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A4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday April 28, 1999 E a rl F en ton , 7 7 for town's disabled residentsAdvocate Earl Fenton, a well known local advocate for the physically disabled, died Sunday, two weeks after his 77th birthday. He died at the McMaster Medical Centre, Hamilton. From his wheelchair and scooter, Fenton volunteered for the Halton MS Society and later Halton Helping Hands, an agency he co-founded with Val O 'Hara. Fenton was initially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1968 and began to volunteer for the MS Society short­ ly afterwards. It was later discovered that instead of MS he had a form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Lou Gehrig's Disease. "Despite being misdiagnosed, he continued to support the MS Society," said O 'Hara. While with the MS Society, Fenton was eager to help not only people dis­ abled by MS, but all physically dis­ abled people, and came up with the idea o f forming Halton Helping Hands, O 'Hara explained. "He came to us -- the MS Society - with the idea and I, being treasurer at the time, applied for a Local Initiatives Program (LIP) grant in 1971." The grant was approved the following year and Halton Helping Hands was born. "Earl and I worked from our homes for the first eight years until we moved into Hopedale Mall. He was instru­ mental in getting the mall to build a ramp on the second floor. They had an elevator to the second floor, but then we had to go up a few steps to get to the office. Earl worked for Halton Helping Hands from 1972 until he resigned six months ago." It was during those early years that "we became fast friends," said O 'Hara. "I was really lucky to have such a friend for so many years. We were so close." While with Halton Helping Hands, Fenton sat on the feasibility and imple­ mentation committee for Cheshire House, a home for physically disabled adults, in Burlington. As chair of O akville's Transportation for the Disabled Committee from 1979 to 1999, he was instrumental in launch­ ing Care-A-Van, and named the ser­ vice. "He went to the Town with that pro­ posal, and in 1979, the provincial gov­ ernment changed its transportation policy which said the province would help the community fund a vehicle," said O 'Hara, adding the May Court Club had come forward to help fund the first Care-A-Van bus. When the transportation for the dis­ abled committee amalgamated with Oakville's transit committee in 1994, Fenton continued as chair. "He served on that committee until about six weeks ago, when he moved to Dundas" said O 'Hara. Fenton also chaired the Committee for the Physically Disabled for the for­ mer Oakville Social Planning Council, and approached the Town about 'ramping' the curbs to make the side­ walks accessible to people in wheel­ chairs and scooters. He was also a member of the provincial transportation committee looking into making the GO Train sys­ tem accessible to physically disabled passengers. "A lot of changes were brought about as a result of his work," said O'Hara. He also chaired the Long Term Care Committee of the former Halton District Health Council. And, he supported the March of Dimes. Fenton has been honoured for his efforts, receiving the Howard C. Caine Community Award from CHWO, was named Oakville's Senior Citizen of the Year, and Provincial Volunteer of the Year in 1988 - the United Nations International Year o f Disabled Persons. In his younger years, Fenton served as an officer pilot in the RCAF during World War II. Afterwards, he worked for the Oakville Post Office until he was diagnosed with MS. He is survived by son Earl of Cambridge, and Ron and his wife Sharon of Dundas, six grandchildren, a brother and sister-in-law, Lome and Joan, o f Mississauga, and friend Grace Ghent. A memorial service will be held for Earl Fenton: advocate for disabled him at the Oakview Funeral Home, 56 Lakeshore Rd., on Saturday May 1st, at 1 p.m. Memorial donations may be sent to the MS Society, March of Dimes, Oakville Care-A-Van, or Halton Helping Hands. Strike puts safety in spotlight (Continued from page 1) Praxair (form erly Union Carbide) is a business whose Speers Road plant converts air into liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon. The R ebecca Street facility adjacent to the Petro C anada refinery, produces liquid hydrogen. The Southdown Road plant in M ississauga deals in carbon dioxide. All three plants are on strike. Local 593 represents drivers, mechan­ ics, p roduction and custom er service em ployees of Praxair. Praxair drivers are currently paid an hourly wage. Their com pany now wants to change to a piecework system wherein dri­ vers are paid a certain number of cents per kilometer. The outcome, says M cQueen, is that the faster you do your job the better. The pub­ lic, which has to share the road with Praxair's tanker trucks, should be con­ cerned. As a result, the union refused to negoti­ ate piecework and Praxair responded that it would seek to use more contract drivers instead. McQueen said this also makes the whole situation a job security matter as well. McQueen figures Praxair's ploy is to save money by fixing costs but the union argues that drivers have no say about traf­ fic, weather and the time it takes to fill their tankers. "We don't control our environm ent," said McQueen. He went on to explain that both sides are not that far apart on the remaining wage proposals - the union wants 9% over three years, Praxair is offering 7.5% - but said the health and safety issues overshad­ ow everything else. Praxair com pany officials did not respond to several phone calls for com ­ ment. ONE DAY ONLY - THURSDAY, APRIL 2 9 selected items storewide Take an additional 5 0 % o f f se le c te d p rev ious ly reduced m e rchand ise fo r m en, w om en and k ids. FOR MEN AND WOMEN NO TAX* • on regular-priced watches by Guess and Roots on regular-priced jewellery by Steve Madden, Jones New York and 1 9 2 8 25% off • Men's & Women's Dockers® tops and bottoms FOR WOMEN 25% off • 3-pack pantyhose from Silks, Secret and Vanity Fair 30%-50% off * selected regular-priced Bath and Body merchandise and assorted cosmetic bags FOR KIDS 50% Off • girls' underwear by Miss Gem FOR YOUR HOME 40% Off • Cristai d 'Arques bowls and vases, Belfor 5-piece barware sets and Grand Vin 2 pack sets 25% off • all regular-priced in stock bed co-ordinates including Eaton Home, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Esprit FOR MEN 25% Off • all regular-priced Van Heusen dress shirts, dress pants, sportswear Player's Golf and accessories • all regular-priced Christian Dior dress shirts, ties, sports shirts and accessories More great deals in store. FACTORY OUTLET 25%-50% off selected Factory Outlet merchandise E A T O N 'S Personal shopping only. Sale offers good April 29th only, unless otherwise specified. Savings are on the original ticketed price unless otherwise noted. Sale offers cannot be combined. Offer excludes Warehouse Stores and Clearance Centres. ^ M^ ^ ^ ^ M ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ M>^ MM^ M̂ ^^_ j^J^ jjj_ ££ d u c t^ the ^e q u iva jen t^o fJh e GST and PST from the total purchase price. Photo by Barrie Erskine Drivers at Praxair's Speers Road location are con­ cerned that planned changes would put employees and the public at risk. 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