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

6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday July18, 1999 T h e Oa k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Ten Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Photography Director MetroiancJ Pm tng. Pubtehng & D istrbutng Ltd., ndudes; Ajax/Pckering News A d^rtoer, A lston HerafcVCouner, Same Advance, Barry's Bay The Week. Boton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian, Burtngton Post. Burihgton Shoppng News, City Parent. Co*ngwoocW\&saga Connectcn, East MdtK Mirror, Em Ad/ocate/Country Routes, Etobcoke Guarden, Flamborough Post Georgetown Independent/Aston Free Press. Hurone Business Tmes, Kingston This Week. Lindsay The Week, Markham Ecnomist & Sun, M idland/Penetanguishine M irror, Mrfton Canadian Champion. M ilton Shopping News. M ississauga Business Tim es, M ississauga News. Napanee Gucte. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News. North York Mirror. Qakvile Beaver, OakvHte Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News. O riia Today. Oshawa/Whitby/Clanngton Port Perry The Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Peterborough The Week. P c i on County Guide, Richmond HiK/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. StoufN/ia'LlxbndgeTnbune. Foreser Mxjng, City of York Guardian 467 Speers Fid., Oakville O nt L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Newspapers +C N A Newspapers S K s ■sss THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ° H Y v M CA...... TV AUCTION TFE^m . (JA K V L L E k C EN TR E JiNqle BeII Fuixd UnitedWayM of Oakville Editorials Good news, bad news There was some good news and some bad news contained in regional health department's most recent study on odour emissions from the Petro-Canada refinery in Bronte. The study indicated the millions of dollars of improvements Petro-Canada has made to the refinery seem to be paying dividends. Fewer complaints about foul smelling odours from the refinery were reported and its neighbours seemed less bothered by the refinery. On the downside, however, the study did not register a noticeable drop in the area regarding odour-related illnesses. It would seem that those who are susceptible to the emissions are bothered by the odours whether they smell a lot or just a little. By their nature, refinery's stink. That said, Petro-Canada is trying to improve the situation. Since the first regional health study on odour emissions in 1992, it has undertaken a number of costly odour reduction measures at the plant, including: the installation of a waste water treatment plant to deal with refinery waste water; the purchase of a sulphur recovery unit to improve the combustion of sulphur gases; the installation of new thermal oxidizers in the flare system to minimize odour, noise and visibility impacts on the community; and improve­ ments to a complaint hotline system to more accurately document potential causes of community complaints. More work still needs to be done, however. Fortunately, according to Ward 1 councillor kevin Flynn, who chairs the Petro-Canada Community Advisory Committee, the refinery management have been cooperative and willing to make changes to improve the community. It may be too much to ask, but perhaps everything will be rosy with the next regional health study. Playing the lottery of summer fun with the kids It s ta rted as a sing le cry N emitted about 67 seconds after the final school bell had sounded and sum m er holidays began -- and quickly grew into a cacophony: " I 'm bo red , I 'm bo red , I 'm bored..." "If you are bored," I told my children, "then you must be bor­ ing." I'd picked up that slender pearl of wisdom on one of those la te -n ig h t in fo m erc ia ls that prom ised to Make Me A Better Person (as if...). P araphrasing the star o f the infomercial, a Dr. Slick Feelgood, c e r tif ie d p sy c h o b a b b lis t, I informed my children: "You see, my little enfants terribles, only people who are boring get bored. P u d People who aren't boring rely on their own resourcefulness to con­ tinually and constructively create the ir own fun and, thusly, are never bored! So, that's what you must do, be resourceful and cre­ ative." "W hy d o n 't you take us to Wonderland?" they asked. Ahhh, they'd listened well. O ver the next few days, it became painfully clear that mem­ bers of this pampered generation (at least those "chillin' out" on my front porch) are sorely lacking the skills needed to occupy them ­ selves, to manufacture fun, to use their summer hiatus N this great gift of time N wisely and produc­ tive ly_____ "Back when I was a kid," I told them, although they really hadn't asked, "we found inventive things to do over the summer holidays that were incredibly fun, and that at the sam e tim e helped us to become better people." "Like what?" they asked, and I detected an edge of sarcasm in the ir vo ices. Hm m m . W ell, I vividly recalled loiterine in Cliff's Variety, eating goobers, and pil­ fering peaks at the nudie maga­ zines. Once we made a fort in the woods behind a friend's house, and then we lit a bonfire in the fort and nearly burned the woods down. Then, there was the time we mooned the incoming trains from atop the Southside Bridge. "Never you mind," I said. "I don't want you guys stealing our ideas. Make your own." It was a ch a llen g e I th rew down before them like a gauntlet. I figured I'd give them a day or so to pick it up. And if they didn't, I'd ship 'em all out to Camp Far Far Away. (An irrelevant observa­ tion about summer camps: Have you ever noticed that there is a By Steve Nease distinct different in what moms and dads perceive to be prerequi­ sites for a good cam p? M om s, I've noticed, want to know specif­ ically how their offspring will be treated, fed, occupied, etc. Dads, on the other hand, have but two basic cam p questions: How far away? And, for how long?) I'm happy to report, our guys picked up the gauntlet. Yes, as they seem to do every summer, they got over the initial nuttiness o f being freed from school and they settled into a pretty good play pattern. Last year, they spent the holi­ days borrowing our really expen­ sive v ideo cam era eq u ip m en t (w ith o u t a sk in g ) and m aking incredibly bizarre home movies. This year they've... Well, for starters, they've created their own Lottery Corporation. That's right. They've invented various lotteries, which they man­ age, co m p le te w ith th e ir own monetary system. They sell tick­ e ts. They hold daily lo tte rie s . They are truly 1990s kind of kids. And, you know, it seems like th e y 're hav ing a ton o f fun . Although, I imagine, not nearly as much fun as we had back in the halcyon days of my youth when we greeted those incoming trains from atop that bridge. Trousers dropped: Welcome to Woodstock! SKs ■sss Editorials Playing the lottery of summer fun with the kids By Steve Nease