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

By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Oakville Sculptors and Woodcarvers Guild now has the funds to share its craft with more Oakville students thanks to an $8,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The grant, which was ratified Oct. 28, will allow the guild to purchase more tools and equipment so it can expand its existing sculpting and woodcarving programs. The guild already has an arrangement with T.A. Blakelock High School, which sees the guilds mem- bers brought in to instruct students at certain points during the art curriculum. Its especially great when youve got the arts stu- dents who have an artistic bent already because youre showing them a new form of art and teaching them various techniques they can use to carve, said Bob Edwards, former Blakelock teacher and current guild member. Weve found that kids are very attentive for the week that were with them. Theyre very interested in what were doing and they get really involved in it. Edwards said this year students carved special Santa ornaments for the holiday season. Last year, he said, students did relief carvings of oak leafs and learned how to etch designs using wood-burning. These wood-burning classes came in handy as it allowed stu- dents to decorate the jewelry boxes they had made in woodshop class. This year were hoping, if theyve done a table in the woodshop, we could look at teaching designs they could chip carve into the top of it and then seal, said Edwards. Were trying to introduce various forms of wood- carving to them and go through the process and have them create the designs themselves. Edwards said woodcarving is an age-old craft, which can not only be seen in furniture, but in structures as well. He said not only is it fun, but it also provides stu- dents with an outlet for their creativity and a useful skill. I wanted to carve since I was a young kid. Id seen the beautiful carvings of birds and things like this and always wanted to be able to do that, but I never had the time or the instruction, so I waited until I was retired and I think thats far too late, said Edwards. I would like to see this open to students so they are introduced to it, they are aware of it, they get involved with it, they have a chance to do it and even if they dont follow or practice with it they have some connections they can call on in their 20s or 30s. Edwards also pointed out that these programs benefit the guild, as well, because it allows members to pass on their skills to the next generation, some of whom join the guild, allowing its membership to expand. White Oaks Secondary School and the guild are currently discussing how to bring the program to that schools arts students. The Regional Municipality of Halton www.halton.ca NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION T S I S R R T T O Contract Number: R-2426A-2010 Scheduled Start Date: Winter, 2010 Scheduled Completion Date: Summer, 2011 Project Manager: Tony Finelli, C.E.T. ext. 7615 Please let us know as soon as possible if you will have an accessibility or accommodation need at a Halton Region hosted event or meeting. 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario L6M 3L1 Dial 311 or 05- 25-6000 Toll Free 1- 66-442-5 66 TT 05- 27- 33 www.halton.ca 24121 0 13 Friday , D ecem ber 24, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m Grant helps sculpture and woodcarving guild continue to educate THIS IS HOW:T.A. Blakelock Grade 11 art students had a chance to learn wood- carving from members of the Oakville Sculptors and Woodcarvers Guild. Here, Will Mousseau listens to carver and guild president Tony Last. ERIC RIEHL/ OAKVILLE BEAVER HERITAGE Lifestyle Home Furnishings SINCE 1977 4205 Fairview Street, Burlington 905-634-5298 www.heritagefurniture.ca Incredible specials, buy outs, one-of-a-kind and factory authorized savings! DONT MISS OUT! Boxing Week Sales Event Up To50%Off Starts December 27th