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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, December 27, 2013 | 6 Editorial We've just entered into winter -- of cially -- but you wouldn't know it by the recent major storms -- rst snow, then ice -- that we've experienced recently. It appears we may be in for a true winter season this year and that means we should all take extra time to remember safety. As emergency and hydro crews work around the clock to make the roads passable during and after the recent ice storm, drivers should all take time to remember inclement weather requires even more diligence and patience behind the wheel. As a reminder, Young Drivers of Canada offers these ve key defensive driving techniques: · Keep Space -- more than 90 per cent of all collisions are caused by driver error. In order to stay out of collisions, you need to keep space around your vehicle at all times. Keep a space cushion in front, behind and on both sides in order to always have an escape route open. · Increase Your Following Distance -- poor road conditions make it more dif cult to stop. Increase your following distance to four seconds and adjust your speed accordingly. · Emergency Stopping with ABS Brakes -- ABS brakes are now common on newer vehicles in Canada. To maximize their stopping power, hit the brake as quickly and as hard as you can. Stay on the brake without letting up until you stop. You would only lift off the brake if you were certain to hit something and you had the opportunity to steer into space or something softer. · Emergency Stopping with Threshold System -- if your car does not have ABS, threshold braking is your emergency stopping technique. With threshold braking, you get on the brakes initially about 80 per cent so you shift the weight to the front of the car then increase the brake pressure progressively. If a wheel locks up, pull back a little on brake pressure. · Maintain Control When You Hit Ice -- remember two things if you start to lose control: shift into neutral (or put in the clutch if you have a standard transmission), and take your foot off the gas. Then look well ahead and steer immediately to keep the vehicle straight. Once under control, steer in the direction you want to go. And when you arrive home safe and sound, don't forget to keep your residence accessible by shovelling and salting, if need be. An emergency survival kit -- in the vehicle and at home -- are great ideas, as experienced by many who lost power during the major ice storm just before the holidays. "Connected to your Community" Letters to the Editor Winter is a good time to slow down Curtain falls on Coulter's career 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 51 | Number 154 During this past year, at the Murray, and Johnny Winter end of last season, I gave among the many notables notice of my intent to forto grace our little space mally retire from my position with less than 500 seats. as general manager with Beyond that, we were the Oakville Performing Arts able, over the years, to Centre, after 33 years with give countless opportunithis local institution. ties to Oakville youths and This timing was best as it to community members to is always dif cult to make a "be on stage one night and change like this mid season. in the audience the next," Given some outstanding vaand as a result, have our cation and accumulated lieu centre recognized as truly time, the result was not havone of this country's best ing the opportunity to propand rst professional comerly or formally say goodbye munity centres for the arts, and thank you to our dear despite the limitations of and loyal audience(s) and the theatre's design. to the performing arts comWe overcame many obKen Coulter munity. stacles to move Oakville As the end of the year apforward and I am blessed proaches, it is time, by way and proud to have been a of this note, to close the loop and give my of- part of that. cial regards. In the last few years, it has become apparTo the many Town councils under which I ent what Oakville had already known and lived have served, I express my thanks for their undy- for so long -- that arts and culture are part of ing support of the performing arts centre and Oakville's DNA -- that the arts are a fundamentheir acknowledgement of how, since 1977, the tal part of what makes life livable, they contribperforming arts has woven itself into the fabric ute to both personal and community well-being of Oakville. and are important revenue generators for a To the artists, community performers, and healthy downtown and an overall healthy comaudiences in Oakville and beyond, my gratitude munity. knows no bounds. Kudos to those whose foresight is keeping One of my personal greatest pleasures was the much-needed new performing arts centre bringing audiences and artists together, intro- in the downtown, where it belongs. ducing artists to Oakville audiences and meetIt will be a new venue to serve every citizen of ing with audience members in the lobby, listen- the new expanded Oakville. ing to what they had to say about every show. You will still nd me around, either as your During those years of choosing artists to ap- neighbour, or in various volunteer capacities pear at the performing arts centre, we always with Rotary, Scouts or church, living in and enlooked at what was right to bring to Oakville, we joying Oakville. were never constrained by number of seats or For all of those wonderful years, I cannot say budget limitations. more than, `Thank you, Oakville.' Somehow, we had to nd a way to bring the Ken Coulter, right show to Oakville. That led us to include artgeneral manager, ists such as Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Karen Kain, Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Canadian Opera Company, Bill Cosby, Anne The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS 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 CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager 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: Thanks for turning in those missing keys About two weeks ago, someone found my keys in the Glen Abbey plaza parking lot at Third Line and Upper Middle Road. Seeing a Sobeys points tag, they deposited them to the courtesy desk at Sobeys. The store then called to notify me of the miss- ing keys having been turned in. I greatly appreciate the efforts of whoever turned in the keys and would like to give whoever dropped them off a token reward for their efforts. This deed is much appreciated by me. Abe Mandel, Oakville 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, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to; ablackburn@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. 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