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Wednesday, Septem ber 26, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D3 World champ will take on world's biggest staircase By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Several months ago, Jeff Adams had a birth day bash at a basement Toronto pub spoiled by an insurmountable barrier. No, it wasn't the stairs. It was the pub owner. Come on, Adams has been to two Olympic games, four Paralympics, six world champi onships. He's got 12 career Paralympic track medals and is the defending Paralympic champi on over both 800 and 1500 metres. He's also won two IAAF medals at world track and field cham pionships, most recently in Edmonton where his silver medal was Canada's only medal (having previously won gold in Goteborg in 1995, along with Donovan Bailey). A modest flight of stairs is no barrier to this guy. It was people's attitudes he couldn't over come. And when virtually the same incident hap pened a second time, he knew he had to do something. He settled upon the CN Tower. You want stairs. You got stairs. Two owners won't let him wheel down two puny sets of stairs to join his buddies in their basement pubs, so he'll show them. He'll wheel up every last step of the CN Tower -- 1,776 stairs. The climb was originally set to take place on Thursday, September 20 but was postponed in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack that claimed so many lives. Adams just didn't want to divert people's attention from the disaster relief efforts, such as last Friday's very moving all-network telethon. It's actually been moved to next year -- around the same time. And that's because there was a rather small window of opportunity for this year. He also didn't want to compromise October's United Way campaign. And in November the CN Tower's stairwell is too cold. In any event, he said the long lead-up time will only help his community outreach efforts. Since the age of nine, when Adams' legs were partially paralyzed by transverse myelitis, a viral disease, Adams has committed his life to break ing barriers and accomplishing what few others could do. "I go down stairs in my every-day chair on my own, and I've done it since I was a student at U-of-T -- I had to do it because of some of the inaccessibilities there," said the 30-year-old Adams, who was in town recently to support a Golden Griddle promotion towards his climb. The Oakville restaurant donated $1 for every customer that day. "So I went down these stairs to meet up with my buddies and the owner of the place came up and said, `I'm really sorry we're not accessible.' "And I said, `ah, no big deal -- lots of places in Toronto aren't.' "He said, `no you don't understand. I'm sorry we're not accessible -- you're going to have to leave. You're a fire hazard being down here.' "I was flabbergasted he had made this deci sion. And I argued with him for a little while. "But I've seen enough arguments in bars to realize you don't usually win no matter what side you're on -- so I left and I took my 15 buddies with me." After it happened the second time, he briefly considered channeling his energies towards either litigation or at least lobbying for legislation. But it was just before the Sydney Olympics and he was going into both the Paralympics arid the Olympics (as a demonstration sport) and he didn't want to be negative and have that kind of negative energy going. He reckons the CN Tower climb should take "probably five or six hours." He will wheel up backwards in a special mod ified chair, with the modification basically being two spring loaded 'legs' that drop down under his front wheels to prevent him from tipping front ward back down the stairs. While the CN Tower may be home to the biggest staircase in the world, they are, ironically, far more accessible than the two Toronto pubs that gave Adams the boot. "We're going into the CN Tower that has all of these stairs but they are also an incredibly acces sible facility -- the elevators that go all the way to the top." Even though they were built back in the 70's when accessibility wasn't a major issue, he said that "every time they go in and do a renovation they try to make it a little bit better. "And it's that kind of thing that we want to talk about, you know where Rome wasn't built in a day and accessibility isn't something that can happen overnight. "But the CN Tower has been a great example of people who have taken this one step at a time and doing things really responsibly and it just seemed when we went to them with this idea they were really supportive and thought it would be a great way to message and to use their facili ty to do it." Adams had been training hard for the climb, about four hours a day, pretty much ever since his silver medal at the world's in Edmonton in August. "I came back and started training specifically for this and it's been a lot more lifting, a lot less distance work in my chair. "When I'm training for the 1500 1 go out and do 30K pushes to get ready. "But for this, it's mostly lifting to get strong, a lot less work in the chair and really trying to develop the strength I need for that specific movement of lifting myself up each stair." All money raised raised is