Inside Your Cosmos · - The cast of Done to Deathpuzzles over a dead body in a scene from the play...

WHO DONE IT? - The cast of Done to Death puzzles over a dead body in a scene from the play by Fred Carmichael. This mystery-comedy is the final show of OnStageUxbridge’s 2017/18 season, and opens tonight at the Uxbridge Music Hall. From left: Daniel Wyse, Katie Murray, Shaun Benjamin, Dead Person, Joanna Thornton, JoshHolmes, Imre Szabs, and Dorothy Partridge. For ticket details, see ad on page 2, visit onstageuxbridge.com or starticketing.com Photo by Shelagh Fitz

Springtide line-up complete

by Nancy Melcher

Land Over Landings has finally released its eco-nomic impact study of the remaining FederalLands. Former Toronto Mayor David Crombiemoderated the reveal to a packed house at theBrougham Community Centre on Tuesday,April 3. The report, commissioned by LOL, was pre-pared by Econometric Research Ltd. (ERL)and JRG Consulting Group (JRG) to deter-mine the value of the Federal Lands if they wereleft permanently in agriculture. Included in thestudy are the potential economic benefits fromecotourism and carbon sequestration, as well asthe economic loss from development. John Groenewegon of JRG began the presen-tation by explaining the economic limitationsof the current 1-year leases. “There’s no incentive for farmers to invest inthese lands so cash cropping is the norm, withcorn, soybeans, wheat and canola the predom-inant crops grown. With only a single year

view, few farmers will risk investing in mainte-nance of barns, outbuildings, fences, field tiledrains or new structures.”Forty-seven years ago, the federal governmentexpropriated 18,600 acres of prime farmlandeast of Toronto for a future Pickering Airport.The whole area currently suffers from neglect,but the study says it could return to its formerproductivity and diversity with good steward-ship. According to the study, Increasing theterms of the leases to 30 years would allowenough time for any investments to reap re-wards. In addition, farmers could increase thediversity of crops planted. Eco-tourism, re-search and innovation, and the opportunity fornew farmers to establish themselves would allresult from the longer terms for land leases. Dr. Atif Kubursi from ERL addressed the spe-cific economic impacts of agriculture. He re-minded the audience that “People have notbeen investing in the lands with the current 1-year leases situation.” He noted that the currenttotal value of crop production on these lands is

roughly $3.7 million. However, with a 30-yearlease, he forecast a seven-fold increase to a pro-jected value of $25.1 million. Dr. Kubursi went on to outline other benefits,including the effect of simply being outside ingreen spaces. “There are an enormous numberof studies that show that people who live neargreen spaces are healthier. The quality of the airis better because it has more oxygen. In somesense you can consider these lands to be part ofthe lungs of Toronto.”The report also recommended that the custo-dian of the Federal Lands should no longer beTransport Canada. It suggests this role pass toParks Canada, since over 10,000 acres of theformer Federal Lands now make up much ofthe Rouge National Urban Park. These farmsfit well into the objectives of the Greenbelt leg-islation, so an overseer focussed on conserva-tion and preservation of the environmentwould make a better steward.

...continued on page 4

Uxbridge, known for its rural landscape criss-crossed with trails, will now soon be on themusical map, as Springtide unveils its lineup ofmore than 65 artists playing in 15 differentdowntown venues. The inaugural SpringtideMusic Festival promises a strong local compo-nent but is also drawing musicians from acrossthe GTA and Golden Horseshoe, includingheadliner Great Lake Swimmers, who plays theoutdoor stage on Saturday, April 21.Among the unique attractions of SpringtideMusic Festival: a curated Youth Stage featuringthe GTA’s top singer/songwriters and bandsaged 18 and under, including Moscow Apart-ment and Kingdom of Birds; a WorkshopStage; a free-to-attend open-mic style Commu-nity Stage where artists can sign up to play orjam; an outdoor stage on the grounds ofUxbridge’s local brewery; and unique smallvenues along a 750 metre stretch through theheart of Uxbridge’s charming downtown.For a complete list of Festival Artists, visit thecosmos.ca, or springtidemusicfestival.com

Land Over Landings releases Federal Lands agriculture study

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Peaceful setting backing onto conservation lands in a quiet neighborhood. Must be seen to be appreciated. 3 bedroom plus an office on 2nd floor. 3 bathrooms, Mahogany hardwood in living, dining and family room. Eat-in kitchen with walkout to 2 tiered deck, gas fireplace with heatilator in family room. Full walkout basement leading to pond and firepit feature overlooking conservation lands.

Volume 14 No. 14 YOUR UNIVERSE Thursday, April 5, 2018

Inside Your CosmosGrowing complacent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 2A return to stationery . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 3

by Roger Varley

is is the eleventh “installment” in a se-ries of columns and articles inspired by a

book entitled “13 Ways To Kill YourCommunity.”

