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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , Ja nu ar y 13 , 2 01 1 6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver 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.Editorial and adv rtising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. United Way of Oakville Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER SAND OR SNOW?: A passerby strolls past a swimwear shop on Lakeshore Road in downtown Oakville. Bathing suits may be the last thing on Oakville residents' mind after the snowfall on Saturday. ATHENAAward Guest Columnist What do you like about living in Halton? What doyou think Regional Council should focus on tomake Halton an even better place to live, work, raise a family and retire? As we move into 2011 with a newly elected Regional Council, these are the questions were looking for the community to answer as we create our strategic work plan. Over the next couple months, Regional Council will be developing the priori- ties that we will focus on for the next four years. We want to ensure that Haltons residents are and continue to be engaged in their regional government. We have already started this journey with the imple- mentation of closed captioning and web streaming of our committee and council meetings. With the new strategic plan process, and Haltons first-ever Citizens Reference Panel, citizen engagement will continue to evolve and remain a top priority for this Council, as we all work together to keep Halton healthy, vibrant and success- ful. On Saturday, Jan. 29, were having a Public Roundtable meeting so Halton res- idents can add their voice to the important strategic planning conversation. The meeting will be 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Auditorium at the Halton Regional Centre, located at 1151 Bronte Rd. Residents are encouraged to pre-register at www.halton.ca/strategicworkplan. At this meeting, youll also have the chance to meet some of your fellow resi- dents who make up Haltons first Citizens Reference Panel. In November, you may have received one of 10,000 letters that were mailed to households throughout the Region inviting residents to submit their names for a chance to participate on Haltons first Citizens Reference Panel. After a great response, 36 people were randomly selected to be panelists and are meeting for four Saturdays in January and February. Their insights, along with input from the broader community, will help Regional Council develop a new strategic work plan and set out priorities for the next four years. If you cant come to the Public Roundtable on Jan. 29, you can still give us your ideas by sharing your thoughts at www.halton.ca/strategicworkplan. Here you can either send us an e-mail or complete an online survey. Between all these various methods, at the end of the day we want to have a very strong strategic work plan that has been put together with real input from resi- dents. Thank you for joining the conversation about Haltons future. As always, feel free to e-mail me on regional programs and services at gary.carr@halton.ca and visit our website at www.halton.ca Gary Carr, Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr Join the conversation The Oakville Beaver is a division of So, Kara Lang the Oakville soccer star with the supersmile and the stellar career has called it quits.Retired. At age 24. Although the engaging local native wasnt forced into retire- ment, she was persuasively elbowed by injuries and cajoled by common sense a sense oftentimes absent in athletes, partic- ularly when pertaining to the prickly issue of retirement (see: assorted jocks from Willie Mays to Brett Favre). Kara had twice torn up her knee. Anymore wear-and- tear(ing) on the vulnerable joint could have left her with a lifetime of limping, the agony of arthritis and the prospect of having to replace the knee with a man-made joint that would cause a ruckus every time she crossed an airport metal detec- tor. From the outside, Kara certainly made the right deci- sion. While 24 seems like a preposterously young age to be retiring from anything, retirement really isnt (or, at least, should not be) about age. But, opportunity and readiness. Ideally, whether youre an athlete or a chartered account- ant, its best to go out on top, to leave people remembering you at the peak of your powers, and to leave them clamoring for more one more goal scored, or one more sizzling year- end financial statement rendered. Retire too late and you may well be messing with your reputation, your legacy, not to mention your health. Are you listening, Mr. Favre? A recent Harris/Decima study revealed that nearly 70 per cent of Canadians plan to work after retire- ment. Ah, working retirees, an oxy- moron for our times, right up there with the ubiquitous, and moronic, working holiday. If people are working after retirement because they gen- uinely love what they do, I think thats wonderful its not often that a person can combine a payday with a passion. Further, if they are continuing to work to remain mentally active (as 72 per cent surveyed suggested), then thats great. And if they are working to remain socially active (57 per- cent), then thats both wise and healthy. However, for the 38 per cent who say they will be working because they need the cash because they seemingly forgot that to retire takes plenty of planning and saving well, thats akin to the athlete who hangs on one sad season too long just to collect another payday; a scenario that rarely works out well for anyone involved. Also, if you are continuing to work for any of the follow- ing reasons because you think you are irreplaceable; because you are defined by your job; because you have noth- ing else in your life well, that is just sad and pathetic. Finally, when I finished laughing, I actually applauded the pleasantly oblivious (to reality) five percent surveyed who said they are counting on winning a lottery to make it through retirement. Ah, such unfounded and, typically, unrequited optimism. I dont know Kara Lang personally, but I guess she wish- es she could have continued playing soccer forever, but she wisely weighed the possible consequences and made a tough but sound decision: to leave the sport she loves with her health and legacy intact and her future bright. Shes 24, after all. Personable. Wildly successful. The world is her oyster. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, con- tacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters. How athletes and others tackle the tricky timing of retirement Andy Juniper