Editorial

Terry's miracle continues

They came, they registered, they participated. Once again, the annual Terry Fox Run created miracles of its own – in every community where it was run, we’d hazard a guess. In Slave Lake, participants as young as 28-month-old Ben McConnell were added to the roster when parents brought him along in his bicycle ‘carriage’. On the other end of the age spectrum, there was perennial participant Wendy Barton whose 60-something-year-old legs carried her around yet another trip around the 10K-or-so course.
Their sizes varied, as did their age, and their contributions.
Several members of the Excel Martial Arts club took part in this year’s event. And if club promoter Kelli Parent has her way, the club will be challenging other sports clubs to get involved next year.
“We can do better and we can do more,” Kelli said of Slave Lake’s commitment to the Terry Fox Run. We believe she’ll help make that happen next year.
But Terry Fox’s dream continues to blossom as his miracle spreads. And it’s spreading because of people like Parent, and a couple of young members of her club that took the fund-raising challenge seriously and went door-to-door looking for pledges.
Following the lead of their mom Cynthia who raised $135 for cancer research in Terry’s name, Brooklynn Horvath and her sister Ashley raised $27 and $30 respectively. That’s one huge commitment for such young participants. But as this miracle named Terry unfolds, we suspect they’ll continue to participate in his name, year after year.
We applaud and thank the participants who took part in Slave Lake’s Terry Fox Run, each doing his or her part to keep Terry’s dream alive. For every loonie raised, for every $5 bill in the pot and $20 bill in the envelope, another piece of hope is added to the giant puzzle known as the cure for cancer.
Cancer will be beaten, and with the commitment of people like Brooklynn, Ashley, Cynthia and all those people who took part in Sunday’s runs around the world, it will happen — sooner than later.

Integral support
It wasn’t a miracle by any stretch of the imagination. But kudos are in order, too, for Town councillors who so quickly stepped up and agreed to cover the insurance costs at the curling rink without any ironclad assurances their kindness would be repaid.The curling rink has become an institution for many -- just like the arena and swimming pool. They’re all integral threads in the fabric of our community, and volunteer efforts can go without notice. Built with volunteer fund-raising and sweat equity, they’re all the product of volunteerism in the community, so the curling rink shouldn’t be treated any differently when it comes to municipal support. And it was good to see council recognize that very fact with ready support.
The facilities have evolved over the years, and in some cases volunteers have assumed more of the financial responsibility to keep them operating. To their credit they’ve carried the ball, essentially providing a recreation service in the community. We can only assume that council is recognizing that too.
We have to agree with former mayor Gerry Allarie when he says there was a moral obligation for council to support the curling club in its time of need.
Granted, there was nothing saying council ‘had’ to do anything. But we’re pleased to see they recognize the very important need for insurance -- and to keep the curling club alive. Like we said, kudos to councillors for their readiness to get involved.