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3 · Friday, October 19, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Kathy's visits with her mom used to be about groceries, laundry & cleaning OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO / @halton_photog MARCHING BAND WON'T PLAY ON: There will be one fewer marching bands in this year's Oakville Santa Claus Parade as the White Oaks Secondary School marching band, and float, have pulled out because of a lack of teacher extra-curricular help. Taken out of parade Continued from page 1 The bill freezes the pay of educators for two years, reduces their sick days and carries other concessions. As a response to the legislation, unions have informed their members to treat optional school activities as optional, and not to feel pressured into participating in extra-curricular activities. McFadden said she's not aware of any other extra-curricular disruptions at Halton high schools. "But as far as the future goes, teachers may decide, on an individual basis, not to participate in extra-curricular events," she said. "Our experience in Halton has been that there has been very little withdrawal of extra-curriculars so we've been fortunate in that regard." The Oakville Beaver received complaints from White Oaks parents earlier this week. The Oakville Santa Claus Parade is in its 64th year and features a popular float competition for local high schools. Each year numerous schools vie for the title. White Oaks won the Best School Float award at last year's parade. It is also the only local high school with a marching band that takes part in the annual event. "From the parade point of view, this is just very sad," said Ward 2 Councillor Pam Damoff, who is also chair of the parade committee. "It's pretty special when you have an Oakville high school that has a marching band and they're quite good... It's unfortunate." Damoff said she's not aware of any other schools withdrawing from the parade. Teams have until Oct. 28 to make their submissions to register a float and Damoff said schools are notorious for entering at the last minute. No schools have entered to date, which, she said, is common as there is still time to do so. Damoff noted teachers don't have to be the ones to enter a team into the parade; students can do it themselves. "The students can do a float on their own without the teachers," she said. As for the band's withdrawal, Damoff said each year, 13 marching bands participate in the parade, so losing one will not affect the overall festivities of the parade. "Except, we won't have our local high school marching in the parade," she said. "I know that people take a lot of pride. We were pretty excited when White Oaks became the first high school to have a marching band in there." Entry deadline to register a parade float in keeping with this year's parade theme, Once Upon A Christmas, is Oct. 28 or the first 50 entries, whichever comes first. The school that wins the Best School Float will get $500. Entry forms are available at www.oakvillesantaclausparade.ca. For a related story, see page 10. Now they are about catching up with each other If helping your parent live independently has become more about the `to-do' list than about time together, there are options that can help combine convenience and care with an active lifestyle. Chartwell retirement residences provide the safety and security your parent needs with the services and activities they want. And that way, your time together can really be spent on the important things in life like catching up with each other. Inside Opinion.............................................6 Worship..........................................26 Artscene..........................................27 Sports.............................................29 Classified........................................35 Full Delivery: Dell Computers, Hardwood Giant, AAR Automotive Sales, Arif Qureshi, RE/MAX Realty One, The Vitamin Store, Ann's Flower Boutique, 2001 Audio, Smart Source, Oakville Wrap, Michael's, Ideal Home 180 Oak Park Blvd., Oakville 905-257-0095 · www.chartwellreit.ca For home delivery & customer service call 905-631-6095, 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington New subscriptions call 905-631-6095 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com Come in and see how it feels