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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday May 13, 2006 Commentary The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Guest Columnist Loss of a hospital Chris Stoate Ward 3 Town Councillor "As I near the golden years of life, I want to be near a curling club, a good pub, and a hospital with a defibrillator. I am doing well so far, but the loss of OakvilleChris Stoate Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) from my neighbourhood would not be welcome news." So wrote one long-time MacDonald Road resident a few years ago during the debate over the hospital's expansion plans. Since then, it has become clear that the hospital will not be able to accommodate Oakville's growth within the confines of its current location. The Province has announced its intent to give the Town 50 acres of land at Third Line and Dundas to permit construction of a state of the art hospital to serve the needs of the community. This is a major turning point for the original community of Oakville. Like the move of Oakville Trafalgar High School from Reynolds to Devon Road, this represents the loss of an institution. Residents who have endured ambulances past their front doors for years will now, as they age, potentially be passengers in ambulances, possibly for long distances. The security that comes from the proximity of the hospital will be lost, as will the comfort of seeing one's neighbours among the volunteers when one is admitted for treatment. As an institution, the hospital is one of the key building blocks of the community, situated on land donated for the purpose by Oakville's founding family, the Chisholm's. Its move will be another step in the loss of Old Oakville's status as a Town, another evolution to becoming a neighbourhood among many in a larger community. This is another one of the costs of growth, along with traffic and higher property taxes. I like to think our Town's founder, William Chisholm, an entrepreneur and community builder, would not have opposed growth. Anyone who has participated in the development of our new Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan, for example, knows that growth generates resources that can be used to enrich our quality of life. The new larger hospital will have greater resources and will accommodate facilities that will improve the calibre of health care services in Oakville. Nevertheless, the proposed location at Dundas and Third Line is a real concern. Our Town planners have suggested that the hospital could be positioned in north Oakville along the Trafalgar Road corridor, north of Dundas. That area is slated for high density, transit-friendly growth, and the hospital could be a catalyst to that, helping us attract the high density first so that later arriving residents of lower density development are not faced with the neighbourhood intensification controversy becoming common in older areas. The Third Line and Dundas area is largely committed by the Province to remain open space. There may be better locations for the hospital, to serve both Oakville and surrounding communities, taking into account the proximity of other hospitals. So far, the rationale for Third Line and Dundas seems to be that the land IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director ROD JERRED Managing Editor Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENA Awards United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION See Gift page 9 Real men don't cry unless watching sports or Old Yeller Everybody knows that real men don't cry. Not at births, baptisms, weddings or funerals. Not even when chopping onions (although, what in tarnation is a real man doing chopping anything other than wood in the first place?) No, real men don't cry. Not even if they get an appendage caught in the gears of a combine. Not even during the viewing of Old Yeller. Okay, maybe during Old Yeller, but even then... Traditionally, aside from Old Yeller, the only obvious exception to the no-blubbering rule would be whilst playing or viewing or just contemplating athletics. In sports all rules go out the window. In sports, men freely huddle, hold hands and pat each other on the backside. In sports, men freely cry. We won! We lost! My team's the best (or worst)! Remember when my favourite team won (or lost)? ­ all legitimate, manly reasons for a good boohoo. It has been theorized that as people age, they become more like the opposite gender: women become more like stereotypical males and men become more like stereotypical females. In the case of men, they become more sensitive and sentimental. Which makes me consider a less-obvious exception to the no-blubbering rule, that exception being men who have reached "a certain age." Not that I am "of a certain age", but I sure find myself a tad misty-eyed of late (which has led me to wonder whether it is the destiny of all real men to become sentimental old fools). Last weekend my wife and I were in Niagara-on-the-Lake, staying at the cute and cozy abode of a friend, and celebrating our anniversary. Over the weekend, we got all sentimental and weepy. Over everything. Well, at least I did. For starters, there was my wife ­ always Andy Juniper incredible, she seems to kick it up a notch when we're away, alone, without the surly bonds of work and sans our angelic offspring. Then there was the bodacious weather that sun-splashed our every move. Then there were meals at restaurants deserving of culinary medals (the Riverbend Inn, in particular, whose owner is a ringer for Bill Clinton). However, while all of the above got me feeling somewhat sappy, I didn't experience true tears until late Saturday afternoon whilst watching The Kentucky Derby when Barbaro whipped the field in astonishing fashion. By 6.5 lengths! I was so awed by this magnificent feat, I welled up ­ tears easily rationalized: hey, it's the Derby, a sporting event. Later that night, as my wife luxuriated in a bubble bath, I took advantage of the available high-speed Internet (at home, in the country, we have snail's speed) to download music. Granted, music always gets me gaga. But when, after a few rum, I came across Simon and Garfunkel's classic The Only Living Boy In New York, well, it was all over. My wife found me whimpering in the dark. I tried defending the terrible tears by explaining the melancholy passion of the song, and how, lyrically, it was about the duo breaking up with Simon bidding farewell to Garfunkel who was moving on to pursue an acting career. My wife just stared at me dry-eyed (my word, the woman must have ice in her veins!). The very next day, as we trekked back to reality, we heard on the radio that my main man, Steve Nash, had been selected the NBA's MVP for a second consecutive year. Upon hearing the news, I was uncharacteristically quiet. My wife respectfully inquired: "You're not going to cry, are you?" Cry? Over an award? Like I'm watchin' Old Yeller. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.