Are Uxbridge residents comfortable

with the way things are in their com-munity? If they are, they could be liv-ing dangerously. So says DougGriffiths, author of “13 Ways To Killyour Community.” In the chapter en-titled “Grow Complacent,” Griffithstalks about how relationships can be-come stale and unworkable simply be-cause those involved will drift apartthrough complacency, a comfort withthe way things are, until it's too late tofix it.

Determining whether a communityis complacent is difficult. ManyUxbridge residents will say there isnowhere else they would rather live be-cause they like their town the way it is.Is that complacency? Is that living indenial of change, such as the fact thata new development could come intotheir neighbourhood in future years?ere have been various examples re-cently of residents becoming upset be-cause of new housing changing theneighbourhood.Many retailers in the downtown core,

with a few notable exceptions, do ex-tremely little in the way of promotingtheir businesses, even by changing their

display windows. Are they happy justmaintaining the customers who alreadyregularly frequent their stores? Is thatcomplacency?

One Uxbridge resident said even asmall thing like changing window dis-plays on a regular basis would make thedowntown more vibrant, make shop-pers eager to see what's new. Anothersaid absentee landlords of a large num-ber of downtown buildings could bepart of the problem because there is lit-tle incentive for merchants who renttheir space to try and upgrade theirlook.

en there are annual events such asthe Fall Fair, Canada Day and theSanta Claus parade. Although theirthemes may change from year to year,any changes in the way they are pre-sented are usually minor in nature. Itcould be that the organizers of theseevents know just what the public wantsor it could be that they see no reasonfor changing what has worked in thepast. In either case, is that compla-cency?

Uxbridge residents will be voting inthe municipal elections later this year,but, for the most part, the vast majorityof voters have never even been to a ses-sion of council. ey really have littleknowledge of their councillors, the is-sues council deals with or how councilarrives at its budget every year. It couldbe argued, perhaps, that this is apathyrather than complacency, but it canlead to complacency on council’s partas it continues to do business the sameway, year after year, with little in theway of innovation.Griffiths says that community leaders

often fail to train someone to take overwhatever organization they are in-

volved with, either because they are un-willing to give up "the reins of power"or because there is no-one else willingto take over. at, too can lead to com-placency and even, in the case of serv-ice organizations, a drop inmembership.

In the book, Griffiths takes a hardlook at "sustainable" communities,claiming that in many communities"sustainability" merely translates into"maintaining the status quo," anotherform of complacency. He proposes thatmany communities with "sustainabilityplans" simply end up with reports thatgather dust and no action. However,Uxbridge's Chief Administrative Offi-cer Ingrid Svelnis disagrees that such isthe case in Uxbridge. She points outthat council is working on rezoning is-sues to be able to take advantage ofcoming change: for example, beingready when the township is able to ex-pand its industrial parks.

"We're anticipating change so that itfalls into place," she says. "It's position-ing us to survive change, to prepare forwhat's coming next."Talking about the sustainability com-

mittee formed with the townships ofScugog and Brocks about five yearsago, Svelnis says it gives the communi-ties an opportunity to see what othersare working on and "share ourthoughts." But rather than just comingup with reports, she says, the NorthDurham sustainability committee hasdealt with issues such as greenhousegases and energy conservation -("We've done a lot of work on this") -has held Building Business forums andhas tapped into Durham Region for

...continued on page 4

Thursday, April 5, 20182The Uxbridge Cosmos

April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 & 14 at 7:30 pmApril 7, 8 & 14 at 2:00 pm

Uxbridge Music HallProduced by Cheryl AtwoodDirected by Jonathon Keith

Tickets available online onstageuxbridge.com

starticketing.comPresented by special agreement with Samuel French, Inc., 2018

A Mystery-Comedy by Fred Carmichael

Uxbridge Denture Clinic

2 Campbell DriveSuite 307AUxbridge

[email protected]

AlexandraMitchell

DD Denturist

“13 Ways” Installment #11 - Sustain the status quo

by Roger Varley

A new store opened in the downtown area thisweek, with its main target market being bridesand babies. Bluebird Paper and Press special-izes in stationary, invitations and baby clothes.Owner Stephanie Drake, a former Markham

resident, said she has been running her busi-ness out of her home for the last five years, thelast two of them from her new home inUxbridge. She said her invitations, whether fora wedding, a corporate event or some otherspecial occasion, are all custom-designed andprinted in the store.

"We offer high-quality, but good value," shesaid. "We don't do cheap on-line compar-isons."

Drake, who has a background in marketingmanagement, also will offer specialized en-velopes and other paper products. But since,as Drake pointed out, invitations are usuallynot a "walk in purchase," she wanted othermerchandise and gifts in the store to draw incustomers. To that end, she carries a selectionof baby clothes from Bound To Grow Baby,another home-run Uxbridge business. eclothes are designed to grow with the baby.