being donated to the renowned Variety Village of Scarborough, and, more specifically, is earmarked for their spe cial community public awareness initiative. To find out more, log on to www.raisingawareness.com or phone 1-888-611-1191. Photo by Riziero Vertolli Defending world Paralympic champ Jeff Adams in Oakville for a Golden Griddle fundraiser. Women's indoor soccer registration Registration for women's indoor recreational soccer will be held Monday, October 1, 7 p.m., at Central Arena. Games will be played at `The Pitch' the new facility at Sherwood Forest in Burlington on Monday nights. Season runs six months. For info call Keli Campbell-Hill at (905) 634-5478. THE CUTTING EDGE HOCKEY & SKATING ACADEMY FALL/WINTER PROGRAMS Traditional arch rival, Milton, in town for family night The Oakville Blades will hope a combination of family night, official opening ceremonies and a traditional arch rival -- the Milton Merchants -- will help get them on track in the early going of the provincial junior A season. Game time is 7:45 p.m. at Ice Sports Oakville. The Blades have yet to defeat a league opponent, dropping a 5-2 decision in Hamilton on Monday night to drop to 1-3 on the young season. The Blades did hold a 2-1 lead at one point, thanks to goals by Rob Tarantino and Geoff Curtis. Thankfully, the annual college showcase tourney this past weekend, with its traditional cross-over format, allowed the PROVINCIAL JUNIOR A - west conference GP W L T OTLGF GA PTS GAA BRAMPTON HAMILTON GEORGETOW N MILTON BRAM ALEA M ISSISSAUGA OAKVILLE BURLINGTON BUFFALO STREETSV1LLE 6 4 7 5 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 3 2 1 1 3 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 28 24 32 23 22 8 14 21 15 12 14 12 33 19 18 9 18 21 31 26 10 8 8 2.33 3.00 4.71 3.80 4.50 3.00 4.50 5.25 6.20 6.50 Blades to get in the win column with a Sunday afternoon 6-2 win over non-conference opponent, Bancroft. On Friday, the Blades lost 7-5 to Buffalo. Oakville Mayor Ann Mulvale is slated to kick off Friday's festivities, handling the official opening face-off duties (which was postponed from the Blades actual home opener, in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack). The Maple Lodge Farms promo tional vehicle will be on hand with barbecues, music and free hot dogs. Also, the team is giving away prizes like skateboards and scooters. Tickets have been bought by some Oakville busi nesses so a good crowd is expected. SEWING MACHINE STORE REPAIRS T O SIN G ER and a ll other makes dr models EXPERT PINKING SHEARS & SCISSOR SHARPENING GUDERS Learn to Skate Classes 4 -9 year olds SNUS&NUS Hockey Development for 4 - 6 year olds pom m For Hockey Players 6-12 year olds M INI-SEASO N Januaryto M arch gam es andinstructionfor4-6yr. olds 198 SPEERS RD. 842-2033 Inside O akville Vacuum For Registration or Information 905-849-9712 Q n g lis h f f iu iin y /e s s o tis T h e Oakville B eaver M y name is Jacquelyn ferguson. 6 5 3 2 2 2 1 3 Indoor Riding Areas. Classes available for chddretu. . teenagers and adults UPCOMING GAMES: Fri., Sept. 28, 7:45 p.m., Milton at Oakville Sun, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.. Burlington at Oakville * home games at Ice Sports R E C E N T RESU LTS: Sept. 24: Hamilton 5, Oakville 2 Sept. 23: Oakville 6, Bancroft 2 Sept. 21: Buffalo 7, Oakville 5 Sept. 15: Buffalo vs Oakville (Ppd) Sept.. 14: Hamilton 4, Oakville 1 English Riding School BERTEY STABLES (905) 827*4678 e -m a il: b e r tin @ w e b t v .n e t 3445 Dundas W . (Hwy. #5), Oakville (1-1/2 Miles West of Hwy. #25) w e b site w w w .b e rtin s ta b le s .c o m I have been delivering the Oakville Beaver in my neighborhood for over a year. I like delivering the Beaver because it gives me a sense of responsibility and some pocket money. I'm a grade 7 student at Eastview School and currently play soccer for the Oakville Storm U12 Rep Team. In addition to having a busy school and soccer schedule I like trying other sports and drawing. Open House Family Fun Day Where: Cedar Highlands Ski Club (south side Hockley Rd., west of Airport Rd. near Orangeville) Jacquelyn ferguson C all 1 -8 0 0 -9 0 5 -0 2 7 0 www.russellhockey.com Oakville Oldtimers Level Adult Hockey League (River Oaks Recreation Centre) Individual or group registration. A social relaxed recreational atmosphere. · When: Saturday, September 29, 2001 from 10-3pm Activites include · Supervised kids activites · Tethered balloon rides · Ski and snowboard swap and sale (new & used) · Draw for trip to Big White Ski Resort, B.C. · Epic Ride blow-out sale · and much more! Winning Carriers receive a large 3 topping pizza courtesy of: Limited Space! O n f r w w 's # / P iz z a /! Also registering for Adult Schools for Men & Women Russell Hockey Enterprises For more info call 519-942-1183 To join our delivery team call 905-845-9742 Friday Sept. 28, 7:45 P.M. Dts p P fA M iLY NIGHT ghtV Friday, September ier 28 1 [ Hosting the Maple Lodge idge Farms iemi Free Hot Dog Semi Sunday Sept. 30, 7:00 P.A A . vs MILTON MERCHANTS Y vs BURLINGTON COUGARS OAKVILLC ftLA DCS at Oakville Ice Sports Centre OAKVILLC BlflDCS ,r/zes i Giveaway Prizes vale Mayor Ann Mulvale will be dropping the puck ep uck^dI at Oakville Ice Sports Centre