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THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2007 THE NEW TANNER 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It vehicle. I turned to the lady doing my nails and said, Hes back. She was in shock. Youre kidding right? She asked me. I wasnt. It was at that point he walked in wear- ing a pair of blue latex mechanic gloves. See, this is how I protect my handsif I wear them tonight I wont bite my nails. He told us. None of us knew what to say. Then as fast as he showed up, he disap- peared. I dont really know what hap- pened that evening. I dont even know what to say about the whole thing. I think its great that a man gets a manicure, yet at the same time, I have a hard time getting over the whole guy gets fake nails thing. I told my mom about it and she just about fell over laughing about the whole event. I still find the spa as an escape and if nothing else, Ive got a great story about my nail adventure. Holy Mannys? Mannys Road House and God might seem like an unusual com- bination, but rumours of potential roadhouse religion have been con- firmed by Acton Pastor Richard Stanley who, with wife Mary Ellen, is looking for a permanent home for their newly formed Crossings Community Church. Crossings is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of Canada and is currently holding meetings in the Old Fire Hall, at 10 on Sunday mornings. While nothing has been finalized, in a press release Pastor Stanley said there are plans in the works to meet at Mannys. He said talks are underway and details should be worked out within weeks. Pastor Stanley, a former Acton High grad and industrial engineer who was compelled to leave the corporate world to follow Jesus seven years ago when he resigned as the CEO of a publicly traded company, is completing a Masters of Divinity. Mannys declined comment. CIRA award Congrats, again, to Robert Little School, which has been honoured with a CIRA Ontario Outstanding Intramural Achievement Award. For the fifth year in a row, the schools recreational programs de- signed to promote fair play, fun and active participation for everyone have earned the honour from the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association, which recognizes schools where activity and fitness is a priority. Anyone who comes out to the practices and tries hard is in, said teacher Marie Burland, adding Robert Little will receive another fitness leadership award this one from CAHPRD, the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, at the June 6 Halton District School Board meeting. Athlete honoured Congrats to former track ace Bruce Andrews, one of the inau- gural inductees to the Halton Hills Sports Museum. Andrews, a former phys ed teach- er at Acton High School who will be honoured for his track and field prowess, will be feted along with other inductees at a June 23 gala at the John Elliott Theatre. Senior swim To mark SeniorsMonth in Halton Hills, the Town is inviting those 55 and older to try some of its Active Living programs for free. The Acton pool and Gellert Cen- tre programs will be showcased during the open houses from June 12 to 14. Trunk Sale begins The Acton Trunk Sale Actons favourite summer spot to shop and catch up on whats new opens Saturday in the parking lot by the Olde Hide House. Back for its 14th season, the sale boasts good deals and good food, and helps raise money for com- munity groups such as the Acton Citizens Band and Robert Little School dance club. Gymnast excels Kudos to Limehouse gymnast Marc de Lestard who put in a strong performance for an overall sixth place finish among 16 athletes at the Eastern Canadian Champion- ships in New Brunswick earlier this month. A 14-year-old Grade nine student at Acton High School, de Lestard was a member of Team Ontario, which placed first overall at the meet. He earned a gold medal on the parallel bars and fourth place finishes on rings, floor, pommel horse and vault. Cancer cure fundraiser If you see a lot of pink balloons at garage sales around town on Satur- day, youll know organizers of those events are helping to fund the search for a cancer cure by taking part in the Yard Sale for the Cure. The Canada-wide event encour- ages people to hold a garage sale and donate a portion of the proceeds to the Cure. Locally, Cynthia Simmons, of the Heal Thyself Clinic in rural Acton, will donate 50 per cent of proceeds from her garage sale. People can register their yard sale or make a donation at www. yardsaleforthecure.com New Y daycare? The YMCA of Greater Toronto is investigating opening another daycare centre in Acton this time at St. Josephs Catholic School. Parents at St. Josephs were sur- veyed on the need for before and after-school care and the results will be discussed at an upcoming open house. The YMCA has operated a day- care at McKenzie-Smith Bennett School for 27 years. Continued from page 6 Summers here- sort of Manicures... BANK BARBECUE: Money raised during Fridays charity barbecue staged by Scotiabank staff at Sobeys will be used to help purchase a portable lift for the Acton pool. Scotiabanks Fred Allen, Angela Horobin and Trish DAmbroso eagerly served customers Chantal Sequin (left) and Samantha Coysh of Erin. Frances Niblock