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A6 - The Oakville Beaver. Wednesday, July 9, 2003 eiietobim Tilt II tKVII.l i: IK II Kit 467 Speers Rd.. Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate. Publisher TERI CASAS Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Glue} MARK DILLS Pnxluction Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director ROD JERRED Managbig Hditar THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: \mim m s rp g 3t0funi '- V fftr tn i l-;.s-ro i l«-tOr»j IB > · i 'j i r t ; V T u i ' irij 1 r 1`Vwiji 'ms-W (jM trt Ifc-- ftp Mncrjn- <- mCX f ttar* M t r s^ctr. (tor. 3 i * > m -Via* 'J * - .«** ItownwMMun?* | * kltnnm w k ir ^ V" ^ M m i C»*a Siaon! la k i P *7 K i rifrtlr** liT O T W IM aV '# « » iV m~ I r.w, IM UitW im larcnU A'.n lin ij'w jv iic .'.* t' -A LA «L urtnwr W *; *iss*»ucnlji iu« O l4 ^-rr*Yk»«*Cta?«^» 'V *^V Jtw DM. O mt mid » > . j # mty C*erw r^ n mi/ Ins **». C o k Jty tM'ThanrAVkj^wi Recognized for Excellence by O n ta rio C o m m u n ity N e w s p a p e n A sso cia tio n M j lin n H e a lth c a re YMCA o I 4 O .M I V \ < £ ?n a A C a na d ian C o m m u n ity K r w r t f u p m A sso cia tio n SJxirtun Newspapm o tv auction TJ,, | o a k v llle g a lle r ie s j · · · 4 » » v 1 ^, · in S m W Iw w o R liL I t TATI IGAID TT» U te r M 0M « fo fl B u sw e ssExcaiiHO f L IF E MQS *7 Z T Please reach out It's very rare indeed for Oakville residents not to share their gen erosity. whether through financial contributions or volunteering pre cious time. That's why we teel comfortable -- once again -- to ask you. our readers, to reach deep in your pockets to help Joy Greene. In case you mkssed last Wednesday's edition of the Heaver. Greene is gearing up for her annual charity swim of Lake Russeau. The Oakville athlete raises both money and awareness for Camp Oochigeas -- Canada's first resi dential cancer camp for children. It is at this wonderful camp where youngsters, who are battling the debilitating effects of cancer and its treatment, can have some good old fashioned summertime fun. It is a place where baldness is accepted and undergoing chemotherapy is just part of a reg ular routine. It's a camp where ill children can escape from the hor rors of the disease. Camp Ooch. as it is fondly called, was established in l% 4 at Rosseau Lake College and it caters to more than 2(X) youths each sum mer thanks to volunteers and mon etary support. It doesn't cost the children to attend, however some $2,100 is needed for each camper to 'enjoy a two week stay. This includes trans portation. activities, accommoda tion. meals and the all-important medical attention. A paediatric oncologist and two oncology nurses are on site at all times. This year. Greene is receiving a special morale boost courtesy of 13-year-old Lauren Baker. The plucky Oakville teen was diag nosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia less than three years ago, yet she wants to swim the last leg of Greene's 22-kilometre trek. She has also enjoyed the benefits of Camp Ooch. Before Greene plunges into the kike on July 19, we hope that kx'al businesses and residents get behind this great cause. We understand there are many charitable groups seeking your financial donations, but we ask that you consider what Greene is doing and for whom. She n eeds sponsors and we know there people out there who can put a smile on the faces of Greene, young Lauren and all the other campers who rely on the kindness ot strangers to bring them a bit of happiness. Over to you. Oakville. -BUT DIDN'T CHRETIEN PROMISE To END CHILD POVERTY? Q HE'LL GET AROUND TO IT, RIGHT AFTER HE KILLS THE GST, TEARS UP FREETRADE, CLEANS UP PATRONAGE, MAKES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE y//* r» ~ T < UTTERS T OT H EE D IT O R Theft of plants, items hurts everyone Tht follow ing letter, addressed to M urray Cameron o f the Town oj O akrille parks and recreation department, was submitted to the O akville Reaverfo r pub lication. Il is with great disappointment that 1 find myself writing this letter As you know, volunteers from the Oakville Hortiifultur.il Society maintain the garden in the parkette at the northeast side of Rebecca and Forsythe. Last year, we had a designer do a plan, redid the whole garden and. with the dry summer, spent a great deal of time watering the new garden. During the summer. 