Ron and Bernie Pedneault, owners of FANTASTIC FLOORS of Val Caron, shown standing on the left in the photo, are pleased to announce the establishment of the Fantastic Floors Customer Charity Contest.  

The contest is open to all customers of Fantastic Floors who have flooring installed in their new home or those who are doing major renovations of at least $8000 in an existing home. Out of every fifteen (15) customers who qualify one home owner will win a prize of $2500. In addition, five different charities identified by those customers will each receive a $500 donation from Fantastic Floors as part of the contest.
   
   Renee (Lauzon) Leblanc, shown standing on the far right in the photo, and her husband, Rob, recently moved into a new home in Val Caron with their 20 month old son, Brayden. They were the lucky winners of $2500 in the first contest draw which was held on Saturday, November 11, 2006 .
   
   The Leblanc’s selected LA PORTE DES EAUX/ THE WATERGATE, a Christian organization located on Pioneer Road in Sudbury as the recipient of the charity donation from Fantastic Floors. Because this was the inaugural draw in the FANTASTIC FLOORS CUSTOMER CHARITY CONTEST, Ron and Bernie decided to contribute the entire $2500 to this worthwhile organization, which was represented by Lina Madore, President, shown seated in the photo. Future contests will see five different charities each receiving $500 donations.  

   Lina Madore expressed tremendous gratitude to Fantastic Floors for their generousity. "This will really help us get through the winter months."

   LA PORTE DES EAUX/ THE WATERGATE is operated entirely by volunteers. It is located in the old Ecole St. Mathieu building at 1534 Pioneer Road in the south end of Sudbury. The organization has a library that is open to the general public and conducts workshops and conferences for both adults and youth. They distribute food, clothing and furniture to needy families. A bible study evening is offered once a month as well. If you would like more information about the organization, simply call 523-1437 or drop in Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

   FANTASTIC FLOORS has been in operation for a little over a year and already has established a solid reputation throughout Valley East and Capreol as well as the rest of the Sudbury area for its quality products and customer service. 
   
The draw for the contest was made by Robert Kirwan, Publisher of Valley East Today, on Saturday, November 11, 2006. 

    “I want to say thank you to the entire community for giving FANTASTIC FLOORS such a great start this past year,” explained Ron during the presentation ceremony. “People from Valley East and Capreol have shown that they respect the kind of professional service and personal attention they get when they shop here and we wanted to show them how much we appreciate their support.”

   Bernie commented, “This is our way of ‘Paying it Forward and Paying It Back. We feel it is important to invest back into the community, so Ron and I decided to create the FANTASTIC FLOORS CUSTOMER CHARITY CONTEST. This way we can give our customers a chance to win $2500 to thank them for their support. We are also asking each of the 15 qualifying customers to select a charity of their choice. When we make the draw for the $2500 winner we will also draw out the names of five different charities and donate $500 to each of those organizations as well.”

Some of the people who were on hand for the official drawing of the first winner of the FANTASTIC FLOORS CUSTOMER CHARITY CONTEST are shown in the photo on the right in the store.

Each of the customers expressed total satisfaction with the products and service they have received from Ron and his staff.
  
   FANTASTIC FLOORS is open Monday to Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ; open late until 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and; open until 5 p.m. on Saturdays. When you stop by for a visit, be sure to ask about the FANTASTIC FLOORS CUSTOMER CHARITY CONTEST.

Dale Pearson, on the left, is the Project Co-ordinator and Kevin Morris is Director of TYPS.

Town Youth Participation Strategies works with individual youth, youth centres, youth councils and other youth serving organizations, providing support and resources which will enable them to fulfill their mandates and missions.

TYPS is a registered charity, relying on membership fees and donations to fund its activities and projects. Individual memberships cost $25 while the annual fee for organizations such as the Valley East Youth Centre is $250.

Pearson and Morris were meeting with Darlene to discuss the procedure for accessing a $1000 Tobacco Grant which is being given to the organization for producing a short video clip designed to promote avoidance of smoking among youth. 