"Since the Little Acorn closed, there'snowhere in town to buy baby clothes exceptWalmart," she said.

In addition, Drake said she approached 13Durham Region artisans to sell their creations.

"I wanted to support locals," she said."ere's still a small-town mentality wherepeople like to support locals. So now I have re-ally tasteful, unique things from the artisans."

e artisans' products will be sold on a con-signment basis.Drake said the store's grand opening is slated

for April 14 and noted that since she postedthe event on her Facebook page she has had400 people indicate their interest in attending.She said the opening will feature door prizes,cake and coffee.e Bluebird store is located at the rear of the

newly-renovated building at the southwest cor-ner of Toronto Street and Brock Street. Shesaid the location gives her store good visibilityand suits her needs because she didn't want astore with more than 1,000 square feet. Forthat reason, she passed on other empty storesin the downtown.

Although she is a relative newcomer to

Uxbridge, Drake said she has known theUxbridge area most of her life because she usedto board and ride her horse in Greenbank.Currently the store is open Wednesday to Fri-

day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdaysfrom 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., although she said sheis likely to expand her hours in summer and atChristmas.


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Brides, babies focus of new store


Re: Food Bank Robbed, Thurs.,March 29 edition

I was very upset when I read aboutthe break-in at the Uxbridge Loavesand Fishes Food Bank. It is really asad time for our society when themind-set of certain individuals allowsthem to do this kind of stuff.

I am also very concerned, however,about why there was $5,000 in us-able cash/gift cards available forsomeone to take from the food bankpetty cash and gift card supply. Thisseems to me to be an unacceptableamount in any business to be left un-secured in a “commercial” location. We are supporters of this food bank

and will continue to be so, but pleasecome up with some different way ofmaking sure this money and giftcards are properly secured, perhapsoff-site.

Glenn SchaefferUxbridge

Letters to the Editor

We had SUCH a good time writing last week’s April Fool’s story (the oneabout the tunnels running underneath the town. Yeah. That wasn’t real!) Andwe’ve had even more fun getting messages and emails from all the variousreaders we fooled. We at the Cosmos like to try and inject a little levity intothe everyday. One of our readers/advertisers, Axis Chiropractic, had a goodone - they announced that they were going to offer a giraffe chiropractic serv-ice, starting Monday morning. We told them we’d bring all our giraffes tothem right away. Good fun. Our film critic, John Foote, left a sombre noteon Facebook saying that, effective immediately, he was no longer going to“criticize film.” Several people in the thread offered heartfelt condolences.We, however, called him out on it, and he gave us a virtual high-five for ourkeen insight, and said he’d never quit, he’d critique films till the day he died!

All we can say is, with this spring weather being the pits like it is, we needa bit of a smile and levity, or we’ll all float away. Oh no! A flood! In the culvert!And into the tunnels...

**********One April Fool’s stunt that should have been a joke but isn’t is the new

tourism tax that Toronto put into place. Effective April 1, “transient accom-modation and short-term rentals” are now subject to a four per cent tax (pre-HST). That means hotels, motels (only the ones that you stay at for morethan four hours), AirBnBs and the like. This paltry four per cent is supposedto add up to around $16 million more for the city’s coffers, and go towardspromoting tourism and Toronto to the world.

While it’s understandable that we who live just 45 minutes from the citydon’t really need to worry about said tax because we likely don’t stay down-town all that often, we’re a little worried that this plan may backfire on itself.Sure, they’ll spend lots of money on getting people to come to Toronto, andthose people will surely come. Then they’ll realize they’re being taxed up thewazoo and go tell all their friends that although the CN Tower was a lot offun and the Ripley’s Aquarium is a blast, Toronto is blinking expensive city,and you have to pay so many taxes just to stay there. What is this tourismtax, they’ll ask? What is this HST, they’ll ask? And you want tips, too? We nocome back.Niagara Falls is even worse. They, too, have a “Destination Marketing Fee”

and it’s so inconsistently used there are online lists available outlining whocharges the tax, how much (it’s supposed to be three per cent - some placescharge four, some places charge six, and one hotel charges 10 per cent), andsome stores even have signs outside their doors announcing they are DMF-free. To make it even better, before January of this year, the city didn’t evenhave a third-party organization in place to oversee and collect all of this extramoney. For all intents and purposes, any restaurant or hotel could collect itand keep it; no one was checking. Some establishments did say that you couldrequest the extra tax be removed from your bill, but now many hotels, etc.,have decided that the tax is mandatory to their establishment. Not for thecity, just for them. So they happily collect extra money that may or may notgo towards a fabulous fireworks display over the Falls on July 1. Looks like April Fool’s is year-round. And the tourists and taxpayers are the

butt of the joke.

