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The Oakville BeaverGuest Column467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742The 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 theA time to celebrate togethercondition 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 chargedfor, 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 advertising content of theOakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour, Halton MPNEIL OLIVERVice-President and Group Publisher,MARK DILLSDirector of ProductionMetroland WestMANUEL GARCIAProduction Manageruly is one of my favourite times of the year. The weatherDAVID HARVEY Regional General ManagerCHARLENE HALLDirector of Distributionprovides us with the chance to spend more time with ourJILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerROD JERREDManaging EditorWEBSJfriends and family while experiencing the great out-ITE oakvillebeaver.comDANIEL BAIRDAdvertising Directordoors. The Oakville Beaver is a division ofRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorAnd of course, the month starts with a celebration of SANDY PAREBusiness Managerour countrys creation.This year, as in years past on Canada Day, I had theLisa RaittRECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY:Ontario CommunityCanadian Community Suburban Newspapersprivilege of attending a citizenship ceremony where weNewspapers AssociationNewspapers Associationof Americawelcomed 40 new Canadians here in Halton region. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:These new Canadians take the oath of citizenship and commit to embrac-ing our values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.Together with them, we celebrate our shared identity.United Wayof OakvilleOn Canada Day, we reflect on our accomplishments of the past 144 years.ATHENAWe celebrate the present, realizing we are in a land of opportunity. And weAwardimagine the future country we are building for our children and grandchil-dren.Last year, we had some remarkable accomplishments. Bringing home the gold in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics,hosting world leaders during the G-20 in Toronto and a successful visit fromHer Majesty the Queen. This year, the next generation, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge touredCanada for the first time as a married couple.And next year we will celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, theDiamond Jubilee of our Queen, the 40th anniversary of our victory in the1972 Summit Series and the 20th anniversary of the Jays World Series vic-tory. On Canada Day we pause to remember those who fought so we may livein this country, which celebrates individuality, culture, history and diversity.More than a million and a half Canadians served in the First and SecondWorld Wars and in Korea. More than 100,000 Canadians have died in defence of freedom. In Afghanistan, 157 brave men and women of the Canadian Army all of them volunteers have made the supreme sacrifice. Later this year our troops will return from Afghanistan with a sense of KAREN NEWMAN pride in their accomplishments helping Afghans rebuild their country as a/ OAKVILLE BEAVERstable, democratic and self-sufficient society. TASTE DELIVERS: Organizers from the Oakville Taste event held May 29 dropped by Kerr Street Ministries We share a great country, the greatest in the world. (KSM) with a $15,000 cheque from the second annual event, which raised double last year's amount. KSM willWe should all take the opportunity every day to learn more and re-acquaintuse the money to send up to 200 kids per day to summer day camp. Here, from left, are: Ben Ward, KSM director;ourselves with our rich history.Dave Higgins, Higgins Event Rentals; Mo Aoki, Mye Restaurant; David Ruskin, Ideal Graphics; Noreen and SeanIt is our shared responsibility, and great privilege, to make Canada greatHiggins, Oakville Taste; Laura Hrebeniuk, Higgins Event Rentals; Kevin Franklin, Ideal Graphics; Randy Winterle,for all Canadians, and all that it can be.Oakland Ford; and, Frank Duffy, Ideal Graphics.With the women away the men let themselves go all manlyhe women left wife, daughter, aunts, nieces up to the Then I went out on the deck and bar-breaks of random stretching, no downward dogs, no Pilates, nocottage, leaving us men shy a few precious pints of estrogen, becued a few hamburgers. For breakfast. hand weights flying in repetitions to keep us young forever. AndTlady-less, and alone to be, well, men.A man can only take so many bowls of just to ensure that I would not at some point be tempted and giveIn their absence, the first thing I did was go around to all the flakey, fiber cereal, loaded with bland, bor-in to strenuous exercise, I went out in the garage and slit the tirestoilets in the house and told them for the next seven days, things ing goodness and tasting like one would on my bike.were going to be different. Then I lifted their lids and, feeling imagine sawdust might taste. I was tempt-You know, a big part of being a man is being conscious of empowered and emboldened, I left them up. On the way out, I told ed to top the burgs with a tomato slice, Mother Earth, aware of her infinite beauty and the finiteness of herthe toothpaste tube if it had any thought of seeing its lid during the but that seemed too sensible, so I just resources. With this in mind I swore off showering for the weekcourse of the week, it had another thing coming.loaded it with ketchup. The original kind, (think of the water Id save). Then I blew off work, doing my partAndy JuniperNext, in an act of liberation not seen since the historical down-not that new low-sodium version. To boot, to not strain the electrical grid with my power usage. At this point,ing of the Berlin Wall, I took off my socks, tossed them in the air I tossed some bacon slices on-board. After if I were a real man, Id have headed out to go kill something,and left them right where they landed, smack-dab in the middle of all, it was breakfast.huntin or fishin. Instead, I had to make do with packing up mythe floor. I was a rebel with a cause.I might have been content eating those burgs at the table, all clubs and going golfin.Next stop, the kitchen where I warned all the food in the pantry civilized and all. But with the women away, I reclined in front of I had a terrible round. I returned home seeking compassion.and in the refrigerator granted, there was very little food in the the TV, using my chest as a TV tray and watched sports highlights. The boys merely mocked me. Im not saying I was feeling a littlefridge what with each shelf having been pretty much taken over by When I was finished, I used my shirt as a napkin and I left the plate lost or lonely, or that I missed my girls, but I took the lid off thebeer that until further notice there would be no talk of ingredi-on the floor for the dog to clean. No sense taxing the dishwasher.potpourri, inhaled greedily, and quietly calculated the days untilents, nary a whisper about calories, fat, fiber, or sodium. I said, flat En route to my home office, I came across a jar of potpourri, their return.out, if a man wants to clog his old arteries, goose his blood-pres-intent on making the house smell like summer in a bowl; I put a Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found onsure with a little liberally-dispensed salt, and add an inch or five to lid on it. Then I saw a forlorn yoga mat on the floor. I kicked it aside, Facebook http://www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/his midriff with a junk-food-a-palooza, he should be allowed to.warning that as long as I ruled the roost, there would be no out-thesportjesters.www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, July 14, 2011 6