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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, December 25, 2014 | 8 Community helps Declan in making wishes come true by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff William Vilaysone clung to the boards, cautiously shuffling his feet forward. Occasionally, a leg would slide out from under him, sending him sprawling. Each time, the 11-year-old would get back up and slowly begin making his way around the rink at a glacial pace. Just half an hour earlier, Vilaysone had slipped his feet into skates for the first time. He had come to the Ice2Ice Hockey Development Centre for a skating party, thinking he would be renting skates for the day. But that's not what Declan Bowman had in mind. A few weeks ago, the six-year-old Bowman was telling his mom about a friend at school who didn't know how to skate. "Declan loves hockey. It's like a basic human need for him -- air, water, shelter and hockey," said Jillian Bowman. "When he told me about his friend who didn't know how to skate, I told him, `Lots of kids don't know how to skate.' He looked at me and said, `We have to do something about that.'" Bowman contacted Kerr Street Ministries (KSM) to see about organizing a skating party. Many of the kids in KSM's youth see Six on p.17 Tuesday, December 30th, 2014 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm River Oaks Arena 2400 Sixth Line, Oakville Brought to you courtesy of Free Family Skate More than 25 pairs of skates were donated to youths at Kerr Street Ministries (KSM) at a skating party hosted by (above, centre) Declan Bowman, 6, and Ice2Ice Hockey Development Centre. Declan, who loves hockey, wished all kids could learn to skate. Joining him at the party were 37 youths from KSM's youth development program (top). Showing off their new skates (above, left) are Ainsley St. Germain, 11, and (above, right) Wubaidatu Awudu, 10. | photos by Justin Greaves ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Krisztina Neglia Team RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc. www.KrisztinaNeglia.com REDUCE Celebrate the Holiday Season With Us! Award Award Winning Italian Cuisine Private Dining · Corporate Functions · Family Events 905 822 5751 www.michaelsbackdoor.com 1715 Lakeshore Road West West recycle REUSE www.oakville.ca Need parking for overnight guests this holiday? For more information on parking visit oakville.ca Get your permit today! Call 905-338-4394 now to get your temporary on street overnight parking permit if you know you cannot accommodate guests in your driveway over the holidays. Parking offices are open Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and permits will be issued until 11 a.m., December 24, 2014. Offices will be closed December 24, 2014 at noon and will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on January 2, 2015. After hours requests If you have an unexpected overnight guest and need parking consideration after 4:30 p.m., or anytime between December 24 and January 1, call 905-338-4394 and leave a message with: · Your address · The licence plate number of the vehicle that will be left on the road The after-hours request is only good for one night of on street parking. All requests must be made by 1 a.m.