Debbie Tranchemontagne, shown here on the right in the photo, is the owner of Buddies’ Restaurant, the sponsor of the competition which is being Co-Chaired by Sylvie Demore, shown here preparing the instrument panel for the singers. Jane Charette is the other Co-Chair.  Jane & Sylvie will be the hosts of the First Annual Valley East Idol Competition.

   The qualifying rounds will be held on September 7 and 8 at Buddies’ Restaurant from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. The finals will be held on Saturday, September 9 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Centennial Arena as part of the Valley East Lions Charity Days celebration. Registration fee is only $5. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 gift certificate from the new Canadian Tire Store which is opening in Hanmer this fall.
  
   “This is an amateur competition with lots of prizes,” explained Sylvie. “We know there are a lot of talented individuals in this town who love to sing karaoke, so it should be a great contest.” You can also register by calling Jane or Sylvie at 969-3310.

THE VALLEY EAST LIONS CHARITY DAYS TREASURE CHEST CONTEST is in full swing and already one lucky person has qualified for the chance to win a trip for two to Cuba plus $500 spending cash. She opened up a lock that was on display at the Hanmer Medical Pharmacy.

   A total of 75 different businesses and organizations have been handing out special envelopes which contain secret combinations that may help you qualify for this fantastic trip. Each week sixteen of the local businesses and organizations will have a combination lock on display.  All you have to do is take your envelope to the sixteen selected locations each week and see if your combination will open a lock. If it does, you become one of the up to sixteen (16) finalists who will be given a chance to unlock one special treasure chest lock on September 9. The person who opens the treasure chest will be on their way to Cuba before you can say “Fun In The Sun”!
  
   Marcel Servais, Chair of the Valley East Lions Charity Days Committee, shown on the right in the photo with Robert Kirwan, publisher of Valley East Today, explained, “When we came up with the idea for the Treasure Chest Contest we had three main goals in mind. First, we wanted to help promote the local businesses and organizations which have been so generous in helping us out with donations and in providing us with support for our Charity Days event. Second, we wanted to generate interest in our new Charity Days format which we are introducing to the community on September 9, 2006 . We want the entire community to come out and celebrate with us. Finally, and most importantly, we wanted to raise some much needed money for the Sudbury Regional Palliative Care Association.”
  
   Once you get your hands on one of the special envelopes and have a secret combination, Marcel encourages you to take the time to try to open each of the sixteen locks. You can find out where the locks are located by going to the community web site at www.valleyeasttoday.ca or checking the community bulletin board at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. Be sure you check your Vision Paper this summer for more information on the Valley East Lions Charity Days. Feel free to contact Marcel if you need any information or if you wish to help out in any way. Marcel can be reached at 969-5898.

"I just love what I am doing now," explained Walter. "It is a perfect opportunity, especially for someone like me who has retired from another career. I have my own school run every day during the school year; do some local and out of town charters every now and then and even do some trips during the summer. The scheduling is good and I can pretty much decide when and how much I want to work."

As for the safety aspect, Walter indicated that in his 20 years in the field as an OPP officer, he never once had to investigate an accident involving a school bus. Buses are inspected four times a year; drivers must pass a written test every five years and a get a medical every three years. When it comes to driving a school bus, it is clear that the "kids come first" when it comes to safety.

There are about 80 drivers currently part of the team with Northway, which is locally owned and operated by Daniel Joanis. Northway is responsible for school runs mostly in Valley East and Capreol, but also has several routes in Garson and other parts of Sudbury. Each year Northway Bus Lines provides training for new recruits who are interested in joining the team. 

If a person is interested in becoming a bus driver with Northway, the first step is to contact Lynne at the office at (705) 858-1320 and book an appointment. If you are selected for one of the open positions, Northway will pay for all training costs provided you commit to remaining with the company for a full calendar year. The total training program consists of 23 hours of in classroom instruction; 22 hours of on road training; and 5 hours on the road observing with a bus driver.

If you want to earn between $7000 and $8000 a year working three hours a day, Monday to Friday with July and August off; all Statutory Holidays off; two weeks off at Christmas; and one week off at March Break; with no evenings or weekends, then perhaps you should contact Lynne.

"This is an ideal job for a retiree or a homemaker," declared 'Pete' when asked who would be the best kind of person for the job. "We have some young mothers who bring along their young children so that they don't have to get a babysitter. They just put the car seat on the seat behind them and take them along. The company really accommodates the drivers. You may even be able to get a route which allows you to drop off your own children at a school along the way. That way, you can drop them off and pick them up from school to make sure that they are never home alone."

Once a person becomes a driver for Northway Bus Lines, he/she is able to qualify for both in and out of town charters as they come up. Most of those charters happen in between your daily school runs, so it allows drivers to pick up even more earnings during the year. The rate for a driver is $12.33 per hour with flat rates usually paid for Charter runs.

If you are interested in picking up an application, you can stop by the Valley East Today office which is located in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, or call Lynne at (705) 858-1320.

When it comes to people who are new to the community, there are two business owners who tend to meet them all. Of course we are referring to Mike Lemieux, who along with his brother, Mag Lemieux, own Hanmer Home Hardware, and Ken Desjardins, owner of Desjardins' Food Basics.

