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Taking action to wipe out graffiti in Oakville By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 7 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Saturday, April 25, 2009 Countless pieces of eye-irritating graffiti met their end, Wednesday afternoon, as around 25 student volunteers enthusiastically marched up and down Kerr Street scrubbing away the illegal scribblings wherever they could find them. The Earth Day cleansing, known as `Take Part, Take Action,' was put together by the Town, the Kerr and Bronte Village BIAs and Halton police as a way of beautifying the community. Recreation Assistant for the Recreation and Culture Department of the Town of Oakville Danielle Tanner said Wednesday's event was the first part of a two-part project that will also see students from various local elementary and high schools flock to Bronte Village, where they will continue their graffiti removing labour for volunteer hours. "It is an Earth Week Graffiti Clean Up, where local students are going to be given gloves and cleaning wipes and they are going to be going through the two villages and cleaning up the graffiti on mailboxes, hydro boxes, windows, doors, etc," said Tanner. Kerr Village BIA Director Richard Messer said that thanks to programs like this, graffiti has not been that big an issue on Kerr Street for the last five years. "We've had a pretty good program in place, a cooperation between the Town of Oakville, the merchants and the Kerr Village BIA. Our position is to remove the graffiti as soon as we see it," said Messer. "We're pretty proactive with it, but every once and a while we do get tagged, especially when the weather gets a little nicer and some of the youth come out. This is an opportunity for the youth to give back to their community and for the Kerr Village, and the Halton police to work together along with the Town of Oakville." While the graffiti was not everywhere on Kerr Street, it was found when the students looked for it. As the students scrubbed, Tanner told them the longer graffiti had been on a surface, the more difficult it would be to remove. Some she noted could only be taken off with a sandblaster. For the most part, however, the special `Graffiti Wipes' used by the Town's Roads and Works Department did the trick. "It comes off really easily," said one student as she scrubbed a black tag off a mailbox. While unpleasant to look at police note graffiti can have a far greater negative impact on a community because it can attract criminal elements who are given the impression that no one cares about the DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER ELBOW GREASE: A student volunteer scrubs graffiti away as part of the Take Part, Take Action Graffiti Clean Up, which took place on Kerr Street on Wednesday. neighbourhood and as such no one will cause problems if they come in and conduct their business. Even a little graffiti needs to go noted, said Constable Mark Vegso. "All the studies have shown that the more graffiti there is, the kids will just keep tagging over it," he said. "The quicker you get rid of it, the less likely they are going to take the risk and come back and do it again." Blakelock student Rebecca Harrison had her own motives for getting involved in the clean up, noting that she needed volunteer hours to graduate high school, but was also interested in bettering the community. "Graffiti is bad and some of it represents gangs and we don't want that in Oakville," she said. "Also it's dirty and it's Earth Day." The Bronte Village graffiti clean up is scheduled for Friday. EXPERIENCE THE HALTON VACUUM DIFFERENCE & power up! with a new Beam Great Value Performer · 500 air watts · Powerful enough for most homes · Electric Powerhead and hose · Complete set of attachments Classic Power Performer · 550 air watts · Powerful enough for even large homes · Heavy duty electric powerhead with swivel handle, 3 way switched hose · Complete set of attachments Spring Special Edition Save on Powerhead renity 375 & Hose Sets · 600 air watts · Ultra quiet serenity package · Deluxe electric power head with swivel handle, 3 way switched hose · Complete set of deluxe attachments $ 5 Model #BU185 only 499 99 Model #SC225 $ Bonus Free Garage Kit included M.S.R.P. $49.99 only 599 Save $ 99 Free Deluxe Electic Hand Powerbrush M.S.R.P. $89.99 Not exactly as shown. y h $ Bonus only 269 799 99 $ packages starting at 99 99 9 DU ND AS ST .E TR Model #0020E Deluxe Q Electric Pow Model #0020E Model #0021E Model #012262 Save $270 OFF M.S.R.P. $770.00 OFF M.S.R.P. $1080.00 480 Save $620 OFF M.S.R.P. $1420.00 $ SALES · SERVICE · SELECTION · QUALITY BRANDS · INSTALLATION HALTON'S TRUSTED FLOOR CARE SPECIALISTS! L 429 AS ND DU Model #012264 Sav Sav $30 Save$1 Saveveee$50 . 905-257-6145 Mon.-Fri.9:30-6:00 Sat. 9:30-4:00, Sun. CLOSED , RR Voted Best Vacuum Store D. Since 1999 UP PE AF AL GA R M ID DL E 2379 Trafalgar Road Trafalgar Ridge Shopping PLaza (in the Winners/HomeSense plaza a) Beside Scotia Bank ST .W . RD .E N .