The Valley East Mixed Slo-Pitch Association hosted their Annual SPN Molson Qualifying Mixed Tournament during the weekend of July 14 to 16. Play was held mostly at the Centennial Arena Complex. A total of fifteen (15) teams participated in the event. In the photo above, Marley Gladu, of Talbot Automotive, shows excellent form as she pitches the ball to a batter during one of the games on Saturday afternoon. Marley's team also plays in the regular Valley East Mixed League on Sundays.

Aurele Larose, who has been part of the executive for as long as anyone can remember, is shown coaching first base while his team was at bad during the contest. Aurele helped organize the tournament this year.

The Valley East Mixed Slo-Pitch League plays at the Centennial Arena Complex every Sunday afternoon beginning at 4:30 p.m. There are sixteen teams playing at both the recreation and competitive levels. Residents are invited to come out any Sunday and watch the action. New players are always welcome. If you want information about the league, contact the League President, Keith McLeod at 969-5063

For all the outlying areas outside of Sudbury, I was happy to hear that finally that our councillors and mayor were going to listen to our problems . But what a joke this is with having Mr. Laughren and his committee collecting our concerns. What's wrong with the people we elected to do this job? Do your job or get out - plain and simple. 

And as for Mr. Courtemanche you have to be the worst. What a joke you are to us. You can't do anything on your own, you are a puppet and only like to get your picture taken. You can't even solve the issues for the small towns so you hire others to do your work and on top of everything you make sure that these issues won't be heard t'il after the election. What a cop out. I hope you leave the mayor position and never return as a councillor because you're no good. 

You should have taken some courses from our old mayors ( Mr. Mazucca, Mr. Plourde, and so many others. These mayors had courage and knew how to stand on their own two feet.  I hope Mrs. Reynolds gets in because she has more courage then you do. At least she's not afraid to speak up, and also takes the time to listen. 

I don't see a de-amalgamation coming soon because the government won't allow it.  But I do hope to see a better system with our tax money. Capreol, Hanmer and all the others have been getting shafted since the amalgamation. And we have been addressing our concerns to the councillors and Mayor for years and nothing was ever done. And now we are saying de-amalgamation and you are all saying hey what's wrong with the small towns around Sudbury. You have kept your eyes closed for too long and now we are fed up. The only two that would address our concerns were Mr. Rivest and Mrs. Reynolds and you made sure that you would ridicule them and try to shut them up. Well I guess they were listening to us but were out voted. 

I hope to see new people as councillors and a new mayor this up-coming election.

Thank you for your letter, Monique. I will be posting it on the web site. The statements you make are absolutely correct. I have watched Council for the past five and a half years and what I have noticed is that even those Councillors who seem to be on the side of the small outlying towns are not consistent in their approach to the setting of general policies. For example, they will speak up in favour of de-amalgamation and then praise and support initiatives that will take tax dollars and put them in the downtown core. They will talk about and promote the good of the City as a whole during Council meetings and then complain when the needs of their own Wards are not being met. And worst of all, as you indicate in your letter, they have not kept up with what is happening in their Wards and therefore are apparently unaware of the issues and concerns of their constituents. Hence, they have to appoint a committee to go out and talk to the people to find out what is bothering them. The reason I decided to run for Council of Ward 6 - Hanmer & Val Therese is that I live here and I am tired of being treated like a second class citizen. If I thought our current councillor was representing me well, I would have supported him and stayed out of the race. However, while I have known Mr. Rivest for a long time, and I know he has good intentions, he just doesn't seem to have what it takes to make things happen around the Council table. He just can't seem to find the right buttons to push. I GUARANTEE you that I won't have that problem. There are a lot of questions that should have been asked in the past three years. There have been many times when our councillors should have been more vocal and more aggressive in representing our cause. Instead they "went with the flow" in order to keep the peace, and now look where we are. I have coached a lot of travelling hockey and baseball teams in my life. When it came time to make the final cuts to pick the players for the team, I had to select the ones who had the ability to get the job done. All of the kids trying out loved the game and all of the kids wanted to score goals and hit home runs and catch the ball, but some kids just couldn't do it as well as others. I believe that is the case with our current councillor. He may be a nice person; he may enjoy being a Councillor; and he may want to represent us for the next four years, but unfortunately, he just hasn't been able to convince me that he has what it takes to get the job done. I commend him for his efforts, but effort alone will not be enough. You have to know how to play the game and be able to execute the appropriate strategies or else we will continue to lose, and that just won't be good enough for Valley East. We are tired of being losers. We want to win a few times too. Just as it was when I was coaching, it wasn't enough for me to pick players who merely enjoyed playing hockey and were nice kids, I needed to select the best players for the team. I needed kids who were hockey players. When residents of Hanmer and Val Therese elect a representative for Ward 6 in November, they know that all of the candidates WANT to be a Councillor, but the people must vote for the one they feel will have the best chance of getting the job done. The voters will decide in the end, and the voters will have to live with their decision.  Thank you for your continued contributions to this web site. I am looking to your support and to the support of your friends on November 13, 2006. I'm tired of losing too. I GUARANTEE that we will start winning if I am elected to represent Ward 6 - Hanmer & Val Therese. Robert Kirwan Publisher of Valley East Today  and Candidate for Ward 6 - Hanmer & Val Therese www.kirwan.ca

Sole Mates Family Footwear now has two locations in the City of Greater Sudbury . The first store opened in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre in the spring of 2003. The decision to expand to Downtown Sudbury was based on several factors.

