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OAKVILLE BEAVER Saturday, March 7, 2009 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Vice-president and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora EraBanner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Dinewise expands in Halton Region Gary Carr, Halton Region chair rotecting the health and wellbeing of Halton residents is important and knowing the food we eat and serve to our family is safe and prepared in a sanitary method and environment is something everyone can appreciate. As of July 1, 2009, all food premises in Halton Region will be required to disclose their food safety information and will now be included in a program called Dinewise. The program has been in place for a number of years for restaurants and food take-outs, but now places like daycares, convenience stores, hospitals, long-term care homes, grocery stores and cafeterias -- anywhere food is prepared, eaten, or sold -- will be included. Public health inspectors have always inspected daycares, long-term care homes and hospitals, but the main difference now is that Halton residents will be able to look at the summary inspection reports either by asking the manager or by viewing the report online at www.halton.ca/health. A food safety certificate will also be publicly posted inside the establishment. We hope this expansion of the Dinewise program will encourage all food providers and food handlers to continue their hard work and to be accountable for the food they sell or provide. To help businesses with the transition into the Dinewise program and to let people know about the program, the Halton Region Health Department is hosting two information sessions. Restaurant owners, managers and staff, as well as the general public are invited and welcome to attend. Session 1 will be April 21, 5-9 p.m., Halton Region Museum, Hearth Room, 5181 Kelso Rd., Milton, (Kelso Conservation Area). Session 2 will be April 30, 5-9 p.m., Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Rd. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the program and to ask questions to a Public Health Inspector. If you would like to attend, call Halton Region, 905-825-6000 or toll free 1866-442-5866. If you are unable to attend either session, but would like more information, call the numbers above and ask to speak with a public health inspector. By working together we can create an even better Halton to live, work, raise a family and retire. Gary Carr RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America P THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION In Panama CANADA DAY: Each February, the snowbirds who winter at Panama City Beach have a Canada Day celebration where flagbearers carry the flag of their birthplace. This year, four Oakville residents participated. Joe Murray and Pat Compagnon carried the Newfoundland and Labrador flag while their spouses Priscilla Murray and Irene Compagnon carried the Québec flag. He's all emotional after sacrificing roundball for the rose I t has been the most emotional week of my life. Consequently, I'm a bit of a wreck. Oh heck, let's be honest: right now I'm one big puddle of emotional goo. It started Monday. Actually, it started a few weeks ago when my wife determined to single-handedly keep this flagging economy afloat, cobbled together the necessary funds and bought us out of The Dark Ages with the purchase of a really flat and really big television with this newfangled feature called `high definition'. Okay, you probably all know what I'm talking about because you've probably had big, flat high-def TVs for about 100 years because, according to our hopelessly deprived kids, we're the last people on Earth to acquire this technology. Suffice to say that with this purchase, the room where I once watched sports alone and in perfect peace was suddenly packed with people playing Who Gets To Watch What. For those who are unfamiliar with the typical pecking order within families, let's just say that there have been precious few sporting events on our new TV. Which brings me back to last Monday. As I set myself up for an evening of NBA basketball, my wife informed me she'd booked the big-hairy-deal TV to watch The Bachelor. Initially, I laughed. Seriously: a woman as liberated and intelligent as my wife watching The Bachelor? Surely she was jesting. For those not in the know, The Bachelor is a schmaltzy reality dating show that pits one man against 25 opposite-sex Andy Juniper suitors. Each week the bachelor, seeking his true love, culls this crowd by only giving roses to the women he wants to stick around. In the end, he selects his lady and, in some instances, even proposes. Well, on Monday's season finale, Jason (The Bachelor) Mesnick, was set to select the true love of his life, the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his days, and my wife was riveted. As a man's man, I refused to get sucked into the show. Sure I sat there -- feeling intellectually and in all other ways superior -- but instead of watching, I did complex logarithms in my head. Okay, by the end of the two-hour event, I was hooked as Jason told runner-up, Molly, to skedaddle and proposed to the show's winner, Melissa. As the show ended with the couple embarking on their new lives together, as I brushed the tears off my cheeks, my wife remained seated for, well, the After The Final Rose show. Wherein Jason told Melissa he'd made a big booboo. Told her he'd picked the wrong prize. Said he was ditching her in favour of ... Molly. In television-time, the forever-romance had lasted less than 20 minutes, commercials included. In Jason's defence, in real time, he had given his fiancée the best six weeks of his life. Did I mention that the show left me wasted, a big puddle of emotional goo? And when, I had to honestly ask myself, was the last time the Toronto Raptors delivered that kind of drama, that sort of suspense, that unbelievable action? When indeed. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.