The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday June 27, 2008 - 33 April 2006. the sudden coma in Salvation a beacon in Bronte, Like At Christmas time the ilanRestaurant serves up ph m the Firehall Firehall Army benefits fro ciation thropy in spades. ant's customer appre unity kind of Restaur Its focus is the comm ery's generous mindset busi- night. The eat its diners , which in a big box, big giving ually infectious among often than not, is eq g out donaness world, is more as they dig in deep pullin d pockets. overlooked. ns from their wallets an s come knock- tio local chariWhen firefighter "We support as many nager Jennifer 're a meeting, general ma s as we can because we staff answer with tie unity and we Ryerse and her ing place for the comm ople in any arms wide open. nt to support these pe night kids eat free wa Every Monday can," said Ryerse. g a red plas- way we n making at the Firehall. By buyin "We're about more tha helmet, a must-have a successful tic firefighters money and running tive tot's toy box, the d to make a posiin every imagina - business, we inten to those myriad chari unity," she proceeds go tive impact in the comm ted by the Oakville ties suppor Fighters added. Fire ed feeding, Professional When the masses ne . catering pros at the Association all they turn to the en the former Fireh arty helping of fine And wh her Firehall for a he Sydney Clark fell ill, hostess stepped up to fare. session for coworkers and bosses The weekend training arted in their typical big-he hters is probably the plate the Oakville Fire Fig ff uested shift among sta way, to help. ars the the most req the hometown er the past two ye Ov fans of ost $10,000 that are Firehall has donated alm heroes, said Ryerse. ve in Magic' a bevy of to the `Do You Belie The Firehall also sets up dney's mom, d a corcharity created by Sy ques every week to fee brother Logan. barbe tly were Nancy, dad Greg and e crew of 600 and recen funds for Sick porat Blakelock It's an event to raise led in by organizers of ere Sydney was cal n to feed Kids Hospital, wh gh School's 50th reunio cured of Reye's Hi mni in attendiagnosed and the thousands of alu common and deadSyndrome, an un teen into a dance. ly disease that threw the ehall in the community The Fir From the beginning with Wendy Styant Wendy Styant certainly has staying power. She's been a fixture at the Firehall since it opened in 2000 and showing up to work at the Bronte and Lakeshore Road spot since 1989, before the Firehall's incarnation from Chap's. From dishwasher to hostess, to prep cook she's done it all. With daycare and fast-food experience listed on her resume, the 16-year-old go-getter initially applied to work alongside her older sister. From that teenage beginning Wendy's restaurant career began, but not until her dad inspected her prospective workplace and gave his approval. She moved to Oakville in Grade 6, graduated from QE Park Secondary and now lives on Burloak, which straddles Burlington to Oakville. As a result of spending half of her life in this workplace, every shift becomes like an old home week reunion for all the familiar faces she sees. And while the variety of restaurant life keeps her work interesting, it's the customers and co-workers who motivate Wendy to wake up and tackle each of the busy days ahead. "I stay because of the people I work with and work for, they are all really great people," said Wendy. She's worked on the scene long enough to have an opinion on the before and after of it. "I've personally witnessed a whole turnaround with the opening of the Firehall and the owners really have made it all come alive," The eatery attracts large crowds that reflect the community demographic from friends looking for a night out to socialize to families looking for the same together time. "There's a nice mix of clientele now and both fit in well with the atmosphere of the Firehall." Today Wendy runs the kitchen ordering all of the food, donning her whites to do the cooking and all the while overseeing the kitchen's staff. "It's hard work in the restaurant business, you really have to love what you do to stick with it so long," she added. AGRO Congratulations on 8 Successful Years 1032 Howard Rd. Burlington, ON L7R 3X5 Phone: 905-632-8891 Fax: 905-632-5211 Wholesale Produce Ltd. Supplying Fresh Fruit & Vegetables to the Food Service Industry Order your FRANK'S® RedHot® wings S t at the Firehall! They're a thrill a bite. CONGRATULATIONS FIREHALL Your friends at Masi Wines wish you all the best. alute! S CONGRATULATIONS! ®/TM used under licence from Reckitt Benckiser Inc. © 2008 Reckitt Benckiser (Canada) Inc www.franksredhot.ca