26 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday M arch 4, 2006 A brief history of the Oscar Shortly after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was organized in 1927, a dinner was held in the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in down town Los Angeles to discuss meth ods of honoring outstanding achievements, thus encouraging higher levels of quality in all facets of motion picture production. A major item of the business dis cussed was the creation of a tro phy to symbolize the recognition of film achievement. MGM art director Cedric Gibbons designed the statuette and Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was selected to bring to three dimensional form the figure of a knight standing on a reel of film, hands gripping a sword. Since the initial awards ban quet on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Blossom Room, 2484 statuettes have been presented. Each January, additional new golden statuettes are cast, molded, polished and buffed by R. S. Owens and Company, the Chicago awards specialty company retained by the Academy since 1982 to make the award. Since 2000, when the ship-m ent of Oscars on its way from the Owens plant in Chicago was stolen from the shipper's dock in Bell, California, the Academy always keeps a show's-worth of statuettes on hand. Initially Oscar was goldplated bronze, for a while plaster and today gold-plated britanrtium, a pewter-like alloy. He hasn't been altered again since his molten birth, except when the pedestal was made higher in 1945. Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by a nickname, Oscar, the origins of which aren't clear. A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so; and that the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar. In any case, by the sixth Awards Presentation in 1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in his column in JJ reference to Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress win. The Academy itself didn't use the nickname officially until 1939. Achievement in up to 26 regular categories will be honored on March 5, 2006, at the Annual Academy Awards Presentation. However, the Academy won't know how many stat uettes it will actually hand out until the envelopes are opened on Oscar Night. Although the number of categories and special awards is known prior to the ceremony, the possibility of ties and of multiple recipients shar ing the prize in some categories makes the exact number of Oscar statuettes to be awarded unpre dictable. # As in previous years, any sur plus awards will be housed in the Academy's vault until next year's event. "Each Oscar statuette is individually hand-crafted," says Scott Seigel, president of R. S. Owens. The Oscar statuette is arguably the most recognized award in the world and today rests on the mantels of the greatest film makers in history. HE VILLAGE ·C AR PET * O R I E N T A L RUGS * V I N Y L * HARDWOOD « C E R A M I C S · Oakville's Finest Tobacco Shop FEATURING: · D unhill « C olibri · S.T. D upont · Porsche · Zippo · H um idors · V ic io rin o x · Lampe Berger · H arrogate House · B righam Pipes · Peterson · Stanwell · Don Carlos · Ser Jacopo · Meershaum · Heys Luggage · L o tte ry · 100 Bulk & Tinned Tobacco Lampe Berger - Cleans and purifiesthe surrounding air - Destroys 68% of bacteria in the air - "Eliminates householdodours and impurities - Pleasantly fragrances your interior 2005 in-stock only! LAMPE BERGER 117 Cross Avenue, Oakville, Ontario^ 905 849-3845 - Buy One Brunches + 2Drinks & u > l Receive 2 n d Brunch FR EE ! ^ I I , Offer valid Mon - Sat 8:00 a.m. -2:00 1 Limit one coupon per customer I Not valid with any other offer All coupons exdude > 1 Sunday& holidays IE g 2 . / ^ G o lde>T\ s 1 } < I Weekend & Holiday Brunch Buffet Includes waffles, om elettes, bacon, sausages, eggs & more! i Expires March 18/06 125 CrOSS Ave, ^* i^-HEAVY B E R B E R o n ly $ m m tw ist > n ly $ 2 * 9 9 / s q . f t . luxurious plush 1 . 9 9 % . ft. o n ly $ 3 . 9 9 % & WEDNESDAYS K irs l O a n d u n d e r E A T F IZ B B J 1 child per adult 1 0 % d is c o u n t f o r s e n io r s 5 5 a n d o v e r (o n all m enu items excluding alcohol) Offer valid after 4:00 p.m.daily Limit one coupon per customer Not valid with any other offer Expires March 18/06 125 CrOSSAve. C ARPE T · O R I E N T A L RUGS · V INY L · H ARDWOOD · C E R A M I C S W Fw oore ^ I |Life (Products w m m m \W ork ·Relax *S le ep ^m m T ra fa lg a r V illa g e S h o p p in g C en tre U n it B 9 - 1 1 7 C ro s s A v e ., O a k v ille "While in the Store ask about our "O nly at M oore Life P roducts will yo u find sleep room s, yo u can test our selection of beds in the privacy of clo sed doors, snuggled under a duvet, where you can take yo u r time/*