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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 28, 2014 | 10 Mary Walsh invites Oakville to The Dinner Party by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Comedian, actor and social activist Mary Walsh -- of television's This Hour Has 22 Minutes fame -- will be celebrating International Women's Day in Oakville next month. Walsh will be the keynote speaker at the International Women's Day Dinner Party hosted by Women of Halton Action Movement and Zonta of Oakville March 5. The television personality will speak about her career, as well as women in politics at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre, 2515 Wyecroft Rd. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with dinner to follow at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $55. Afghan market The dinner will also feature an Afghan market, book sales, a 50/50 draw and silent auction, in support of the Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Services of Halton (SAVIS Halton) and Canadians in Support of Afghan Women (CSAW). Walsh told the Oakville Beaver she's looking forward to the night dedicated to celebrating women, during a telephone interview from her home in St. John's, Newfoundland. Steps forward, falling backward The 61-year-old, who received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2012, and has several Gemini Awards under her belt, said she'll be sharing some laughs and speaking on the progress women have made -- "the steps forward we've made and how we've fallen back." Walsh finishing a novel Walsh is currently putting the finishing touches on her upcoming novel Crying for the Moon, completing a screenplay and performing her one-woman show Dancing With Rage across Canada. The show made an earlier stop last fall at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. For tickets, call SAVIS Halton at 905-8253622. Comedian Mary Walsh will headline the International Women's Day Dinner Party hosted by Women of Halton Action Movement and Zonta of Oakville March 5. | submitted photo