The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 2008 Page: 3 of 36
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 1 □ APRIL ZDDB
LETTERS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
What is progress?
I HAVE BEEN TRYING to keep my mouth shut about the big
trees down oil the highway that were just "suddenly gone," but
when J.O. Gaffney of Toadspit wrote his letter to the Editor
Lady, I could remain silent no longer.
Isn't Canadian the town that fought to save the trees along
our highways? D idn't a lot of us write a lot of letters and make a
lot of phone calls to stop TxDOT from cutting down big trees?
I was even on two different T.V. stations saying that if TxDOT
cut down our trees, it would be the start of World War III.
Now I drive into town and find that five big trees on the
highway curve are "suddenly gone." I couldn't believe t. And
the fact that the property was owned by our Economic Devel-
opment Council is especially shocking.
Apparently the EDC sold the land to Dollar General so we
can have another metal building in the middle of an asphalt
parking lot. Why wasn't there a stipulation that the five big
trees had to be left in tree wells? They were on the upper end of
the property and could have been left there.
Is this progress? Do we want to look like Pampa? Like Pan-
handle? It is depressing. Is anybody paying attention to what
s going on in this town? Is the EDC thinking that this is prog-
ress, that this is development?
I tried to just keep my trap shut, not wanting to offend any-
one. Well, I am offended. Yes, I am offended. I cannot grow
trees as fast as others can topple them.
This town deserves a full explanation from the EDC. Why
didn't any of us know anything about this until those big trees
were "suddenly gone?" TxDOT certainly never did a sneak at-
tack like that! They had all kinds of notification and asked for
nput from the people. TxDOT stened.
Besides a report from the EDC, this town needs a consul-
tant to come in and define for us: "What's progress?" We need
a plan to broaden our economic base and we need to address
"quality of life," because that is what will either make or break
Canadian's future.
Building tilings up is very expensive and t takes a lot of
time. On the contrary, tearing things down is really quick and
really cheap. We've certainly had a cheap trick done us, and
boy, was it quick. One could just despair.
MALOUF ABRAHAM, JR., M.D.
The YMCA
Memo:
With the restructuring of the YMCA, we will
be closing our censed cl Id care programs. Due
to our closing our child care programs, all cl Id
care employees will be laid off May 31,2008.
Beginning June 1st, we will be starting new
non-licensed youth programs. New positions
within these youth programs will be available.
Any employee wishing to apply for a new posi -
tion Within the new youth program must turn in
an application by May 1,2008. All applicants will
be interviewed by a Board of Director's Commit-
tee and the Executive Director.
All new positions will be open to employees
and the public.
The YMCA
Day Care Crisis, 1
I AM THE DAUGHTER of Mrs. Cathy [the
YMCA day care program director]. I have put
off writing this letter about the day care crises
for several reasons. One, because I was shocked
that it was happening and I had to just let all
the details soak in for a while, rather than write
something out of anger without thinking things
through. Two, I was afraid that people would
brush my opinion aside because they thought it
was a conflict of interest. After giving this issue
some heartfelt thought, I decided to write.
When I grewup, the YMCA was my life. Lit-
erally. When I was young, the YMCA had danc-
es, lock-ins, movie nights, races, racquetball
tournaments, cheer camp, ping-pong tourna-
ments, baby-sitting classes with first aid & CPR
certifications included in the course, roller skat-
ng, tap dance & ballet classes and a competi
tive gymnastics program. In fact, the advanced
team traveled to various gymnastics meets on
weekends and even went to a statewide com-
petition and won medals! Oh the memories we
made.
The day-camp kids used to published their
own "newspaper" and they delivered to local
businesses each week with the YMCA bus. It
kept the community involved while encourag-
ng the children to write creatively and share
their stories.
