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C2 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 20, 2002 "Angels From Heaven" MORNING & AFTERNOON NURSERY SCHOOL & JK. PROGRAM Children like flowers flourish in daylight. Angels From Heaven offers an abundance o f natural stmlighi and colourful murals decorating the walls, m aking a fabulous place fo r kids to spend time. First triplets born at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital mark 40th birthday By Wilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR The M etherel triplets were famous. Bonnie, Brenda and Beverly were bom the day astronaut John Glenn orbited around the world, Feb. 20, 1962. They were the first triplets bom at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, an occasion which prompted former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to send a framed congratulatory letter. Today is their 40th birth day. It's a day their mother, Pat Metherel, will never forget. Their father, Bernard Metherel (who died in 1984) said, "I feel like Glenn must have felt when he was com ing out of orbit" when the hospital called him at 7:30 a.m. that morning to deliver the surprising news. Her three daughters were the first set of triplets bom at Oakville's then 11-year-old hospital - much to every one's surprise, including the Metherels' family physician, photographed for the local paper, as was the first day in kindergarten at Eastview School in Bronte. They attended Eastview until Grade 5 when the fami ly moved to Rockwood and the girls completed their ele mentary education at Brookville School. A few years later, the family moved to Milton and the triplets attended Acton High School. Today, the triplets are married and each has two children. Bonnie's husband, Tom Rondeau, works at the Casino Rama in Orillia. She works at Northern Eagle Outfitters. They live in Oak Ridges. Brenda and her husband Paul Holman co-own the Rockwood Saunders Bakery - and live in Rockwood. Beverly is married to Larry Hepburn, a trucker for M aple Lodge Farms, and currently lives in Hillsburgh. Today, Bonnie and Brenda appear identical, and Beverly "who was the youngest and biggest at birth is now the tallest," concludes their mother. 74 Florence Street, (at Kerr Street) (905) 842-0794 ONE DAY BATHROOM MAKEOVER NO DEMOLITION! · No More Regrouting · No More Mold & Mildew · No More Leaks WE GUARANTEE IT Seamless Acrylic Wall Acrylic tubs have a life expectancy of 25-30 years. More Economical than Replacing AS SEEN ON TV & AT YOUR LOCAL MALL! T he M etherel trip lets - Beverly, B renda and Bonnie. Dr. G. O. Warr. the Metherel family. The "They just kept coming couple already had four boys within half an hour," Warr aged 14 months to six years said after the girls were bom. "I w asn't expecting to Their total weight was 13 have triplets," said Metherel, lbs., 3oz. Not named until a now 63 and living in Milton. few days later, the girls were "I remember wanting a known as Baby A, Baby B girl, and got three of them." and Baby C. Once named, And, after the triplets they become known as the were bom. she gave birth to T hree Bs' - Bonnie, Brenda her eighth child - another and Beverly. son. Bonnie is the oldest, The triplets grew up as arriving at 7:12 a.m., weigh healthy little girls, identical ing 4 lbs., 2 oz; Brenda in appearance with red hair arrived at 7:19 a.m., at 4 lbs.; and freckles. and Beverly came at 7:25 "1 dressed them alike. I a.m,, weighing 5 lbs., 1 oz. bought fabrics and made The triplets' arrival their clothing." almost doubled the size of Their first birthday was Halton CAS struggles with funding squeeze and caseload By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER There is no financial `wiggle room' in which to manoeuvre much-needed funds at the Halton Children's Aid Society, says its director of finance Kathleen Blackwood. "It's a big challenge," said Blackwood who is faced with finding the money to pay for a 10 per cent increase in investigations undertaken this past year. Currently the CAS has 1,950 open cases. Of those 220 will require ongoing care. The agency also has 80 children who are crown wards, which means staff social workers must co-ordinate com plete care for them. Three years ago, the Ministry of Community and Social Services changed its funding policy. It would pay accord ing to volume and number of cases closed only. "We decided that to alleviate pressure, it was reasonable to incur a deficit by hir ing more staff than the funding formula allowed, than affect the levels of care," said Blackwood. According to the new model there's no money flowing for investigation, ongoing care nor prevention programs. "It's discouraging because we've had to find the money from somewhere else," she said. Under the old funding formula the Halton CAS could afford its leased office space on South Service Road in Burlington. The agency moved in one year before the provincial government announced it would be moving to a volume-based funding formula. With this new way of providing money -- which doesn't consider fixed costs such as rent, the agency can't afford it's digs. To save money, 25,000 square feet have been surrendered to the land lord. Also, the CAS has lost a $48,000 transportation subsidy it received from the regional school boards. The money was used to ferry children, put in foster care, to and from their familiar neigh bourhood schools. As well, the ministry is "not even close" to covering the expenses incurred by the CAS for medical and dental care provided to children. And court-ordered assessments such as mental fitness and parenting abilities are tacked on to the CAS's bill. 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