I love this town

by SHERALYN ROMAN

I love this town. I mean, what's not to love? Beautiful rolling hills for gorgeous country drives, a number of great hot spots to stop for a beverage, ice cream or delicious eats (some even featured on TV) along the way and tons of really friendly people. We have great schools, plenty of charitable organizations and social services agencies around town and if you play a sport; whether it's soccer, Challenger baseball, lacrosse or hockey – thank a volunteer because there are so many who donate their time to make these sports available. Finally, there are many community and civic – minded organizations dedicated to making Caledon a great place to live and raise a family. With the hoopla of provincial politics having died down a tad (must be nice Mr. Ford, having a five month vacation will do that) and the sun finally shining, it seemed an appropriate time to switch our focus to happier things. “Summer time, and the livin' is easy” – so says Ella Fitzgerald and it reminds me of just a few more reasons why we should all love this town called Caledon – the “Community of Communities.”

I love a town where an enormous hill, likely considered “dangerously steep” on any other day of the year, becomes a race-track for kids who have always dreamed of driving “really, really fast” down a giant hill. For them, Cheltenham Day makes all those dreams come true! 

I love a town where a village within it gathers together and celebrates “all things Inglewood.”

I love living in a town where someone can leave a trailer on their driveway, the community fills it up with recyclables and then that kind-hearted individual carts all the items to their appropriate final resting place. Any cash that comes from this ongoing exercise is donated to two specific charities: Meaghan Zaremba's Music Room and Special Olympics Bolton. 

I love living in a town where you can call your local Councilor, when you're truly in an absolute crisis and the matter is resolved to the best of their ability within just a few short days. 

I love living in a town where you can read fiery (and granted, sometimes divisive) debate on a range of topics including what is going on in local, provincial and federal politics. Sometimes things get crazy but there's always a voice (or two) of moderation to help bring perspective to the conversation. 

I love living in a town where last year, I met a lovely lady in a Timmies drive thru who told me all about Special Olympics Bolton. I was then privileged to go on and meet a whole bunch of special young adults including our very own local Jason Scorcia – a Special Olympian I'm sure you've met out and about town. Jason even created his own fundraiser, selling his book “Jason's Quest.” This coming weekend, (Saturday, July 20th) it's your chance to support Special Olympics once again and all you have to do is cruise through either of our two local Timmies in Bolton and pick up a rather tasty looking donut to go with your morning (or midday or afternoon!) coffee. (There are two more locations in Brampton if you're headed that way.) 

Heck – I even love a town that has the audacity to go for, AND achieve, a Guinness World Record! 

In short there might be some issues here in Caledon but they shouldn't be considered issues that divide a community. We might have a different perspective on traffic woes depending on where we live and a little loud music coming from the Fairgrounds late at night might be annoying and occasionally cause your neighbours to lose a bit of sleep but these aren't serious issues. There might be areas where the grass could be cut a little faster but if I live in a town that prioritizes cutting the grass on soccer fields for kids to play on before cutting the grass along the sides of the road – I'm ok with that. It's probably good for climate change and helping the environment anyway! Caledon is truly a community of communities where just about everyone works together to make Caledon – and all the little hamlets and villages that lie within it – a very special place indeed. I love this town.