence in Mr. Crossley’s musings, it will be the least of our worries.
Don Kobe
Grand Bend

It was one year ago this month that it was decided that the Grand Bend Home & School Association would start fundraising for a new wheelchair accessible playground for the children of Grand Bend Public School and the youth of the community. The goal was $70,000, daunting to say the least. It was through grant applications, letters to Grand Bend community organizations, H&S fundraisers and public donations that our goal was reached. There are so many people to thank, and thank you just does not seem to suffice.
It is because of the people in this town that we can be so proud and that our children are being given such a great start in life. The children are so excited to be getting a new playground that all of them will be able to play on every day.

There are so many organizations and individuals that I would like to thank:
The Grand Bend Rotary Club; they were the first to lend support. It shot us forward, knowing that without a doubt we would succeed.
The Grand Bend Royal Canadian Legion not only supported us, but also enjoyed partying with us along the way.
The Grand Bend Lioness are a wonderful, thoughtful group who I enjoyed sharing a “spot” of tea with.
From Lakesmith Conservation I received some life lessons over coffee, tucked some future metaphors in my pocket for later use and got the biggest hugs.
Kause for Kids Easy Riders led by Nelson Desjardine donated the last of their fundraising efforts to our cause.
Thanks to Grand Bend Mariners Hockey Team, Grand Bend Women’s Institute, Sunrise Garden Centre and the Grand Bend Community Foundation.
The Million Dollar Round Table grant would not have happened if it weren’t for Mr. Brian Hall of Waypoint Financial.
Thanks to Mr. Paul Ciufo from Godbolt Ciufo Insurance & Financial Services.
Thank you to the Grand Bend Optimist Club, where I have gained many new friends.
Thanks to all of you who sacrificed the calories for our children with the yummy Smile Cookies, and Brian and Cheryl Dallner from Grand Bend Tim Horton’s.
Thank you to Jennison Construction who will always have a special place in my heart.
Huron Woods Inc., Hayter’s Turkeys, DJ T&A.
Thank you to Bob Uhrig of Grand Bend Sobey’s, who works well with short notice and to Mac’s Milk customers who spared their change.
Thanks to Casey from the Grand Bend Strip and Lynda from the Lakeshore Advance who did what they do best, get the word out.
Special thanks to all the Grand Bend families that supported our fundraisers throughout the year.
Thanks to ALL the children, who not only danced their way to a huge contribution, but also those who dug into their own piggy banks… honorable mentions are Paige Elliott, Hunter Penford, Aylish Betts, Ava Duffield, Bridget Donaldson and Caleb Rood.
Many people made personal donations including long time friends Cam & Randi Ivey whom I love dearly. Randi started the H&S at GBPS and also fundraised for the original playground structure at the school. Some passions never die.
Peter & Esther Warner, Tony & Fran Relouw, Richard Webb, and Stephanie Donaldson endlessly give to our community.
Grand Bend is a community but has proven to be more than that; we are family. To our family at GBPS, teachers, staff, students and our H&S members, thank you. It has been quite a year for all of us. The glue that holds any family together are the friends you can count on to weather the ups and downs.
Special thanks to Craig Wiseman for his endless patience and I am compelled to thank my children Ridley & Aidan. Without them I would not have discovered the thrill of such an amazing event.
Thank you to Jennifer Maguire my co-chair, who has been by my side from the beginning.
Susan Patton is the world’s best cheerleader.
Honorable mentions to Andrea Matheson, Erin Sageman, Kaleigh Clemens, Jennifer Blackhall, Jennifer Mossop, Julie Beattie and Kelly Stanlake for assisting in our many playground fundraisers.
Thanks to Susan Manz for her continuous support to us and our children.
We hope to see everyone at the unveiling of the playground in June. Heartfelt appreciation to all involved.

