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OFA PRESIDENT VISITS ESSEX More diversification needed, Kamenz says TEENS GOING HUNGRY FOR A CAUSE Humanities Club plans 30 Hour Famine ESSEX 73'S ELIMINATE GRIMSBY PEACH KINGS Quadruple overtime required for win See AGRICULTURE Page 6 See COMMUNITY Page 11 See SPORTS Page 17 $1.00 "Serving Essex and Community Since 1896" (GST included) Whole Number 6234 Registration No. 08565 Volume 128 No. 16 Phone: 519-776-4268 Fax: 519-776-4014 519-776-4021 32D Arthur Ave., Essex Wednesday, April 18, 2007 http://essexfreepress.reinvented.net User fees cause concern Recreation facilities worry about impact BY DANIEL SCHWAB Some local recreational organizations are fearing a major decrease in registration if a user fee is introduced this summer requiring anyone living outside the municipality to pay an extra $250. The fee, passed by council March 19, would be applied to all recreational facilities, including both arenas and the Essex pool. Cynthia Cakebread, community recreation manager for the Essex Centre for the Arts Aquatics and Recreation, said she estimates about 60 to 70 per cent of pool users are non-Essex residents. She said for many people living outside the municipality, it's a shorter drive to Essex than to Windsor to use a pool. "It will have a negative impact," she said. "It wouldn't be worth it for people. Right now we have people who come for our good programs, but they're not going to pay even if the programs are good." SEE DECREASE, PAGE 2 Rally honours military families BY DANIEL SCHWAB SYMBOLS OF STRENGTH ­ Second World War veteran Larry Costello expresses words of encouragement and gratitude to families of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan during a rally in Woodslee Sunday. Dozens of well-wishers turned out for the event hosted by the Friends of Woodslee. To view a slideshow of Sunday's event, go to essexfreepress.reinvented.net and click on "Support the Troops Rally". Eleven-year-old Jessica Adams and her brother Jonathan, 8, had many of their questions concerning their father answered on Sunday during a rally in Woodslee supporting local troops in Afghanistan. Their father, Sgt. Duane Adams, 36, is part of a Canadian Military unit stationed in the war-torn Kandahar district. Ever since Adams left to serve his second tour of duty in February, Jessica and Jonathan have been looking to their mother Debbie for answers about his whereabouts and condition. "They have a lot of questions... What's happening over there, will he come home?" Debbie said. "They worry about him and they miss him... but we tell them `Daddy is well trained' and we hope for the best." Holding signs that read, "Dad we love you! Come home to us safely!" and "Dad you are our hero," Jessica and Jonathan were comforted by dozens of well-wishers who gathered at Woodslee Memorial Park during the rally. SEE YELLOW, PAGE 9 Daniel Schwab / Free Press