Our two centsTricksters, tourists and taxes

9,500 copies of The Cosmos are published each Thursday in the Township ofUxbridge: 8,700 delivered by mail, 800 available in stores and boxes.

Publisher/Editor Lisha Van Nieuwenhove 905.852.1900Advertising/Sales 905.852.1900

38 Toronto Street North, Unit One, Uxbridge Ontario L9P 1E6e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.thecosmos.ca

Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors and in letters to the editor are not necessarilythose of The Cosmos. Letters must be signed and the telephone number provided (number will not be pub-lished). Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compelling reason. Errors broughtto our attention will be corrected. The Cosmos reserves the right to edit and/or refuse to publish unsolicitedmaterial. ADVERTISING POLICY: Ad deadline is 12 noon Tuesday the week of publication. The Cosmos reservesthe right to refuse any advertisement. The Cosmos is not liable for slight changes or typographical errors inadvertisements or any other errors or omissions in advertisements. All material herein, including advertisingdesign, is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

“We are nice fellows. We like to gettogether, have a good time, and giveback to our community. It is reallythat simple!”

at’s how Francois Bessay, presi-dent of 100 Men Who CareUxbridge, describes the group oflocal men he gets together with onceevery three months. His only con-cern - right now it isn’t 100 men.e men’s group was inspired by the

100 Women Who Care Uxbridgegroup, but hasn’t has garnered asmany members as the women’s;Bessay speculates that it’s because“the women are more gregarious.”

Although the group numbers be-tween 30 and 40 men at the mo-ment, more members means more

money that can go towards localcharities and causes.

Four times a year, members meetfor a couple of hours and jointly votefor a local charity or not-for-profitorganization. ree will be nomi-nated ahead of time by the members.Each individual, or team (which canbe two or four men), agrees to writea $100 cheque to the selected organ-ization, which turns into an unex-pected donation of thousands ofdollars for that charity.

“e women’s group, they usuallyhave more than $10,000 they cangive to their chosen group,” explains100 Men member Darren Gilroy.“With the numbers we have rightnow, we can give between $3,000 to

$4,000. at’s not bad, but we’d liketo do more.”

Bessay and Gilroy agree that 100Men is an ideal solution for men whowant to give back to the communityin which they live but don’t have a lotof time to give to volunteering.

e 100 Men Who Care Uxbridgegroup will be meeting next Wednes-day, April 11, at Uxbridge ShootingSports on Conc. 4. Men who are in-terested in joining can attend themeeting, visit 100menuxbridge.com,or email [email protected] find out more.“It’s no pressure, it’s just fellowship.

Maybe a bit of networking. And youget to give back. It’s perfect,” saysBessay.

LOL study, from page 1

The study says that, with all thedifferent aspects considered, in-cluding longer-term leases, theannual expenditures by the farmsector and visitors on the FederalLands would increase from $3.7million to $103.5 million.Households would see an in-crease in property values, and alllevels of government would seetheir revenues increase. A one-time investment to rejuvenate thearea would result in a temporaryboost to economic activity of$136.3 million.

Status quo, from page 2

the part-time services of an economicdevelopment officer.

She also talked about the commit-tee's Vibrant North Durham plan, afive-year plan developed in 2013 to"implement economic developmentthinking, processes and projects innorth Durham." e plan represents"a co-ordinated approach to eco-nomic development" because thethree communities all have similareconomic challenges and opportuni-ties, making it prudent to co-ordinateresources and eliminate duplication.

On a more tangible footing, com-placency in shopping can lead to

problems. Many residents prefer todo most, if not all, their shopping inthe south end of town and rarely visitthe downtown merchants. But if adowntown merchant goes out ofbusiness, it can led to a domino ef-fect, as can be seen by the number ofempty stores downtown. Taken to ex-tremes, that can lead to the death ofthe downtown area and the loss ofmerchants who support sports teams,the arts and any number of othercommunity organizations.As Griffiths says about marriages af-

fected by complacency: "eydrifted, they lost focus, they becamecomplacent about what they had."

100 Men Who Care Uxbridge looking for more men


That quote in the heading came at a meetingheld at Trinity United Church on Tuesdayevening during which officials of TD CanadaTrust attempted to explain the recent decisionto close the bank's Brock Street branch andmove all its operations down to the TorontoStreet South branch.

If the bank had said that in the first placewhen it notified its customers of the change,there might have been grumbling but at leastthose affected would have understood. Instead,TD sent out a printed pamphlet explainingthat the move had not been made withoutstudying the "impact" on its customers.

Having spent some time in corporate publicrelations, I knew that the pamphlet had at-tempted to put the best spin on the situationand had tried to make it look as though thebank had its customers' best interests at heart.Chris Stamper, senior vice-president for thebank's Metro East region, said more or less thesame thing.