I remember memor izing my combination on
my own locker. I remember playing basketball
with my friends, even better.. ..watching my dad
and 10 other adult men play basketball togeth-
er one night a week. I believe they called their
league the "Fat Cats." There was once a group
of elderly people who did light cardio and band
exercises daily and used the gym to walk. The
YMCA use to be so full of life. The doors were
always open, families were playing together, it
was a place of fellowship.
Now, we are turning away high school stu-
dents wanting to volunteer their time to refer-
ee a basketball game? What happened to the
YMCA I used to know? What happened to all
the well-run programs and activities? On two
different occasions this month, a YMCA em-
ployee asked the members of the YMCA who
were working out in the weight room... f they
minded leaving a little early.. .so that they could
leave a little early.... This happened to two dif-
ferent people.. ..two different nights.
I was at the YMCA at 6 p.m. one Tuesday
night with my daughter at basketball practice,
when I heard over the loud speaker..." The
YMCA will be closing in 5 minutes" I couldn't
believe my ears! What is going on? Well, appar-
ently there was no one there to work. No one
to cover shifts. Someone had to go home early,
someone else called n sick and someone had al-
ready marked that day off on the calendar. As
I left the YMCA, I thought to myself. We have
a lot of people involved in the YMCA that just
simply don't care.
My mom has been in childcare for 31 years....
22 of those years, she has been at the Canadian
YMCA. So, I guess what I am saying, is that
the YMCA is "sentimental" to me in more ways
than one.
The YMC A's plans are to shutdowna licensed
program and replace it with a non-licensed pro-
gram. Non-licensed? What happened to qual-
ty? The staff that has been there for 10+ years
are being laid off [see staff memo at left]. Do the
employees have to start all over since they are a
new-hire? What is the job description that they
are applying for? Is the pay for this unknown
ob the same as what they are getting now? If
they are being "laid off" is there any severance
pay? Doesn't that give the day care employees
the option to collect unemployment.
After read ing the first letter, I was confused
as to what the "real" reason for closing the child-
care was. Number one stated that this was due
to new childcare rules and regulations. Has
anyone brainstormed to see how we can work
together with this issue? Or did we just see an
obstacle and give up?
The other YMCAs around the Panhandle
don't seem to have a problem abiding by the law.
In fact, last year my mom visited with the Am-
arillo YMCA's CEO, who operates a childcare
program in each of the three sites around Ama-
rillo. She suggested that the Canadian YMCA
build a wall to remain in compliance with the
new regulations set by licensing. The new law
states that the children in the licensed child-
care program cannot mingle with the children
that are at the YMCA (not in the program). So
t seems simple to me: Build a wall, move some
stuff around. All we would need is the funding.
She also gave the name of a "grant writer" that
writes grants to fund projects like these for
YMCAs. Her name and contact information
was passed on to the YMCA last year, when the
wall issue came up. Nothing has been done.
I put together a fundraiser for the Canad:
an Dance Studio girls to raise money to pay for
their costumes. Only about 30 dancers partic:
pated, but those 30 girls sold $10,791 worth of
merchandise! Now, we didn't get to keep all of it,
but we kept 40ff> of it! That's a chunk of change
that 30 children raised!
Look at the Canad ian Wildcat football team?
They raised some cash! It can be done! Don't
you think that if the parents of the children n
your day care program had known that the day
care was in jeopardy, they would have helped
in any way they could? Don't you think that if
all the fathers, grandfathers, or local carpen-
ters had known, they would have donated their
time, supplies and talent to help salvage the day
care? So why weren't we told? Why weren't we
asked?
Number two- It was due to the high cost of
maintaining a staff? What about fundraisers,
asking for money or writing grants???
When is the last time a grant was written?
How about doing a membership drive? Our
economy is flourishing right now with the oil-
field. We need to be out talking to oilfield com-
panies and business owners about starting well-
ness programs for their employees that, in turn
would give employers a break on their health in-
surance costs. It's a win-win situation.
When the EDC is trying to bring growth to
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 2008, newspaper, April 10, 2008; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252699/m1/3/: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.