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Wednesday, December 6, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT Y M C Awill miss retiring Ford president This week Bobbie Gaunt, CEO of Ford of Canada, announced her retire ment. Her decision to leave has sur prised, saddened and yet heartened her friends at the YMCA of Oakville. Surprised, because she is choosing to leave Ford of Canada when she is so clearly at home at the top of the Canadian executive ladder. Saddened, because we are losing a mentor, ally and friend. But heartened because we see Bobbie Gaunt placing such a high value on her family life. The relationship between the YMCA of Oakville and Ford of Canada is as close as a multinational for-profit corporation and a local char ity could possibly achieve. This over lay of values and goals has happened as a direct result of Bobbie Gaunt's strong sense of family and a vision that sees Ford'of Canada's community partnerships being a catalyst for change. Our association needed leadership for our capital campaign. Bobbie Gaunt agreed to become the hon ourary co-chair of our capital cam paign. The campaign needed a signif icant leadership gift that would demonstrate to corporate Canada that our campaign was worthy of support. Bobbie championed our cause and raised $250,000 from Ford of Canada and affiliates to finance the Ford Family Adventure Centre, one of the most exciting new components to the new Y facility currently under con struction on Rebecca Street. But Bobbie Gaunt saw the YMCA as more than a worthy charitable cause. She saw the potential for a true working partnership. With her ability to put vision into action, the last two years have seen Ford of Canada part ner with the Oakville Y and open the first Ford on-site child care facility in North America. Ford volunteers have affected change in the YMCA in areas as diverse as technology to facility man agement. Our pledge to the communi ty to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities mirrors the values of Bobbie Gaunt and Ford of Canada in their pledge to serve the community, For now, Forever. We invite Bobbie Gaunt to place a Legacy Letter in the cornerstone of our new facility. This is but a symbol of the laughter, the sense of personal achievement and shared family expe riences that will echo through the halls of the new Y facility. The YMCA of Oakville has much to be grateful for, and our association with'Bobbie Gaunt has challenged and nurtured us. We can only offer her our sincere wishes for continued success in her endeavours as she enters the next phase of her remarkable life. Bruce Ireland, CEO YMCA of Oakville Peter Gilgan, President, Mattamy Homes Chair, YMCA of Oakville, It's Your Move Capital Campaign Life' s what happens while you're busy making plans I Centre board chair responds to criticism I am writing to set the record straight regarding remarks made by Mr. Bev Stainton, choir director, of the Oakville Choral Society (OCS). In your Nov. 29th, 2000 edition, in the article ("Choir celebrates 40 years of music"), Mr. Stainton made a number of statements that were inaccurate or misleading. He indicated that the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts has refused to install acoustic baffles in the fly tower of the theatre. He also stated that the Oakville Centre is "too expensive." Finally, he stated, "I don't think {F.J. Haydn's "Creation" } has been done here in the Toronto area for 35 years or more. I don't know of anybody who's performed it." Let me deal with each of these items in turn. The Oakville Centre auditorium was not designed to be a concert hall, and it is true that there can be a tendency for some volume (spoken as well as sung) to be lost to the fly tower. For choral per formances, placing the orchestra in the pit, thus, allowing vocalists to be located further forward, can mitigate this. So can strategic use of microphones. Notwithstanding the acoustic issue, many other choral groups, including the Oakville Children's Choir and Nathaniel Dett Chorale, have all found the audito rium, if not perfect, at least satisfactory, and continue to use the theatre. It is not true that the Oakville Centre refuses to recognize the acoustics prob lem. For several years, successive Boards of Directors have tried, unsuc cessfully, to have acoustic retrofitting included in the Centre's capital budget. Mr. Stainton's claim that such retrofitting would cost "about $400" is grossly understated. Obviously, if the solution was that simple, something would have already been done to implement it. In 1998, the Centre Board obtained a pro fessional estimate for retrofitting the auditorium performing area to better acoustic standards. The cost estimated was approximately $50,000 which com prised a proper acoustic shell with over head battens or "clouds." The new shell would have to be able to be permanently installed and then folded and stored above the stage when not in use (which would be most of the time). Because the new equipment would share space with other hanging equipment, it would have to be properly installed for safety and operational reasons. Since the theatre was not designed originally to take this equipment it all adds up to a rather expensive retrofit. Even a portable, less expensive, solution (were one found) would require storage space and gener ate set-up costs. It is true that other clients, including the Oakville Symphony, have also pressed for the retrofit. However, the cost of new acoustic equipment has had to be balanced against other, often more press ing, capital needs of the theatre that ben efit all clients. While both the Oakville Symphony and the OCS are valued, long-term clients of the Oakville Centre choral and symphonic performances make up only a small percentage (regrettably) of total usage of the auditorium. Notwithstanding this, the Board contin ues to support the need for acoustic improvements. At present, an acoustic retrofit is contained in the long-term cap ital budget for 2003. The Oakville Centre Board has kept its clients abreast of these cost estimates and engages in dialogue each year with them when formulating its business plans for the years ahead. I regret that the OCS feels that using the Oakville Centre is too expensive. In fact, client rates have not risen at all in the last two years. Rates were most recently increased by about 15% between 19% and 1998, mostly to keep up with rising costs. Using the Centre is still a bargain for community clients, because the Town of Oakville's taxpay ers subsidize its costs. The subsidy amounts to about $3 a year for each Oakville resident and is allocated almost entirely