"It's not a perfect outcome," he said, "butwe're trying to support the best interests of ourcustomers."

But I also knew it was bafflegab. No one Iknow who patronized the Brock Street hadbeen contacted to determine how they wouldbe impacted. Instead, under questioning, Mr.Stamper admitted the "study" involved lookingat the traffic at the two branches. He said theBrock Street branch averaged four customersper hour.

Chris Leier, district vice-president, then of-fered that the bank "doesn't make these deci-sions lightly. It was a business decision, butthere's a lot of human element in the way weapproached it." Still trying to put spin on it.Mr. Stamper, noting the TD opened its doors

in Uxbridge in 1871, said that "we want to bepart of the community,” which led to GailSanderson, a Mount Albert resident who fre-quently attends Uxbridge council meetings, tonote that TD is in the process of closing itsMount Albert branch, leaving that communitywith no banks at all.

One resident complained that the closing ofthe Brock Street branch means "I will have topay someone to drive me to Toronto Street.You can't say you're environmentally friendly,because you're putting more cars on the road."Mr. Stamper replied that the Toronto Streetbranch offers more space for customers, moretellers and more parking. He said those werethe three most important things for bank cus-tomers according to a national survey. But for-

mer councillor Kathy Wasylenky counteredthat the survey dealt with a totally different de-mographic than exists in downtown Uxbridge,which has many elderly residents. Saying thatshe understood the bank has to move with thetime, Ms.Wasylenky added that: "Sometimesbanks forget what they're leaving behind."I found it interesting that few, if any, residents

of Trinity Manor, a seniors' residence next tothe church and presumably housing more thana few Brock Street branch customers, were inattendance. In fact, only about a dozen inter-ested parties showed up, maybe because nomatter what was said at the meeting, the deci-sion had already been made. And, as Mr. Stam-per said: "We're not revisiting the decision."

Noting that the TD had told council it hadno plans to close Brock Street when it built thesecond branch on Toronto Street in 2013, Iasked Mr. Stamper what was the rationale foropening that second branch. He said Uxbridgewas looked on as a "growth area" at the time.I'd bet a dollar to a donut that any Uxbridgeresident could have told the TD back thenthere was no way it could sustain two branchesin a town this small.It's almost a truism that meetings of this kind

never give those attending the answers theywant to hear. It was true a couple of weeks agowhen the town of Georgina held a meeting inUdora to explain the new four-way stop in thathamlet after it had been put in and it was trueTuesday. No one attending Tuesday's meetingrealistically expected the bank to change itsplans. It was merely an opportunity to grousea little, let the bank know they weren't happyand, in a right neighbourly fashion, show theywere concerned about the people who work atthe Brock Street branch. Would any lose theirjobs? What was going to happen to them? Mr.Stamper assured them that all employees hadbeen "accommodated."

In the end, the meeting accomplished littleother than to let some people get a few thingsoff their chest and give me a topic for my col-umn this week. But it seems to me that whencorporate Canada deigns to interact with themasses - you know, those customers whose bestinterests they have at heart - they ought to stopthe spinning. If they have made an unpopulardecision, they should explain it and defend it,but stop trying to gloss it over with homiliesabout how they care about the community.The only thing corporate Canada cares aboutis the bottom line, customers be damned.Tell m , am I wrong?

After he’d competed a strength test, a flexibilitytest, and a reflex test on my injured shoulder, afew weeks ago, my doctor gave me the news.He’d seen an X-ray and an ultrasound that in-dicated I’d slightly torn something in my rota-tor cuff. That sounded bad enough. Then, hehanded me a referral form and told me to goto an office on the lower level of the health cen-tre. “Go get some physiotherapy,” he told me.I opened the door and entered a front office

with a TV blaring 24-hour news, racks of mag-azines, the latest Cosmos and someone to bookmy appointments. That was all well and good.But beyond the front office was a world I’venever really understood, rarely entered, andoften feared. The physiotherapy facility that laybeyond was filled wall-to-wall and stacked highwith floor mats, bench-pressing tables andevery imaginable piece of exercise equipment.Yes, everything was there to stretch, push, crushand test my body to the limits – everything wasthere including “treadmills and cycles andweights.” Or, as Dorothy told Toto dashingthrough the deep, dark forest in The Wizard ofOz, “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

