B2 -The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 4, 2004 Meal service? `No, I like my own cooking better' (C ontinued from p a g e B 1) " It was a most interesting job any body could have had. I was not only supervisory principal, but also business administrator and secretary-treasurer of the old Oakville School Board." Fish became an inspector and retired as an assistant superintendent in 1969 after 35 years in education. Too young to remember much of the First World War, Fish applied for the Royal Canadian Air Force for overseas duty in the Second World War, but was never called. " I might have been too old. " My older brother enlisted in 1914 and spent four years in the army. For me, the First World War was hard to imagine. War was glorified. I was 14 when the First World War ended in 1918." He signed up for the Second World War in North Bay. " I was told I would hear from them, but 1 never did. I know they weren't anxious to take teachers, plus the fact 1was too skinny." Fish stood six feet tall and weighed only 135 pounds during his North Bay days. " 1just couldn't put on weight. My wife said to me, `Have one beer every night before going to bed.' Now, this was quite something for me because 1 come from a very teetotaling family. I didn't have a drink until I was 37. ``In one month. I gained 10 pounds," he continued, " and the next month I gained another 10. Now up to 155 pounds, my wife cut off the beer." Fish married the former Marty Martin in 1937 in Toronto. " She died in 2000, three days short of our 63rd wedding anniversary." The couple had no chil dren. "We were on the verge of adopting when I got transferred to Fort Frances, and before you could adopt, you had to get a place to live, which was hard to find in Fort Frances. We spent two to three months in a hotel, then almost a year in a rooming house before we found an apartment. We gave up on the adop tion." They met in Kapuskasing. " She was bom in Nova Scotia and moved to Timmins when she was eight. Her dad was a miner. She was teaching in Kapuskasing when we met and romance blossomed. " I vowed I would never kiss a girl until I met the one 1wanted to marry. We went skiing at the Kapuskasing Inn, and it had a men's and women's wing. It was a beautiful night. 20 below. She had rosy cheeks, and I went to the second floor to say good night to her, and once we were on the landing we just came together and kissed. That kiss was the deciding fac tor." They were married on June 30, 1937, after the last day of school. " M y boss in Schumacher had a minister friend and that was the only day he was available in Toronto. 'The day she married me, she lost her job. She was a teacher during the Depression, and it was better to have two families with one person working in each of them than one family with two working and a third family with nobody working." Fish attributes his long life to good health. " I still live in my own home. I 've been very fortunate and very healthy." The Oakville Transit Care-A-Van drives him to the White Oak every morn ing Monday to Friday to have coffee with `the boys' and one of them drives him home in the winter and in bad weather. " In the summer, I walk (one block) to the downtown bus stop to take the bus home." About a year before his wife's death. Fish took over the cooking, as she was no longer well enough to organize the meals. " I had three brothers and three sisters - there were seven of us, and in a large family, you learn to help out in the house." He is the fifth eldest. His only surviv ing sibling is his youngest brother, 94. " My mother used to say she was only planning to have four children, and when I came along, I was an accident. Well, she had two more accidents after me." One of his early jobs was a short Ron Kuzyk · Oakville Beaver Allan Fish, 100, gives the thumbs up sign as he leaves an O akville Transit Care-A-Van bus to meet with his buddies at the W hite Oak Restaurant for coffee. Behind him is O akville Transit Director E ric Pilon. order cook in a restaurant. " I got the job because I could boil water. " So, I took over looking after the kitchen and the laundry, and she kept the house tidy. I cooked the meals. Now when people ask me if I get meals brought in, I tell them `no, I like my own cooking better.'" Learning how to cook and run a house was only one benefit of being in a large family. Fish also cherishes the camaraderie she shared with his siblings while growing up. " I told my dad during the 1930s that I appreciate more being a member of a large family than inheriting $100,000 that was a lot of money during the Depression." Fish is