Amy Wiseman
Playground Committtee Chairwoman

Submitted by Brad Harness
Leader, Reform Ontario

First it was the scandal at eHealth Ontario over misspent public dollars, misallocated expenses monies, and inflated contracts. This resulted in resignations and firings.
Next up was the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG). More wrongdoing by the leadership with contracts and expense accounts, and that was after last year’s big blow-up over the unusually high winning ratio among the OLG’s lottery merchants. More firings and resignations.
Now we hear this week of questionable contracts at yet another Ontario agency, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), which has earned the disdain of many Ontario property owners due to incorrect property valuations that have lead to significant property tax hikes and liabilities.
To stop these complaints, MPAC has been busy hiring consultants, it seems, which is all right. But they have been renewing and extending contracts well beyond what MPAC’s own regulations allow. In a report in the Globe & Mail, MPAC’s VP of corporate services acknowledged that its own draft audit report dated May 2009 uncovered problems with the agency’s procurement practices in 2005 and 2006. He went on to insist the report – the latest – is already out of date and such practices it pinpointed have been rectified. Maybe so.
The missteps included violating the rules for consulting work, which say that contracts can only be extended from their initial term by no more than twice the value of the original contract. The audit found that agency had extended contracts from 5 to 14 times their original value.
It is good that the report in question was MPAC’s own internal audit.
It is bad that MPAC is merely the latest Ontario agency to exhibit a lack of respect for taxpayers’ dollars. Government is supposed to treat such monies as sacred trusts, not sacred cows to be milked for everything from coffee to car washes, from meals on the town to dry cleaning.
While ministers of the crown need to be called to account for such extensive and ongoing problems, it is clearly our premier, Dalton McGuinty, who is the one to be held to account overall.
Ontario has over 600 agencies, boards and commissions, each one provided with budgets from tax coffers. True, they also provide revenues back to the government: just under five per cent of provincial government revenues annually. It is only a matter of time before more such scandals are revealed. And it is a matter that seems to be important to every voter, unless you are on an agency board or in a McGuinty cabinet post.

To the Editor,
Here’s a bit of verse I wrote about ten years or so ago,  With the upcoming enhancement and change in the appearance of Main St., I thought it might be appropriate.

Ageless Grand Bend
 
Every weekend, rain or shine,
People flock in cars so fine,
Lining up with engines running,
Hoping soon they’ll all be sunning
On our beaches, vast and sandy,
Cheek by jowl, and often randy!
Red and burning, sleek with lotion,
Coolers full of “magic potion”.
Later on they cruise our Main Drag,
Check the shops, the games, then brag
How until six their party ran.
(Sleeping an hour in an old sedan!)
On the sidewalks, road and front lawn
Cups and plates and forks get thrown down
Flow’rs get torn and tossed around,
Dying on the grungy ground!
Miraculously, The Bend maintains
It’s own mystique. And see those stains?
Those blots you walk on everywhere?
Your Grandpa dropped his bubblegum there!
Oh! Oh! New plans will pave it over.
Century-old stains go undercover.
These paving stones – a fresh new page
How will they fare in this bold new age?
 
(The last four lines were added today.)
Cheerio,
Marie Strapp (via email)

To the Editor,
I, too, attended the library room meeting a few Thursdays ago to see the plans that are going forward. It was clear political types and designers were going through the required motions of ‘public input’ and ‘public participation’ to get on with it as soon as they can to capture the much revered infrastructure/stimulus money from other levels of government.
The first $2.5 million comes from the provincial and federal tax base (Editor’s note: prior reports stated the total cost was $2.6 million, but the Lambton Shores municipal website now says that is the amount of funding received); the tremendous funding balance will come from our municipal tax base. It’s very much a Larry the Cable Guy program: Git R Done now or lose the lion’s share of this found cash.
As I type this letter, I am sitting in Grand Bend’s most popular meeting place (Tim Hortons). Wouldn’t it have been creative to have exposed these plans to the people over the last three months by using some wall space?
We might have then seen the green spaces and proposed trees, etc., and been able to compare the green spaces drawn on the beach enhancement sketches and ask if the green would be the same brown spaces of excessive mulch ground cover employed in that glorious job. One might have asked with the reduced parking at the beach whether we can really afford another “just 20 parking space loss” on Main Street?
Like any good plastic surgery clinic, the town has the deposit so let’s get on with the face lift. And as I head next door for breakfast at a business far from the pending minor distraction this enhancement work will be, I think about a good omelette: if they break some eggs, let’s hope we don’t end up with scrambled eggs when served up by reopening in June 2010.
Robert Webb (via email)
(see lambtonshores.ca for draft proposal)

To the Editor:
A huge thank you to those who supported the troop morale spaghetti dinner. Over $2,000 was raised, including $400 from people who didn’t even attend the dinner. A special thanks to the volunteers who produced the meal and refreshments, and to the Grand Bend Sobey’s and No Frills stores for donating product.
Harry C. Young
Greenway

