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April Fox Talk
Digest
VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 2002

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Articles:
Thoughts
Education
Grounds
S&E
Computers
Observations

Events:
Swimming
Spec.Events
Garage Sale
Future Events

Social:
Care
Lawn Care
Dinner Club
Social Com.
Rec Centre
Stitch & Brag

Notices:
Drawings?
Cancer
StPatricks
Drains
Jokes
Thanks

I'll Be Happy When...

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.
After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire.
The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.

It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with ... and remember that time waits for no one
So, stop waiting:
Until your car or home is paid off. Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house. Until you go back to school. Until you finish school.
Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married. Until you get a divorce.
Until you retire. Until summer. Until spring. Until winter. Until fall.
Until you die.
There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money,
love like you've never been hurt,
and, dance like no one's watching.

Future Events

Travel Talk April 24th
Shunpiking Tour May 8th
Pancake Breakfast May 10th
Garage Sale May 31st

Care Committee
Marg Macdonald
Care Committee Co-ordinators:
CC #1 Barb Koerber/Norma Fisher
CC #2 Marg Macdonald/Pat Tibbles
CC #3 Faith Mundy/Marion Koehler
CC#4 Audrey Euler/Ellen Bowring

CARE COMMITTEE REPORT Marg Macdonald

We, in Foxboro Green, have lost one of our very dear friends, Herb Stamm. Herb worked hard for the community on the S&E committee. He attended all social events and volunteered to help with many different activities in Foxboro. Herb is most famous as our one and only centrefold in Foxtalk! He was chosen not only because of his good looks and fine form but also because he always had an enormous smile and a hug and kiss for all! Herb was the epitome of a Mr. Affability. We extend our sympathy to Annette (his daughter), Bernie (his son), and most of all to Helga. The community was fortunate to be able to provide a reception for the family after Herb's funeral service. We thank the many friends within Foxboro for their generous donations of food and for the warmth offered to the family and friends of the family who visited us to honour Herb. Thank you all.

Keeping in Touch
Sympathy from the community was given to Helga Stamm and a donation will be made to the Grand River Foundation in Herb's memory.
Ted Tibbles continues his rehabilitation in Freeport Hospital. We have given him his television for a month so that he can see curling and hockey, his favourite sports, and so he will not miss any of son Kevin's foreign reports.
Ed Sheppard also continues his recovery after a second episode in hospital.

SWIM LESSONS
Mary Wright
A wonderful opportunity to learn to swim (it's never too late), or to improve your skills!

Beginner and Stroke Improvement; Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
starting Thursday April 3rd.
Classes will run for 10 lessons ending Tuesday, May 6th.
If you haven't already signed up, contact Mary Wright at 634-8131.

SPECIAL EVENTS
Sandy Moore
A complete listing of the Special Events "2003 Tentative Calendar of Events" is posted in the mailroom and will be updated regularly as events are added or other changes are made. Many good ideas have come from the replies to the "Community Questionnaire" which was included with February's Foxtalk and we will continue to consider suggestions from residents, which can be provided to any member of our Committee. We are now starting to receive replies from our returning Snow-Birds, so if you haven't completed the form in February's Fox Talk, there's still time to do so.

Our next special event will be a travel talk, at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 24th, given by Donna Rombough, a local travel agent. Further details will be provided on the sign-up sheet which will be posted early in April. Ruth Cooke is convener for this event. On Thursday, May 8th, we will be doing a Shunpiking tour of the Elmira area, from 1-5 p.m. Further details on this outing will also be provided closer to the date of the event.

The Special Event Information Manual is now available in the library. This manual is for the use of all residents. It contains miscellaneous information such as using the elevator, kitchen storage room, dishwasher instructions, clean-up after events, etc. Also included is specific event information. This information provides conveners with time-lines and other details in planning for specific social events. The information provided is based on prior experience and is continually updated after each event. We hope you will find it useful. Copies of the Index are posted in the mailroom and on the refrigerator in the kitchen.

REWARD OFFERED

Does anyone remember, or know where the plans for the original landscaping are? Apparently, there were 3 full sets of the original landscape architect's drawings, but we are unable to locate them. They are required to help inventory our plant material and bed sizes, along with providing a starting point for the bid to have some work done on the waterfall plantings. Anytime we can start with the original plans, it makes our work much easier and less expensive when contracting out. While you're preparing for the upcoming Garage Sale, please keep an eye peeled for them. The reward is free entrance to the Rec Centre for one year!

