The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

A Pillar in the community As the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH) celebrated its 33rd anniversary with the theme A Proud Journey, it handed a Four Pillars Award to Oakville native Arlene Duncan. Duncan is perhaps best known for her current role as Fatima Dinssa on the international hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie. The CCAH, a non-profit cultural organization, marked its 33rd anniversary with a dinner/dance held May 8 at the Operating Engineers Banquet Hall. "We combine arts, culture and heritage program activities to advance the community's knowledge of diverse cultures and strengthen appreciation of all cultures that make up the diversity of Oakville and Halton," according to CCAH executive director Veronica Tyrell. The CCAH supports the four pillars of its organization -- education, culture, community and harmony. The CCAH strives to promote harmony and safety in the community; does outreach to schools with programs based on the history of African heritage and culture and hosts a Caribbean pavilion each year in Oakville's Carousel of Nations Festival. The CCAH Community steel band, Rhythms of the Caribbean, performed at the dinner dance as did Juno Award-winning performer Sonia Collymore. Generation. Her numerous theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Once on this Island, Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang and Dora Award-winning productions of Ain't Misbehavin', The Nutmeg Princess, and The Who's Tommy. Duncan was awarded the Artistic Merit Award representing Canada as a vocalist at the Pacific Song Festival in New Zealand and later co-hosted the show live via satellite to eight countries along the Pacific Rim. Duncan has also received an ACTRA Award nomination for her performance in the CBC television special ALL FOR One. On the musical front, Duncan was a winner and later the co-host of DuMaurier Search for Stars, and was awarded Female Vocalist of the Year at the Canadian Black Music Awards, and BLAC 1994 Female Vocalist of the YearHall of Fame Award Winner for Dance/House music. She can also be heard in the recurring role of Betty Parker in the CBC radio mystery series The Old Guy and as the voice of Officer Rabbit in the cartoon Franklin the Turtle. She is also honourary chair of Literature for Life, a Toronto-based organization created to engage at-risk young families in building a culture of literacy and learning-- to invest in their own and their families' futures. 29 · Friday, May 21, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Lots to go around Arlene Duncan Each year a portion of the event's proceeds goes to a charity of choice. This year it will be directed to the rebuilding of homes in Haiti. Born and raised in Oakville, Duncan's career has taken her around the world: through Europe, the United States, and across Canada, travelling as far north as the Arctic and as far south as New Zealand. She is the daughter of the late Alvin B. Aberdeen Duncan, a decorated Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) veteran of the Second World War and a man whose roots extended to the Underground Railroad in Oakville. Duncan has appeared in numerous notable film and television projects including the role of Harriet Tubman, both on stage and then again reprising the part in the Gemininominated television production of Sing out Freedom Train. Duncan is familiar to viewers from recurring roles on the Showtime series Soul Food, the CBC series Drop the Beat and the internationally-acclaimed CTV series Degrassi: the Next RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER FROM ST. MARGUERITE TO THE CFFC: The second annual Spring Clothing Drive at St. Marguerite d'Youville School once again benefitted the Canadian Food for Children a (CFFC) charity. While students, teachers, parents and the broader community donated clothing items, Michael Longo, of Longo's in Oakville, provided a truck to take the donations to CFFC. Seen here in the truck is Rishi Persad from Longo's. Lining up to donate are (from front) Mikhaila Filice, Grade 7, Steven Farano, Grade 8 and Angelica Rdivas, Grade 6. The CFFC has been receiving donations from St. Marguerite d'Youville for several years through the clothing drive and Soap for Hope Campaign, even a post-Halloween candy drive as the sweets are used to stimulate saliva production in malnourished children who are no longer produce saliva to even consume a bowl of rice put before them. SAVE MONDAY, MAY 24th, 2010 at MONDAY, t BRONTE C O ON CREEK PROVINCIAL PARK O NC A A OV C th h f th for the 5 ANNUAL HALTON: h NNU HAL O HALTON ON REGISTRATION: 1PM WALK STARTS: 2PM Many thanks go out to our generous sponsors: For more information go to: www.als.ca/walkforals and click on Walk Locations to find HALTON WALK. Or contact als_halton@yahoo.ca fi