mike cluett

Honouring a true icon

Mike Cluett

Last night the Milton Chamber of Commerce had its annual Community Awards Dinner and it gave out its Lifetime Achievement Award to Jim and Barbara Snow.

No blog entry can come close to documenting what Jim Snow has done not only for the town of Milton but for the province of Ontario. Here are just some recent high lights.

They had recently donated their famous “Snow farm” just outside Milton in Hornby to the Salvation Army. Just last summer we had a chance to attend a kids FUN Day put on by the KHI Community of the Salvation Army and it will be put to good use, to help children and their families in times of need. No matter what the Snow’s were doing, they were always thinking of others.

Further evidence to that is they have recently donated $500,000 to the CT Scanner for the Milton District Hospital. This was the largest single donation in the hospitals history. The CT scanner is much needed in Milton, and again they were thinking of others and the Town of Milton.

James Snow, as most people would know was the longest serving Minister of Transportation in the province of Ontario with his term lasting 9 years. He was elected under Premiere Robarts in 1967. He served as MPP for this area until 1985 when he chose not to run again.

For many people who drive along the 401 westward and eastward are familiar with the interchange of James Snow Parkway. This is just one tribute to a man who has served the public for many many years both in office and out of office. He is part of a family who is generous beyond comparison, always thinking of others before themselves and will no doubt leave a mark on our community for years to come.

Last night at the Chamber Dinner, both James and Barbara were honoured for their years of service to the public and their community with a Lifetime Achievement Award. I dont think Milton can thank them enough.

By Election in Milton

Mike Cluett

This past Monday, Milton Town Council decided that it would be better to have a by election for the vacant position in Ward 2. This means that some Milton residents will be going back to the polls, probably in June. The decision has to be ratified by council in March and the nomination date will follow shortly after that.

In case you haven’t heard, one of the council positions for Ward 2 was deemed vacant when Father Mark Curtis was appointed to the Justice of the Peace recently, which effectively ended his political career as town councillor. He was appointed by provincial Attorney General Michael Bryant and his position started immediately. Good luck Father Mark!

As I mentioned before in my last entry and to a number of people who emailed me, I wont be running for that position. I honestly feel that a person who represents a ward should understand that area and its concerns. While many of the issues we face on daily basis are similar, downtown Milton is very unique and it will take an experience hand, one who had or has lived there for many years, to do the job. While I am very flattered at being considered, I am not going to seek any elected office for Ward 2.

I am however very excited to see there are a number of others who will be vying for the council seat. And the names continue to pop up.

The front runner position HAS to go to former Ward 4 town councillor John Challinor, who grew up in that area and represented ward 2 for the years of 1991 and 1997. He has already thrown his hat into the race to fill the vacancy and you can find out more about him www.johnchallinor.ca

Other names being bandied about are Ron Furik, who lost to Colin Best for Regional Councillor Wards 2 & 4 by close to 20% of the vote back in November. Apparently hes announced already but if you go to his website the home page just says Announcement Coming and it hasn’t been updated since Feb 20th, so there is a bit of confusion to say the least.

Peter Haight, who came in third place by close to 600 votes is also another possibility but nothing official as his campaign site hasn’t been updated since the November election.

And after the council meeting on Monday, former ward one candidate (you might remember his name) Greg Nelson has decided again to run for council. He had lived in Ward 2 for sometime but in the last election ran in ward one against yours truly, Brian Penman and Rick Day. While he lived in ward 2 he ran in our ward because he “ran here in 2003 and had gotten to know a lot of the residents.” He ran in 2003 and 2006 running in third and fourth place respectively.

In that same Champion article, he said “its not about geography…its going to be an election of who can come up with ideas.”

I certainly hope that the candidates have already come up with these ideas, before deciding to run for council.

As it stands right now, it looks to be that John Challinor is definitely the front runner to replace Father Mark. Close behind him would be Ron Furik and Peter Haight.

This will make the summer a lot more interesting.

Nothing seems to work anymore

Mike Cluett

Like air pumps. On Sunday I was running around about to do some shopping when I noticed my front tire was low. I head on up to go to the beer store, return empties, and then go shopping when I realized my wallet was at home. On my way back I thought, Id get my tire filled up at the Petro Canada station on Ontario Street and Derry.

Out of order.

Thats ok, I thought. I’ll go across the street to Esso. Weaved through traffic and long left hand turns to finally get in. There were lots of cars in the lineup to go for a wash that day, despite the cold. When I got to the air pump, what did I find?

Out of order.

Long story short, I returned home, got my wallet, returned empty bottles, went to Sunoco and filled up my tires then went grocery shopping. End of story? Nope.

After going up all the aisles in A&P to make sure I didnt miss a thing (carefully checking the list Pat drafted for me earlier on) I head to the counter. While shes running everything through…

My wallet was in the car. Ran out to the car and ran back in to pay. I quickly returned home hoping that was my last errand of the day.

I hope the gas stations fix their pumps soon. Seems we all have to pay for them anyway (I know the money goes to charity and all)

Remember when air was free?