To the Editor:
A big thank you to all who helped at the troop morale spaghetti dinner. Kitchen: Gayle McGregor; Brad Hawkins; Rick; and Barry Hill. Servers: Al Noxell; Joan McCullough; Jeanette Wales.
Special thanks to Mike Tieman for keeping everything full and Gord Glazier for running to the store. Many thanks to those who donated home-made sauce: Linda Hill; Fred and Helen Teeple; Mary and Jim Blair; Lois Gilbert; Marilyn Dick; Craig Coltman; and Sheila.
Our local businesses were very generous: Mike and Terri Rahn of No Frills; and Bob Uhrig of Sobey’s. It was a great success and we loved the support. Thanks to all.
Sheila Tiedeman
Grand Bend Legion Branch 498

To the Editor,
After our successful ‘Home and Garden’ tour on July 5, the Horticultural Society asked our members for suggestions on spending some of the money to improve areas around the Bend. Sharon Solden asked that we consider doing something with the very neglected front at the public school. The executive decided that because the school/library is used by so many residents, it was a good idea and we, some of the students and a parent, Joe Hotson (he roto-tilled the area for us) completed the work.
Paul and Anita from Westland Greenhouses donated beautiful fall mum plants and everything was completed in time for ‘Meet the Teacher’ night on Thursday.
In the spring we are going to plant pink and purple coloured plants so the gardens will be ready for the ‘Community in Bloom’ judges to have a look at next year. Pink and purple are the colours they are suggesting for next year and we are going to talk to as many people as we can reach in the area to plant their gardens in pink and purple. 
Please mark your calendar for June 27 next year. That is the date for our next ‘Home and Garden’ tour.
Bob Putherbough
Grand Bend Horticultural Society

To the Editor,
Every year for six years our family has participated in The Walk to D’feet ALS, as my grandfather died from ALS in October 4th, 1985. This year my daughters, aged four and six, wanted to raise money and brainstormed for ideas.
First my daughter Abby wanted to sell live turkeys to people but we explained why that could not happen. Instead, they held a charity barbecue at Hayter’s Turkey Products and raised $450, and with other donations they raised over $850 this year. Abby and Emma wrote letters to No Frills and Sobeys for donations, which the support they received was amazing and we thank them so much for their support as well as Hayter’s for donating all of the turkey burgers and turkey hot dogs.
Emma is in one in the huge t-shirt,  Abby is in the pink,  then there is me (in brown) and my mom Jean Mclean (Nana) it was the 4 of us just after we all finished the walk. 
Jenn Maguire
Grand Bend

Remember what each level of government does

To the Editor,
With a federal election campaign now underway, it is an ideal time to draw attention to what each of our three levels of government is supposed to be responsible for, so candidates and leaders will not discuss with voters those things that are not federal areas of jurisdiction.
Health care is not a federal responsibility, and it would be grossly misleading for Canada’s federal politicians to campaign around the nation promising all sorts of money for, and improvements to, each province’s health care system. With the dozen recent deaths linked directly to the listeriosis crisis, the federal government ought to be focusing its Health Canada resources on areas it is responsible for, such as improving the inspection of Canada’s meat industry in the interests of public safety.
Medical wait-times are something the provincial governments must tackle. Federal parties should only be promising the transfer of taxes collected on behalf of the provinces, with no strings attached, and nothing more. Provincial health ministers must be given the room to maneouvre they require in order to ensure the availability of adequate levels of health care services for their residents.
Inner city safe needle injection sites, highway and other infrastructure projects, industrial and labour policies, energy, educational scholarships: These are all provincial jurisdictions. The federal parties have a bad habit of stepping on the toes of the provinces – especially at election time – in order to grab the attention of voters.
There is no shortage of purely federal issues to discuss: the war in Afghanistan, international trade agreements, the federal debt and taxation levels, the Canadian dollar and its impact on Canada’s – and in particular Ontario’s – economy, criminal justice, the successor to the Kyoto Accord and Canada’s poor environmental record, global warming and sovereignty issues in the Arctic.
So Mr. Harper, Mr. Dion, Mr. Layton, and Ms. May, let us please confine ourselves to federal political issues. There is plenty of meat on that bone for you all to chew on.
Brad Harness
Leader, Reform Party of Ontario

