www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, October 7, 2011 · 8 2FC 0CEGML?J +SLGAGN?JGRW MD &?JRML UUU F?JRML A? Realtors to flash mob downtown Saturday By Nathan Howes OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF As quickly as they emerge from the crowd for your enjoyment, moments later they disappear with no traces left behind. For three minutes and seven seconds, people in downtown Oakville Saturday will be treated to a spontaneous song and dance performance of Our House e by Madness, by a flash mob of 40 Realtors with the Oakville Milton District Real Estate Board (OMDREB) in support of Habitat for Humanity Halton. "This is an idea that sort of took flight about back in late May, early June, earlier this summer, which was just a dream I had one night and woke up the next morning and thought that it was amusing," said Sandra Gilraine, real estate broker with OMDREB. "(I) mentioned it off handedly to one of the staff members at the Oakville Milton District Real Estate Board at a committee meeting that I was at and it sort of generated a lot of excitement and we decided to run with it." The Realtor's aim is also to unite all real estate agents across the community by "tearing down the barriers between particular brokerages," and see them all as individual Realtors of the community, rather than individual Realtors in different brokerages, Gilraine said. During the performance, the group will also be building a full-sized shed for the duration of the song, which will be raffled off internally to OMDREB brokers for Habitat. "Habitat for Humanity had offered to create a custom-built shed, build it from scratch and provide the materials, which was going to be raffled off to the general public," said Gilraine. "However, due to red tape that restricts us from doing a public raffle like that, we unfortunately had to keep our fundraiser a little more private." "Realtors will have the opportunity of buying tickets for their clients and family and friends, but we're not able to advertise it to the public anymore," she added. All proceeds from the $5 raffle tickets will go to Habitat and the shed will be installed in a backyard of the winner's choosing next spring, Gilraine said. The goal of the event is to raise $10,000 for the organization. For those attending Saturday's performance and have never seen a flash mob before, Gilraine said the abrupt performance is exactly as the words describe. "It happens in a flash, in the blink of eye. It literally comes from out of nowhere, you're not expecting it," said Gilraine. "In the description I would put to, a flash mob is a large group of people that come together and blend out of the crowd to do a performance that sets them a part, and then immediately upon the ending of that particular performance, the performers bleed back into the audience." Training for the flash performance has been a "really long couple of months," Gilraine said, as the group had help from two high school students who are members of Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Burlington. "They volunteered their time to choreograph our routine for us and then teach our 40 Realtors how to perform this routine. It literally is a threeminute dance from beginning to end with some very difficult moves that our older and more experienced Realtors have really worked hard to pick up," said Gilraine. "We've got turns, steps, we've got shimmies, we've got slides, (and) we've got funky head and shoulder movement. "It really is quite intricate and those high school girls really worked very hard to choreograph this routine and teach it to us," she added. The group had a bit of trouble when the students went back to school in the middle of their training, but luckily one of the real estate agents has an extensive background in dance and was able to pick up where the students left off, Gilraine said, and credits her for pulling everything together. "We are fun loving, real, honest people who really care about our community and we really enjoy putting ourselves out there and we want everybody to know that we work hard, but we can be fun." The flash mob will take place Saturday at Towne Square at 1 p.m. For more information, visit http://omdreb.on.ca. To make a donation, visit www.habitathalton.ca. Milton Roundabout Opening October 11 2M FCJN GLAPC?QC PM?B Q?DCRW W GKNPMTC RP?DÍA ÎMU ?LB GKNPMTC ?GP OS?JGRW W &?JRML 0CEGML GQ MNCLGLE GRQ ÍPQR PMSLB?@MSR GL +GJRML ,CU 0M?B k ,CU 0SJCQ Learn more at www.halton.ca/goround N Realigned Main St Tremaine Rd Simplified map - not to scale +?IGLE &?JRML ? @CRRCP NJ?AC RM JGTC UMPI ?LB PCRGPC PMLRC 0M?B -?ITGJJC -LR?PGM *+ * k "G?J MP ÌÌ k 2MJJ $PCC ÌÌÌ 227 ÌÌ k UUU F?JRML A? 06/07 1011 .JC?QC JCR SQ ILMU ?Q QMML ?Q NMQQG@JC GD WMS UGJJ F?TC ?L ?AACQQG@GJGRW MP ?AAMKKMB?RGML 2FGQ LMRGAC ÍPQR NPGJ LCCB ?R ? &?JRML 0CEGML FMQRCB CTCLR MP GQQSCB KCCRGLE Visit www.oakville.ca Join us on Thursday, October 20 at 7 p.m. in the South Atrium at Town Hall for the launch of Vision V 2057. Vision 2057 brings together all of the town's V ' master plans and other key planning initiatives that will help set future directions for our community. Our kick-off event will be held during Local Government Week and will celebrate the important role public engagement has in shaping the future of our community. Please join us to learn more about how you can participate in Vision V 2057! Please RSVP to 905-845-6601, ext. 3667 or townofoakville@oakville.ca by October 17, 2011.