photo Like many Ontarians, The Bride and I headed up to our sum- mer getaway last weekend. She had arranged to have last Friday and Tuesday off work so we could beat the usual long weekend traf- fic jams. That seemed like a good plan. As usual I had left some loose ends at work so I was up and e- mailing at 7 a.m. Friday. More than one associate felt it necessary to phone me to remark on that fact; Im not known to be a morning person. Still, I felt we had more than enough time to slide in after the morning 401 madness and the platoons of those who were plan- ning a noon departure for cottage country. Too bad it didnt work out that way. We got tied up in traffic near the airport (no surprise there) but the logjams at Yonge St., Pickering and Oshawa were a nasty surprise. While dawdling along, I had plenty of time to look around at our fellow travellers. I was somewhat surprised to see many other vehicles loaded down with supplies and other necessary items (beer) for weekend revelry. One idiot had a 24 perched on top of his camping gear in the back hatch of a small car. I had visions of him having to make an emergency stop resulting in the beer smash- ing into the back of the heads of he and his lady. What a waste of good beer. I am constantly amazed at the dumb things drivers do on the highways. The former being a perfect example. It isnt necessary to be a physics genius to know that if an accident were to happen, that case of beer would become 24 deadly missiles. Its not stupidity but rather a case of not thinking when loading the car. A little com- mon sense prevents all sorts of problems. I have written before about driv- ers changing lanes in a traffic jam driving me to distraction. The latest disturbing trend appears to be not signalling before doing so. What - they think that by not signalling the other drivers wont notice them? Well, we do. Especially when I get the look from The Bride as she peels her nose off the dashboard when Im forced to jam on my brakes. We decided to stop for lunch at McDonalds just north of the 401 on Hwy 35/115. My friends, the place was bedlam. Truant rug rats were everywhere and competing to see who could holler the loudest. I wondered when parents decided it was acceptable to keep children out of school for a day to get a jump on weekend traffic. Actually, Ive noticed over the past few years more and more people are turning three-day week- ends into four or five days. Judging from the numbers of families I saw last weekend heading north, I doubt there was much work being done in the city last Friday. I had been up to the beach in April and pretty well had our place opened up. The only big job left was to hook up the water, since there was still ice on the lake when I left. An hour after arriving I had the system drained of winter antifreeze, the water running and we were all set for another season. Except for one small detail. When I was leaving last month a huge storm came up. The wind was so strong it ripped the door to our screen porch right off the hinges. Discretion being the better part of valour, with the storm bear- ing down on me, I stowed the door on the porch until my next trip up. Unfortunately, I had not managed to return until last weekend. The Bride puts up with some inconvenience when we are up north together. But she hates bugs. Last weekend the black flies were out in force. So I found myself struggling to get the door repaired while swarms of black flies took turns feasting on my exposed flesh. Friends, I will admit to using more than one socially unacceptable epi- thet getting that door repaired. Saturday was a glorious day and we both enjoyed sitting on our porch. It was warm enough that we dined out there. The Bride remarked how much she had been looking forward to quiet times by the lake and she was certainly happy we were able to repair the door to the porch. We? We chatted with our summer neighbours and got caught up on winter happenings. There were the usual stories about grandchildren arriving and other acquaintances passing on. Most of our neighbours are in the same age bracket as we are so there was quite a mixture of joy and sad- ness. Sadly, more than a couple of deaths affected people on our lake and three or four cottages came unexpectedly on the market. I thought back to our visit to McDonalds and the small army of children we encountered. How lucky those families are. When our children were small we always took a year family vacation at a lake. I had always wanted a place of our own but it was, at the time, a financial impossibility. Now the girls are grown and have pursuits of their own. Im not suggesting that cottage life is for everyone, Far from it. But I have always remembered the words of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who said: If you dont do a good job raising your children, nothing else you do really mat- ters. I know the warm family memo- ries our children have of those family vacations. I just wonder how any more they would have if we had been able to enjoy the lake more often. The same memories can also be made by spending time with children in other activities of course. I encourage you to enjoy them while you can. Kids grow up so fast. Summertime is an excellent op- portunity to do just that. Enjoy.