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

www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 14, 2012 · 18 The young Oakville winner of this year's Miss Teen Halton pageant intends to use her crown to help spread the word against bullying. The 15-year-old Elle Bradley beat out her fellow competitors several weeks ago in the Halton pageant. She was surprised to win because she was one of the youngest contestants. "I'm happy to get the title because I can use that to let people know about my platform, which is anti-bullying," the Grade 10 Oakville Trafalgar High School student said. "I think bullying is a problem that hasn't gotten any better and submitted photo we all need to take on a role in the crown: Oakville's Elle Bradley was crowned as life to stop it." Representing Halton, Bradley Miss Teen Halton at a recent regional pageant. She will reprewill compete in the Miss Teen sent the community at the Miss Teen Canada World contest Canada World contest this July. this summer. Miss Teen aims to put a stop to bullying Artscene Shanny wins Best of West title By Catherine O'Hara METROLAND MEDIA WEST Flamborough's Shanny and the Nannigans is Metroland's Best of the West. The three-member band, which includes Mitch and Will Thompson and Alex Carson, secured the most votes ­ 46 per cent ­ in the contest's championship round. The fourth installment of Metroland's Best of the West, hosted by the Flamborough Review, Burlington Post, Milton Canadian Champion and Oakville Beaver community newspapers, aimed to introduce local, talented musicians to our readership. Bands meeting the contest's eligibility criteria were asked to record a one- to threeminute video that they posted on YouTube. Once all entries were received, readers in each community narrowed down the entrants by voting for their favourite local band. The band with the most votes in its respective region moved on to the contest's championship round. Shanny and the Nannigans was pitted against Oakville's Joob, Burlington's The Traveling Tallymen and Milton's The Compound. The Beaver again called on our readers to Shanny and the Nannigans cast their ballots for the band they believed should be crowned champion. While Shanny and the Nannigans captured the bulk of the votes, Burlington's The Travelling Tallymen came in second with 27 per cent. Oakville's Job came third (18 per cent), followed by Milton's The Compound (eight per cent). For winning, Shanny and the Nannigans received bragging rights and landed a gig at the Burlington Sound of Music Festival, June 14-17. In addition, a profile of the band will run in an upcoming edition of all four community newspapers. Sweetwater Season gives taste of maple syrup It's time to get your maple syrup on as the sap has started to flow at Crawford Lake Conservation Area. Already underway through to Easter Monday (April 9) over weekends, March Break and holidays, guests at Crawford Lake Conservation Area can take part in the Sweetwater Season and learn how to make maple sugar, a treat made by Ontario's First Nations generations before Europeans arrived. Guests can also see how maple sugar was made in an Iroquois village more than 600 years ago. Maple taffy on snow will be available from 1-4 p.m. on weekends and during March Break. For more information on all Conservation Halton events, visit www.conservationhalton.ca. Harvey by Mary Chase Chaotic fun when a mildmannered eccentric befriends an imaginary 6-foot rabbit james hoggett / special to the beaver www.oakvilleplayers.ca Slava vodka returns to Dragon's Den Though they did not make a deal with any of the investors on CBC's Dragons' Den, it does not mean they were unsuccessful. Oakville-based Multiculture Bevco made a return to the show in an episode that aired on Wednesday, Feb. 29 with an update on how the business is progressing with its Slava Ultra Premium Vodka. "I was featured on the program last season when I pitched our ultra premium what's on tv: Multiculture Bevco hosted a viewing party to watch the Feb. 29 episode of Dragon's Den, which featured an update profile on the Oakville spirits company. Pictured are: (from left) Victoria Oswell, Peter Turkington, Mark Brown, Heidi Brown, Katherine Vellinga (director of operations), John Vellinga (president), Marlene Nyilassy and Simon Nyilassy. Tickets $27/ Sunday Matinée $22 Students & Seniors $19.50 Wednesday,March 28 March 22-25 & March 28-31, 2012 OAKVILLE CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Box Office 905.815.2021 or 1.888.489.7784 www.oakvillecentre.ca vodka, Slava, to the Dragons," said John Vellinga, president of Multiculture Bevco and owner of the Slava brand, in a press release. "While we didn't make any deals, we did win the viewer's choice award." As such, the company returned to the show to talk about its business since the airing of the initial episode. In celebration, Multiculture Bevco hosted a party at its facility to watch the show.