a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Oakville, and St. John's United Church. He once told the minis ter his philosophy on life. `" I am a part of all that I have met yet all experience is an art where through gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades forever and forever as I move." ' said Fish. " It's something I had memorized as a boy and it has been always very meaningful to me ever since - but don't asked me who wrote it." Does he feel old? " No," said Fish. " I never expected to live to be 100," joking about starting his second century. Armstrong speaks at Zonta Women's Day The Zonta Clubs of Oakville and Mississauga w ill celebrate International Women's Day in a big way. Renowned human rights activist and journalist Sally Armstrong w ill be speaking on The Power o f One The International Women's Day Celebration will be held on March 4 from 6 - 1 0 p.m. at Otello's Banquet Hall at 2273 Royal Windsor Dr. Tickets cost $40 per person. Proceeds will support Zonta's interna tional service projects for women in India. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. Seating is limited. For tickets call Jan Anders at 905-858 -1599 or email jananders@paragondpi.com. Women Are Making a World o f Difference - One Village at a Time. Armstrong is a Member of the Order of Canada and the author of the recent bestseller Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power o f the Women in Afghanistan. < ; oik vim j: mum Oakville's Bi-Weekly Dining and Entertainm ent Spotlight iir s ii THE HARVEST TABLE " Tfocn ' faetuUq SENIORS DAY EVERYDAY w ith Homemade Soup o r Juice w ith soup o r salad bar fautew iM t Years Serving Burlington for Over © BABY BEEF LIVER OR ROAST TURKEY DINNER HOMEMADE ROAST TURKEY HOMEMADE CABBAGE ROLLS SUNDAY BRUNCH HOT & COLD ENTREES $7.95 $9.95 *8.95 $11.95 PLUS MANY MORE SPECIALS DINNER SERVED FROM 5PM TO 9PM BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. M o n d a y o p f . n t i l 3 p.m. =* CRABBY JOE'S <= HOT © 4U GOOD F000, G000 FUN. BAD TEMPER 1/2 PRICE A P P ETIZER S A FTER 9 P.M.! Fun at any age at Crabby Joe's ADVERTISING FEATURE W ant to please all of your family members or friends - whatever their palate preferences? Crabby Joe's caters to the individual. The family-oriented restaurant is perfect for dates, a big group, watching the big game or work lunches: whatever the occasion. The comfortable atmosphere is appropriate for all ages. Fun and friendly, the restaurant aims to please, and it's apparent in their exten sive menu. W h at do you feel like having? W ell, the choice won't be easy because everything on the menu is mouthwatering. It features more than 70 items includes steaks, signature flaming sizzlers, appetizers, sal ads, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, pastas, beef and chicken. Even the pickiest of eaters will find their favourite dish. Enjoy a specialty drink, a classic cocktail or one of their 13 draft beers. W atch the playoffs on one of their 10 televisions, or even play a game of darts. As Crabby Joe says:" I cook the food, you eat the food, you pay the bill, and you go home. Oh Yeah Don't make a mess!" There's always something going on at Crabby Joe's: THE HARVEST TABLE 3350 Fairview Street Fully Licensed 632-5911 10 OZ. N ew York C entre C ut S te a k fo r $9.99! Monday'* H u ^ p " Rack of Ribs Every Thursday W ings LUNCH 290 ·All day long! EXPRESS T ue sda ys fro m $ 4 .9 9 ; 1* MEXICAN DEAL! ·1 A N D 0 0 M S M A O S A8 .W O R E I · Lunch Buffet $7.95 · Dinner Buffet $9.95 2530 Sixth Line, Unit #7, Oakville 2 3 4 5 T ra fa lg a r R o a d _1 9 0 ^ 2 5 7 -9 8 8 8 _ G if t with the purchase ol an entree of equal or greater value *0ne coupon per table One coupon per pcnon M ot yaw n cornunctoo any I promotion or tpeaal No value One-in ortf Pleas* present ffat coupon upon | I FREE ENTREE! * 905.25T.r6T6 DINE IN or TAKE OUT · OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 2Y ! * 2 ,,2L0 2i t St'il'UPJFZL --i?Sl J TO ADVERTISE IN THIS FEATURE PLEASE CALL THE OAKVILLE BEA M 905 845-3824 - M onday night: wings for 29 cents Tuesday/Wednesday: Fajitas! Chicken is $6.99, steak is $8.99 Thursday: rack of ribs with fries $ 1 0 Every weeknighf 1 12 price appetizers after 9 p.m. Sunday: kids eat free with any adult entree Crabby Joe's also does takeout. They are located at 2345 Trafalgar Rd. at Dundas Street, 905-257-9888. Hours are Monday to Thursday, 1 1 a.m. - I a.m.; Friday and Saturday I I a.m. - 2 a.m.; and Sunday I I a.m. - midnight.Visit www.crabbyjoes.com to view entire menu. ·i V i ' j. J "USING C O M M U N IC A TIO N TO BUILD B E TTE R COM M UN I TIES" V * · > * 4