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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, September 3, 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 Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director 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 Town keeps giving Anissa Hilborn, President, ErinoakKids Foundation any have referred to the recent economic downturn as a difficult and dark period. As a fundraising professional at a non-profit, charitable organization, I have seen the impact of the hard times. Yet the generosity of the citizens of Oakville shone through these difficult times. Anissa Hilborn As the president of the ErinoakKids Foundation, the new fundraising arm of ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development, I experience Oakville's generosity first-hand. ErinoakKids treats children with a wide range of disabilities in Erin Mills, Oakville and nearby communities throughout Peel, Halton, Dufferin and for some of our programs, Wellington and Waterloo. It says a lot about our communities that, tough times or not, our community support never faltered. My colleagues in other non-profit causes tell me similar tales of unfailing support. "Businesses in Oakville, like Barrington's and Murron's Cabinetree, are loyal supporters of the hospital," my colleague Mike Bartlett, managing director of the Oakville Hospital Foundation, said. "Even in these uncertain economic times, they continued to lead by example." I heard similar praise from Anne Miskey, director of community initiatives at the Oakville Community Foundation: "More than 70 families and individuals continue to support us year after year, in good times and not so good times," she said. Recent news reports suggest our economy is on the rise. While we have all experienced financial uncertainty and difficulties, the Oakville community never forgot their family, friends, and neighbours who benefit from the programs and services of our nonprofit organizations. At ErinoakKids Foundation, our stimulus package came only from you -- individuals, groups, professionals and local merchants. Our long-time friends, the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) motorcycle club chapter, with members from Milton, Oakville and Mississauga, just this past August saddled up once again for their annual Charity Run for the kids of ErinoakKids. Dr. Dale Schisler, an Oakville dentist, this year as in past years, during a special period donated the entire proceeds of teeth-whitening procedures at his Hopedale Dental clinic to ErinoakKids. The Tim Hortons Store Owners of Oakville, as I write this, are promoting their annual Smile Cookie campaign, with all the proceeds going to help the kids of ErinoakKids. Individuals make a difference, too -- like Oakville's Jill and Dan Devlin. The Devlins worked with us to launch a very creative initiative to help us provide special speech-generating devices to local school boards, designed to help children with disabilities seize the power of speech. It's an uplifting thing to see. These are but a few examples of Oakville's generosity. There are many others that should be celebrated and shared. Whether it's donating to a worthy cause, volunteering with a community organization, or helping a friend or neighbour through a difficult time, the citizens of Oakville continue to show care and compassion for one another. We can all be proud to call Oakville our home. I know I am. M RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION DEREK WOOLLAM / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER NEXT STOP -- SCHOOL: Charlotte Lemieux, left, and Kaitlyn Sampel listen attentively during School Bus Orientation Day, hosted by the local school boards' joint Halton Student Transportation Services and area bus operators. As the first day of school approaches on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the safety message went into high gear for kids. The free orientation day included a classroom presentation on school bus safety, featuring special Winnie-the Pooh video and a demonstration on a school bus. School bus company safety officers and bus drivers spoke to the children about safely getting on and off the bus, proper behaviour on a school bus, crossing the street to get to a waiting bus and overall school bus safety. When a period of post-punk peace is punctured by a puppy package? The other night my wife and I were reveling in quiet. Because we believe we deserve (and occasionally require) peace and quiet, and because we'd just returned from what was the exact opposite of peace and quiet -- we'd just returned from seeing our son Scott's new punk band play its premiere gig, a six-song set that left us surprisingly impressed and, not surprisingly, half-deaf. Alas, our fleeting moment of post-punk peace was punctured by the sound of car wheels on our gravel laneway. It was our eldest son, Matt, rolling in late from work. "I've got a surprise," he called out. I'm not big on surprises. In the moment before he unveiled the surprise I thought of all the things I would not want our 23-year-old to come home with in the guise of a surprise. Odd piercings, facial tattoos, friends with long criminal records, Celine Dion. And then he held up a puppy, a baby Boxer, and announced that he and his girlfriend, Ashlley, were the proud new owners of W e have a new baby. It wasn't expected. And it sure wasn't planned. Honestly, who plans chaos and upheaval, even if it comes in a criminally cute baby Ellie. Typically, when people see a puppy -- a criminally cute, sprightly pup with spindly legs and adorable whitebootee paws -- they coo over that cuteness and drift in a puddle of emotional goo. Conversely, I pretty much stayed anchored in reality, the next six months of my life playing out in my Andy Juniper head. "And where's the pup going to stay?" I asked, a sliver of unfounded hope in my voice. "Ashlley's place?" "Right here. At our house." "And," I gulped, "Who's going to look after her while you're at work?" It was one of those questions you ask that really requires no answer. I was apparently back in the business of puppy training. You know, we'd actually talked to our eldest many times about this very issue, in a preemptive attempt to thwart this very scenario. We'd told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to bring home any dogs. He has a soft spot for dogs (Boxers in particular). When our eldest dog, Franny, died last winter, he was sure that our other dog, Zoey, would die of depression if we didn't run out and get him a companion. Personally, we thought Zoey was doing just fine, having finally become the king of the hill. When Matt graduated from university and moved home to collect his thoughts and some pay cheques we knew what he was thinking. "What were you thinking?" I asked. He said he'd seen Ellie in a store. She'd made puppy eyes at him, sadly staring and simply begging him to take her home (coincidentally, I'd heard the same story from my wife in regard to a pair of shoes she'd recently purchased). He was defenceless. Ellie needed a home. Yeah, of course, but did she need our home? Naturally, Ellie's been working hard to win me over. I could tell her that she had me at `hello,' from her tentative first steps across our kitchen floor (but the grumpy old man in me won't let me). Criminally cute, she handcuffed my heart. Did I mention I'm back in the dog-training business? Andy Juniper can be visited at his website, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.