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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 23, 2007 - 13 Living Oakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 248) Fax 905-337-5567 e-mail angela@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2007 13 Etude in etiquette PHOTOS BY LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER GETTING IT RIGHT: In preparation for this Sunday's Halton Young Achievers' annual Cotillion Ball to be held from 2-6 p.m. at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre on Wyecroft Road, youths in the program recently visited Paradiso Restaurant in downtown Oakville for a Dining Protocol Workshop that focused on Etiquette and Manners. At left, Ebony Dzidah Powell watches instructor Pauline Bragdon demonstrate how to properly use a knife and fork; above left, Cheryl Pitt reviews dining etiquette with students, while, at right, Taylor Keen Douglas practices drinking (water) from a wine glass. Young Achievers of Halton is a community-based group that aims to assist in the building of well rounded citizens of the future. It offers social skills, interactive educational forums, assists in preparing youth leadership and offers workshops in everything from etiquette, career planning and public speaking, to volunteering, self esteem, dance, fitness and financial planning. Tickets to the cotillion cost $50 (adult); $45 (seniors/students; $40 (children 10 and under. For tickets or more information on Young Achievers of Halton call 905-827-4324 or e-mail youngachieversofhalton@hotmail.com. New Age social networking on the agenda By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It's a social and New Age networking group with a focus on holistic and alternative health. The two Oakville residents who founded Halton Holistic Harmony share a passion for new ideas and pride themselves on keeping an open mind. Exploring those ideas and meeting others of the same ilk led them to form the non-profit group just over a year ago. The Oakville-Burlington chapter is operated by 32-year-old Oakville native Raychyl Whyte and John Stewart, a biophysicist and doctor of natural medicine. Milton holistic psychotherapist Dr. Dan Benor heads up its Milton chapter. "I'm a graduate of the school of hard knocks," said the eloquent and thoughtful Whyte. Explaining she was working at age 12, Whyte said she managed to graduate from high school, then Dr. John Stewart study one of her great passions -- theatre arts and drama -- at college, also while working. As much as financial considerations may have kept Whyte from attaining a formal education, Stewart boasts a lengthy list of formal training. He was raised in Scotland where he studied medical science, then biophysics in England, before he came to Canada 25 years ago to earn his PhD at the University of Toronto. He became a doctor of natural medicine Raychyl Whyte after that. Stewart said he is a former university lecturer who worked for a decade as a federal environmental health scientist. He has also studied Reiki, kinesiology, Dowsing, Kundalini, Tantra, radionics, homeopathy, Kabbalah and Buddhism. He instructs on energy and vibrational sciences, acts as a consultant for medical device manufacturers and heads up the Radionics Research Institute. Daniel Benor The pair met at a Toronto restaurant. "John has had a lot of experience giving presentations on alternative health and healing," said Whyte, noting that Stewart once commented there were few like-minded people in Oakville. "I said, `Oh yes there are, I've lived here all my life' so I set out to prove John mistaken," laughed Whyte. She then organized speaking engagements for Stewart locally, including one at the public library, and the turnout was so successful the couple then turned their energy to founding Halton Holistic Harmony, which celebrated its first anniversary in March. "Our aim quite simply is a social and networking group that affords the opportunity to mix and mingle with other like-minded individuals and we open the floor to guest speakers," said Whyte. While Stewart has his own company, Biophysica Inc., Whyte said she keeps busy as an actor, social activist and fashion redesigner/seamstress. With direct experience with poverty and personal trauma, Whyte is the membership secretary for the Oakville NDP and considers herself to have become an outspoken, determined activist for socialism, altruism, truth, social justice, equality, compassion, and transparency, secularity and accountability in government. She is a volunteer for Socialist Action, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and the NDP See Halton page 14