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B2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, September 6, 2000 Heart & Stroke speakers available Volunteer speakers from the Oakville Chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation are available to speak at local businesses, groups, clubs, and institutions. The volunteer speakers have a wide range of backgrounds but each is an experienced presenter interested in pro moting healthy lifestyle choices. To book a speaker call David Cravero at the Halton Region office of the Foundation at 634-7732. Plenty o f changes over 2 5 years (Continued from page B 1) ture, art community, its people and for "the interesting stories around town." Her career responsibilities and work environment also changed over the years. The manual Underwood type writer in which she inserted two yellow sheets with a messy carbon paper inbetween ("If you made a mistake, you had to correct two copies by pen; if you made too many, you had to re-type your stories.") ultimately gave way to Sanyo word processors. Later, she had to quickly adjust to laying out her pages on a new computer. No longer was it neces sary to haul completed pages down to a Mississauga plant or trot them to the Beaver's composing room for typeset ting. The electronic age had arrived. Machines made up only one part of the evolving editorial scene, though. An important change came about when Inland Publishing and Metrospan Publishing amalgamated to become Metroland in 1981. It meant the mar riage of two Oakville papers, the Oakville Journal Record and the Oakville Beaver. As a result, the five editorial Beaver staff were joined by eight or nine others from the OJR in a larger building on Speers Road, one the Beaver had moved into some four years earlier. By this time, Wilma was com munity editor and had a full-time assis tant (me). With the merger, the weekly paper became a twice-weekly and eventually thrice-weekly. Add on The North News, of which she became editorial coordinator, and Wilma had her hands full. Somehow, she still found time to edit the newsletter of the Halton Cross Country Ski Club (soon to change to the Halton Outdoor Club) of which she is a long-time member. And, at one point, she could indulge her passion for the media. When the paper was still growing and lots of editorial space was available, she wrote a Media Phile column and, in the process, displayed a vast knowledge of her subject to her readers. "As a kid, I listened to the radio," she explained. "Later, I read broadcasting and technical magazines about radio and TV. It just grew on me." But then came the crunch. Like other businesses in the early '90s, the Beaver was hit with cutbacks and layoffs. Advertising space got larger; editorial space got smaller, so tight, in fact, that there was no longer any room for the Media Phile. Despite her heavy workload, Wilma relaxes through activity, it seems. During the week, her time off is spent cycling or walking with the Bronte Bunch or the Oakville Strutters. "I've even taken up rollerblading," she laughed. "And I belong to the Bruce Trail Association. Til soon start hiking with them." Friendships are very important to her, as her long-time association with MacDonald Archer testifies. Another close friend is Joan Gibb, of Oakville. I've been told that she and Wilma once attended an Oakville event (a musical group, I think) and Wilma, thinking the Beaver might use a picture, rushed home to get her camera. As Jerred commented: "She lives and breathes Oakville and the Oakville Beaver." Besides writing about charities, Wilma has participated in their events. Three times she climbed the 1,764 steps of the CN Tower in Toronto for the Canadian Wildlife organization. She ran in Oakville's United Way Bathtub Race, came up with the idea for Casual Fridays for Charities in her office and even plunged into Lake Ontario with the Polar Bears to help out World Vision Canada. Gibb, a volunteer with the Cancer Society, quickly learned how reliable and accommodating the community edi tor could be in covering charity events. In a submission to nominate Wilma for this year's Halton Woman of the Year Award, Gibb wrote: "In many instances, charity events would not be successful in fund-raising or 'tum-out' events if Wilma was not conscientious enough to work late to fin ish a press release or feature story. This has happened on numerous occasions since my association with her these past 20 years. "She has made a difference and gone the extra mile by working many extra hours, day and night, in order to bring the citizens of Oakville up to date with