  “Our philosophy at Sole Mates Family Footwear is based on the fact that we want to establish a long-term relationship with each of our customers. We are not interested in a ‘one-time’ sale. We want our customers to come back to us on a continuous basis, so we give them personalized service and pay particular attention to their individual footwear needs,” explained Cousins. “During the first couple of years we noticed that a growing number of our regular customers were coming from Sudbury . Therefore, I began to look for available sites in Sudbury in order to provide a more convenient location for customers who lived outside of the communities of Valley East and Capreol.”

According to Cousins, the Rainbow Centre offered everything he was looking for in a second location. “The Rainbow Centre has become one of the most popular shopping centers in the City of Greater Sudbury . The management is committed to improving the shopping experience for customers of all ages and it’s overall image has been revitalized as a result of the opening of the Hart Department Store. This is an ideal location for the kind of service we provide to our own customers. The Rainbow Centre is right beside the Public Transit Terminal; it is in the middle of a high density downtown residential area; it is within walking distance of several hotels and motels; and it is in the heart of the downtown business district which contains thousands of office workers from the entire City of Greater Sudbury . On top of that, there is free parking for our customers and I was able to secure one of the prime locations within the Rainbow Centre.”

The initial response from the public since the opening of Sole Mates Family Footwear in the Rainbow Centre has been overwhelming. “Even I didn’t expect the immediate results we are receiving. Everybody we have spoken to is extremely impressed with the layout, the selection, the quality and most of all, the personal service. We will continue to go out of our way to completely satisfy the needs of every one of our customers. Whether you are visiting from out of town, or you are a life-long resident of the Greater Sudbury Area, you can rest assured that you will be given the special treatment you deserve at Sole Mates Family Footwear. That is our guarantee and it is something you can count on.”

For more information please contact Rob Cousins at (705) 969-7549 or (705) 675-7613. You can also visit our web site at www.solematesfamilyfootwear.ca.

   According to Ron, “Just about everybody I know who has purchased an existing house makes some changes to the flooring in at least one of the rooms. New home owners want to personalize the house in some way to make sure that the floors and walls are in line with their own personalities, or they just find the old flooring in need of replacement. Whatever the reason, it is always a good idea to change the flooring “before” you begin moving in with the furniture.”

   Ron advises that if you are preparing to move into a new house this summer or fall, it would be a good idea to meet with him to go over the options and plan your renovations to coincide with your moving date. Even if you are still “looking” for that perfect house, stop by and talk about the different kinds of flooring that you can order and get an idea of approximate cost so that you can include floor replacement in your cost calculations at the time of purchase. It doesn’t hurt to talk, and Ron will always find time to give you free advice.

   “You wouldn’t believe the number of people I’ve seen who are moving into homes in the Valley. We knew this community was going to grow, which is one of the main reasons we wanted to open FANTASTIC FLOORS,” stated Ron, who after spending over 30 years working in the flooring business on everything from installing to sales and management, has found that the transition to owning and operating his own store has been extremely satisfying.

   “We will do anything we can to help the Valley grow and prosper. That is why we are participating in the Valley East Lions Charity Days Treasure Hunt,” he explained.

   FANTASTIC FLOORS will have one of the twelve (12) combination locks on site from July 20 to July 26 and again from August 10 to 16. Anyone who has a combination is invited to stop by and see if you can open the lock and qualify for a trip to Cuba .
  
   FANTASTIC FLOORS is also proud to be a sponsor of the “Keep The Spirit Alive Contest” and has provided a runner up prize of $150 towards the purchase of any flooring products in his store. For more information about the “Keep The Spirit Alive” contest, make sure you visit the community web site at  www.valleyeasttoday.ca 

   When VoIP (Voice over Internet Technology) was first introduced to Sudbury , Edgar saw this as the future of communication and immediately jumped on board; studying everything there is to know about the technology. As a result, he formed another division of his company, called VCCNet.ca Internet Solutions, which deals with long-distance discount calling and the use of the internet for communication purposes.

   Edgar has joined forces with another locally owned firm, Infocom Canada Business Consultants Inc. which operates Valley East Today, a marketing & public relations company which publishes a community web site and weekly online news magazine.

    “The cost of long distance calling has always been a detriment to people living in the north,” Edgar explained when asked why he feels so strongly about the communication services he now provides to the community. “I know so many of my friends and acquaintances who have children or parents living in other parts of Ontario . They would love the chance to talk to them more often by phone, but long distance charges really cut into the budget; especially for seniors who would love to talk to grandchildren, or parents who have children away at university or college.”

   “Once people find out how easy it is to switch over to my plan, and they realize that there is absolutely no risk or long-term commitment – that all they get is the freedom to talk on the phone to anyone in Ontario for as long as they want for one low price of $15.95 a month, they are sold,” Edgar went on.

   Edgar also repairs and programs individual computers for both commercial and residential use. You can drop in and see him at his office in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, or he will come directly to your home or office.

   Whatever you are looking for, give Edgar a call at 670-4039 or you can go to his web site at www.vccnet.ca and see how he can meet your needs.