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A 6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday April 14, 1999 The Oakville Beaver O P IN IO N 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 Director of Photography M etrdand Printing. Pubishing & Distributing Lid ., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, A lston HeraJcVCouner, Barrie Advance. BanyS Bay Ttts Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guarden. Burfngton Post. Bulngton Shopping News. City Parent, Co*ngwood'V\fesaga Connection. East Y ak M inor. Erin Advocate'Country Routes, Etobicoke GuarcSan, Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Huronia Business Tmes. K ingston Th is W eek. Lindsay Th is W eek. M arkham Ecnom ist & Sun. M id land/Penetanguish ine M irror. M ilton Canadian Cham pion. M ilton Shopping News. M ssissauga Business Tm es, M ssissauga News. Napanee Guide. Newm arket/Atrora Era-Banner. Northumberland News. North Yak Mrror, O akvie Beaver. O akvle Shopping News. Oldtimem Hockey News. 0 * a Today. OshawaAMiltby/CJarington Port Perry This Week. Owen S a n d Tribune. Peterborough T h is W eek, P icton County Guide. R ichm ond HiH/Thom hill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough M in a . Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Vtxng, C ity c< Y ak Guarden 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Orrt. L6K3S4 (905) 846-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: B Ontario CommunityNewspapers Association ^ C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association S K * ol America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Editorials M a k in g a d if fe r e n c e What difference can one person make? This past week, we witnessed just how much of a difference one person can make -- or in this case what a difference one family can make. Upon reading about the plight of the Kosovar refugees, 18-year-old Kelly Vogt and her sister Sarah, with the blessing of their parents, Shirley and Heinz, organized a relief drive at their school, Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS). They sent out letters to the high school's elementary feed­ er schools inviting them to join. The public were also asked to contribute at a public collection for the refugees on Saturday morning. In the matter of one week, the public outpouring of goodwill towards the refugees far exceeded the Vogt family's expectations. The Vogt family home was quickly filled to capacity with items destined for the refugees. A call for help was made to their friends to help store the items. In total, more than 18,000 donated items -- diapers, toiletries, canned goods and clothes --will eventually find their way to the refugees, either in Canada or overseas. At this point we would be remiss in not mentioning the T. A. Blakelock students who collected hundreds of teddy bears for the Kosovar refugee children. At a time when many adults question whether the younger generation appreciates the lifestyles they have enjoyed, the student-driven Kosovar relief drives show us otherwise. The students have not only showed that they appreciate their own standard of living, they have demonstrated a global responsibility for those in need of help. We understand that in spending about 60 hours working on the OTHS drive over the past week, Sally Vogt may have let her school work slip a bit. We hope her teachers take into consideration the valuable lesson Kelly and her helpers have learned over the past week, in addition to the lesson they have also taught us -- yes, one person can make a difference. We believe the Vogt sisters, and everyone else involved, deserves an A+ for their unselfish efforts. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Young gays still struggling against prejudice My faith in the American justice system was bolstered upon hearing that hate-driven Russel Henderson was sentenced to two life terms behind bars for the vicious attack on defenseless Matthew Shepard of Wyoming. Throughout history, homosexuals have been mercilessly persecuted by monsters like Hitler who would execute them and more recently they have been demonized, demoral­ ized, and marginalized by nasty 'fire-and- brimstone preachers' who often relentlessly associate lesbians' and gays' inherent sexu i W ho do y o u tu rn to fo r h e lp ? Prior to the April 6th Halton Catholic District School Board's meeting with the Board of Trustees regarding a decision on boundary changes for Our Lady of Peace School, I tried to reach several sources for some direction. My faxes were sent out over the Easter hol­ iday weekend because the school board only released their recom m endations late on Thursday, April 1st (some joke!). I was trying to find out if families affected by boundary changes had any rights and if there was any requirement for the school board to give prior notification to families affected by these changes before a decision is made by the trustees. I sent faxes to MP Bonnie Brown, MPP Terence Young and Gary Carr, the Ministry of Education and the Ontario School Council. I never heard from anyone! Obviously, pending elections don't make a difference and they shouldn't. We should be able to count on a response regardless of an election! I'm still looking for help. The school board needs more guidelines with