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B6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, October 6, 1999 of O akville Cam paign OUR GOAL $3.1 m illion United Way For more info: 845-5571 Arts & Entertainment Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Extension 254) Fax: 337-5567 Above photo by Peter McCusker (Above) Visiting from Holland with the Soli Deo Gloria choir, Rinus Verhage (left), the choir director, and Wim Diepenhorst, its organist, pose with their hosts Lynne and Jan Hieminga on one of the few "free days" the two enjoyed during their 10-day stay in Oakville. (Right) A small group of the visitors from Holland dressed in tradi­ tional costumes and wooden shoes and performed traditional Dutch folk dances at Oakville Place on Saturday. Photo on right by Riziero Vertolli Dutch choir toured Ontario, stayed in Oakville "Som e people in the town liked to sing, so they cam e together and started a ch o ir-n o t w ith a congregation or a church. They ju s t cam e together to sing - som e church m usk, som e secular m usk. By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR The one thing that struck Rinus Verhage and Wim Diepenhorst about Canada was its size. The two Dutch musicians said their entire country would fit into Lake Ontario. "We live in a small country with 50 million people, and you have a big country with 30 million," said Ver­ hage. "You have so much empty space, tall buildings, and every house has lots of land. We live in mostly flats - our houses are very close together." Diepenhorst, in awe of Niagara Falls and the beautiful lakes and trees in Ontario, added, "We have wind­ mills and tulips that we take for grant­ ed. We don't know why people want to take pictures of them," he said, acknowledging.how different things look through the eyes of a tourist. Here from Holland with the Soli Deo Gloria choir for only 10 days, Verhage, the choir director, and Diepenhorst, its organise stayed with Oakville residents Jan and Lynne Hieminga. The choir, which has a long tradi­ tion of traveling, mostly in Europe, was in Canada for the first time from Sept. 25th to Oct. 4th, performing in Hamilton, Grimsby, Toronto and, of course, Oakville. The visit grew out of friendships that were established four years ago in Holland when the senior choir of Oakville's Knox Presbyterian Church was invited to take part in celebra­ tions of the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands. But the connection that kept the communica­ tion open between the two choirs, said Verhage, was between two sisters - one with the Dutch choir and the other with Knox's choir. Although Verhage refers to the Dutch choir as Christian, the 43-year- old says it has no religious affiliation. "It's ap old choir, about 100 years old," he said in flawless English. "Some people in the town liked to sing, so they came together and start­ ed a choir - not with a congregation or a church. They just came together to sing - some church music, some secular music." Verhage, who has been with the choir for about 10 years, says the choir gives concerts in foreign coun­ tries once every three or four years, and has been to Poland, Greece, Aus­ tria, Britain, and now Canada. Choir members always tackle at least one song in the language of the country they are about to visit. But with Canada it was easy. "Most of the choir members speak English," Ver­ hage explained. "We have to learn four languages (See 'Four hands' on page B5) By Bill Roebuck Come Stargaze with us! Market your business by marking this date! C lick H ere Plan to be a part of the Home Based Business Speaker Series presented by The Oakville Chamber of Commerce. Topic "Creative Marketing for Home Based Businesses" Topic Speaker: Kelly Montague Director of Advertising, The Oakville Beaver Date: Tuesday October 19th Time: 6:30 p.m. To Register call 845-6613 presented by Oakville Chamber of Commerce The 1999 Oakville Rotary Auction is organized by three of the Rotary Clubs in town. Have you ever wondered what a Rotary Club is and why Rotarians put on events such as this? Here's some background to explain it. W h at is a R o ta ry C lu b? The original Rotary Club was organized in Chicago by Paul Harris, a lawyer. Rotary is the oldest service club - its first meeting was held February 23, 1905. The name "Rotary" was chosen because the club then met in rotation at each member's place of business. Oakville Rotary A u c t i o n November 19th, 20th build goodwill and better friendships and strive to benefit all in every inter-personal relationship. In short, they put "Service Above Self." Membership is by invitation. Members are chosen to represent their respective businesses or profes­ sions and function in some executive capacity or with some discretionary authority. The "Classification Principle" ensures that membership includes those from most every type of business or profession in our community. In this way a Rotary Club is a good cross-section of the community. How many Rotarians are there? The Rotary idea of friendship, fellow­ ship and service to others has spread to six continents with more than 27,000 clubs and well over one million members. In Oakville, there are four clubs with about 200 members. There also are several other clubs throughout Halton and Peel. W ho a re R o ta r ia n s? Rotarians are persons who look beyond themselves to the community, the nation and the world. Their aim is to seek the truth and let fairness govern relationships. They T he R o tarian & S ervice: An example of service activities is the Rotary Polio Plus Project where Rotarians raised millions of dollars to purchase polio vaccines to stamp out polio throughout the world. Plus there are hundreds of projects right in our community that are supported by Rotary activi­ ties. They will be discussed in another column. Bill Roebuck is a member of the Rotary Club of Oakville-Trafalgar. Support your community. Tune into Cogeco TV 23 November 19 & 20 for the Rotary Auction. What Are Rotarians? .com Halton movie listings now Online! I United Way Arts & Entertainment By Carol Baldwin Come Stargaze with us! Date: Tuesday October 19th Time: 6:30 p.m. To Register call 845-6613