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6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday October 8, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver, Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher N o rm a n A le x a n d e r, Editor Ke lly M o n ta g u e , Advertising Director S te ve C rozier, Circulation Director T e n C a s a s , Office M anager M a rk Dills, Production M anager Riziero Vertolli, Photography Director Metrotand Printing. Pubishng & D e trtiu tn g Ltd., includes: Afax/Pd«nng News A d^rteer. A iston Herald/C axer. Bame Advance. Barry's Bay The Week. B oton Enterprise, Brampton Guarden, Bcrington Post. Burfngton Shopping News. City Parent. CoingwoodM bsaga Connection. East 'ib rk Mrror. Erin A d^ca la C o un try Routes. E tobcote GcenSan. Ramborough Post. Georoekxvn Independent/Acton Free Press. H ucne Buaness Times. Kingston The Week. Lndsay The Week. M arkham E cnom isr& Sun. M kJIand/Penetanguishine M irror. M ilton Canadian Cham pion. M ilton S hopping News. M ississauga Business Tim es. M ississauga News. Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News. North \tark Mirror. O akvile Beaver. O akville Shopping News, O ldtm ers Hockey News. Onlka Today. OshavaAVhrtby/Oanngton Port Perry This Week. Owen Sound Tribune. Peterborough The Week. P cton County G uide. Richm ond H ill/ThornhillAteughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. Stouffvkle/Uxbhdge Tribune. Forever \bung. City of \b rk Guardan RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: 467 Speers Fid., Oakville O n t L 6 K 3 S 4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7-5567 E d it o r ia ls G iv in g b a c k It often takes very little to get young people headed in the right direc tion and P atricia D illon takes pleasure in giving advice that can aid youth in m aking som e very difficult decisions. A nd if she did nothing else but co ntribute her substantial m entoring q u a litie s , D illo n w o u ld h av e b een a w orthy recip ien t o f this y e a r's A thena Dillon' s advice to women Award. But m entoring is ju s t one com entrepreneurs and p o n en t o f the m ining e n g in e e r's busy businesswomen is quite life th a t in c lu d e s b a la n c in g h er w ork with other im portant pursuits. simple - don ' t lose the D illon w as ju s t one o f m any nom i balance in your life, don' t nees for the aw ard, all o f whom would be afraid o f the future and be w orthy recipients. embrace it T h e A th e n a A w a rd s g iv e p u b lic re c o g n itio n to tho se p eo p le w ho give enthusiastically. back to the com m unity and act as role m odels for others, especially wom en. N e v e r o n e to b a lk at p ro fe ssio n a l or p erso n al c h allen g es, D illo n 's ad v ice to w om en e n tre p re n e u rs and b u sin essw om en is quite sim ple d o n 't lo se th e b a la n c e in y o u r life , d o n 't be afraid o f the fu tu re and em brace it enthusiastically. Good advice for everyone. D illo n e x e m p lifie s th e c re d o o f th e A th en a A w ards to en c o u ra g e wom en to reach their full leadership potential and is a worthy recipient of the aw ard. As one o f the sponsors o f the Awards, the O akville Beaver congratu la te s D illo n and all th o se w ho w ere n o m in ated ; y o u 're all w orthy o f recognition. With a little effort he could be Am ish For a good part of this past summer, and by far the best part, I ^savoured self-imposed exile, living in an isolated cabin in thick bush, smack dab in the middle of New York State Amish country. It took me all of the first day to get comfortable with the quiet. The deck I wrote and read on looked down upon a cold stream that served as both a drinking trough for the farmer's pigs and my bathtub. A wood stove, a wind-up radio, oil lamps and a very elegant outhouse these were the only amenities that the cabin offered up. That, plus books, is all you really need. And as I sat in that stream each morning, I thought not about man's instinct for self-preservation or the absolute essentials required to exist or even the layers of material trappings that insulate us from pure content ment. As I sat in the stream each morn ing I thought - God, that water's cold. Believe me, if all men had to start their day by bucket bathing in a mountain stream, shrinkage would have its own telethon. Except for the deer that walked wearily down to the stream to drink and the bubbling water over rocks, the only sound I would hear for days was the rhythmic patter of horse's hooves on pavement as the Amish traveled from farm to farm, up and down the road which was a fiveminute walk up a grassy path from the cabin. It was on the third trip up that path and into town to get more ice for the beer cooler that I realized I could never be a monk. W LLJA M TH O M A S Aimie W orld 's AC ircus But I'd make a pretty good Amish guy, I think. I love the straw hat and suspenders and I can just see my shoulder-length hair flaring out behind me as I fly down Interstate 90 on my horse and buggy in the passing lane. Amish guys don't have what we call conventional fun - no cars, no bars, no beer. And chicks? They get fed at 5:00 a.m. But they get to race horses. Honest. The Amish buy pacers and trotters from standard breeders and it's not unusual to see two young bucks in blue overalls drag racing their black buggies down a deserted country road. Sometimes there's so much gravel churning up the road, you can hardly see the steamers. Your choice of wives is limited by the distance your horse can travel and return before nightfall. Your enter tainment budget is next to nothing and all your modem appliances must be wood-burning, but who has time for reading lights and flush toilets when you're out back churning butter all day. No, I think I could learn to appre ciate the simple and resourceful life of the Amish. And much like all P ud IT m thankful W .M Y F A M I1 Y . By Steve N ease THANKFUL FcR O UR I'M i' mtmnk- T - andi'm FULFoR FRIENDS AND ROCK N'ROLL, THAMkRlI 600D HEALTH, things we admire the most. I'd have to try and change it As an Amish guy, I 'd have to cheat a little like sleeping in occasion ally ... at least until it was light out. I'd probably do som ething unthinkable like carry a picture of a woman in my wallet who wasn't wearing a bonnet. I'd wear a tattoo on my forearm that said: "Bom To Raise Bam s" and to get unwanted company out of my house, I'd pull out a pair of spoons and start to play music. Late at night I'd sneak into a closet all by myself... and dance. I'd like a little more speed for passing on hilly roads, so I'd go with a four-horse engine instead of two and I'd put a spoiler on the back of my buggy just above the orange cau tion sign. Then I'd go flying down Main Street in Mayville honking my fog horn and running red lights. Yealh, I'd be W ilhelm, o f The Black Sheep Amish! And if a cop tried to pull me over, I'd just shun him. They do that, you know. I 'd break all the rules o f the Amish road - following too close... to another horse, playing rubber bumper buggies, driving while under the influence of alfalfa. I'd be waving at Jebediah and Ezekiel, thouing one guy and theeing the other. Yeah, I could be Am ish - the leader of the all-new, but still non electric, Bad Ass Amish Branch, where a little fun is no longer a big sin.