pertinent information on the "happen ings" and events in town. "She has met challenges, overcome obstacles...Wilma still admits to being shy. However, she has persevered! By reaching out and joining the Halton Cross Country Ski Club.. .Wilma is mix ing well with all of the other club mem bers. Traveling on many trips through out Ontario, Quebec and the United States with her friends has given her self-confidence and a positive outlook on how special she is and how she can and is contributing to others around her." Well done, Wilma, and congratula tions on this, your 25th anniversary with the Beaver. Meet the Team A C O N T I N U I N G 'C A N A D A ' S SERIES P R O F IL I N G TH E STAFF OF BEST C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R " W ILM A BLOKHUIS is the Oakville Beaver's Focus editor and editorial co-ordinator of the North News. She celebrated her 25th anniversary at the Beaver on Aug. 11th. To say she enjoys her job is an understatement Blokhuis enjoys meeting people and looks for an interesting angle, a new perspective, in presenting the story. She has met thousands of interesting people, 'movers and shakers' who make interesting things happen, such as the Oakville Waterfront Festival, the Great Dream Home Lottery, and organizations such as Wellsprjnj and Ian Anderson House, amongcountless others. "O akville is a live w ith creativity, an d has a great feeling o f com m u nity, o f p eo p le helping others to realize a better quality o f life ." When not writing, editing and making up pages, Blokhuis enjoys photography, hiking, cycling, cross country skiing and walking, surfing the Internet, and tracking radio sta tions. Oa k v il l e B eaver C A N A D A 'S BEST C O M M U N IT Y NEW SPAPER 2000 C CN A Better Newspapers Competition Perem DEIPP Clinic Parents, do you have con cerns regarding your child's hear ing, speech, behaviour or development? Is your child under the age of five years? A free consul tation clinic is being offered on Thursday Sept. 14th, at the Oakville ParentChild Centre at 337 Kerr St., from 9 to 11 a.m. Consultations are provided on a first come first serve basis, arrive early to register. The Develop mental Early Identification Prevention Pro gram (DEIPP) is supported by Family Resource Centres of Halton, Chil dren's Assess ment & Treat ment Centre, Milton District Hospital, the Region of Halton Children's Res ource Services, Community Liv ing Oakville, and the Halton Preschool Speech and Language Program. For more information, call the centre at 8496366. Save now on our complete selection of perennials. Hurry in while stock lasts. EtyOy Eeauli^ul colour in. lyOUT t l i f ^ o ll SERVICE Come in and talk to one of our landscape design experts. We will provide you with a personalized landscape design with a detailed scale drawing and a complete plant material breakdown.We'll even coordinate and install your new landscape design. For complete details and a cost estimate, come in and talk to t v tm w i l l. l h-to-aiy a rd t ^ ro m . Gorden. Gallery. Cloofe firom a yreed teleelion. ofi colour?, a ll (zurftiny tv i l l (zloomf. f Christmas Comes Early A t Garden Gallery. Save N ow On This Great Selection O f #1 Top Quality Barcana Christmas Decorations. Hurry In...W hile Stock Lasts! Wellspring Day today Superb Quality. T his D eluxe Tree Features A Blend O f Natural Looking Fair Green/Dark Green N eedles. Patented Hinge Constuction Make Barcana Trees Simple to Assemble And Easy Prices In Effect September 6 To September 12, 2000 B U Y IN B U L K ! Triple Mix Soil #1 Fine Grade Used fa top dressing, flower beds, new planting and container gardening. Save now on a fide selection of discontinued and clearance items. All sales final. Cash and carry only. Limited quantities, hurry in for the best selection. 3 cu. yds 1cu. y d .......... 54" 2 cu. yds.........77" 100" 4cu . yd s..... 123" N E W ! 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Suggested Retail $7.49..... · Ceramic- ami Cloneu>are · Polio Furnilure ^ ^ ^ fo a r e jF U v £ j£ A o r e lmmmm E jt W foTthc GREEN * * * * * S e e .lnf ore Visit us on www.hollandpark.com IE" Nordic Pine PVreall Mfg. Suggested Retail $19.99... Wellspring invites the public to its centre at 2545 Sixth Line north of Glenashton Boulevard, for a barbecue and facility tours, dur ing its Community Day t o d a y , (Wednesday), from 12 noon to 6:30 p.m. The Oakville Trafalgar Lions Club will be host ing a barbecue from noon to 2 p.m., and from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The facility is wheelchair acces sible and has plen ty of free parking. Call Wells pring at 257-1988.