The “King of the World” is at it again, this time winning a Golden Globe for Best Director, for his 3-D sci-fi blockbuster hit, “Avatar”. It was the second Globe in the Best Director category for Cameron, who scooped one for Titanic over a decade ago in 1997.

Avatar has virtually shattered almost all imaginable box-office records in less than two months, with only one film standing in its path to glory: Titanic.

The 55-year old director admitted to being astounded by the film’s success and even nervous at first because of the public’s reaction after seeing the trailer for the first time. Many blasted Avatar before the film even came out, calling the Na’vi (the alien race depicted in the film), “something off of a Smurfs episode”.

It’s worth noting that the successful director spent many of his childhood years in Caledon, which is just south of the Town of Mono. In fact, Cameron even named Titanic’s villain, Caledon Hockley, which unknown to many, is a reference to the town as well as Hockley Valley, a favorite destination in the Caledon and Mono region. Cameron at one point, admitted to having spent a lot of time here.

The holidays may be officially over, but it doesn’t mean you can’t savor the remainder of the winter season by going skiing! And for parents who want to spend some quality time with their kids while hitting the slopes, here’s a word of advice: get your children into skiing as early as possible.

The old adage that goes, ‘You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks’, happens to apply to skiing, Of course, we’re not saying that those who start off a little later are bound to be inept, but the benefits of teaching kids how to ski at a young age are numerous.

There are plenty of factors as to why this is so.

1. Kids are small and short. This means that accidents are less likely to happen as falls would only mean a short distance to drop the ground. Children are also used to slipping and falling down, unlike us adults.
2. Kids are akin to sponges. They suck up information far faster that adults do – blame it on their excitement to learn and prove themselves. And much like riding a bike, once a child learns to ski, he/she remembers it for ages.

Hockley Valley is just one of the many areas in Ontario where families can have good and clean fun in the snow. So what’re you waiting for? Come on up to Hockley Valley, and have a taste of paradise.

Moved by the plight of Aidan Benoit, a 3 year old victim of a rare kind of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma, Makayla Pereira, felt she had to do something to keep Aidan’s memory alive and maybe even raise awareness against the disease that took him away at such an early age.

So, the then 10 year old from Orangeville decided to be at the frontline of the first Aidan’s walk that happened in downtown Brampton back in 2008. The event was able to raise $ 2,500 back then and this year, it raised $ 2,700. The proceeds of which all went to the James Birrell Foundation of the Sick Kids Hospital where it will be used for the fight against neuroblastoma.

For 2010, the event that Makayla started will be held on Januaray 3^rd, Sunday. This time around, it will be a little more family-friendly with a 5km skate-a-thon to be held atBrampton’s Garge Park. The event will start off at 11 in the morning and everyone is encouraged to be on the venue a little bit earlier than that.

Just like in the beginning of the Olympics at Greece where pigeons where used to relay the outcome of the Olympic games from one country to another, pigeons will still take part in yet another Olympic event. This time around, the winged creatures will mark the end of the Olympic Torch’s passing in Orangeville on the 28^th.

To make the event even more memorable, there everyone from the area – including residents and tourists from Hockley Valley – can expect a couple of hour’s worth of pure entertainment with performers dancing throughout the area. After which, two pairs of skydivers will then come out from the sky as 30 homing pigeons are released to commemorate the event’s finale.

The pigeons will come from Fred Byers together with his son-in-law. The birds themselves have had quite a bit of preparation to be able to participate in this event starting on the first days of this month. Byers, a bird breeder with almost 50 years of experience, has been honing the pigeons to fly to Kitchener.

So, with all these things coming down on us during the holidays, let’s all show our support for the community and enjoy ourselves!

Theatre Orangeville’s special holiday presentation of the 1983 classic movie, A Christmas Story, is shaping up to be the theatre’s ultimate box office hit of all time with many of its scheduled performances from its opening on November 26, till it closes on December 20 of this year, being sold out days ahead of schedule. That’s right, time is indeed running out for those of you who have not seen the show yet, you better straighten up and grab a hold of those highly coveted seats the soonest.