GARAGE SALE
Bob Price
Saturday May 31st.
Think for a moment. When you moved to Foxboro, you probably stored a lot of valuable things in your basement that you brought from your other residence and now haven't looked at or thought about for years! Well, is it time to sort and sell? If you don't do it now, your family will have to do it later, and I'll bet the garbage man will be very busy.

Our experience from the last 2 garage sales indicates a large crowd should be expected. We have one of the largest Community Garage Sales in the Waterloo Region, so I am told. So start looking now for all the things you can put out this year. It will help you to find that extra room that you've always said you need.

LAWN CARE
Jim Ainsworth
There are countless manuals on how to maintain impeccable lawns without the use of pesticides. Most people don't like dandelions. A good way to prevent them from invading your lawn is to add calcium-rich lime to your soil.

DINNER CLUB
JoAnne Brodie
The WINTER DINNER CLUB POTLUCK will be held on Friday, April 25th. Happy Hour will be from 5:30 to 6:00, with dinner at 6 p.m. A sign-up sheet for the potluck contributions will be in the mail room.

FOXBORO GREEN DINNER CLUB is open to all residents of the community. The groups are organized twice a year, giving four to five months to get in your dinners. Each group has 3 couples meeting at their convenience, along with a fourth couple, selected by the host couple. There are 3 dinners, with the host couple changing for each dinner. Each couple brings either a salad or dessert to the house so that all of the preparation is not on one couple. Singles are more than welcome. It is a great way to meet your neighbours and enjoy good food and fun while doing so.

Sign up sheets for the Spring Dinner Group will be in the mail room May 1st. For further information call JoAnne at 634-5678, June at 634-5724, or Marilew at 634-5000.

EDUCATIONAL FORUM
Isobel Smith
If you don't want the Government of Canada to be one of the beneficiaries of your estate, then plan to attend this EDUCATIONAL FORUM sponsored by the Investment Club.

The date is Monday, April 14th at 7:30 p.m. Our presenter is John Jordan CFP, one of the Region's most Prolific Estate and Financial Planners.

This forum is open to anyone interested in protecting his or her assets from Revenue Canada.

Further details of this event are posted on the Bulletin Board in the mail room. Signup is requested to give us some idea of seating arrangements.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE
Val Grant
A new portable kitchen island is now in the Rec Centre and will be kept in the storage room when not in use. This island will provide additional counter space in the kitchen for serving at special events and could also be used at outside functions. The elevator will come in handy in transporting it downstairs. We were able to purchase this island because residents supported fund-raising events in the Community. Thank you.

Thank you to Bill and Elaine Simpson who did the legwork in finding this island, and measured to make sure it would go through doors etc. Thank you also to Jim Brodie who assembled the island and installed the castors and finished the island with many coats of urethane�.Volunteers In Action!

We would also like to remind residents to continue saving their Zehrs tapes. These tapes are turned in for cash, which in turn is spent on the community. JoAnne Brodie and Nancy Arbuckle have taken on the task of tabulating and processing these tapes. This spring we will be purchasing more green plastic outside tables and chairs. If any resident notices these items for sale in the area, please contact Joan Roberts.

RENTAL POLICY
Maureen Potvin
RECREATION CENTRE RENTAL POLICY

In response to the expressed opinions of the majority of our residents, the Board of Management at the September 16th, 2002 meeting approved the following motion: That the Recreation Centre rentals be limited for use to internal community events and family- related events sponsored by a resident, effective immediately. The main concern has been residents renting the facilities for social events involving outside clubs or business groups.

A list of all confirmed reservations can be found on the Foxboro Web Site under the Rec Centre index. All reservations must be made through Theresa Tewfik. For all non-community events, a rental agreement must be completed and submitted together with a deposit of $100.00 to hold the reservation. A charge of $1.00 per person for anyone attending the event who is not a resident is applicable. Events with more than 50 attendees (residents and/or non-residents) will require an additional $75.00 cleaning charge (cheque to be made payable to Jack Davies). Events with more than 100 attendees will require written permission from the Rec Centre Committee

STITCH & BRAG
June Davies
I would like to express a big thank you to the Social Committee for the generous cheque, which has enabled us to purchase fabric for our Cuddle Quilts. We were able to deliver 6 more quilts in February, and now with your contribution we have 14 more ready to go. At present we have about 10 packages of squares out for sewing. Thank you to the ladies who are doing these. The Resource Centre appreciates all of the quilts we can get to them. Watch for upcoming Thursday morning learning sessions, as some of the ladies have shown interest in painting and quilting. If you have an interest in learning something, let me know and we will work on some programs. Thank You

GROUNDS UPDATE
Cam Magnan
Signs of spring are here. Planning has been underway for implementing the 2003 programs. We are fortunate that we have residents who are prepared to spend the time required to ensure that Foxboro Green is maintained in a manner that we can be proud of and that is the envy of our friends. More participation would be welcomed.