I do also want to address a number of emails I had from people regarding the newly vacated position on town council in Ward 2. In case you havent heard Father Mark Curtis was recently appointed to a position of Justice of the Peace. This position forces him to resign from public office, something of which I know he enjoyed very much as was dedicated to public service.

There was a recent article in the Halton Compass that named a few possibilities that might re-enter the fray and run for the vacated position. First of all, council has to decide whether or not to appoint or have a by-election. From what I hear it will be a by-election, seeing the fact its only been 2 months since the new council has been sworn in. (Has it really only been that long?…Seems longer)

In that Halton Compass article, it mentioned my name, among others, that could be considered “contenders” for that spot. To answer the question, I will not be running for that open seat.

I ran in the last election to represent Ward One and I have no interest in running to for the position in Ward Two.  I have spent all my time in Milton in the new area and I think the person that will represent that ward should know the area and be able to understand the issues facing it.

Thanks again to the people who sent me email asking me to get back into the fray, and try one more time. Its heartwarming to know that even after this amount of time, people still remember.

I’ll see you at the pumps! 🙂

Milton’s First Major Event in the 150th Anniversary

Mike Cluett

It was a lot of fun yesterday at the Lions Sports Park and Memorial Area with Milton’s Winterfest 2007. Hundreds of people came down for the free skate, fun events and crafts for the kids, and to see a hockey legend. Johnny Bower was quite the grand marshal for the event.

He took questions from the people who braved the cold weather highlighting some of his favourite times as an NHL goalie, what it was like to play hockey WITHOUT a goalie mask and his thoughts on which the best players in the game are today.

Kids young and not as young were in awe of the stories he had to tell (myself included) and for a guy “his age” is was in tremendous shape…looks like he could still go a few periods.   The Milton Ice Hawks, who were also in attendance signing autographs (you never know there could be a few future NHL’ers in that group) presented Johnny with a commerative Ice Hawks Jersey to thank him for coming out.

Yesterday was a lot of fun and a big thank you goes to everyone who came out to help Milton Celebrate its Roots and enjoy the Milton spirit as we continue our events for the big year.

THIS SUNDAY

Mike Cluett

This Sunday at 12PM is Milton’s first major event of the 2007 Celebration Year. At the Lion’s Sports Park (Thompson north of Derry) we will be having Milton’s Family Winterfest.

Lots of things going on and the great Johnny Bower will be there!!! (So kids, bring your dads!)

Fun events all day long. Bundle up because it will be a cold one, but most of the events are inside.

Join us in celebrating our roots…and Milton’s 150th Anniversary in the first of many BIG events!

More info is here on the Milton home page…just click on the 150th logo.

Hope to see you there!

Well, what can I say…

Mike Cluett

I can say, whoops!?! Um, oh ya Happy New Year.

Its been awhile since Ive posted a blog here for many reasons. I recently started a new job and its taken up quite a lot of my time and most importantly winding down from the holidays. Yes I know, its almost February (tomorrow) and I’m STILL winding down? Yep.

I also just got over a nasty flu bug that kept me bed ridden last weekend as well.

SO, what is there to update? There are a ton of things happening with the 150th anniversary of Milton coming up which includes the family fun fest this Sunday! Yes I know its SUPERBOWL Sunday and all but before you get all the food ready and the beverages and place yourself firmly in front of your TV…take a few hours and get down to Lion Sports Park and enjoy a great family day.

Johnny Bower is going to be the “grand marshal” of the day. He will be there to take part in the day long list of events. Click here for more information. Events include a free skate at Memorial Arena, the Bishop Reding Choir singers, Road Hockey (weather permitting) with the Milton Ice Hawks, Conservation Halton will have a booth inside and lots of games as well. Its going to be cold this weekend, so bundle up and come down … it WILL be fun. It all starts at NOON Sunday to 4pm. Enough time to head home, warm up and watch “DA BEARS!” and some other famous quarterback (cough cant remember his name 🙂 )

On the home front, it looks as though the widening of Thompson north of Derry Road might be speeding up as they are looking at ways of preparing it for more traffic. Things have improved slightly on Thompson but at times can still bring back those horrible memories of last year around this time when it took you 20 minutes or so to get to Laurier.

Over at the Hawthorne Villager Forum, there is some talk in getting a citizen committee going. As you are aware during the campaign, this was something that I spoke about quite often. Given the fact that voter turnout was quite low in Ward One, the perception is people dont seem to care or dont know whats going on. By having a local CAC for our rapidly growing ward coupled with the cooperation of the incumbent councillors, it can help generate the much needed interest and input to help keep us informed of what is going on at Town Hall.

There is also a project that both myself and Tony Lambert are working on that we will be getting off the ground in spring of 2007 to help promote community safety in our streets. Stay tuned for that.

And a belated Happy Anniversary goes out to our great friends Mike and Hilary Heenan who recently celebrated their 4th anniversary!

Thats it for now…more to come later. Dont forget to contact me mike@mikecluett.ca I will be doing a redesign of the site soon to encompass my blog in it and get rid of all that “elect” stuff too.

Take care folks.