This year’s rendition of the classic stars our very own, Theatre Orangeville Youth Singers (TOYS), together with other local acting talents like Christopher DuBois, Adam Bartley, Sam Grant, Alex Newell, Jayde Lavoie, Jacqueline Vandervaart, and Tyler Simpson are just some of the casts make up the cast of such a tremendous holiday hit.

The storyline of the show focuses on the Ralphie Parker, a 9 year old child in the 1940’s setting how only dreams of getting a hold of an authentic Red Rider BB gun as a Christmas present.  For more about the show, visit http://www.theatreorangeville.ca/ or call them to try and reserve a seat at 519-942-3423.

Christmas may be making its presence felt this month of December, but some people are still unsure on which kind of tree to get.

Most homeowners are usually stuck between making the choice of selecting natural or artificial trees. It’s quite understandable, each type of tree has its pros and cons after all.

For example, artificial trees are popular because their easily kept when not in use. Come the holidays, all it takes is some effort in setting it up and voila! You have a Christmas tree. However, statistics show that people hang on to these trees for only 3 to 5 years, dumping them after. Being made of plastic, it stays in the landfill for a long period of time.

Natural Christmas trees are undeniably more environmentally friendly. For every tree that is cut down to serve as your Christmas tree, another one takes its place. When you want to dispose of them, you can turn to some business that offer chipping and reduction services at a minimal cost.

Jane Blenkarn who works in the Hockley Valley Tree Farm explained that it usually takes about 6 to 12 years for a Christmas tree to grow nicely. The process however, is far from simple – it takes a lot of hard work and patience according to her.

So there you, hopefully that makes your Holiday dilemma easier for you to solve. Stay practical and smart, and you won’t go wrong.

In today’s society, social networking sites are taking the world by storm. If you’re thinking of going on a sick leave and take a vacation to say, the picturesque Hockley Valley, then come back to share pictures of the awesome time you had on Facebook, think again.

Take the example, of Nathalie Blanchard, 29, who hails from Quebec. She lost her disability coverage after her insurance company, Manulife, found vacation pictures on her Facebook account. When Nathalie—who’s been off work for over a year—failed to receive her monthly benefits, she immediately phoned the company for an explanation.

Manulife personnel explained that the vacation pictures on her Facebook profile suggested that she was no longer disabled. Blanchard tried to explain that the vacation was suggested as a curative by her physician. Blanchard has currently filed a lawsuit against her insurer, which is set to be heard in court on the 8^th of December.

Nathalie Blanchard’s problem is just one of many horror stories that have to do with social networking sites and their connection with employers, insurance companies, and the legal system in general.

A case overseas involves a British worker who was fired for posting she was “bored” on her Facebook status message while working. Another more ironic incident has a Swiss insurance worker fired, this time for using Facebook at home after calling in sick.

Defense attorney Thomas Lavin comments “If the people who are using social networks are at all vulnerable in any areas of their life, they should be very careful about what they post because whatever they post is part of the public domain.”

In other words, be mindful of posting material on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Don’t ever think that nobody cares about what you’re posting or saying, and above all, remember that the internet never forgets so the next time you visit Hockley Valley, be mindful of who you share your experience with.

Al Pace, Hockley Valley’s own local potter is known for his beautiful creations, but did you know that he also moonlights as a tour guide? The potter, who is also an avid outdoorsman, likes to take tourists, Canadians and locals out to see the wilderness. He has so far done 18 canoe trips, bringing along different people of different ages up to the far north.

For this year, his business received a grant from the North West Territories government, enabling Pace to further expand his business, something he and his wife, Lin Ward, are very excited to do.

The couple, who own the Farmhouse Pottery studio, located on Hockley Road, first started out when they went on a trip to Yukon with their little boy, Taylor. Upon getting back, Mr. Pace decided to write about his trip on his studio newsletter which he sends to his regular clients. The response was enthusiastic.

They made a return trip to the north with family the following year, and again, Mr. Pace wrote of his experience on his newsletters. This time however, readers were not only enthusiastic, but were also interested in tagging along with them on future trips.