The Flower and Shrub Committee has been busy planning for spring planting of annuals at the entranceway and adjacent to the Rec centre. We plan to use more perennials. This year the two beds at the front entrance to the fire lane will be tackled. All of our beds will be rejuvenated on a yearly rotating basis. We will be amending the main show beds with triple mix and compost this year prior to flower planting. The compost will be obtained from the Landfill site. (Watch for a work party in May to pick up the compost - we have a trailer). Greenway will assist us in roto tilling the beds.

Since the waterfall is one of the focal points of our community, we are seeking a professional landscape plan for the renovation of this area. Once the plan is received, we will seek bids to provide and install the plant material.

As in prior years, Ellen Bowring, Marilew West, and JoAnne Brodie will continue with the adopt-a-bed program. Linda Hett and Mary Ann Martin will continue to take care of the pots at the entrance. This year, Denis Etienne has agreed to maintain the Maue Court bed, while Betty Spencer, Janet Elias and Bob Moore have agreed to tackle the island beds, complementing the continuing upkeep provided by Greenway. All have been busy pouring through seed catalogues and other reference material - planning their displays for all to enjoy!

We are also planning to measure and plot all of our existing beds and plant material throughout the course of the summer. This master plan will then be kept current as changes take place. Betty Spencer and Sandy Moore will work at this.

Trees: A contract is being let to improve our tree maintenance. All our freestanding trees will be fertilized. Trees that require systemic insect treatment will be treated as required. The normal tree pruning will be done. If you require any pruning of trees on common ground adjacent to your lot, please call Dick Demers at 634-5290.

Ponds and Lake: The Ponds Committee has met with Limotera regarding their Pond Management Report. We think we are finally on the right track. This is a complex area.

We have numerous problems that will not be easily solved. There is no magic bullet. To bring the lake back to an ecological balance will take several years. We plan to have an information meeting in late May which will cover the Management Report and the costs to implement over three years. Other options will also be discussed. We will be glad to receive input from all interested parties. An overview of the other 2003 Grounds programs will also be covered. Everyone is welcome.

CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY
Joan Beveridge
April is Canadian Cancer Society Month.
There will be canvassers in our neighbourhood during this time.

Two years ago we had the highest returns in the Wilmot area! Please help out again this year!

If there is anyone in our community who does not wish to be canvassed for any reason, please phone me at 634-5956.

CORRECTION C. Connell

The phone number listed in the February Fox Talk, is a long distance phone number. The toll free number for the Waterloo Regional Police is 570-3000. I doubled checked this information to confirm this number was set up to eliminate long distance charges. Please note that this is not an emergency number.

Random Thoughts

It's frustrating when you know all the answers,
but nobody bothers to ask you the question.

I finally got my head together, but my body fell apart.

Age doesn't always bring wisdom.
Sometimes age comes alone.

Growing old is mandatory.
Growing up is optional.

SERVICE & EQUIPMENT REPORT
George Walker
Two jobs are on hold waiting for the frost to be out of the ground.
1. The dip in the road opposite the gazebo. (which we expect Bob Barnhart will repair).
2. The finishing up of the swales and drains which Kleck's started last fall.

Minor repairs still have to be done to the waterfall pump before it is put in service in April. S&E is presently preparing a constitution for our committee which will be submitted to the Board for approval and which should improve and strengthen the structure of our committee. We already have a detailed mandate outlining our duties and responsibilities to the community. We are also working on a revised budget to present to the new Board.

Breaks in the home site irrigation system are a cause for concern. Repairing damage from breaks that occurred last fall has already cost us more than what we had budgeted for, for the entire fiscal year. The other items on our budget are for routine maintenance of equipment that the community owns, or to pay for electricity and other services that the community needs. Very few items in the S&E budget are discretionary.

Since no one can predict how many breaks will occur in the home site irrigation system, it does not seem reasonable that routine maintenance programs should be neglected by reducing the S&E budget in these areas to pay for unpredictable breaks. Some other method to pay for these repairs must be found. We do accept our responsibility to do what has to be done as reasonably and as effectively as possible.

On the plus side, we have spent considerably less on snow plowing than we budgeted for and we may not need to spend more if we don't get any serious snowfalls this spring.