As some of you know, I do lots of exercise –walking my dog (I’m still doing the daily walkeven though Finn’s gone), climbing stairs in-stead of escalators, gardening and snow-shov-elling by hand, and of course rec hockeyyear-round. However, I’m not a go-to-the-gym-to-work-out kind of person. While I knowthey’re probably good for me, I don’t find tread-mills and cycles and weights the least bit inspir-ing. And while I know the environment ofpeople running, squatting, lifting, sweating andgrunting all in one room together seems to at-tract lots of people, it’s not for me. Indeed, mysister goes to workouts with a group of womenat a gym; my wife works with a trainer in anexercise room; and my daughter’s in-lawsgather at the gym for comradery and exerciseseveral times a week (I think they’re each com-peting to see who can recruit the most newmembers at their gym). Well, forgive me, but Idon’t get gyms. Never have.Apparently, and not surprisingly, I’m the odd

man out. The trend to join fitness clubs, or asthe industry prefers to call them “boutique”gyms is growing by leaps and bounds. Last De-cember, the Public Health Agency of Canadareported that boutique gyms generated $3 bil-lion in revenue, that’s 2.3 per cent higher thanthe year before. And at last count Canada washome to nearly 7,000 such businesses, employ-

ing nearly 55,000 people nationwide. On av-erage, private fitness studios can help their op-erators to an average income of more than$250,000 in Canada, or about $70 per squarefoot of operating space. And gym-goers love theenergy, invigorating atmosphere and social in-teraction, according to recent studies. Andgood for them. But that atmosphere doesn’t at-tract me for a lot of reasons. I’m not into cata-pulting myself off a treadmill or demonstratingmy inadequacies on a lat pull-down, a cable tri-ceps bar or a rowing machine in public. I’mquite simply gym-phobic!

Where does that come from? Well, I think Ican blame my high-school gym instructorsfrom back in the 1960s. Only a few of us wereeven close to the fitness levels our teachers de-manded; I mean they expected us all to beArnold Schwarzenegger. If we couldn’t do 25chin-ups on the high bar, 50 chest presses onthe bench or 100 push-ups on the mats, therewas something wrong with us. And we had tostrive for those numbers while everybody elsewatched. For marks! Is it any wonder, then, Idon’t like the look of cables and weights, matsor mirrors in front of exercise machines?No. Since the physiotherapist determined my

shoulder needs daily exercising, I quite will-ingly do stretch exercises with a roller up thewall, pull the heavy elastics from a doorknob,or do reps with a dumbbell on the floor to tryto build back my shoulder strength. Now, I’msure most health gyms work to national publichealth standards, but at the physiotherapyclinic, I know I’m dealing with a health special-ist, as well as an enterprise.

And, despite the presence of that exerciseroom full of gear, I really can’t complain at allabout my treatment at the clinic. Just the op-posite. On each of the sessions so far, the youngphysiotherapist has simply put me on a table,tested the flexibility in my shoulder, manipu-lated the joint, administered ultrasound treat-ment and finished with 10 minutes of icing.Last week, however, as I lay there with the bagof ice cubes on my shoulder, he did make anominous prognostication. “If the shoulder doesn’t respond to your home

exercises,” he suggested, “we might have to trysome work in the exercise room to build upsome strength.”

No, not the exercise room! Lions and tigersand bears, oh my!

For more Barris Beat columns, go to www.tedbarris.com

The Barris Beatcolumn by Ted Barris

Lions and tigers and bears

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Am I Wrong?column by Roger Varley

“It was a business decision”


THIS WEEKFri. April 6: Oak Ridges Trail As-sociation Hike, 9:30 a.m. Walker

Woods West. 10+ km, Fast, 2+ hr. hillyloop hike. Meet at parking lot on eastside of Uxbridge Conc. 6 at Allbright Rd.Contact: Joan Taylor 905-477-2161

Sat., April 7: Oak Ridges Trail As-sociation Hike, 7 a.m. Al Shaw. 1 hr.,4+ km moderate pace hike. Meet at theroadside parking on the west side ofConc. 6, 1.5 km south of Durham Rd.21. Contact: Joan Taylor 905-477-2161

NEXT WEEKTues., April 10: Bethesda-Reach

Women’s Institute Annual Lunch-eon & Fashion Show. Trinity UnitedChurch, Uxbridge, 12 noon. Fashions byWoods and Woods. Tickets $25. Phone905-852-3925, 905-852-4024, 905-985-3976 and the store.Tues., April 10: Uxbridge Cele-bration of the Arts monthly plan-ning meeting. For info contact Mike at416-702-6604.Wed., April 11: Uxbridge Horti-cultural Society April Meeting.Uxbridge Seniors’ Centre, 7 - 9:30 p.m.Guest speaker: Conrad Richter ofRichter's Herbs. Topic: "Plants HaveRights Too." Annual membership $20;guests $5/meeting. Refreshments.Sat., April 14: Dog Park Clean-up.Volunteers needed, 9:30 - 11 a.m., off-leash dog park beside the Township Mu-seum. Bring your own work gloves, rakes& small picks to help remove stones in thearea that is going to be seeded. Sat., April 14: North DurhamYoung Life Fundraising Gala.Theme - The Greatest Showman. 7 p.m.Live entertainment & a pie auction. TrinityGrace Academy, 14480 Old Simcoe St.,Prince Albert. Tickets $10, reserve [email protected] or call 416-559-9882.

