town of milton

Firefighter Appreciation Day November 6th Milton Fairgrounds

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Local emergency personnel to go up against civilians – This Saturday November 6th starting at 9AM

IN TRAINING: Civilians Kim Smith (left) and Annie Gordon train in bunker gear for Canadian Firefighter Appreciation Day this Saturday. Graham Paine / Canadian Champion

If you’ve ever been interested to see how your local police or firefighters would fare in a fitness competition against regular civilians, you will soon get your opportunity.

The Canadian Firefighter Appreciation Day, which will pit teams of civilians against emergency services personnel, will take place this Saturday from 9 to 3 p.m. at the Milton Fair Grounds.

The day, intended to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (CFFF), will feature real-life events that firefighters might face, including sledge hammering, rope climbing and car pushing.

The second annual event, which will be supported by the Milton Fire Department, managed to raise $3,000 last year for the CFFF, which honours and remembers fallen firefighters and supports their families.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the 9 to 3 p.m. event, which asks visitors for a charitable donation, can visit www.firefighterappreciationday.ca.

Troy’s Toy Drive

Mike Cluett

We spent Saturday morning walking up and down Main Street in Milton for their 2nd annual Tots on Parade Halloween Party for kids.  Hundreds of the little ones lined the streets in the day light to get treats from store owners courtesy of the Milton DBIA.  It was a fun time and the kids left with bags full of candy and smiles across their face.  It almost felt like Christmas.

For those who know me well, I normally don’t get into the Christmas spirit until much later in the year, much to the shagrin of my wife (who would put up decorations NOW if she had the chance) but this year is a bit different.  While shopping later on with the family, my trusty phone started buzzing away.  It was a message from Troy Newton of Troy’s Diner in Milton.  When Troy calls … you answer!

Troy is now planning this years Troy’s Toy Drive scheduled for December 20, 2010 at his location at Best Western Milton (401 and 25) and this year looks to top last years monumental success.  Each year during this campaign, they raise close to $30,000 in toys for the Salvation Army, Sick Kids Hospital and Halton Women’s Place and Troy wants to beat that number … BIG TIME.

You know an event like this will bring out big time names in our community and there are two no bigger names than Tiger Jeet Singh and Tiger Ali Singh.  You’ll remember the Tigers as just this past summer they put on the first of many Tigerfest live wrestling action during the Downtown Milton Street festival raising over $35,000 for the Milton District Hospital.  Last year the most famous hockey dad in the world (and a guy with the biggest heart in the world) Walter Gretzky was there, and this year it looks like there will be lots of famous names helping out that day and I have the flyer up at the bottom of this post.

If you want to send a donation, make it payable to “Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation, c/o Troy’s Toy Drive”and drop it off and either of the Diners locations on or before the 18th of December.  Breakfast Television will once again make it out to cover this event on the 20th with Jennifer Valentyne hosting the live eye coverage.

Let’s help show the world that Milton is the best place in the world and support Troy’s Toy Drive on December 20th, head on down to the Best Western location from 6AM to 12PM and maybe YOU can be on TV.

You can also get more details as well as video from last years event at Milton Search.com

Post a comment telling Troy, the Tigers and everyone in Milton that you will be there!!!

Milton Remembrance Day Ceremonies

Mike Cluett

Sunday November 7, 2010 starting at 1:30PM.  Please join us as we celebrate Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Victoria Park cenotaph (at Milton Town Hall) and honour our fallen soldiers, our veterans and current members of Canada’s military force.

Please support the Royal Canadian Legion (Milton Branch 136) and buy a poppy from one of the many volunteers and show everyone that you will not forget their sacrifice that helps continue to make Canada and other countries around the world … free.

You can also join the official ceremonies on Thursday November 11th at the Milton Evergreen Cemetery starting at 10:45AM to 11:15AM (190 Ontario Street South) and join in celebrating our freedom.

Lest we forget.

Its sinking in

Mike Cluett

After taking a very long time to return emails, voice mails, tweets and posts over the last couple of days, I can honestly say its finally sinking in.  What really made it apparent that life has changed was the beginnings of the regular courier from Town Hall with information on meetings, seating arrangements and schedules for the next month or so.

In the coming weeks there will be orientation meetings, briefings from town staff, arrangements for the inaugural council meeting on December 6th and many more “things to do” that quickly make your fingers sore updating the Blackberry and of course more to come after that.

I am really looking forward to the challenge of working for the residents of Milton.  With the overwhelming amount of support I received on election night, its something that I do not take lightly.  Of course, I will be relying on a lot of support from Ward 6 voters when it comes to these decisions.  I want to get as much input as possible from you and help grow the interaction we started many months ago.