respect to the process o f m aking boundary changes. Families need to have some sense of security and that discovering, during a holiday week­ end, that a decision is going to be made within five days as to whether or not your child can continue attending his/her school should never happen again! Ann M cGirr orientation with something vain or abom­ inable! Day-in and day-out, young homosexuals struggle in a society where they suffer from a suicide rate almost four-fold that of hetero­ sexuals, where many are kicked out of their homes like unwanted misfits, and where ego­ tistical bible-thumping puritans condemn their orientation as if it were a plague that can be cured. Political, right-wing extremists determined to obstruct any recognition for equality of privileges and responsibilities for homosexual humans being entrenched into the constitution may, in the new millennium, witness a more liberal Canadian Supreme Court and American Congress grant equality to all as the im posing ex trem ists' objections are drowned out by the compassionate, unthreat- I would like to express my extreme gratitude to all the families in our community for donat­ ing to the Kosovar Refugees. Southeast Oakville's Family of Schools (Oakville Trafalgar H.S., Maplegrove, E.J. James, Chisholm, Brantwood, Linbrook, and New Central) immediately reacted to the call for donations, contributing hundreds of bags full of necessities. We collected clean clothing (includ­ ing newly purchased items), baby supplies, food, shoes, toiletries, medical supplies, linens, and toys. The article you printed on the front page of Our non profit group is building a World War II MK 20 Dehavilland Mosquito. (The Mosquito was of primarily wood construction.) We have chosen Bomber KB 161 'Vancouver' to duplicate. This plane was assembled in Toronto from parts built here in southern Ontario. This construction is under way at the present time in hangar 401 at the Windsor airport. In 1996 our members traveled to Pelly Lake, NWT, 60 km. south of the Arctic circle and recovered the wreckage of a crashed 'Mossie'. This formed the nucleus of our project. We are dedicated to building the 'Mossie' as a tribute to men who flew the Mosquitos and also the men ened masses embracing inclusion for all. I pray that when Russel Henderson is released from prison in a few decades that it will be into a world where gays and lesbians can go to school or university focusing on their dreams instead of worrying about being tormented, where workplace recognition of merit parallels that of their heterosexual col­ leagues, and where aging homosexuals can enjoy long, blessed monogamous relation­ ships just as their grandparents relished in. I am optimistic that the day will arrive when Hollywood will aid in conquering hatred towards homosexuals just as the televi- sion exposure of the ugly treatm ent of America's suppressed blacks was instrumen­ tal in the monumental uniting of the majority of Americans in their disdain for prejudice! David C. Searle the Beaver (Wed., April 7th) extended our cause well beyond the borders of Southeast Oakville. We can truly say that we are a giving communi­ ty Along with several caring OTHS students, mum, friends and neighbours, we sorted through the hundreds of boxes and bags. When we had finished, we had re-boxed and labeled over 18,000 pieces of hope to be distributed to these needy refugees. In our own small way, we helped. We should be proud. and women who built and ferried them. Some 1130 Mosquitos were built here in Canada with some 45 companies in southern Ontario subcontracting 'Mossie' parts. We would like to ask readers in the Oakville area if they would like to help with our project by providing parts salvaged, after WWU, jigs, pro­ duction drawings or any tooling for the Mosquito parts. For more information on this and other Mosquitos around the world, contact http://www.utopianconcepts.demon.co.uk/andy/rn osquito/mosquito/html or dlarson@wincom.net Tim Gillies Thanks for supporting Kosovar refugees The Vogt Family ( Group needs M osquito airplane parts Pud by Steve Nease L e tte r o f th e W e e k Kosovar refugees inspire poem I'm from Poland, but my heart is crying when I'm seeing the crime on Albanian people from Kosovo. Exodus Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. We had a home We had a land. Now that all is behind. My father, my brother was killed by a man. Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. Why do we have to leave -- our heart, our side? Why is the devil soldier man killing all the nation of us? Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. We are praying every day trough the life. There is nothing wrong on our side. All what we want Is the normal life. Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. * Why can't they be humane? Why they need our death for all of us? Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. The ground is wet That is our blood That is our tear That is also our sweat Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. Where is the grave for my father, for my brother? Where is my name? Where are we going? Where is the end? Tell me my friend. Tell me my friend. Oh Lord, don't leave us, we need your hand. Andrzej Oledzki http://www.utopianconcepts.demon.co.uk/andy/rn mailto:dlarson@wincom.net