Both the Grounds Committee and S&E have felt for a long time that it would be profitable for the community to own equipment to keep the paths in shape and do many odd jobs which we are presently paying contractors to do. We are investigating what equipment is available and what sort of a building we should have to house all of our tools and equipment. When these decisions have been made to the best of our ability, our proposal will be presented to the Board.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY
Grace McAninch
St. Patrick's Day Dinner & Horse Races:
Sixty-four Foxboroites happily celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, March 16th, 2003 at the Centre.
Dinner was provided by "The Village Caterer", Bob Thompson, of New Dundee.
It got rave reviews! Prizes went to Frank Abthorpe for the most interesting "hat" and to Bob Moore for having the closest birthday to March 17th.
Each table also had a winner of the Shamrock plant centerpiece. The decorations were enhanced by the lovely helium bouquet donated by Coby Ottaway.

Thanks to Bob Price & Bob Leppington who made the horse race game. Once again it was "loudly" enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd. The profits from the horse-races are being donated to the Social Committee.
Thanks also to Norman and my fellow organizers -- Dick & Maureen Potvin, Judy & Garth Nussey, and Harriet Denstedt.
Success was due also to the guidance and support of Ruth Cooke and Sandy Moore of the Special Events Committee.

COMPUTER CLUB
Lil Good
Everyone could use this valuable piece of info to cut down on the virus problems on your computer as well as the junk mail (Spam) you receive.
Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people that got the message before you. Namely their e-mail addresses.
As the messages get forwarded, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus and his computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel.

How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:
1) When you forward an e-mail, delete all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message. That's right, delete them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second.
2) Whenever you send an e-mail, don't use the "To:" or "Cc:" columns for adding e-mail addresses. Use the "Bcc:" or "blind carbon copy" column for sending the message. This way, the people that you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your "Bcc:" option, click on where it says "To:" and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose "Bcc:" That's it... it's that easy.

OBSERVATIONS
Bob Price
The following is an article that Bob submitted to the New Hamburg Independent and had published.

Snow Removal Budget

"Hats off and congratulations to Mr. Gary Charbonneau and his staff in the Public Works Dept., for their foresight to keep the snow removal expenses below their estimated budget for the past winter in Wilmot Township." Quote from: New Hamburg Independent, Wednesday, March 12/03.

However, Foxboro Green and Morningside, the two larger and higher taxed communities in Wilmot Township are saving the Public Works Department an estimated $25,000.00 a year each on snow removal alone.

How you ask? We pay for our snow removal to a private contractor.

Consequently, Wilmot Township's Public Works Dept. might consider sharing their $100,000.00 windfall they saved this year by rebating $100.00 a house to Foxboro Green to compensate their expense. Then, in the future, they could remove our snow with trucks that are in the area anyway.

I'm suggesting this proposal because at Foxboro, we contribute approximately $750,000.00, $160,000.00 of which is Wilmot's share. In Foxboro we are self-sufficient and do not receive or depend on a lot of the services that the rest of the populated communities in Wilmot Township, or Waterloo Region for that matter, take for granted.

*Please note: All figures are rounded out and estimated. Also, I do not have the figures for Morningside, so I could not include this item in my proposal.

Clogged Drains

Helpful Hint

If you have a clogged drain and no drain cleaner - pour a cup of salt and a cup of baking soda into the drain, followed by a kettle of boiling water. The grease will dissolve quickly and the drain will also be refreshed.

Jokes

LAMAZE CLASS Sandy Moore

The room was full of pregnant women and their partners. The Lamaze class was in full swing.
The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly and informing the men how to give the necessary assurances at this stage of the plan.

"Ladies, exercise is good for you," announced the teacher. "Walking is especially beneficial. And, gentlemen, it wouldn't hurt you to take the time to go walking with your partner!"

The room was very quiet. Finally, a man in the middle of the group raised his hand.

"Yes?" asked the instructor.

"Is it all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?"

DUMB CRIMINALS

Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a line-up. When detectives asked each man in the line-up to repeat the words "Give me all your money or I'll shoot", the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"

A FINAL WORD OF THANKS

We're sure that everyone here has noticed the wonderful new addition to our Rec Centre, that is, the beautiful new computer cabinet that is now gracing our lounge.
Thanks must be given to the following people who had a hand in the design: Bill Goddard, Ron Bleier, Arnold Muma, and George Walker. (We hope we haven't forgotten anyone.)
Also, thanks to George (again) and Ralph Adsetts, for doing the final installation.
And finally, thanks to master craftsman, Fred Matthews, from the Baden Seniors' Woodworking and Craft Centre, who spent hundreds of hours creating this beautiful cabinet.

Now that this cabinet has become an integral part of our upstairs lounge benefitting the Fox Talk team, the Computer Club, and everyone in the community, the room downstairs can be used for much needed storage.

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