"Everyone moving in to a new home or apartment has a need for cleaning and repair supplies as well as start-up groceries," explained Mike Lemieux. "So Ken and I decided that we would put together a basket of 'goodies' to give as a gift to all newcomers to Valley East as our way of saying 'Thank You for choosing our town' and to give them a hand with settling in."

Ken Desjardins owns and operates one of the busiest grocery stores in the entire City of Greater Sudbury, so he has definitely noticed the impact of new home owners in the community. "When it comes to stocking up the shelves after moving into a new home, we know it is expensive. We also know that those first few days are days when you are constantly discovering additional items for your shopping list. The Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre is a great place to come to pick up just about everything you need to make your move complete, so we wanted to say thank you for your support."

Anyone who has moved into a new home; purchased an older home; or moved into an apartment in the Towns of Valley East or Capreol since July 1, 2006, is encouraged to drop in to see Mike Lemieux at Hanmer Home Hardware in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. He will answer any questions you may have about the community and make sure you receive your gift basket. Several other mall merchants will be adding to the gift basket with items of their own, including Dixie Lee Restaurant which will be providing you with a $25 gift certificate so that you can eat out after your move in.

   The "Keep The Spirit Alive Contest" was only introduced to the community a week ago, but already it is picking up momentum as residents not only like the idea of winning valuable prizes, but they also are thrilled about the fact that they can do their small part to help improve the overall community spirit in Valley East and Capreol.

   Three community-minded local businessmen have teamed up to begin a “Keep The Spirit Alive Campaign” and they are inviting all residents to help them spread the message that Valley East is a great place in which to live!

   From left to right in the photo: Mike Lemieux, owner of Hanmer Home Hardware, Robert Kirwan, Publisher of the Valley East Today Community Web Site, and Ken Desjardins of Desjardins’ Food Basics announced the launch of the campaign during a press conference which was held at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre last week.

   In explaining the purpose of the initiative, Kirwan explained, “We want to let everyone know that Valley East is a town where you can still find that “old style community spirit” mixed with a modern lifestyle that fits right in with the 21^st Century. There are a lot of good things happening in Valley East and it is about time that the rest of the people in the City of Greater Sudbury knew about it. Furthermore, it is also time to let the rest of the province know that if anyone is looking for a place to live and raise a family, or a place to retire within the City of Greater Sudbury , they need look no further than Valley East .”
  
   In order to help get this message out to the rest of the “world” the people of Valley East are being asked to take part in a massive communication strategy using the power of the internet. 

   Everyone participating in this campaign will have a chance to win a “Grand Prize” consisting of 100 Lotto 649 tickets for the New Year’s Eve Draw on December 31, 2006 . What a way to celebrate the New Year by winning the big prize with one of those tickets!

   Runners up will receive other valuable prizes, including “two” mountain bikes donated by Hanmer Home Hardware, $300 in groceries from Desjardins’ Food Basics, More prizes from other local merchants which will be announced in the coming weeks, including a $150 gift certificate on any flooring purchase from Fantastic Floors in Val Caron.

   In order to qualify for these prizes, all you have to do is register to receive the Valley East Today Weekly Online News Magazine. Every month from July until the end of December, ten names will be drawn at random from all of the people registered to receive the publication. Those ten people will qualify for our final draw which will be held on Christmas Eve. The winners will be announced in the December 26 issue of Valley East Today!

   Once you register, the Valley East Today Online Weekly News Magazine, which is currently being received by over 2000 people, will be sent directly to your email address every Tuesday.  Not only will you qualify to win the 100 Lotto 649 tickets or other runner up prizes, but more importantly, you can help us  “Keep the Spirit Alive” by forwarding Valley East Today to everyone on your own personal mailing list. By using the power of the internet, we can let tens of thousands of people know about Valley East every week.

Valley East Today is pleased to provide a special section on the community web site which may help both people looking for work, and people looking for employees. Our employment section has been created so that businesses can post job vacancies, but more importantly, it has a special section for people to post "themselves". In other words, if you are looking for full- or part-time work, you can post the information online for the benefit of employees who may be seeking help.

We are providing this FREE service to our readers because we are well aware of the fact that over 80% of all job vacancies are never posted! Therefore, it is a very difficult task for someone who is interested in working to find the vacancies. By creating a "pool of talent" available in the Valley, we are encouraging employers to check out our list first if they are in need of workers.

For example, our latest posting is from a mature, reliable woman named Louise who lives in Hanmer. She has a Grade 12 education and has had experience in the grocery store and retail sector. Her goal is to find part-time employment, preferably in the Valley doing grocery store or other retail duties; light house or office cleaning, or house- or pet-sitting. While she would rather work in the Valley, she is willing to travel to Sudbury if necessary. Louise is also available to work pretty much any day and evening of the week. If you are interested in talking to Louise about possible employment you can contact her by email.

If you follow the link below, it will take you to the main Employment Site where you can find out more about this service. Once postings are put on the site, whether from an employer or a resident, we will leave it on the site until we are advised to take it off. The publisher of Valley East Today wishes everyone looking for employment the best of luck in finding the type of job that they are looking for.

Check out the section by going to the following link: Employment

We want to thank all of the people who take the time to send in comments. In order to protect the privacy of our readers, it is our policy to omit the names of our readers, unless you give us specific permission to print your name. We hope you enjoy some of the comments sent in this week.