John Roberts, District Vice President of Scotiabank Ontario North, on the right, and Mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury , David Courtemanche, take part in the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on the site of the future Val Caron Branch of Scotiabank, which will be situated right beside the new Rexall Pharma Plus. 

The ceremony was held on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 and was attended by close to two dozen dignatories and spectators. The 3000 square foot, million dollar facility is scheduled to open for business in March 2007. This will be the 8^th Scotiabank branch in Greater Sudbury and represents Scotiabank’s commitment to serving the community. 

The Val Caron Branch will have a staff of five full-time employees when it opens and will feature a 24-hour drive through as will as flex-hours to accommodate the needs of local residents. 

Steve Irwin, Community Manager, Sudbury , was master of ceremonies of the event which included a presentation of a cheque for $2500 to Normand Gauthier, President of the Club Richelieu de la Vallee as a symbol of Scotiabank’s support for community groups and organizations.

   In the photo below, Steve Irwin, on the left is shown with John Roberts on the right, presenting the cheque to Normand Gauthier.

The draw was held in conjunction with the Valley East Charity Days Event which will took place on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at the Centennial Arena. 

Less than 1200 tickets were sold on the automobile at only $20 each, making this one of the best chances of the year for such a draw. The proceeds from the sale of the tickets will be donated to several local parishes in Valley East.

Every 100th ticket also produced $50 in cash for the holder. Those winning numbers were: 1000; 1142; 493; 727; 639; 119; 915; 566; 930; 775; and 789

Denis and Velma Laplante, shown on the left, originated from Iroquois Falls and Timmins. They have spent the past 15 years living in St. Catherines.

On September 29, 2005, Denis and Velma put everything they owned in storage and embarked on a 128 stop tour of Northern Ontario that brought them all the way back to Hanmer on Monday, September 4, 2006. You can visit their web site to see some photos and memories that they collected during their tour.

They parked their trailer in the driveway of Monique and Jim Van Alphen and after a few days decided that this was where they wanted to settle down. On September 8, Denis announced on his web site, "Tomorrow we will sign a rental agreement in Capreol. Capreol will be our new home town. It is a Northerly part of Sudbury. This will be a start of a new life style. It seems like a nice friendly area and is close to another friendly area Hamner where our friends live. We will visit my dad in Iroquois Falls for his birthday and then head back to St. Catharines to say good-bye for now to our friends there and pick up our furniture and stuff."

Apparently the Laplantes will be staying in Capreol until they can find a new permanent home in Hanmer.

Monique Van Alphen commented, " I think it speaks volumes that after touring our vast beautiful country they have chosen the valley to call home. They really like the warm friendly community feel and are excited to get to know the area. I think they are great candidates to receive a Welcome Home gift basket from the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, which I feel is a wonderful way to extend our open arms to them in our community."

Make sure you take time to visit their web site and see some of the fantastic scenery they discovered during the trip of a lifetime. The web site is at www.delaplante.ca

The remainder of the people in the photo include the 2006 inductees. Ken and Bonnie Davidson were inducted in the Sponsor Category as owners of the Tim Horton's Franchise in Val Caron. Eric Larochelle, 3rd from the right, was inducted in the Amateur Athlete Category, and Gabby Laberge, 2nd from the right, was the 2006 Volunteer Inductee.

Hilda pointed out how devoted Gabby has been over the years, especially in her fund-raising role with the Valley East Cobra 'AAA' Midget Hockey Club. 

"Gabby is most deserving of this award," Hilda explained. "She works full time and still volunteers at the Elizabeth Centre. On top of that she spends countless hours with me as we try to raise money for the hockey team. She goes to all of the hockey games to watch her grandchildren and never misses a midget game, helping me collect tickets and 50/50 tickets. Many people who know Gabby will recall how she handles the stress of hockey games by knitting. She has developed a skill for keeping her eyes on the flow of the game and never missing a stitch.

Ron Dupuis called Eric, "A true Valley East boy. When you have talent you will get noticed."

He explained that Eric was a star player with the Valley East Cobras before moving over to play with the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats. After being drafted by the Oshawa Generals in the spring of 2000 he ended up going to Guelph where he made it to the Memorial Cup finals. He was traded to the Sudbury Wolves, but an ankle injury three games into the schedule ended his hopes for a long-term hockey career.

Today, Eric is attending Cambrian College in the Millright program and will be graduating in the spring of 2007. He expects to continue to be involved in hockey in some capacity in the future.

And FUN it was for the girls who participated in the Valley East Lions Charity Days at the Centennial Arena on September 9. We used two photos in this article to identify "Buckles", the Red Cross Mascot. "Buckles" just happened to be the lovely Janet Evans, a Hanmer girl who attends Laurentian University as an English Major with aspirations of one day becoming a teacher. Others, standing, from the left: Hilary Duff, a Grade 11 student from Lockerby who lives in Sudbury; Chantal Audet, a Sudbury resident who attends Grade 12 at Sacre-Cour; Michelle Lavallee, a Hanmer girl who is in the School of Social Work at College Boreal, and; Chantal Paquin, another Hanmer girl who is in the Fine Arts Program at Cambrian College and who also hopes to become a teacher one day.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Canadian Red Cross Youth Group, call 674-0737.

Karen and Lillian are shown putting the final touches to the quilt which was being raffled off as part of the project.

All items purchased contain the Breast Cancer logo and the recognized pink colouring.

Products included everything from hats to pocket calendars to jewellery.

Shoppers commented that these items made for excellent gift ideas for the women in their life.

The ladies expect to return to the mall for one more weekend prior to the October Run for A Cure. The date will be announced in an upcoming issue of Valley East Today.

With Stephanie was Cammie Thibert, a 3rd Year Laurentian University student on a summer placement. Cammie is in the French Teachers' College Program and found the summer experience to be invaluable in helping her understand young children. 

Cammie is shown below reading a book to 2 year old Vanessa Girard during playgroup which is held on Tuesdays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Hanmer location. 

Below, Cammie and Vanessa enjoy working on a special craft project during the same playgroup period.

MISSION OF OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE...

Our Children, Our Future works in partnership with individuals, families, groups and organizations, to develop and promote innovative and sustainable community resources that nurture healthy children, healthy families and healthy communities.

GOALS OF OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE....

• To help improve parenting skills
• To increase a family’s access to food and nutrition information
• To decrease the incidence of child abuse and neglect

OBJECTIVES OF OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE...

• Promote partnerships and collaborative activities at the community level in planning, developing and providing services and programs which improve the health of children and their families.

• Promote, within the District of Sudbury, the health and social development of at risk and geographically isolated children and their families by providing support programs and services for these children and families.

• Provide services which are sensitive to cultural and linguistic diversity in the District of Sudbury. Programs are available in French and English for parents with children and soon-to-be parents particularly vulnerable families in need of additional support.

• Promote community ownership of the parent resource program by facilitating and increasing involvement of the community in all aspects of the programs and services development and delivery.

• Increase accessibility to support programs and services, increase access to information regarding prenatal health, lifestyle issues and infant health and provide access to nutritious food and food supplements for "at risk" pregnant women and new mothers in need.

• To increase the capacity of parents in designated communities to relate positively to their children.

• To provide interactive nutrition education and encourage the development of skills related to food and nutrition in a supportive environment.

• To facilitate and support community based activities that increase access to sufficient and  nutritious foods.

For more information on Our Children, Our Future, go to the following link >>>>>