These decisions wont be easy and it will require a lot of work, consultation, feedback and possibly some disagreements from councillors and residents alike.  But the main thing is that there will be a dialogue…a conversation that has been lacking over the last several years.

I also want to thank publicly the outgoing councillors who didn’t make it this election.  The rough part of elections is that there has to be winners and losers but that doesn’t discount the impact that these people had on our lives in the years throughout our growth.  Paul Scherer, Jan Mowbray, Mike Boughton and Brian Penman all should be commended on their years of service and dedication to Milton.  Other retiring councillors Barry Lee, Wendy Schau and Rick Day also should be congratulated on serving Milton residents.  While we didnt agree on some issues and decisions that were made, I never once doubted their commitment to Milton, and the taxpayers.  Thank you everyone.

I would also like to find out from you what you would like to see on this website, as I will be continuing to use it as a source of information.  Would you like a listing of Town press releases, information on public meetings, openings on town committees, budget meetings etc?  This is going to be your site as well, so I would love some input on what I can do to make it the best source of information in Milton.

In closing, the last couple of nights have been funny in the Cluett household as Pat sees me either running around after dinner looking like I’m getting ready to go canvassing or I’m about to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Im sure things will begin to get more “normal” as we adjust to the new job at hand.

I am humbled by the support I received and very excited at the challenge for the next four years.  I will do my best to listen to as many people as possible and use my skills and abilities to make the best decisions I can for us here in Milton.  I hope that we can all work together to get that job done.

Thanks for your support and I will soon see you again at the doors (mainly because its Halloween this weekend 🙂 )

Landslide Victory for Cluett

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Mike Cluett, 2010 candidate for Milton's Ward 6.

CLUETT, Mike 1216 (78.71%)

SOOMRO 329 (21.29%)

Mike Cluett has become the new councillor for Ward 6 following a landslide victory.

The father of two said he was motivated to get into public office to ensure a positive future for his offspring, and last night he got off on the right foot to do so.

Cluett said he was pleased with voter turnout in the new ward.

He said: “We tried to get as many people out as possible as the number of voters going out to the polls has been dropping the last couple of years.

“Considering this is a new ward I think we did well.”

He added that his first order of business in office would be to tackle the budget and to ensure councillors start “sharpening their pencils.”

His opponent, Maqsood Soomro, conceded defeat saying running for office had been a “wonderful experience.”

He said: “I think I did better than a lot of people expected, but there always has to be one winner and one loser.”

Thank you!

Mike Cluett

WOW! Last night was a very exciting and humbling experience for me, my wife and my family. To see the support from everyone who came out to vote was just amazing.

Im looking forward with anticipation on the next four years of council. I promised to be respect your tax dollars, to work towards making our neighbourhoods safer and most importantly being accountable to you. There are a lot of things for new councillors to learn over the next few weeks and Im sure it will be challenging but I will do my best to meet that challenge head on.

To the people who came out and voted last night…THANK YOU for taking part in the democratic process and getting involved in our community. To see an increase in turnout from the last election is encouraging and Im hoping we can do better next time.

To my friends who helped during the campaign, with door knocking, with delivering flyers, with making phone calls, and with talking to other ward 6 residents…THANK YOU. Paul, Keith and Mike … your advice and help over this journey has been great. You are truly great friends and Im thankful for that.

To Kim & Ed…a very big THANK YOU for your help, your advice and your enthusiam. From helping with signs, to canvassing you two did an outstanding job and I am grateful for everything.

To the other candidates who put their names forward on a ballot and their families…THANK YOU. Its part of the process that seems to be overlooked. Its not easy on the candidates and their families during a campaign and it takes a special person do go through it.

Finally to my wife Pat, son Anthony and my little girl Miranda…Im almost speechless. The support you have shown me over the last several months has been amazing. There were many nights you wanted me there when I went to meetings or canvassing or putting up signs or meeting with voters but you showed me the support with more than words. I really enjoyed canvassing with you because it was more time to spend with you. Anthony is an amazing door knocker and super fast at delivering flyers and I loved seeing his big smile when he was done. I love you guys so much and I know things will continue to be busy (although not at this hectic pace) but you helped me in so many ways…I am so grateful and Im blessed to have you in my life.

As they say, now comes the hard part and its true. As difficult as the campaign was the work really begins in serving people in my ward and in the Town of Milton. Lots of things will be happening very quickly, from the 2011 budget to the intensification and to the Boyne Survey, and decisions will have to be made soon. I look forward to the challenge of this position and I hope I can count on you to stay part of the conversation we started and continue to help shape the future of our town together.

Thank you again to everyone! I’ll continue to see you at the doors.