Dear All,

Raise your glasses. Tonight we stopped fluoridation in Canton, NY, our home town. The Village Trustees voted 3 to 1, with the Mayor abstaining, to halt fluoridation. The fluoridation was discontinued in July, 2001 for technical reasons – the equipment needed replacing. This provided us a window of opportunity to halt fluoridation permanently, a goal which was realized tonight.

A turning point in our campaign came when we were able to get 130 faculty and staff, including the Dean of Students; the Registrar and four heads of department from my university (St. Lawrence University) to sign a petition asking the Village Trustees not to put fluoride into the water. Nearly 300 students also signed this petition.

What was also telling was that at a public meeting people, who had been previously pro fluoridation, spoke out against it. Moreover, a young local dentist when asked about the issue was lukewarm about fluoridation’s benefits. He said words to the effect, “If you don’t continue I don’t think we will have a dental crisis, and if we continue I don’t think we will see an end to tooth decay”. Also, of enormous importance, both for our morale, and for the education of the Trustees, was the fact that Dr. Hardy Limeback drove all the way from Toronto ( over four hours away by car) to give testimony, and then after a short meal and discussion with the troops, drove all the way back to Toronto, the same evening. He did this without fee and wouldn’t even accept travel expenses! We – and the whole movement – are truly blessed to have such a man on our side.

Thank you all for your many letters of support and all the other ways so many of you have helped us win this battle.

Today, Canton, tomorrow the world (or at least New York City!)

Paul Connett.

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