There is a very funny scene in the 1994 holiday-season film The Ref which stars Dennis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spacey.

In the scene, the character Gus (Leary), a cat-burglar who is on the run from local authorities, exquisitely demonstrates the need to sometimes simply call a spade a spade.

Gus is holding Lloyd and Caroline Chasseur (Spacey & Davis) hostage in their own home. He becomes frustrated with the constant bickering between the married couple. An argument ensues about whether the husband did or did not see a stop sign that he had driven through in an earlier scene, and Gus finally snaps.

What follows goes something like this:

Gus: You saw the stop sign, didn't you Lloyd?

Lloyd: (Stares nervously at the weapon pointed in his face)

Gus: You saw the stop sign, didn't you Lloyd?

Lloyd: (Whispers) Yes.

Gus: Then you, are a liar. Capital “L”, small “i”, small “a”, small “r”, period.

The Window Unveiling event in Meaford on Saturday November 21 should serve as a reminder of what community spirit is all about, and how fortunate we are to live in a small town like ours.

Events like this not only bring large numbers of residents together, but also involve an unbelievable number of people working together simply to make it happen.

In order for the Window Unveiling to take place, downtown businesses first and foremost, need to enthusiastically participate by dedicating valuable time and resources to the creation of the sometimes stunning holiday window displays.

There is no question that residents of Meaford have every right to be frustrated with the current council and the state of municipal affairs over the last few years. Perhaps we are even entitled to be angry.

Enormous deficits, tax increases, and lack of funding for important projects, have all lead to questions about the leadership of our council, and the size of our municipal staff. That is fair.

What we can't lose sight of though, is the fact that no matter how we feel about how and why we have arrived in this place, we can't change what has transpired. Our only option is to look toward the future and figure out how we are going to get out of this mess.