to community users such as the OCS. The Oakville Centre offers our community clients a professional theatre environment with state-of-the-art elec tronic and stage equipment, as an alter native to other venues. The costs of hir ing an adequate orchestra and soloists are the most significant expenses of per forming "Creation," no matter where it is staged. Although many feel that churchbased performances of sacred works can offer an authentic atmosphere, it is likely that the OCS will be saving much more by not hiring an orchestra than avoiding use of the Oakville Centre (which, inci dentally, will be pleased to continue to store the OCS' stage risers at no charge even though we appear to have lost the OCS as a client). Finally, Mr. Stainton is seriously mis informed about local performances of "Creation." Surprisingly, the most recent one was at (yes, you guessed it) the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts! This past spring, a sold-out performance (a full, unabbreviated version) was given as part of the St. Jude's Celebration of the Arts Series. Directed by John Laing, Senior Music Director of S t Jude's, it featured the combined voices of the Senior Choir of St. Jude's Anglican Church and The John Lain Singers of Hamilton. Both the choir and a full orchestra (not just an organ) were on the stage and the sound was considered acceptable, overall. Nicolas W.R. Burbidge Chairman, Board of Directors Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts never said I was organized on the domestic front. An hour before people were coming to dinner, my husband was on the phone dealing with an emergency at work, the place was a mess, the dog was out of its mind, the kids wanted a video, and I was beginning to feel I was plunked in the middle of Jim Carrey's manic Whoville with all that noise, noise, noise. My sister and husband were moving to Vancouver later this month and this was to be a farewell dinner. I want ed it to be a leisurely, enjoy able meal; the kind you look back on and remember. We split the tasks: I'd get the video and salsa; he'd get the beer and wine. The kids could take the dog for a walk. Groans all round. Pulling out of the drive, I was pat ting myself on the back: I actually had gotten my daughter to get her hockey stuff out from the basement and packed it into the car, ready for her 7:30 p.m. game that evening. My husband had been on the phone for most of the after noon, but what the heck. At least we had all the gear ready to go. My phone rings as I am in the video store grumbling about the lack of cul ture. "Mom?" It's Kate, wondering what kind of movie I'm getting. She knows my taste: I can hear the worry in her voice. "Nothing with subtitles, okay?" What's wrong with a good foreign flick, I'd like to know. But, never mind. I grabbed some no-mind movie. "Oh, and Mom? Dad's gone to work; he said to tell you he'd call later." What??? Here I am in the middle of Blockbuster Video, my sister is coming to dinner in about 15 minutes, and my partner in crime has disappeared to the city 45 minutes away for an emergency meeting. Great. Call in the multi-taskers. It was time to cook dinner, feed the dog, pour drinks, put on some holiday music and try to look presentable. All in the space of 15 minutes. And do all of this, I thought, and take my daughter to her hockey game that evening. One problem. My spouse had taken all the hockey equipment we had so carefully packed away that afternoon in his car and was now speeding west of Hamilton. He calls from the car, at about the same time Kate realizes she's missing her equipment. I realize at the same time we have no beer or wine; that's in the car as well. "Why not phone one of her friends and get some gear?" comes the sugges tion as he is pulling into work. DIANE HART And so begins the frantic calling around to Kate's hockey pals to see if she could borrow some equipment for the evening. My sister and brother-inlaw, keen hockey fans, love the idea of watching a game. We put the calls in and wait. The girls are playing throughout the day; someone somewhere must be home soon. But, lucky for Kate, Claire calls with the generous offer. After pulling oven-cooked Spanish rice and tossing it all on a platter, I wave my sister to the back of the house and tell her to sit by the fire. "Enjoy!" Once again, I am out in my car, this time in search of hockey equipment. One problem: not really into the hockey thing at all, I don't even know where Kate is playing that evening. This would be typical, to frantically drive to north Oakville to borrow equipment and then not know the right hockey arena. I quickly call her. She says it's River Oaks, almost directly the opposite direction from where I am heading. Never mind. Claire wishes Kate well at the game and we're off. "But, my skates," Kate wails, "how am I going to play without my skates?" Tough, I say, between gritted teeth. I was fast losing patience, I had to admit. Kate swims three times a week, likes to play on school teams, and on week ends, she plays hockey. On one day, she was at a 7:30 a.m. volleyball practice, a game after school and then in the pool. I like sports too. But enough was enough. It's only hockey, I said. Why not, I asked, just miss a game? Her face fell. I got in the car to get her to the game. My husband had said he'd try to meet us at the arena after his meeting. But with it all up in the air, he could be there forever. There was no guarantee. My sister and I watched the team warm up. This team from Burlington looked pretty good. It was almost 7:15 p.m. No Kate out there at the pre-game skate. They were now gathered at the boards for the team cheer. Still no Kate. And then we spotted my husband roar ing around the boards, a bag tucked under his arm. Minutes later, she was on the ice, in the borrowed gear. But she did have her own skates. As my husband sat on the bench he asked: "So, how was din ner?" My sister and I looked at each other. We laughed. I suppose it wasn't one of those long, leisurely dinners, the kind you wish would never end. But it cer tainly was memorable. Countdown to New Years! Medically supervised weight loss & counselling services. 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Attach a photocopy of certification cards to the completed application form. For further aquatics information, please call 845-6601 ext. 3223. Application Deadline- Friday, January 26,2001 All applicants must be available for June, July, August and all training sessions Application forms are available from: Town of Oakville, Human Resources Department. 1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD · OAKVILLE, ONTARIO · L6J 5A6