The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday September 20, 2000 M eet th e T eam A C O N T I N U I N G SERI ES P R O F I L I N G T H E ST AF F OF ' C A N A D A ' S BEST C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R " Tabitha Bleuler-Smith Tabitha is a welcome new addition to the Oakville Beaver circulation team. Growing up in Oakville, Tabitha attended White Oaks High School and is a graduate of Sheridan College. She married her highschool sweetheart, Jeremy also a long time Oakville resident. As a faithful reader of the news paper, Tabitha looks forward to working with the community based paper she grew up with. Tabitha's role as District Representative involves interacting with the Oakville Beaver carrier force and overseeing distribution of the newspaper, inserts and samples. O akville B ea v er CANADA'S BEST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 2000 CCNA Better Newspapers Competition Photo by Barrie Erskine Lesley Scott, vice-president of the K not a B reast D ragon B oat team , stands a t the re a r to steer the 40-foot boat. C am araderie an d donations keep dragon b o a t team afloat B y W ilm a Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR "Paddles Up!" The coach shouts her commands to an attentive dragon boat filled with breast cancer survivors. "Paddles ready!" The 20 paddlers sit upright in the 40-foot dragon boat, leaning slightly for ward, with paddles held high, ready to plunge them into the water. TTiey range in age from their early 30s to 70, with most of the mem bers in their 40s and 50s. "Paddle! Punch, punch, punch . . ten, nine, e ig h t. ." the countdown begins, as the team m em bers paddle in perfect unison, lurching their boat forward into a smooth run. The continue to paddle in perfect synchronization to the beat of the drum, their heads going down as they push forward to put their whole backs into their pad dling. One person stands at the back of the boat to steer. They laugh about getting wet, and don't balk at having to bail water out of their long narrow boat. It's all part of the cama raderie. Meet Knot a Breast. The name was tossed around during a brainstorm ing session, says Lesley Scott, vice-president of the Knot a Breast Dragon Boat team who often stands at the rear of the boat to steer it. Breast cancer has brought them together. If someone on the team is feeling down, they turn to their colleagues for support. Lasting friend ships have been forged. "As breast cancer sur vivors we use racing to bring attention to our illness and to educate others with what we are capable of accomplish ing," says Scott. "It allows for an active way o f supporting people in our area who want to get on with their lives and who don't feel that traditional support systems can help them. It fosters camaraderie, good physical exercise and psychological healing. "Another aspect of our unique support group, as we call it, is the chance for our husbands, fathers, children, and other family members to have a support system as well. There is nothing out there to help them cope." They meet Tuesday nights and Saturday morn ings at the M acassa Bay Yacht Club in Hamilton's Bayfront Park. (See 'Knot . . .' page B4) .Large Selection of Wed. Sept. 20 till Tues. 0ct^3, '00 « M um s & Perennials* A ste rs Annuals* several varieties Tropical Plants G iftw are Nursery Stock a P Spring & Summer Chem icals Hoses & Sprinklers G ardening Tools Lawn & G arden Fertilizer Clay, Concrete & Plastic Pots Statuary & Fountains. Plant Supports Preformed Pond Liners Pumps & Pond Supplies Bird Feeders & Bird Houses some exceptions apply Concerned about your drinking water quality? W e g u aran tee o u r high quality Pure Artesian Spring Water to be b e tte r tasting, n a tu ra l, tested an d pure! 18L Home or Office Delivery $7.00 Cooler (C/C) rental $14.00/m Cooler (C/C) purchase $259.00 500M L& 1.5L Available Call today for Free Delivery (905)465-4445 AGRAM GARDEN CENTRE located on th e corner o f Highway # 5 and 9 th Line - Entrance o ff 9 th Line. 1-8 7 7 -3 1 -W A T E R « S ee o u r a d v e rt in th e B ell Y ello w P ages (905) 257-3577 1 [ 9 " Line L O O K FOR Winston Churchill H w y #5 P a r t y P a c k a g e rs " GRAND OPENING SALE m· 0 All Specials are while quantities last, unless otherwise stated. AGRAM reserves the right to limit quantities. Conveniently located off 9th Line! / % C H A IN W ID E 4 P a g e F ly e r in th is W e d n e s d a y 's ONE-STOP GARDENING O P E N 7 D A Y S A WEEK VISA DfRI C' OPEN Monday-Friday 8-7 Saturday & Sunday 9-5 Oakville Beaver * duhverc-d to se le c t homers ONE SHOW ONLY! SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24/00 ABBA Mania " Ifyou liked M am m a Mia, you'll love ABBA M ania!" at 8:00 p.m. at the OAKVILLE CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS Qa^ed as *| ' ,, Audience,s fa/erqukere,/ T icke ts A vailable a t th e O akville C entre fo r Perform ing A rts 130 N avy St. O a kville , O N 905-815-2021