{"id":22467,"date":"2018-12-12T16:19:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T21:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=22467"},"modified":"2018-12-12T16:19:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T21:19:48","slug":"inside-aurora-twas-two-weeks-until-christmas-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-twas-two-weeks-until-christmas-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: ‘Twas Two Weeks Until Christmas 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Twas two weeks until Christmas, and far north of here
\nSanta\u2019s workshop prepped for the big night of cheer.
\nThe old elf for a moment was taking a break
\nAnd catching up on all those decisions to make<\/p>\n

Aurora, for example, was always a task
\nFrequently requesting some impossible ask
\nFunds, buildings, traffic calming, tried Santa’s powers
\nThey even once asked he remove some cell towers<\/p>\n

Their likely expectations, filled him with dread
\nAnd explained the sudden dull ache in his head
\nHe had best be prepared, so taking a seat
\nHe skimmed some Aurorans and put up his feet<\/p>\n

But ‘stead of needing more things, St Nick would soon find
\nThat the Town was working to make up its own mind
\nRather than asking for things, of every stead
\nThey were now taking control, and moving ahead<\/p>\n

MPPs and the mayor, Santa Claus found
\nHad been shuffled resulting in new ones in Town
\nE’en a Federal riding had changed direction
\nAnd this in a year when there was no election!<\/p>\n

Another action that caught St Nick by surprise
\nCouncil had volunteered to reduce its size
\nHe mused why this year this had prompted a \u201cgo\u201d
\nWhen for years Council’s viewpoint had always been \u201cno\u201d<\/p>\n

This sudden new direction left Santa vexed
\nIn 2022 could a ward system be next?
\nBut whatever the reason for this new change in tack
\nThe reindeer would be happy fewer gifts he’d need pack<\/p>\n

But the news that made Santa jump out of his chair
\nWas the Town moving forward on Library Square
\nFor 20 years that one had been argued each way
\nTo see it built Santa felt he\u2019d not see the day<\/p>\n

Reading on further Santa was visibly stunned
\nTo see the cost would come from the Town\u2019s Hydro Funds
\nThe Town was long reluctant to access this stash
\nAnd this scheme would swallow up most of the cash<\/p>\n

As Santa read with great awe about all of this
\nHe marveled at all the things he had missed
\nArenas were now serving much healthier fare
\nAt Hallmark the call “play ball” would be in the air<\/p>\n

Aurora United was planning its venue
\nFood and wine would be on the Armoury menu
\nNeighbourhoods were stabilizing more than in past
\nWilliams High School was bound, for Bayview at last<\/p>\n

Santa put down the papers and pondered a lot
\nWith the Town making decisions, they now needed naught
\nThis year no infrastructure, they’d be requiring
\nAt this rate Santa Claus could think of retiring!<\/p>\n

Aurorans were confident, and their future clear
\nSo Santa\u2019s team could bypass their Town Hall this year
\nHe\u2019d instead wish them good luck, if they would heed it
\n\u2018Cause based on experience, they\u2019d probably need it.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston \u2018Twas two weeks until Christmas, and far north of here Santa\u2019s workshop prepped for the big night of cheer. The old elf for a moment was taking a break And catching up on all those decisions to make Aurora, for example, was always a task Frequently requesting some impossible ask Funds, buildings, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5Qn","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 08:20:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}