The kiddies and I attended the somewhat washed out fly-in breakfast at the Smiths Falls-Montague airport Sunday ... no matter, we were treated to a great performance by Bob Hanson and his crew, as well as a great meal at a great price.
In other local flying news, the local club has announced in The Record News (I'd link but they STILL don't have a website !) they are building a new clubhouse to replace the one lost by fire two years ago.
The plan is impressive -- a two-story 4000 square foot building complete with an Elite Pro simulator for the flight school, an overnight room and an observation deck. Also included in the plan is the construction of a new hangar to house a small interactive museum for the kids.
Kudos to the club for their ambitious plan -- and nary a mention of asking for tax dollars to finance the project. In fact, the club intends on raising the money from within, use a local contractor to frame and finish it off over the winter themselves.
How refreshing .... I wonder how many hockey moms will be wielding paint brushes to finish off the new arena ??
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
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13 comments:
Oh you KNOW those hockey moms won't be lifting a finger to work towards the new arena being built. They'll sit back, as usual and expect the tax payer to fund their kids to play and those demanding moms and their brats will be playing in the lap of luxury at the expense of us all.
Now,now don't be like that.
I wuz just teasin' ...kinda.
It would be nice to see the users taking somw ownership ... Aside from telling us their "needs".
Oh, I know. I am so sick of those needy hockey people. You can't even imagine. Hockey arenas shoudn't even exist in communities.
Everyone should just look after their own need for recreation without making it everyone else's problem. Pay for your own I say! You ard I are two like-minded individuals. We should grab a beer and talk.
A beer .... that sounds great !
Tell you what ... I'll even buy. I'm sure I can scrounge up a couple bucks in the couch to cover it, the entertainment budget is blown this month after paying for scout registrations and riding camp fees. Better than 600 bones, right there. Add to that the interim tax bill and well... jeez.
No worries tho ... me and my family, well, we're gettin' pretty used to subsidizing your entertainment.
One other small catch : I wanna invite Clive to come too ... I might just need the backup.
The "back up" link makes little sense to me. Subsidizing my entertainment? Have you already had one too many beers?
Mmmmmmmmm beer... can we? can we?
That wasn't you in the comments ? My apologies if it wasn't.
Nope, not a drop. Yet.
If it was OR it wasn't, what difference does that make? That leaves you in a position of needing back up? Subsidizing my entertainment? Are you afraid you'd end up having to buy me a beer?? I think I'd rather have a few cold ones alone thanks.
Like a lot of other people, I am sick and tired of paying for other people's entertainment. Why, oh why, can't they pay for their own.
There are plenty of other essential things that our tax dollar should be going for i.e. jobs, hospital care, heating houses with the price of gas/oil, just to name a very few. It is about time that our tax dollar was put to better use and let the user pay for their entertainment. If I want to go swimming, I expect to pay for the privilege, if I want to see a movie, I expect to pay for it, SHOULDN'T the hockey player pay for his own enjoyment. It seems like all Smiths Falls has to enjooy. Shouldn't they build their own winter rink and invite
your neighbours or friends to play and if you are that good, there are other places to play. Smiths Falls needs a lot more necessary things than a rink.
Thank you for letting me blow off steam, I really am sick of paying for other joy when so many necessary things are needed.
Ya. I'm sick of public parks and consevation areas. We should do away with those too. And places like Upper Canada Village and all the museums. If people want all those things they should pay full cost of those facilities rather than government subsidizing it. I'm sick of all this too. Wow. Now I feel better too. Blowing off steam feels so good. It's such a worthwhile activity. It leaves me so tired that I wouldn't actually need to have recreation factilites. It's an exercise in itself.
Cat Lover:
If you ask at the local public pools, they will tell you that no public pool can support itself without government support. The admission fee that you pay at the door does not completely support the maintenance and upkeep of the facility. I guess the government, and much of the public look at pools and rinks and conservation areas and parks and museums as valuable parts of our community. Go figure.
I think the owners of the Jasper Fitness Center would challenge your contention that "it can't be done". They have built their own pool, operated and generated profit and taxes. It most certainly can be done.
Tell me again why I should subsidize your child's hockey while I pay those costs for my children to swim ? (FYI, it's $140/mo).
I spoke a bit too soon .. The Reckless has details of a fundraising campaign for seating and to their utmost credit the Bears are financing their own dressing room. Credit where it's due.
You asked me what I had against hockey ... here it goes.
T--here is the subsidization ... and you know as well as I do those other things you mentioned get chump change compared to arenas, here or anywhere else in the country.
--I NEVER see teams out doing fundraising, or community service like Pitch-In, etc.
And something that really PISSED me off happened last year on Remembrance Day. As I was lining up the Cubs for the parade I noticed a man and boy, equipment in hand going into the rink. I asked my BIL, who also volunteers a lot of time to minor hockey, why they didn't delay opening the rink until noon. Ya know, like the Beer Store does ??
"Are you kidding me ?" was his response.
So here I am lining up "my 24 kids" to pay respect to the few remaining WW2 vets we still have around and another Dad who thinks his kid will get more from a hockey game than at least watching the service. I am confident I was in the right place.
I have to wonder if they even stop playing for 2 minutes at 11:00.
June 11, 2008 12:27 PM
Lobby for that. Do your best to convince people that taking one recreational facility out of the many government funded nonessentials, and doing away with that particular one, makes sense.
When you're done, and hockey is out of the way, maybe you could consider the many other facilites that would be casualties under that philosophy.
Libraries - gone
public parks - gone
conservation areas - gone
Locks in our waterways - gone (not essential and certainly government supported)
museums - gone
seniors centers - gone
government subsidized babysitting - gone. (You had them - you should take care of them)
All festivals that receive funding, of which there are many - gone
Public Beaches - gone
We could go on and on.
How unfortunate and limited are the children of parents with that type of narrow thinking. If I had a child who loved ballet, I would enroll them in ballet, although I have no interest in it. If I had a child intersted in scouting, I would enroll them in that. (has the possibility crossed your mind, that my family could already be involved?) I may not like baseball or soccer or hockey but, I wouldn't limit my child's opportunity to play based on my own interests, or political views on the existence of a facility. Thank God there is a diverse availability of recreation for a diverse population. Opportunities for a variety of experiences make children grow in ways that last a lifetime.
Remember when a group approached your township council as well as the town, not so long ago asking for money to assist children going on a trip with that particular club. I remember thinking, at the time, that it was interesting that no one from hockey, or baseball or other community sports were approaching any council asking for money to support their trips away.
I can only imagine that people who do not have their children in hockey or figure skating may be ignorant of the financial facts. People who have their children enrolled in these sports pay large amounts of money for the use of that facility. Does it reflect the cost of running such a facility? I'm sure it doesn't, and neither do the user fees for parks, and libaries, public pools, and museums. Hockey is also run completely by volunteers. Many people who have children in these sports, coach and mentor these kids and are all giving of their time and energy voluntarily. All of them. That has value to our community and the kids within it. I fail to understand your narrow thinking on this issue. You must consider all of the nonessentials in our community that you and your family use, and decide if you really would like a community run on the "I don't use it, so I don't pay." Think about it, and imagine the full implications of what you're saying.
As for rememberance day: I happen to believe that observing that occasion is of great importance as well, and attend, with my family. Having said that, I know you don't believe that hockey people the only ones that don't get that issue. I know many, who have lost family members would be insulted and hurt by the implication that hockey and rememberance day even belong in the same sentence.
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