www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, November 13, 2015 | 6 Help us recognize our future leaders Every community has young stars, and while they may not quite have celebrity status, they deserve to be in the spotlight for all they have accomplished. Who are they? They are our future leaders -- Ontario's youths. These individuals are working hard to make their community a better place by volunteering for various organizations, making donations, holding fundraisers, donating their time, saving lives and maintaining top grade averages, among other things. They are everywhere -- in your homes, at school, on the eld and at a place of worship. If you know someone who deserves a large pat on the back, nominate them today for the Ontario Junior Citizen Awards. Our newspaper strongly supports this program here in Oakville because we support the growth of our community. We look forward to providing recognition for such outstanding young people, who continue to be ne examples of leaders in our local community. The awards program is co-ordinated by the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA), of which we are a member, and sponsored by TD Bank Group and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Any Ontario residents, aged six to 17 years (must be at least six years, but no older than 17 years by Nov. 30, 2015) are eligible to be chosen as a nal recipient of this award. Please help us by nominating an individual in one of ve areas: · A person involved in worthwhile community service; · A special young person contributing to their community while living with a physical or psychological limitation; · An individual who has performed an act of heroism in the past year; · Excellence in achievement, such as the arts or athletics; · Good kids, who show a commitment to make life better for others and do more than is normally expected of someone their age. Up to 12 nominees will be chosen as the nal recipients of the provincial award and will be invited to a special ceremony held in the spring of 2016 in Toronto. Nominate a deserving young person today, and we will personally present them with a certi cate of recognition and showcase their contributions in this newspaper. Help us pay tribute to our leaders of today and tomorrow. Nomination deadline for the 2015 Ontario Junior Citizen Awards is Nov. 30. Nomination forms are available at www.ocna. org/juniorcitizen or by calling OCNA at 905-6398720, ext. 4438. Editorial I N S P I R E D B Y Y O U "Connected to your Community" T H S 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 53 | Number 91 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. VicePresident and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS On Monday, Nov. 9, the Optimist Club of Oakville recognized 12 Oakville high school students, who were nominated by their respective schools, during its annual Youth Appreciation Night. Together, this impressive group has provided more than 5,000 hours of volunteer service here in Oakville and around the world, while at the same time excelling in sports, coaching/mentoring others, school activities and academics. Each student received an Optimist Youth Appreciation certi cate and a $150 gift card. Pictured, in front, from left, are: Lauren Maul, Kirsten Walraven, Katherine Bailey, Tom Watson, Emma Mogus and Optimist President Sabina Todman. In back, from left, are: Optimist Youth Appreciation Chair Tom McNaught, Philip DaCosta, Sierra Johnson, Sarah Asselin, Hannah Ward, Rachel Stubits, Klara Sokic and Laura Walsh. | photo by Justin Greaves Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution Leafblower ban would set the tone A local group wants to ban gasoline-powered leafblowers in Oakville due to the noise and pollution concerns. Really? Leafblowers are used when the leaves fall, maybe one, or sometimes one-and-a-half months per year. Yes, they are quite noisy and I appreciate some consideration should be used with these implements: avoid early or very late hours, wet or windy conditions. These all make sense. Personally, I use my noisy gasoline lawnmower to mulch leaves back onto the lawn, meaning no leaf bags on pickup day and returning what nutrients are left in the leaves to the soil. In fact, the Town just recently came into the park behind us with noisy, gasoline-powered leafblowers and a polluting diesel mower and mulched every leaf in sight. The next noisy yard tool would be the gasoline-powered snowblower, which gets used up to four months every year and has much larger engines than the leafblowers, therefore, even Letter to the Editor CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager more pollution. It probably runs longer at a time than leafblowers, so I guess we should ban them also. Sorry people with bad backs and hearts, you'll just have to shovel, or pay a service to bring their noisy polluting snowblowers. Might as well keep going here -- gasolinepowered lawnmowers. Quieter than the implements above, but operated up to six months per year, sometimes twice or three times per week. And with them, add the noisy gasolinepowered trimmer, again operated for up to six months per year. Yes, yes, we should ban them also. We can always trim around our gardens and walkways with scissors... and don't forget the venerable pushmower for the grass. They cut much better anyway. And so ends my rant. Bob Heath, Oakville Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 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.