UPCOMINGSun., April 15: 30-Member SeniorMen & Women’s Choir from New-market, at Zephyr United Church, 10a.m. Everyone welcome. Refreshments to

follow.Mon., April 16: An Introductionto Vegetable Gardening. Clare-mont Garden Club. 7:30 p.m., Clare-mont United Church. Speaker - MasterGardener Ingrid Janssen. Visit claremont-gardenclub.ca for details. Free for mem-bers, $5 for guests. Thurs., April 19: Lunch ‘n’ Learn -Join Dr. A. J. Hackner to learn about thechanges that occur in your eyes as youage & what you can do to protect yoursight. St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 12 - 2p.m. Pay-what-you-can lunch. Call 905-852-7016 to reserve seats. stpauls-uxbridge.ca

ONGOINGThe Scribes of Uxbridge meet atUxbridge Town Hall the second & fourthFriday of each month. A small memoirwriting group. Contact 905- 649-3073for more information.Uxbridge Legion Open Mic, 109Franklin St. Every Sunday aft., 2 - 5 p.m.Everyone welcome, all styles of music areencouraged. For more info call 647-428-7760.COMING UP is a FREE community bul-letin board. If you have a communityevent for a charity or non-profit organiza-tion that you’d like us to mention (ASSPACE PERMITS), please contact us [email protected] or 905-852-1900.The deadline for our next issue is 12noon Tuesday.

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7The Uxbridge Cosmos Thursday, April 5, 2018

SERVICESINCOME TAXES FROM $150. Smallbusiness accounting. Advisor for life insurance.Guaranteed funds plus guaranteed incomeplanning. Bruce Rodman, RPA. [email protected] 4/5TUTOR: I provide private tutoring in my home;elementary, high school, college and university.I also work within the business community. 905-852-1145. 5/31JASON’S PROPERTY MAINTENANCE.Book now for eavestrough cleaning, springclean-ups, grass cutting and all lawnmaintenance. Jason’s Property Maintenance.905-862-2644. 4/5GOODWOOD HOME IMPROVEMENTS: Wespecialize in home renovations. We remodel &update kitchens & bathrooms. We also finishbasements & install hardwood flooring, crownmolding, trim etc. [email protected],check us out on Facebook or call 416-526-3469for quality work at a fair price. 4/5 EXPERIENCE THE COMFORT OF A GREATBRA. The Girls Bra Boutique, 6316 Main St.,Stouffville. 905-642-3339. An upliftingexperience! 4/26 HOME-WATCH HOUSE/PET SITTINGSERVICES: Voted #1 for Protecting Your Homeand Caring for Your Pets. Home Owners havetrusted Heather Stewart for 14 years for herreliability and detailed professionalism. PropertyServices/Dog Walking,/Cat Sitting/Doggie

Sleep-Overs! Visit home-watch.ca for more infoon Heather’s services. Call or text 905-852-8525, follow us on Instagram -HomeWatchUxbridge 4/26ALEXANDER COMPUTER SERVICES:Quality repair and sales from a local,experienced professional. Call 416-629-6626(ask for Kevin) or visit www.alexandercs.com4/26

FOR RENTGARAGE: 14’6”d X 15’w + loft. Hobby orstorage usage. $350 per month. [email protected] 4/5

FOR SALEHAY BALES plus various fields for rent, somewith predator wiring. Optional rest station andstalls. Work opportunities possible for tenant(s).Outdoor parking for farm vehicles. 905-852-7634. Plus small job for seamstress. 4/12

BROWN LEATHER RECLINING CHAIR.Made by “Barrymore”. Top quality, excellentcondition. $1,150. 905-862-2176 5/12ORGANIC MILK-FED BABY BEEF. Only 5months old. $400 for quarter. Please call ReineSchickedanz. 416-817-2490. 5/10

WANTEDNOW HIRING! Do you love dogs as much aswe do? Then come and join us! Full-time & part-time positions. Visit us at: www.dogsatcamp.comand email your resume to [email protected]/5

SEEKING MATURE BABY-SITTER foroccasional evening childcare services, and twodays/week in the summer. Call Adam 905-852-0833 4/12DZ DRIVERS WANTED for deliveries duringthe spring fertilizing season. We pay competitivewages. 905-473-2449 or email resumé [email protected] 4/12

SEEKING PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT asmother’s helper, infant or elderly caregiver inUxbridge. Retired R.N. Fluent in English &French. References & police checks available.289-231-7260. 4/5

EVENTS SPRING SALE/SEASON OPENING:Concession 6 Studio. Art, Handcrafts,Woodworking. This weekend, Sat., April 7 & Sun.,April 8, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 11120 Concession 6.concession6studio.com 4/5

INSIGHT MEDITATION. Meetings on 2nd &4th Thursday of the month. Location: Blue HeronStudio. Time: 7 p.m. Email: [email protected]/5

TIME TO START YOUR HERB GARDEN.Free seminar at Richters Herbs, Goodwood. JoinKoidu Sulev, Sun., April 8, 2 - 3 p.m. Everyonewelcome. Go to richters.com/events for moreinformation or call 905-640-6677.

