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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, December 8, 2011 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Guest Column Indulge in a little Oakville Wendy Rinella, Oakville Chamber of Commerce chair Recently, I had the opportunity to indulge in a little Oakville retail therapy. Preparing for the Chamber's annual Chair's Dinner, I had the privilege of being primped and pampered by a few of Oakville's great clothing, hair and jewelry retailers. Whether you are searching for a perfect gift or spending time with friends and loved ones, Oakville offers shopping, galleries and eateries to suit any palate. Wendy Rinella The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for retailers and shopping locally creates a surge in the local economy. Local shops need to hire extra local staff, while their wages in return are circulated within the community. The holiday season is also a time when many of us donate to charities to help those less fortunate in our community. Shopping locally supports businesses that donate to local causes. If a resident is looking for a specific good or service offered by member businesses, the Chamber can provide that information. Oakville has three Business Improvement Areas (BIAs), which can provide a wealth of information about shops in their areas -- they are Kerr Village, Downtown Oakville and Bronte Village. Other community associations often organize local shopping days, while local community papers are a great resource for upcoming events at local merchants. The Oakville Business Directory, available online from the Chamber's website (www.oakvillechamber.com), lists local businesses that can be searched by name or category. Shopping locally reduces one's carbon footprint, saving on gas and time. It provides access to goods and services that are unique to Oakville's distinct character and is the only effective way to preserve this town's unique character and heritage, helping support merchants who in turn support the community. Shopping locally is like voting with your wallet. There is a chain reaction that occurs -- tax revenue is used to fund the infrastructure including education, emergency services, community and school events as well as charities. Local business means local jobs and less commuting. Shopping here means your travel expenses are reduced and it lessens your impact on our natural environment. It's also good for our community health. We have the opportunity to meet our neighbours and build long-term relationships with businesses. A strong local economy will help attract new businesses, bringing their variety of products and services with a focus on the needs of our community. Through tax dollars, businesses subsidize the lifestyle we enjoy in Oakville. In order for us to plan the future we want as a community, we need to support businesses, which support us and reflect the values we hold as a community. Most importantly, shopping locally will meet your "Wish List." I have fulfilled every one of my daughter's requests and found many unique gifts and services for those hardto-buy-for people on my list. I am proud to shop Oakville and encourage everyone to put the "I" back in "I Shop Oakville." You will be happy you did. Happy shopping and happy holidays. NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER RALLY FOR YOUTHS: The Halton Catholic District School Board, along with Oakville's Mary Mother of God Parish, recently held three, one-day Catholic Faith Leadership Youth Rallies for all of its Grade 8 students. St. Dominic students, from left, Kyle Maksimovich, Manklan Plotycia, Geena Dennu and Delaynie Bissonnette clap along with a song during one of the rallies. Famous author serves heaping helping of food for thought A s a man, an amateur (at most things in life), and a fan of author Michael Chabon's fabulous flights of fiction (particularly Wonder Boys and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), I was thrilled to discover in my local bookstore a copy of Chabon's collection of casually linked essays, Manhood for Amateurs. At this time of year I find myself in serious need of distractions to engage and entertain me, transport me to calming places far from the maddening chaos, and wrest my mind from all the pressing questions of the season, such as whether weird Uncle Willard would prefer socks, underwear or another bowtie. Manhood for Amateurs s delivers, and indeed transports as an insightful, intelligent, clever, charming, philosophical and wryly humorous tome that covers considerable ground. While it's no surprise the Pulitzer Prize winner has a beautiful way with words, the essay format allows him to flex his muscles and preen with sentences begging to be reread and descriptive phrases begging to be borrowed. He writes: "I was a stoical kid, even an expressive one, given to elaborate displays of shrugging things off." Or, how about: "In one parlor a neglected piano incrementally untuned itself." Chabon riffs, a virtuoso performance. He riffs on fatherhood: "The handy thing about being a father is that the historic standard is so pitifully low." Then he compares the low expectations placed on fathers to the high expectations on mothers: "I don't know what a woman needs to do (to be considered a good mother). Perhaps perform an emergency tracheotomy (in a grocery store) with a big pen on Andy Juniper her eldest child while simultaneously nursing her infant and buying two weeks' worth of healthy but appealing break-time snacks for the entire cast of Lion King g, Jr." He riffs on circumcision. On Lego. On Captain Underpants. On Jose Canseco. On his beloved murse (man-purse). He riffs on the Beatles -- as his family's "Senior Fellow of Beatles Studies" -- and the inevitable questions he fields from his children about the band's use of drugs, and his own youthful experimentation. In answering their questions, he admirably opts for truth. He riffs righteously on the dilemma facing all parents in whether or not to keep our kids' (oftentimes awful) artwork -- the quantities of which will eventually overtake the entire house. "I'm not sure why we're saving it except that getting rid of it feels so awful," he writes. Chabon has four pretty prolific arty kids; and he does dispose of their projects, with regrets. Finally, there is an excellent chapter on how modern-day parental paranoia has robbed kids of their right to explore the world on their own, one block or woods at a time. "We were the last full generation that adults left alone, at least sometimes," he writes. Chabon discusses the "all-encompassing escort service that adults have contrived to provide for our children. We schedule their encounters for them, driving them to and from one another's houses so they never get a chance to discover the unexplored lands between...." And he worries about how all this micromanaging will inevitably stunt the growth of their imaginations. Imagine, a book that entertains, enlightens, acts as a superb diversion, and even serves up a heaping helping of food for thought. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www. twitter.com/thesportjesters.