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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 3, 2016 | 6 Celebrating seniors Celebrate a senior in your life this month. On this page, we see Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, who celebrated a birthday of his own recently, joining 103-year-old Eileen Cosens in her recent celebration. Also in today's edition, we have a wonderful story about John Vandermeulen, whose 90th birthday was also celebrated by most of downtown Oakville as he is a familiar, and friendly, face in the neighbourhood. June 2016 marks the 32nd anniversary of Seniors' Month in Ontario, which offers an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the immense contribution older adults make in our community. This is both through their lives past and very much so, perhaps moreso, in their present contributions. The theme of this year's occasion is "Seniors Making a Difference" -- something we see every day here. In April, as groups across town celebrated Volunteer Week and the immense contribution volunteers made to our community, many of those hardworking people are seniors. They retire one day and almost the next take up a new, volunteer position. Thursday's Spotlight page focused on an award Fare Share Food Bank gave a local student and teacher, however, on the giving end of that award was Oakville senior, Ron Ziegel, a former public high school principal, who for decades has volunteered at Fare Share after retiring. Many, many local groups are well-served by volunteer seniors, women's clubs, service clubs, animal shelters and rescue groups, to name but a few. This trend is not unique. According to a 2013 report issued by Volunteer Canada, senior adults contributed more than one billion volunteer hours across the country in 2010. And while older adults have a lower volunteer rate than younger age groups, they contribute, on average, more hours per year. We suspect, as the tide of baby boomers turns to a retirement tsunami, the rate and commitment to volunteering will swell. According to the Volunteer Canada report, baby boomers have consistently high rates of volunteering and they are loyal to their organizations. The report also indicates that members of the baby boomer generation have a genuine desire to contribute to the community and are motivated to use or develop the considerable skills they possess -- and that can only bene t us all. Aside from public service, seniors contribute to family life, and assist with babysitting, transportation and everyday errands. As well, many help out friends and neighbours. Despite alarmist predictions in recent years of the strain that the rising number of seniors will put on health care and the economy, we know how much they contribute, and feel that making the senior population stronger can only make our communities healthier and more vibrant. So, it does us all good to support legislation that protects retirement income security, creates age-friendly cities, provides support for caregivers, protects rights of older workers and beefs up health-care resources. There are more than two million seniors older than 65 who live in Ontario. This number is predicted to more than double in the next 25 years. Ensuring our seniors have the tools to contribute ensures our communities will continue to thrive. And that is the best way we can think of to celebrate seniors this month -- and throughout the year. Editorial O F F I C I A L L Y S E N I O R "Connected to your Community" 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 45 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Eileen Cosens turned 103 years old May 26, celebrating at the Oakville Seniors Citizens Residence where Mayor Rob Burton joined her for some birthday cake. Eileen was born in 1913 in Detroit, Mich., and moved to Harrow, Ont. at age 12. She married Phillip Cosens in 1933 and was an active member and past-president of the lodge, Daughter of England. She moved to Burlington in 1986, a decade after Phillip's death and then to the Oakville Seniors Citizens Residence in 2003. Eileen has four children: Phyllis, 80, of Burlington; Margaret, 77; James, 75, of Nova Scotia; and Robert, 68, of Alberta. She also has 11 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and nine great, great-grandchildren. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Director of Production MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Letters to the Editor Shocked to hear Oakville on ight path Re: Airplane noise to be monitored in northeast of Town, Oakville Beaver, Thursday, June 2, 2016; insidehalton.com/oakville-on. I just read your article in the Oakville Beaver on the noise monitoring equipment being installed in North Oakville. I think the real story is that it is a complete waste of time. I complain about airplane noise pretty regularly using the webtrak -- if you call them and speak to them, you'll see that it's a waste of time because it's the airport basically monitoring its own noise, which is basically like asking the prisoners to look after the jail. I ask them why planes have to y over my house at 3 a.m. -- they don't have any problem with planes arriving at 3 a.m. -- they said they want to increase the capacity of the airport. If you look at their reports online, they get more than 5,000 complaints a month -- and pretty much do nothing about them. The only thing they will take action over is if a plane has made an error in approaching the airport, but the majority of ights are operating within their very noisy parameters. I was completely shocked when I moved to Oakville and found out I was in the ight path to Pearson. The only thing that would reduce noise is a second airport, further away. Stephanie Carne, Oakville Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Civility is evidenced in treatment of vulnerable It is often said that the true measure of a society can be determined by how it treats its most vulnerable. The recent controversy over the Ontario Liberal government's treatment of children with see Grandfather on p.16 The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.