TRINITY UNITEDCHURCH A WIDOW, hearing of the death of anotherwoman's husband , reaches out to the newlywidowed to offer her own experience &willingness to walk beside this woman in hergrief. Trinity United Church Women (UCW).Come join us for friendship & fellowship. CallCindy at Trinity 905-852-6213 for information.4/5

FOUNDGOLD CHARM In First Choice/A&W parkinglot, small gold bird shaped charm with 2 initials-if yours please call 905-642-8587. 4/5

CLASSIFIED

COSMOS BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD

Classifieds are $10/week up to 25 words; $0.10 per additional word (plus HST). Payable in advance by cash, cheque, debit or credit card. Contact [email protected] or 905-852-1900 Deadline: Tuesday, 12 noon. Ask about online link possibilities, too.

ISA Certified ArboristsEstablished 1981 - Fully Insured

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UXBRIDGE MEMORIAL COMPANY108 Brock Street West, Uxbridge L9P 1P4

Dave & Lori Tomkinson

Tel: 905-852.3472 • 1-888-672-4364 • Fax: [email protected]

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Paul FraserCell [email protected]

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“Let your hope make youglad. Be patient in time oftrouble and never stoppraying.” Rom. 12:12

More Bible help at:www.biblesociety.ca/the_word_and_you

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family therapyElgin Centre

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MARTINSPAINTINGInterior & Exterior

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If I had the ability to ban oneword from the English language,it would be the word “sustain-able”. It doesn’t mean anythinganymore, since it is thrownaround as the answer to everyproblem we face. e environ-mental challenges we have—wejust need sustainability. Ourcommunity’s success—no prob-lem, if we can just be sustain-able. e best businessstrategy—a permanent sustain-able advantage. at word is theanswer to everything, it seems. It

is also my impression that whatpeople now mean when theythink “sustainable” is actuallystatus quo, but there is no suchthing as a successful status quo.

Too often now, when we talkabout sustainability, what we re-ally want is for things to stay theway they are right now, forever.at doesn’t happen. ingschange all of the time. e na-ture of the world is to change. Ifyou really want your communityto be sustainable, then it mustbe adaptive, enterprising, dy-

namic, vibrant, and responsiveto the change that is coming.Simply ignoring the changesthat come will not allow you tokeep what you have, but will ac-tually ensure your communityfails in the long term. It is im-perative for you to assess whatchanges are coming and capital-ize on those changes for success,or at least moderate the negativeimpact they will have.

Businesses get lured into thenotion of sustainability too, andpresume they are enduring and

What Sustainable Really Means…

permanent. A business will getcomplacent that everything isgoing well, and fail to assesschanges in market conditionsthat can take them from beingvery prosperous to utter failurein a matter of years, or evenmonths. When a business getscomfortable in the success of thestatus quo, they realize too latethat they haven’t really done any-thing new with their product,and now markets have shifted todemand a different product theyhave not got the capacity to pro-vide. Just ask Blockbuster aboutthat. Or ask the French aboutthe Maginot Line.

Industries are no different.ere are entire industries acrossNorth America that see them-selves as the cornerstone of theeconomy. ey confuse being anenduring cornerstone, however,with being an unchanging cor-nerstone and work tirelessly tobe “sustainable” when reallywhat they are usually after is sup-port to remain the same and tokeep the status quo. e wordsustainable gets used in many ofthose cases to elicit some emo-tional nostalgic response thatturns away from real questionsabout how the industry will be

adaptive, enterprising, dynamic,vibrant, and responsive to newrealities.

I have an Honours Degree inPhilosophy and my thesis was onan Ethics of the Environment.We have folks that think hu-mankind has no impact on theearth. at is notion is wrong,ignorant of facts, and dangerous.We also have folks that think ifhumankind wasn’t here theearth’s environment would be ina wonderful stasis. at notion isalso wrong, ignorant of the facts,and dangerous. Humans mustlower their impact on the envi-ronment, but not every environ-mental change is caused by man,or necessarily bad. I have arguedover and over that the environ-ment is constantly changing, itdid so long before humankindwas here, and it will do so longafter we are gone. If you wantthe environment to be sustain-able that is good, but if youthink sustainable means un-changing or status quo, you arewrong. ere is no status quoanywhere.Success is not a destination, but

an endless journey that requireswork, that requires adapting tothe constant shifting sands.

Inside Your Cosmos · - The cast of Done to Deathpuzzles over a dead body in a scene from the play...

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