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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 16, 2015 | 26 Jazz Festival gets $27K grant from ministry The TD Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival received a Celebrate Ontario grant from The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The official announcement was released last week and stated the local music event would receive $27,000 from the Province through its grant program. The festival is the only event from Oakville to have received a Celebrate Ontario grant. "It's fantastic to have Celebrate Ontario's support in helping us provide, not only exceptional artists, but increasing opportunities for youth to participate. An example will be this year's week long workshop with saxophone great Mitch Frohman of Tito Puente fame, rehearsing with 23 young artists and forming an orchestra to headline on one of the main stages," said Ronnie Brown, chair of the TD Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival Committee. "This will be an experience of a lifetime for these emerging young artists." According to the festival committee, the grant funds will be used to "enhance the overall programming to help generate a larger economic impact in the community and attract more tourists to Oakville." The Oakville Jazz Festival was one of more than 270 festivals and events across the province to receive a Celebrate Ontario 2015 grant (overall a $19-million program for 2015/16) -- also among the recipients was Burlington's Sound of Music Festival. This year's jazz festival will include a Kids Fun Zone, Mitch Frohman Children's Musical Workshops and a ticketed headliner concert on Thursday, Aug. 6 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. The TD Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival runs Aug. 6-8. For more information, visit www.oakvillejazz.com. M E E T A N D G R E E T NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW)/Ford Drive Structure for Southwest Ramp Design-Build 2013-2050 THE PROJECT Please be advised that Dufferin Construction Company will begin construction of a new QEW southwest (SW) ramp structure with 20 m embankments over Ford Drive (Regional Road 13) on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO). The project is located in the Town of Oakville, within the Ministry's QEW/Highway 403 right-of-way (ROW). The proposed construction activities consist of clearing, grading and earthworks, excavation, drainage control, and electrical and structural work (including concrete forming and pouring, and girder installation). SCHEDULE Work is scheduled to begin on or about April 17, 2015 and is planned to be completed in November 2015. TRAFFIC CONTROL During project construction, two-way traffic will be maintained along Ford Drive at all times. However, short-term lane and/or shoulder closures will be required to carry out the works and to receive delivery of construction supplies and materials. It is noted that these effects will be temporary in duration, and Dufferin regrets any inconvenience caused during construction. PROJECT UPDATES Dufferin is committed to keeping you informed and to carrying out the works with minimal disruption to adjacent homes and businesses, and road users. We appreciate your cooperation during this time, and encourage you to drive carefully through the construction zone and to follow all traffic signage. If there are any substantive changes to the proposed works or schedule, Dufferin will issue project updates accordingly. PROJECT CONTACTS Should you have any questions or concerns or require further information regarding project construction, you are encouraged to contact one of the following Project Team members by phone or e-mail: Mr. Luca Fiore, P.Eng. Project Superintendent Dufferin Construction Company tel: 905-842-2741 cell: 416-990-3431 e-mail: luca.fiore@holcim.com Mr. Len Grenville Contract Administrator Remy Consulting Engineers Ltd. tel: 905-328-3196 e-mail: len@rcel.ca Ms. Biljana Rajlic, P.Eng. Project Manager Hatch Mott MacDonald Group tel: 905-403-4198 e-mail: biljana.rajlic@hatchmott.com Mr. Trevor Simon Contract Services Administrator MTO Operations, Central Region tel: 905-634-3653 cell: 905-315-0711 e-mail: trevor.simon@ontario.ca Oakville resident Ela Landeggar, left, had the chance to meet international best-selling author Eva Stachniak during an American Women's Club of Oakville meeting at St. Paul's United Church last Thursday (April 9). The author, a former faculty member at Sheridan College before she started writing, was invited to speak about her newest book The Empress of the Night, which is a follow up to The Winter Palace. Both of the books are about the life of Catherine the Great. Stachniak, also the author of Necessary Lies, is the winner of the Amazon.com and Books in Canada First Novel Award, and has received praise from the Washington Post, Globe and Mail, and O Magazine. | submitted photo Upcoming shows at the OCPA The month of April will be one filled with music, dance, drama and theatre at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts (OCPA). There are a number of events heading to the local stage starting next week. Burl-Oak Theatre Group's golfthemed comedy by Ken Ludwig, The Fox on the Fairway, opens tonight (Thursday) at 8 p.m. There is also a Sunday (April 19) matinée at 2 p.m. The story tees off with competing country club owners making a large wager on an upcoming tournament. "One of the gentlemen has just bet his wife's antique shop and is counting on a novice golfer, driven by stress, to crash and burn under pressure," reads the show's description on the OCPA website. "Filled with mistaken identities and madcap happenings, The Fox on the Fairway proves that nothing is easy in the course of love or on the golf course." Tickets cost $30, $20 with a college student ID, or $5 with a high school student ID. Group discounts are also available. · · · Award-winning guitarist Rob Tardik plays the OCPA's Studio Theatre on Saturday (April 18) at 8:30 p.m. The show is part of the Oakville Infiniti Classical and World Artists. Tardik, a contemporary jazz and world instrumental music artist with a career spanning more than two decades, has performed at venues across North America including a recent sold out concert at the prestigious Glenn Gould Theatre in Toronto in October 2014. · · · The Paradiso Dance and Drama Series has two shows set for the OCPA stage with the first, Tompkinsville, scheduled for Thursday, April 23 at 8 p.m. A stage play about becoming master of one's own destiny, Tompkinsville is the story of a Cape Breton mining town transformed from despondency to independence thanks to a rebel priest's beliefs. The story is written by Lindsay Kyte with lyrics and music by Ian Sherwood and Kyte. · · · The second show in the series is Closer ­ Kosmos ­ Harry presented by Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal (BJM) on Thursday, April 30 at 8 p.m. Led by artistic director Louis Robitaille, BJM is a repertory company that presents a hybrid form of dance combining the aesthetics of classical ballet and embracing other styles of dance. According to the ballet company, the term "jazz" in the name refers more to a "jazzing up" of classical ballet rather than a musical or dance style. For tickets to any of the shows, visit www.oakvillecentre.ca, or contact the box office at 905-815-2021 or 1-888489-7784, or visit it Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at 130 Navy St. Key Map