And what an amazing community it is! By the time this is printed we will be over the $100,000 mark! Some great happenings that have raised our bar: The Anglican Church Women bought a brick (is that a challenge to other church groups?), the employees of Sayer's IGA continue their quest through bake sales and other deeds, and how about that lady on Vic Tanner road who had a 60th birthday party and instructed all of her guests to not bring gifts but instead to bring a donation?! In the near future: Jack King, a well-known author who lives in North Kawartha has donated the royalties of NK sales of his new thriller, "The Fifth Internationale". He had a signing at the New Pheasant during the Studio Tour and the book will be on sale at the library from then on. Also, on Saturday, October 9, entertainer Carl Dixon (of April Wine and Guess Who fame) will be putting on a concert in the Community Centre. He has generously agreed to donate half of the proceeds to our Medical Centre project. See the posters for details. Please come out and bring your friends. Thanks for participating.

Due to rain (what else is new) the turn out for the Final Shoot of the Apsley Bowmen on August 29 was low. Our new score cards, compliments of Paul Price Ford, Bancroft stood up very well in the rain. So did Bob Sutton shooting a record 212 in the morning in the Masters Division. The largest group of shooters came from the Recurve Division. Brian Vickery from the Islington Sportsmen's Club finished in first place. There was a draw for a compound bow during this shoot. Stephen Calvert, one of our juniors, pulled out the winning ticket belonging to no other than our own Henry Wagner. Congratulations Henry and a big thank you to all who bought tickets. There will be a winter, Monday night 20 yard indoor programme. For further information contact John Chapman at 656-3791. John should be back in action after his knee replacement surgery in August. Thanks go out to Anna Chapman for providing food and drink at all four tournaments.

I just read the letter in the Sept 2004 issue on the firefighters from former Capt. Mark Kemp as well as our Reeves article on page 5. As a former member of this group for a relatively short time, I can honestly say that the great majority of the men and women were truly dedicated to what they did. It is beyond me how our Reeve and the current Chief can proclaim that with over 100 years of service suddenly gone, and with many more years of service gone over the last couple of years, that all is well in hand. These men and women literally risked their lives each and every time they were called out with no shown appreciation from any of our elected officials. To the best of my knowledge, and I have talked to many of these fine people, no exit interviews of any kind were ever asked for. There is a reason for the resignations but it seems our officials just are not interested, and that is a shame. The general public does not realize what they have lost.