12 plants were stolen, as was ihe hose and the sprinkler, which had been chained and padlocked to the bench. We replaced everything this year and. a few days ago three mature yuccas were stolen. These cost S-40 a piece. Also other plants were taken including an oat grass which was also mature in size. The funds used for our projects are raised through a lot of hard work and contributions trom the citizens of Oakville. This Ik not a prank of children; this is adult theft I think As it appears to be unproductive and certainly expensive, the Horticultural Society cannot replace the missing plant material again. It dews seem a shame that the people of Oakv ille who enjoy the garden have to suffer because of the acts of a few thoughtless people. With the publication of this letter. I hope that should someone ee indiv iduals stealing material in ihe middle of th«t night, they might take their description and licence plate numbers and report it to ihe authorities so thev can be stopped. W E N D Y DE JARAY C H A IR . P U B LIC P L A N T IN G C O M M IT T E E O A K V ILLE H O R T IC U LTU R A L S O C IE TY PS: It is important. I think, that the cit izens of Oak-ille realize the problems that we are having. Even the garbage can is now gone. Perhaps someone w ill see something that w ill help us. im nt of the week Relay for Life committee grateful for media support On behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society O akville Unit and the Relay for Life Steering Committee, we would like to express our deep appreciation for the O akville Beaver's com mitment for the second year as our local Print Media Sponsor. Your significant in-kind promotional contribution ensured that more of the revenue generated from the successful fundraising event was utilized for cancer research, education and community support programs W e deeply appreciate the outstanding advertising and edi torial coverage by the O akville Reaver and believe your print support played a key role in the ama/ing success of this year's event. This year this national community-based event was held in over 138 communities across Canada. As you are well aware, the O akville community held our second Relay for Life on June 6-7 at Appleby College. Our volunteer organizers are thrilled to host 158 teams. 140 cancer survivors, and with the support of 3(X)-plus volunteers successfully raised more than $390.(KX). This was an increase of $ 130.000 from last year's inaugural event. The Canadian Cancer Society O akville Unit would wel come the continued support of the O akville Reaver as the local Print Media Sponsor lor the Relay for Life event. Thank you again for your generosity Let's make ^ancer history. G LEN H E R R IN G . R ELA Y C O -C H A IR C A T H E R IN E R A A F L A U B , R ELA Y C O C H A IR M A R Y ELLEN F R E D E R IC K . R ELA Y C O -O R D IN A TO R Story does disservice to teens, tarnishes school's reputation I am writing this letter to express my disappointment with the article Rlakelotk students naturalize Coronation Park that appeared in the Saturday. June 14 edition of your new spaper. As the Blakelock teacher w ho organized this event. 1tc-el the article doe* a disservice to tnc majority of the volunteers who participated in the planting and tarnishes Blakelock's reputation. O f the 26 students who helped at Coronation Park, only seven were students in my biology class who were required to participate. Ih e remainder of the students volunteered for the planting . . . many of them expres.-*rd to me a desire to give something back to the community, or saw the planting as some thing positive they could do for the environment. Yet. the only students quoted were those in the minority group: their state ments paint a general picture of Blakelock students as being a group of mercenaries mainly interested in getting out of school or " paid" with marks. In my opinion, this is a rude slap in the face for the majority of the students who treely gave their time and best effort towards this very worthwhile project. Don't get me wrong . . . I don't dispute the veracity of the quotes, but 1 do question the motivation for including them in the article and the selective way they were used. If I were report ing on a story about teenagers doing something positive for the community, the last thing I would want to do is to embarrass them or cheapen their efforts. When teenagers do these sorts of things, we should be going out of our way to make sure their accomplishments are both valued and celebrated! Yet this arti cle seems to pander to those members of the Oakv ille commu nity who would prefer to view teenagers as dopey, unmotivated, second-class