To the Editor:
Your recent interviews with the Kovar family and with Grand Bend’s CAO on the tragic anniversary of the drowning of Jule Kovar is much appreciated, although such an event is never celebrated but remembered with sympathy and serious regret. Jule’s drowning, and this summer’s death of Ryan Albrecht under similar circumstances, remains an indelible blemish on the town and tourist community we are.
I really appreciate your personal recall of conversations with the Kovars. Their pain and loss are unimaginable.
Also, the research you did, and interview with Mr. Byrne, the Lambton Shores CAO, reveals in easy to understand terms the program in place, which is out of balance in the financial terms and in terms of the timing that the municipality allots for beach protection by lifeguards.
Even nowadays, conservative institutions like banks do not run 9-5 services. So why in heaven’s sakes would a tourist safety service have such short hours of lifeguard hours, and limited safety equipment on site until the last drowning sparked the return of lifesaving rings on the beach.
With the great amount of revenue generated each summer mostly by visitors to the parking lots, offset by the  $48,000 cost of seasonal lifeguard service, clearly there is room for a much greater expenditure for this protection service, both by extending the hours and increasing the personnel needed. Maybe, just maybe, next year, with the much ballyhooed beach enhancement underway, someone at council will ask for and get the funding to allow more personnel and less bricks and mortar, especially with the past evidence and practices of ignoring town assets and policies, such as the current beach bathroom/structure and main-street parking, and streetscape.
We can expect much greater parking revenue in 2009 as there will be more spaces at the beach, and likely some type of metered parking system on the main street. In light of the changes coming, let’s not allow mediocrity to be an acceptable standard on the beach or Main Street. Grand Bend can promote itself as the best and safest beach on Ontario’s West Coast.
Blue Flag beach designation does not require live lifeguard protection, but hopefully we would continue to allocate a large dollar value to keeping that in place, whether it comes from parking revenues or from the ever-increasing tax base from residents and business. But clearly, taxation need not be the source to provide this service or to pay for the planned Beach Enhancement.
I look forward to this beach being renovated, and being the tourist draw it should be, but with sensible first-class concepts and ideas that maintain focus on the lake and beach; after all, the plans are to leave the lake and pier in place for the foreseeable future. Future generations will be left with the legacy of maintaining the new structures and maintaining this community assets and spirit of Grand Bend going forward.
Again to those families whose lives have been permanently changed by drowning deaths in this community, our heart felt regrets and sympathy in very inadequate.
Robert Webb
Grand Bend

Reader: Why aren’t police ticketing violators?

To the Editor:
All the kids are back in school and most of the visitors of Grand Bend have gone. The little town is almost empty. As I made my way to the bank I was a bit early so as I waited outside for 10 minutes and not to my surprise I counted 4 cars that parked in the handicapped parking space. I just shock my head and wondered is this ever going to stop.
In this town of 1000 people, the law is not hard for police to enforce. I have to ask why people park there. Why? Because nothing is being done to stop them. There is no respect for the people who really need to use these spaces. I ask myself why this bugs me, as I don’t use the spaces and I don’t know anyone who is in a wheelchair. I really can’t answer that.
To the people who abuse and use the handicap spaces, how would you like it if I were to park in your driveway and make you walk down the street to your house. You would be upset at me, wouldn’t you? So why is it that you people who do not need a wheelchair space park in these spaces and think it’s okay.
Their argument may be, Yeah, I’m only going to be a minute. Another we’ve all heard is, I only live down the street so I’m okay to drive drunk.
I do love the law that reads handicap parking only. Why make it a law if police are not going to enforce it? I was upset last year when I needed the help of the Grand Bend police. I went to the downtown location in the wintertime when the town was dead, tapped on the door and a female officer looked at me and pointed to the phone outside. The phone didn’t work and I tried to tell her that, but she just looked at me as if to say, I don’t have time and don’t care to talk to you. She walked away and left me standing there. I thought, What would it have taken her to come to the door to see what I wanted? There could have been a police officer shot lying on the ground for all she knew.
This example shows me that they simply don’t care. But I think not all police officers are bad, and neither are all of the people who park in handicap spaces.
Patti Wilton
Via GrandBendStrip.com