Welcome to the towns of Fort Erie, Ridgeway, Crystal Beach and Stevensville — the newest ghost towns in southern Ontario.

When I moved here in 1980, this was a thriving hub bub of activity for young and old alike, always something or somewhere to go in any season. A great place to retire or raise your children in a safe enviroment.

Slowly but surely things started to disappear — the theatre, the historic Crystal Beach Amusement park. I know why that closed: it couldn’t compete with the newer amusement parks that were popping up all over, but why they didn’t keep the park as an historic landmark with everything in it instead of putting a tiny plaque there is a sin.

If you look up and down in these towns, real estate signs are everywhere.

With the loss of our hospital, people don’t want to live here because they don’t want to die en route to the hospital.

Factory closings mean no jobs in this area. If you are lucky and can afford the gas, most jobs are past St. Catharines.

Now with the slots gone, tourism is a thing of the past.

The racetrack closing is putting so many people out of work it’s unbelievable, from the stable hands jockeys and others that work there — what are they suppose to do?

The people who board the horses, what income will they have? The farmers who grow the hay and straw for the track, what are they suppose to do for money?

This was once called the Golden Horseshoe now will be the dusty horseshoe as more and more people will move away and what little businesses are left will slowly dwindle and die.

And shame on Dalton McGuinty for cutting much-needed services. If he wants to cut back, why not cut govern-

ment employees’ pay and perks.