citizens! From a personal perspective. I feel extremely insulted by the article. I have literally spent hours filling out applications for funding, doing research on native plants, organizing the two planting events, etc... .mv only "reward" being the satisfaction of a job well done. Now. I ean add another dubious distinction . .. an article in the local paper that I'm too embanassed to show to my students and colleagues! Students sometimes say imprudent things . . . is it really nec essary for the Reaver to include quotes in a story it the only tiling it accomplishes is to make all students look foolish and selfish? TERR Y W A R C H O LA K . TEACHER T. A . BLAKELOCK Academic ranking empowers parents Re: Educators frustrated w ith Fraser findings (Reaver. July 2) Yet another example of the education al establishment criticizing any attempt to evaluate school performance. I have always found such argu m ents odd in light of ihe function of schix>ls which include* the evaluation and the ranking of the academic performance of its students. It appears that w hat is gixxl for Undents is not good for teachers, school administrators, etc. W'ith all due respect to Mr Papke. 1 do not believe I need my head read because I see value in what the Fraser Institute is try mg to do. which is all about empowering narents. Job evaluation is a reality for most of us and I have little sympathy for those who are now finally being made accountable for their performance. It is about time. The three educators believe that the ranking of schools has no validly yet St. Mildred's had both the highest possible score of 10 in the Fraser study and a 1 (K) per vent acceptance into university by its graduating class this year, despite the dreaded double cohort. Musi be a coinci dence. Further, the Fraser study has (bund that the aggregate ranking of Halton's separate schix>l board to be better than that of the public board. Could it be that (he separate board is doing a better job educating its students? Certainly 1 have heard of a number of O akville parents express this view over the years. Another coincidence? STEVE L A N D R Y Appleby students congratulated As a resident of O akville. I personally want to extend my congratulations and gratitude to the students at Appleby College involved in the A S C F N T program this spring/sum mer. As 1 drove from my home, northbound on Kerr Street. I was so proud to watch them, diligently working together as a team to improve the Kerr Street Community. I hope they are very proud of their combined contribution to our wonderful town. Thank you. A S C E N T ! Have a great summer. D O N N A L A N N IN G The O akville Beaver b a m e m b er of the O nta rio Press C o u n d l The c o u n c i is located at 8 0 G ould S t. Suite 2 0 6 . Toronto. O nt., M 5 B 2 M 7 Phone (4 1 6 ) 3 4 0 -1 9 8 1 A<fcertising ts accepted on the c o fld ttio r that, in the event of a typo g ra ph ica l error, that p o rtio n of adve rtisin g space occupied by the erroneous rtem. to g e th er w ith a reasonable allowance for signature, w ill not be charged for, b ut the balance o t the advertisem ent w ill be paid tor at ttie applicable rate. The publisher reserves the rig h t to categorize a A w rtise m e n ts or d e d ln e . Ye Olde Tyme Picnic a success On behalf of The O akville Seniors' Kerr Street Recreation Centre and The Sir John Colborne Recreation Centre we w ish to thank you lor your coverage in the community happenings section of your paper of the Seniors' Ye Olde Tyme Picnic held in Coronation Park 011 June 11. Also the Iul 1-page photo spread of events of the picnic in your June 13 ArtScene sec tion was very much appreciated. June has been declared Seniors Month and this prompted the idea of having a picnic for the population as a whole to help celebrate this fact and to showcase a few of the many activities which are available for O akville's over 50 popula tion. This picnic was the first annual, and with an attendance in the neighbourhood of 3(X). we consider it a success. Planning for next year's picnic has begun and we are looking at ways and means of improving it to increase awareness and attendance. W ith your continued support we are sure we can achieve our goals. In closing, thanks again for your help. JERRY W A LTER S A D V E R T IS E M E N T C O -O R D IN A TO R O A K V IL LE S E N IO R S P IC N IC C O M M IT T E E Pud * DING WN<3 X j D lN (5 < f| M A X ' LISTEN^ ^ C O Y o u KNokA By STEVE NEASE ICE CREAM ..'I ·KNIVES · L A W NM O W E R S · s m s / axes w h attu at