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A new Carnegie
When Compton Communications was sold to Rogers last year, the founders of the company did very well, of course. One could hardly have blamed the Compton family for moving to a mansion in Majorca and living luxuriously as a result of all their hard work and innovative energy over the years. But no matter how large their windfall, no one could have predicted the overwhelming generosity of their gift to the Uxbridge community earlier this week (see our story on page 9).
It’s tempting to compare Ron Compton to Andrew Carnegie, the American philanthropist who made large gifts to libraries all over North America a century or so ago, Uxbridge’s own library among them. But we don’t really expect Mr. Compton to be sending $100,000 to Des Moines any time soon. It’s enough that at a time when tax dollars are stretched to the limit, he has recognized the precious resource that our library represents. On behalf of our readers, we thank him and his family from the bottom of our hearts.
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Last week we drew parallels between the situations with First Leaside and the Uxbridge Bruins. We pointed out that both organizations had raised high expectations in the Uxbridge community, and on very similar timelines, had proceeded to dash those expectations over the last four months. Now, shortly after the publication of our editorial, the mess with each has gotten even messier (see our stories on pages 6 and 8).
First Leaside has sought bankruptcy protection, causing suspension from any dealings with the public as it goes through its “managed wind-down”. How much money its investors will recover (if any at all), is now a guessing game which will played out over months, if not years. And it will no doubt be a similarly long time before the foundation on Victoria Drive gives rise to anything.
For the Bruins, meanwhile, answers (and a positive rebound) will hopefully arrive a bit sooner. But the reasons for the coach’s departure are muddy indeed. The team executives won’t talk (why does THAT remind us of First Leaside?), and Mr. Muir’s reasons for resigning depend on whom he’s talking to. On Tuesday, he told reporter Varley the Bruins weren’t a “good fit”, and spoke of opportunities elsewhere. A few days earlier, he told the editor of the Cosmos that the reasons were primarily personal, related to his family situation. And his statement that some of the players wouldn’t return to the team without him, seems curious given that almost none of the players were buying into anything he told them for most of the season. Oh, well. At least for the Bruins there is a tomorrow, and next season can’t help but be better than this one.
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We’ve had a number of enquiries as to the identity of the three young ladies on the front cover of the Township of Uxbridge’s Spring/Summer Community Guide, which was distributed in the Cosmos last week. When we decided on an equine theme for the cover back before Christmas, we invited members of the Uxbridge Horsemen’s Association to submit their favourite photos for consideration. There were some excellent submissions, but in the end we chose a composition by one of our regular contributing photographers, Lezley Woodhams.
Lezley took the picture of three young equestriennes in the spring at New Era Farms on the Sixth Concession north of Uxbridge. From back to front the ladies are Cassandra Clegg (on Ben), Mikayla Derksen (on Molly) and Taylor Norton (on Twinkle). If you know the girls, but didn’t recognize them, it’s probably because the photo was taken almost four years ago - they may not have even recognized themselves! The shot was in fact the very first of many cover photos Lezley has taken for us, published on May 8 of 2008. But it so beautifully captures the serenity of riding through the Uxbridge countryside, we couldn’t resist it.
July 14, 2011
