H ir r s ir W E I >\luSI )A Y \l ( il S I (». 2 ( x > ; i · I W g c ( .1 r FOURTH LINE AUTO IM O O fY E A R For j i i l Your Car's Needs D riv e C le a n E m is s io n T e s tin g G o v e r n m e n t S a fe ty In s p e c tio n Tixto-Ups · Brakes · Exhaust · C ooin g Systems CA A Approved Shop V ________________________ "______________________ y Official Media Sponsor 559 Speers Road (905) 842-3001 Editor: Wilma Blokhuis Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 250) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: blokhuis@haltonsearch.com Italian club celebrates Quasano Photos by Peter C. McCusker · O akville B eaver Local and area Italians hailing from Q uasano, a su b u rb of Toritto, B ari in Italy, celebrated in g rand style at last w eekend's Festa di M aria S. S. Degli Angeli di Q uasano, held annually at K arlovac P ark in M ilton since 1970. Clockwise from top left. F a th er A ugusto Pucci of St. Jam es C h u rch says m ass; the opening procession features a replica o f the picture of the Virgin M ary found by a fa rm e r in Italy, a discovery th at inspired this feast; three old friends - Dominic Ciaccia, Rocco Lavalle and A ugustino Scarangella; the statue of the Virgin M ary - M aria S. S. Degli Angeli - donated by R apheal C aputi of Italy to the Italo C an ad ian Torittese C lub founded by Pietro DeVito, C arlo Lozito and Tony C aputi; D am iana Scotta serves hom e m ade lasagna to Vito G eronim o; the crow d at the picnic shelter; the Scotta family, from left. Sam Salvo, Luigi Scotta, D am iana Scotta, M aria Luisa DeVito, N icoletta G eronim o, and S haw na Scotta; and at bottom left, the m unicipal n ag of T oritto is ca rried to the feast d u rin g the opening procession. Danish exchange student loves Oakville' Graduated from OTHS , aspires to be stockbroker By W ilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR "I'm a big sports fan ... hockey, bas ketball and soccer." adm its Jesp er Bendtsen. a Danish Rotary exchange student. "Sometimes people call me a sports idiot." The com m ent cam e midway during a farewell dinner held for Bendtsen by the Rotary Club o f Oakville Trafalgar at O tello's Banquet Hall. The 17-year-old high school student from Hinnerup, near Aarhus. Denm ark, spent a year here as a guest o f the local service club. He returned hom e on Friday. A the farew ell dinner, Bendtsen was given a copy o f Canada: A Visual Journey, a large coffee table photogra phy book signed by all o f the m em bers o f the R otary C lub o f O akville Trafalgar. Recently, he enjoyed a cross-Canada trip from Q uebec to British C olum bia with other Rotary exchange students, and through the trading pins, buttons and keychains - plus collecting sou venirs from the places h e's visited Bendtsen sports more than 100 item s of m em o rab ilia on his R otary Youth Program jacket. The largest item is a Canadian flag on his left sleeve. It's a jacket Bendtsen will treasure forever. "I have seen m ost o f C anada except the north and E ast co ast." said Bendtsen. "I've seen C anada's biggest cities. It's a beautiful country. It's been great." He was given three choices when he applied to the Rotary Youth Exchange P rogram , through his businessm an father w ho is a Rotarian. His m other is a teacher. Bendtsen w as given his third choice - C anada - to no regret. "M y first two ch o ices w ere N ew Z ealand and A ustralia." said Bendtsen. "But Canada was ju st as good. This was my first trip to C anada." The youth, w ho aspires to become a stockbroker, has traveled widely and had expressed a desire to participate in Rotary's Youth Exchange Program to becom e more "com fortable" with the English language - he is very fluent with only a trace o f a D anish accent. "1 love traveling." he said. "Until I was 11 or 12.1 travelled mostly with my fam ily throug h o u t (W estern and Central) Europe, and then w ent to other places later." T he travel bug has taken him to Thailand. Egypt, on safari in South Africa and on a m onth-long stu dent exchange in Brazil. W hile here, he attended O akville Trafalgar High School (O T H S) and graduated from G rade 12. " Back hom e I have tw o y e a rs o f high school left before I g rad u ate." said B endtsen. adding "1 attend a business high school because my dream is to be a stockbro ker. "I loved O TH S." he continued, not ing it was an `English im m ersion' expe rience. "Everything was taught in the English language and 1 enjoyed it. It was different from what I'm used to." He found O TH S to be slightly larger than his high school, A arhus K oebm andshole. in D enm ark, has 1.300 students com pared to 1.000. "A nd. it was great staying here." he told club members. "I loved O akville and I w ould recom m end Oakville to anybody w ho w ants to be a Rotary exchange student. "I hope this Rotary Club o f O akville Trafalgar continues with this exchange program because every student would love to com e to O akville." W hile here, Bendtsen lived with club members Barry and Mary' Jane Howie. Bill and Sandy Kerr. Bev Thom son, and his Rotary counsellor Jim and Carolyn Wilson. On his Web page designed to intro duce him self to the club. Bendtsen said he has just started attending Aarhus Koebmandshole when he was accepted for the Rotary Youth E xchange Program, and that the school is a 10kilom etre bus ride from his home. "M y plan for the future is to pass my exam at the business school and get good grades," he wrote. "A fter that I would like to get a jo b that has som e thing to do with business. It could be a jo b in a bank, but my biggest wish right now is to be a stockbroker. "I think the stock market is very important," he continued, "because I think that stocks have a big influence on the w orld's economy. "The second thing is the sm all but horrifying wars in the world like IndiaPakistan, Yugoslavia and A fghanistan. I think much about it because I'm afraid o f a new world war." On this site, Bendtsen described him self as "a very happy, funny nice guy with lots o f friends," and wrote about his love for sports and com puters. Before com ing to O akville, he played handball for his hometown for two years and previously soccer for eight years. His favourite soccer team is Liverpool FC from England. "There aren 't many thing I dislike, but people who hurt anim als, (who cause) violence and (are) racist etc." he wrote. "H e's a wonderful kid," said club president Jim Campbell. Bendtsen was one o f the youngest exchange students the club has hosted, arriving here at age 16. He celebrated his 17th birthday in Oakville last Nov. 16. Harrison Smith · O akville B eaver Je sp e r Bendtsen retu rn e d to D enm ark last F riday a fte r spending a year in O akville with the R otary Youth Exchange P rogram . Each year approxim ately 8,000 stu dents aged 1 5 - 1 9 from 82 countries travel abroad under the auspices o f the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, either for an academ ic year o r an extended period o f time. They are billeted and hosted by Rotarians in their homes. Bendtsen's Web site can be viewed by visiting w w w .norm agam ble.com / rotary /jesper/hom e.htm l.