The Valley East Youth Centre has also qualified for a $10,000 Sustainability Grant from TYPS. The grant would be a tremendous boost for the Centre according to Darlene. "It would allow us to get through the winter and even hire some part-time staff so that we can keep the Centre open on another day. Right now we are only open Fridays from 6 to 10 p.m., but the grant would allow us to open on Saturdays as well."

Hillier sees this as a stepping-stone to the future for the "longest serving youth centre in Ontario".

"We were created as a provincially-funded organization in 1982," explained Hillier. "We were open seven days a week with a full-time staff of three. The Valley East Youth Centre was the springboard for all of the other Youth Centres in the region. Once funding was pulled in 1995 we've faced an uphill battle to keep going."

Hillier and Susan Johnston, Chair of the Valley East Youth Centre Board of Directors, are hopeful that the new City Council will see fit to increase the funding that is allocated to the Youth Centre, which currently receives only $2400 per year, plus the use of the City-owned facility which was once housed the Valley East Parks and Recreation Department.

The Job Connect centre provides bilingual, convenient, and accessible employment services and is staffed from Cambrian College and College Boreal, who are partners in the initiative.

Funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the Job Connect centre provides free access to job search tools and career information; information on apprenticeships, occupations, and the labour market; and workshops on job search strategies and interview preparation. 

Participants in the official ribbon cutting ceremony included, from the left: France Belanger-Houle, Chef de Connexion Emploi; Sylvia Barnard, President of Cambrian College; Maryse Lavoie, Consultant, Skills Development Branch, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities; Denis Hubert, President of College Boreal; Sue Ferguson, Chair of Job Connect; Richard Jolivet, General Manager, Canadian Tire, Valley East; and Pat Cameron, an employee of Quik Lube in Hanmer.

"I made a lot of mistakes when I was young," Pat explained. "I fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up quitting high school. Eventually I found out that you just can't make it in this life without a proper education, so I turned to Job Connect for help."

Cameron, who is married with a three-year old son, obtained his Grade 12 upgrading and is now training for a career in Mobile Electronics.

"I am not sure where I would be now if it was not for the professional help I received from the staff at Job Connect.

Richard Jolivet, General Manager of the new Valley East Canadian Tire explained how Job Connect helped the company recruit employees for the new site. "Job Connect took in all of the applications and then sorted out the top 200 prospects. They conducted interviews over four days and came up with out staff. We would not hesitate to use their services again in the future.

With their assets frozen in Lebanon, Monique and her two teenaged boys were only able to bring one suitcase each out of the country. The Laderoute's were able to secure space with 200 others on a luxury casino yacht and eventually made it back to Valley East. "I didn't even have enough money to make a phone call from the bus station," recalls Monique. "But even though I have nothing and I have to start out all over again on welfare with an empty apartment, I am so grateful to have escaped with my sons. I'm back home now, and I will never leave again."

Today, Monique, stands in her newly refurbished kitchen, and expressed her extreme gratitude to the community of Valley East for coming to her assistance in her time of need.

"At the beginning of October, I had nothing," Monique explained. "Then I discovered that this whole community is my family and it has been non-stop. People have been so kind to us and have been unbelievable in their support."

Statistics show that one in three adults age 65 and over fall at least once a year. Some of these falls can be a "life-changing" experience, even leading to death in some severe cases.

Most falls actually happen in and around the home, so one's home design, furnishings and lifestyle all affect your risk of falling in your home. Furthermore, falls are responsible for 86% of injury admissions for people aged 65 and older, so by educating seniors on fall prevention measures, it is hoped that these statistics will be greatly reduced.

"Falling is a major concern among seniors, especially ones who live alone and may end up breaking a hip or leg with no way of calling for help," explained France Spencer. "There are some falls that are caused by medication or things like heart attacks, but many falls can be prevented just be 'safe-proofing' your home. Our goal is to help seniors look for problem areas and even help them select walking aids if necessary in order to avoid some of the risks."

TOP 12 TIPS TO PREVENT FALLS