The golf part of the day was remarkable in itself. The three young men I had the privilege of playing with, each in their early 20's, executed unbelievable skills throughout the round. I was the one who was expected to be the stabilizing force on the team. After all, at almost three times their age, and with a reputation of being a fairly good golfer, my experience was to have helped them along. Needless to say, that try as I might, my drives were short, my chips were off the mark, and my putting was nowhere near perfect. As a matter of fact, out of the 58 best ball strokes we took, only two of them selected were shots that I had made, including the drive on the very last hole. Marty, Todd and Stacy each came through when needed and seemed to know when it was their turn to hold up the team. They were in good humour throughout the afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing with an air of confidence that made you feel like they were destined accomplishing their goal. They even made an old man like me feel like I was an integral part of the team and I was delighted to be along for the ride.

We actually won the tournament by three strokes - a relatively large margin of victory for a scramble event. I doubt if I will ever witness, let alone be a part of, another performance as good as the one I saw that afternoon. Long drives in excess of 300 yards; pin-point accurate chipping, and; excellent putting were the order of the day. I don’t think I had a bad day of golf, but I just couldn’t come close to the standard set by my three partners.

As we mingled among the other 141 golfers in the clubhouse at the end of the competition, I felt a tremendous sense of pride at having been part of the winning team. I knew so many of the participants, having lived in Valley East for 27 years, and it was a great feeling receiving comments about playing with my son and his friends.

Nevertheless, even amid the excitement and glory of winning the tournament, there was also a sense of sadness inside my heart that is hard for me to explain. For I know that moments such as I was experiencing that day will be few and far between in the future unless we do something drastic to prevent our greatest resource - our children - from being forced to relocate to the south to find meaningful employment and careers. As I looked at Marty, Stacy and Todd that evening, I realized that they will miss so much of the quality of life that exists in Valley East unless we create a reason for them to stay. When they graduate two years from now, will there be a career waiting for them in the Sudbury area? Will the downsizing continue to erode the options available to the next generation? Will the lure of the south drag them away from us?

To all of the readers who are from my generation, I lay down the challenge. Let us do something for our children before it is too late. Let us help create an economically viable community in which the Marty’s, Stacy’s and Todd’s of tomorrow can grow up and enjoy a quality of life that is unique to the north. The Sudbury District can offer our children just as good a future as Toronto, but we must create the proper environment in which this can happen. We must take chances and invest our time and money into new initiatives, and we must do so before it is too late. Let’s not talk about downsizing anymore. Let’s talk about expanding and creating wealth upon which dreams can be built.

I am not ready to give up on the future just yet. We have already lost too many Marty’s, Stacy’s and Todd’s. It is time for action. Please join with me in making it happen.

Have a good week!