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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, March 16, 2012 · 10 By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Eddy gets his Irish on for St. Patrick's Day walk town Toronto to downtown Oakville, walking a marathon length of 42 kilometres ­ for a pint of beer. By doing the walk each year, Williams continues a tradition that dates back to 1922 when a liquor prohibition forced Toronto's Irishmen to walk from the city to Oakville in search of bootlegged beer. He also loves to spread the annual St. Patrick's Day cheer in Oakville. "God bless the people in Oakville. I'm doing it for them. It's so great to see people come out in their cars when I come around Lakeshore around 4 o'clock and the young kids are honking their horns and waving and bringing me water. That's really an encouragement when I get to the last mile. That makes the whole thing worthwhile. I do it for the town of Oakville. This is my hometown," Williams said a few days before the walk. "If it wasn't for the town of Oakville, there would be no tradition, because this is where those Irish guys came down just because of the green beer. This should be the Irish capital of Canada." As far as his knees go, Williams feels confident they will be strong enough to get him to his finishing point of Southside Cottage Grill in downtown Oakville. He begins his walk each year at 9 a.m. from Toronto's city hall. "They don't feel too bad right now. I just have to pace myself. If I feel good, then I'll keep going. I don't want to throw my knees out because if I start it, I'll definitely try to finish it as well," he said. "If I have to tiptoe to make it there and walk very slowly to make it by midnight, if I start it, I'll definitely finish it. That's how it works." He has made the annual walk in all kinds of weather, under all types of circumstances, usually without a lot of fanfare other than some wellwishers and attention from local media. Some years were worse than others. He said if the temperatures get too high, hydration becomes an issue. Wet conditions can also pose a problem. For several years in the 1980s, Williams wore rubber boots to keep his feet dry during wet March weather conditions. However, the boots were not comfortable for long Despite dealing with knee troubles as a result of a lifetime of walking-related wear-and-tear, Eddy Williams will not be stopped this Saturday. The 60-year-old former Oakville resident will take on his 36th annual St. Patrick's Day walk from down- 50off UP TO PLUS NO HST 4 DAYS ONLY MAR. 16-19, 2012 Proudly Supporting Canadian Manufacturers N OUR BIGGEST FLOOR MODEL SALE EVER! % Erin Mills Pakrway Winston Churchill Dundas Q.E.W. walks. "Nineteen eighty-one was pretty bad, when I had to pour blood out of my boots. My feet were just white," he said. Despite little fanfare in his early years, Williams has had much more support in the last few years. He's been featured on news broadcasts, both locally and beyond, and he sees a regular group of walkers each year, some of whom are repeaters, and others are new each year. "Every year there's a new group of people. Last year, there was a group of 12 who walked with me. This year, I don't know," he said. One group certain to join him this year will be a team of Sheridan College students who are filming a documentary on Williams. The man in green has already met with the students and spent several hours with them, discussing the history of the walk, showing them the landmarks of the walk, and more. They will follow him in a van, filming him at various locations throughout the day. Furthermore, there is a regular group of well-wishers that meets him each year in Port Credit and supplies beer along the way. Eddy's siblings and his 11-yearold son, Tiger Williams, are also expected to meet him for the final leg of the trek. The boy, however, will not be rewarded with a beer at the end, though it's possible he may take up the tradition some day. There have been several walkers who continued the tradition after the prohibition days. 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 See Proud page 11 NOW OR NEVER Purchase a Carrier Hi Efficiency Furnace and Receive a AP Industries, Amisco, Bermex, BG Furniture, Brentwood Classics, Buhler, Dutalier, Future Chair, Huppe, Ideal, Jaymar, MI-DI, Vangogh, Vogel and more DON'T MISS OUT! LIMITED TIME OFFER! 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