The family then decided to form an outdoor and adventure company, Canoe North Adventure, with the goal of organizing canoe trips for interested parties who want to explore the Great North.

Their first trip with a group of strangers was a massive success, and word soon began to spread of Mr. Pace’s canoe trips. The best part is that the company has different trips tailor made for people of different ages, ensuring that everybody has a great time.

So far, the Mr. Pace’s family business has flourished. They’ve taken some 700 people on 18 canoe trips up north. With the grant he just received, Canoe North Adventure of Hockley Valley looks to stick around for the years to come.

The Choices Youth Shelter, in Orangeville, Ontario is facing a crisis. With climbing costs, low donations and full beds, the shelter has recently been forced to turn people away due to the lack of space and room.

The emergency shelter has been under pressure these past months for operating above its usual capacities. With the arrival of winter, the shelter sees the problem of more and more people coming, further exacerbating the situation.

Mary Vervoort, executive director of the shelter talks about turning away people, “It makes me sick to my stomach. If that doesn’t keep you up at night, it should.” With the winter in the air she expects things to get worse.

The Choices shelter notes that they provided food, shelter and services to twice as many people as usual. Recently, it has been running at about 90 per cent occupancy on most nights.

“We’ve never seen this kind of usage,” Vervoort says, who thinks the increased demand is an effect of the current recession.

She notes that a surprising number of those who stayed in the shelter this year were newcomers, about 40 percent, very high from Orangeville Ontario. Many of these first timers were either laid off workers who can’t find jobs, or teenagers that belonged to families who have experienced job loss.

“They don’t have the education. They don’t get high-paying jobs. The recession has taken out a whole lot of lower-level jobs that are not going to be replaced,” Vervoorts says of the kids seeking refuge in her shelter.

Furthermore, there’s been a fall of cash donations, clearly a sign of the economic crisis. The good news however, is that donations of food and other supplies are up; cushioning the fall the shelter has taken.

“The community is very generous to us and they help where they can,” Vervoort says.

The shelter plants to hold a fundraiser at the Orangeville fairgrounds to raise money for costs and bills.

Vervoort believes that unless everyone in the community as well all government sectors take action against homelessness, the problem will continue to worsen so let’s show our less fortunate brothers and sisters more loving especially with winter just around the corner by helping out in one way or the other.

Mark DuBois of Hockley Valley Ontario

Renowned tenor Mark DuBois, who hails from Hockley Valley, Ontario, has sung virtually every song imaginable. From opera, to broadway hits, to folk songs in various languages – even singing Frederick Weatherly’s Danny Boy in Mandarin, DuBois is known the world over as a flexible and extremely talented tenor.

Despite his massive success and travels around the world, he still favors his home standing on a 50-acre piece of beautiful land in Hockley Valley, his primary residence for over a decade and a half.

The father of five says, “It’s just paradise.” DuBois has frequented the area ever since his parents bought the property over 50 years ago.

Aside from performing in major orchestras across North America, some of DuBois’ notable performances include singing for the Pope, a monarch and a President.

As for his work and success, DuBois comments, “Being a tenor is quite demanding.  That’s why I came up with the Art of the Tenor, to show different aspects of my life.”

DuBois refers to his upcoming show on Nov. 13 at the Orangeville Opera House, with “everything from traditional musical theatre, the old ones like Westside Story and Sound of Music, to more modern music like Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera,” he said.

DuBois traces his interest in music back to when he was in the church choir at the tender age of 6. He then went on to study at the University of Toronto, taking up music and operatic performance, turning pro at only 18.

From that day on, DuBois has performed with every major orchestra in his native Canada as well as others in the United States including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. DuBois has also gone international – gracing stages in Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The tenor is currently busy imparting his talent and knowledge to the younger generation. Each year, he holds auditions and picks two or three kids to be part of his private class.

Asked as to why he does this, the Hockley Valley said, “I think artists, as much as they can, should give back to the community who got them where they are.” Lucky for us living with in close proximity to the famed tenor her in Hockley Valley.