The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Eddie completes 34th St. Paddy's walk in good company By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 3 · Friday, March 19, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com After 34 years of walking 42 kilometres on every St. Patrick's Day -- from downtown Toronto to downtown Oakville -- there is still no stopping Eddie Williams. The 58-year-old Hamilton resident completed his long standing tradition March 17 when he arrived in the downtown Oakville area just after 4 p.m. "I had a great turnout and these guys are champs," Williams said when the Beaver caught up with him along Lakeshore Road on his way to Prime Time Sports at 234 Lakeshore Rd. E. He was referring to the eight individuals who walked with him from Toronto to Oakville. "I'm very, very tired. I'm very tired but no more tired than these folks," he said. The walk tradition dates back to 1922 when Irishmen made the trip from Toronto to Oakville in search of bootlegged green beer during prohibition. Since then, several walkers have turned the trek into an annual tradition; Williams began lacing up his walking boots in 1977. There was concern that Williams might not have been able to complete the walk this year due to foot surgery he underwent in November. But when he was asked about his foot he replied with a smile, "It's still there." He then added, "It's been aggravating. I had to stop to adjust it a little bit. I have a cloth in ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER SOUVENIR: Eddie Williams with a gold medal given to him when he started the walk in downtown Toronto. my boot that I have to adjust, but it has been fine." Williams has walked in all kinds of weather, under all types of circumstances, usually without a lot of fanfare other than some well-wishers and attention from local media. This year, Williams walked on a sunny day in temperatures that hit a high of 18 Celsius and he received more attention than usual from the media. "It's a bit too warm but I've been drinking Gatorade," he said. He then added, "We had a lot of press stop us today. We'll be on the news at six on every channel tonight." He noted there was little to slow him and his fellow walkers down. "The weather is too warm and people have been stopping us along the way but we're having a good time and the bar's not going anywhere." The tradition was first picked up and continued by Charlie Priestman more than 70 years ago. He was followed by Barney Heard, who made the walk for another 20 years. In 1976, Heard collapsed in Mississauga and failed to complete the trek. Williams responded to a plea from Heard for people to join him the following year, and has carried on the tradition ever since. Over the years, the crowd of well-wishers has grown and so, too, has the public's knowledge about Williams's effort. Since he began, others have joined him. Some of them have made it, others haven't. This year included walkers from the Home Depot where Williams works, along with several others. Former long-time Oakville residents Agatha Platiel and Raychyl Whyte, both of whom have walked in previous years with Williams, raised money for charities this year. Platiel was raising money for Home Suite Hope, an Oakville charity that helps the homeless, and Whyte raised money for Haitian relief efforts. Donations are still coming in, so no final numbers were provided on how much they raised. When asked how she felt near the completion of the walk, Whyte said jokingly, "It's like banging your head against the wall repeatedly because it just feels so good when you finally stop." Last year, Williams was labouring with a growth on the bottom of his foot, which was removed in the recent surgery. Williams, a Hamilton native who grew up in Oakville, said he owes a favour to local Dr. Victor Naumetz who bumped up his surgery from the Feb. 11 date for which it had originally been slated. The Home Depot employee, who spends most of his days on his feet, said he has been approached over the years to attach advertising, sponsorship and fundraising to his walk. He has invited others to join him and do so, but he himself, keeps strictly to the tradition. LOOKING FORWARD with FASHION