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Our V1 ew What h lostwith "'ht _ Couhopises (We mutate Ga"-ys/c)s V g g l twas a time for goodbyes on June 27 as the Rotary i _ C' , ML,' “In Ji'r) "9,3 ", am: " V v ., I i Along with the one catered wedding, the Colborne l IHall staff catered their last function. It was fitting 1 g. I a"ife?rer £5 l, 1;; 55135; if: " _ I ' a, *' Jr,, F, T) Masons' 150th anniversary gala and a bus tour, the cater- , that, in their last month, the foursome __ three of _ w (1)it'.c'isi"C, '; i /'l,1ts '-ssit"a'l",,yrjtr, “33% I, _ _'s"," cr g f Il 'litii;,i, ing staff .made nine Meals on Wheels, hosted three weekly l whom are part-timers - saw 1,900 visitors, a thousand of ‘ .23"; ,"( _ - rj:,)"?:':).,.':,:',),?),'-"."", ”I, 21,5” , ‘ it . Rotary dinners and an Optimist's dinner, were present for them in the final busy week. i a; A J31. "is-“s ... k:f'it'jfi?ii"i',iij, 'it I3: i .1 tit . P _ two Probus meetings, a breakfast, a CD release party for a Despite the fact the staff was leaving, every person to i l v Irc' ' ‘ ' " c. 'pfry, T tjlci'fe)ijcrlty "- r"', g, " local artist, two 80th birthday parties, four graduations, a enter the Rotary Room or Keeler Centre pad in that dittr I _ _ , , g _ ilal f V " ', Tp if; r’ _'" u“. _ Dlnfir'S Club meeting. and assisted with the growing Cult final month was welcomed with a smile. i ., LN F t x . I? i "i' _ Caribbana celebration and the end-of-year ENSS teaeher's Usually when a F1nal day is reached, there is a sense of g N Cl fa' b luncheon. _ closure. Not this time. The community still begs the r.ea- _ ' . , . We have lost the ongoing and successful promotion pro- soning behind the closure of township-operated catering - t vided by a woman who lives among us and who wears her in what has become the Cramahe Community Centre. a" . Cramaheheart on ler sleeve. Ms. Rusaw has been our Council has refused to listen to the eloquent requests of its , F . . . greatest ambassador In the past few years, bar none, taxpayers, leaving everyone to speculate. 'l' I r For five. years she has served with Community Policing What have we gained? l C l, acting as its treasurer, for six years she has been on the ' Using the accounting methods employed by Craniahe, I s . board of the Apple. Blossom Tyme Festival, and in her sec. the Rotary Hall will lose less money in 2008 than it did in t? 'r77'7"'"_1 " " ond year as chair saw it make over 85,000. She has I 2007. The base cost for the room sitting empty IS about EOBOWEN/SUN MEDIA fundriaised. for Community Care to help keep down the $28,000. Even if the cost of the new hall mapager/bary The staff of the Rotary Hall took time for one last photo on cost to sen10rs of the meals she creates in the Meals on I tender is included in the cost, it will be less than council June 27 before they finally cleaned up and went home The Wheels program. For four years she has served as presi- I said we lost last year using figures presented by Treasurer women wanted to take the opportunity to express their dent of the Union Cemetery Board. The Police Services Mora Chatterson. . F thanks for the support they had received from the Cornmu- Board and'the South Cramahe Reunion Committee have i _ User groups who get the room free will gainthe bar nity From left are Jean McCrory Donna Rusaw Mandy both benefited from her active work. On a broader scale, I receipts at the municipally owned facility, as will those Clarey and Dora Cheng ' , she has wo.rke) on the annual Northumberland United 1 who pay a rental charge. ' _ Way campaign m Cramahe. i . What will we lose? . _ ' which has drawn accolades from near and far. With the need to find work and re-focus her career, Ms. , If council goes ahead with the proposals made in April, Because council cannot see the broader picture and hid Rusaw has had P. gore l? some of those volunteer efforts, ', We lose the bar and catering revenues, More importantly, behind an arbitrary allocation of 70 per cent of Ms. and the organizations Will miss her. I . because council appears to lack the vision to see the Rusaw’s salary to catering, the hall's operational costs are What lies ahead? Even our council appears not to know . broader concept of a community centre, we lose one of our inflated. All that was needed was an administrative adjust- as it attempts to lurch forward and begin consultations on , most ardent promoters. ment by council to rvflect the much broader service Ms. the future of the Kecler Centre. ' It is not an overstatement to suggest that Donna Rusaw Rusaw provided . The ill-begotten decision to end township-operated '. has become the heart and soul of the Rotary Hall during This was the council that received an overwhelming catering has cost us all - none more than Mrs. Rusaw , her tenure with the township. She took her job description mandate based on promises to consult, listen and respond who we have grown to value and respect for her proud ' and ran with it, exploring opportunities, fostering dreams, before it acted. And so it did for the first year of its tenure. contribution and serv1ce to our community. She hasAra- . building a welcoming environment and staffing it with An argument that a service provided by the township ciously borne the private pam in a highly public position E local residents. She has become more than a catering and should be cut because it costs is shecioug Community ser- and has been pilloried forcaring too much, for rising ', special events manager, She has made the Rotary Hall a vices are not expected to make money, the roads depart, above the crowd and establishing a larger persona i for ' centre of which we can all be proud. She has built bridges ment is not expected to make money. If Mrs. Rusaw's doing more for the community than was expected. it has i with other communities and organizations, drawing visi- salary hadbeen accurately portrayed, we would see that happened before, and sadly, now it hashappened again. i dors from across the area and across the province, She the catering business in the township does make money - As one observer put it last week, Why IS it that when- made the Keeler Centre THE place to entertaip.itl this the community service which filled the bulk of her time ever we create something special 1n Cramahe, we have to township. Largely through the reputation wh ich has did not, One quick look at the bookings in June will attest destroy it? . il grown Willi her efforts. fh"dm'dhe, has boasted a Venue 10mm. Perhaps our mum We know. l is?