Valley East Today: The City of Valley East Is All About Who We Are and What We Do!

Appearing in The Vision Paper on August 16, 2003

You Took Away Our Name...But We Want Our Spirit Back!

The City of Valley East Is All About Who We Are and What We Do!

When amalgamation was forced upon the region on January 1, 2001, it signaled the end of the "City of Valley East" - the name which we had recently acquired in an effort to show the rest of the world just how proud we were to be part of this great municipality.

We wanted to shout out to everyone that we were not just a town, but a full-grown city with all of the elements and spirit you would expect to find in a city. Our shouts of joy were short-lived.

Amalgamation was heralded in with promises of great things to come. The City of Greater Sudbury would indeed bring us all together as a united body and lead us into the promised land.

Well, it’s been almost three years since the famous take-over occurred, and all we have is disappointment and confusion.

Thankfully, the impressive road signs along the major entrances to our community were not lost. Even though the word "City" has been removed, the signs still welcome people to the ‘Valley East’. It is time for local residents to become mobilized by those signs as we are about to celebrate our 100^th birthday. It is time to take action which will bring back the "community spirit" which was once so proudly displayed in the ‘City of Valley East’.

As I stood beside the sign along Hwy. 69N, (in the photo above), I was immediately overcome by a tremendous sense of pride. My wife and I have lived in Valley East since 1974, raising three sons in this community, and we have always been ready to defend it’s image and reputation to all who would listen.

Valley East was once a leader in the Sudbury Region - one of the fastest growing communities in Ontario. What happened?

When amalgamation took away our name, unfortunately, we also allowed it to take away some of our spirit. We sat back and resolved ourselves to the fact that we had lost the war.

Well, we can’t get our name back. We won’t ever be called a city again, but we certainly can recapture that ‘community’ spirit. And that is just what we intend to do with the help of our neighbours.

VALLEY EAST TODAY

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

The spirit of Valley East has nothing to do with a name. Instead, it is precisely "Who We Are and What We Do." If someone asks you to tell them about Valley East, where do you turn? What do you say? Where do you begin? Here’s a start....

Fortunately, we now have the benefit of information technology to help us define our community. A special community web site has been created at

Everyone knows that the internet has become one of the most useful inventions of all time. For people who are resisting the movement - get on board, soon! The internet is not going away, and it is no longer being used as a toy. In fact, it has become the most effective communication tool available to mankind.

COMMUNICATION IS A TWO-WAY PROCESS

On the surface, that statement sounds pretty obvious. In order for communication to take place, you must have someone who has something to say and you must have someone who is willing to listen. In Valley East, we have plenty of people who have something to say. We have community organizations, businesses, churches, schools, sports groups, and individuals who have plenty to say.

Now that we have the web site at valleyeasttoday.ca, there is no excuse for keeping this information to yourself. You have so many wonderful things that are happening in your organizations and so many fantastic people who are making a difference. Tell us about them. Tell us about your activities. Let the rest of the community see what you are doing. Remember, when someone asks you to describe Valley East, the most important thing you can do is show them who we are and what we do. Now you can turn to the computer, bring them to the web site and let them see for themselves.

THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN THE WORLD

VALLEY EAST BUSINESSES

Valleyeasttoday.ca is also a chance for local businesses to end the mystery. There are thousands of residents who have not stepped foot inside most businesses in Valley East. And yet, the businesses in Valley East have a tremendous variety of goods and services to offer that are second to none.

As I make my way around to the business community, I am amazed at how little information we have about our local businesses. Very few have web sites and even fewer have informational brochures to hand out. And yet, businesses and consumers must communicate with each other if we are going to bring back the proud spirit that was prevalent in the City of Valley East.

Over the next few months, we are going to post dozens of special corporate profiles on the web site. Visitors will be able to get a first hand look at the inside of many of these stores and read about the goods and services available right around the corner.

Take a moment right now to visit It’s time for us to take back our community.