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Managing Editor Rod Jerred Phone: 905-337-5559 Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: rjerred@haitonsearch.com W KD NEuSDAY. H LY MS. 2<X)3 · H \G 1- A S Children play, parents relax at Kids Craft Cafe By Craig MacBride S P E C IA L T O T H E B EA V ER Parents with young children often feel that there are few places for them and their children to go and be com fortable. Many establishments, like coffee shops, cater to adults and other patrons aren't always happy with the addition of a child and the accompanying noise. Also, parents a re n 't alw ays happy about the danger of low. unprotected shelves and breakables that stand on them. There are other stores that cater mainly to children, and those places often make parents feel uncomfortable, or simply bored. \ Judith Lee, however, has come up with a solution. By opening Kids Craft Cafe she has made a place suitable for children to play and parents to relax all at the same time. "W hen I designed the store, I designed it as a mother," Lee said. "I thought `what would make me com fortable as a mother with a child.'" It w asn't difficult for Lee to empathize with new mothers, as she has a 16-month-old child. It was while on maternity leave from a big box home improvement store that she was fired during a round o f cuts, leaving her suddenly without work. Going from w orking 60-hour weeks, she said, to doing nothing, made her restless and with the new responsibility o f a child, she worried that she would lose touch with the out side world. Having trouble finding somewhere comfortable to go. she came up with the idea for Kids Craft Cafe. That was in January and after putting together a business plan and doing some research, she opened in late June, holding a pizza and craft party for children from the Big Brothers of Halton program. The store is what Lee calls a handson retail craft store. There are craft kits to be bought off the shelf and weekly crafts organized by Lee that can be done in the store, with parents in the same room, on comfortable chairs and Harrison Smith · Special to the Oak\ ille Beaver Kids C ra ft Cafe is a hands-on retail craft store th at allows parents to relax over coffee while th eir children have fun in a child-friendly environm ent. T he week ly crafts are organized by ow ner and m other Ju d ith Lee, above. enjoying a respectable coffee menu, watching over them. " It's a mixture between Starbucks and Scholar's Choice (an educational toy store)," Lee said. Depending upon the age o f the child, you can sit with them or sit with your friends while your child is with an instructor. The materials used for the crafts also vary with age, so younger children don't get small pieces they can swallow. The store is decorated in bright, pri mary colours and the birthday party room is being painted as a jungle scene. There is also a room in the back with softer light, as well as more comfort able chairs for feeding and a table for changing dirty diapers. It is the small touches in this store that stand out. The fact that there's a chair in the washroom so children can reach the sink and plugs in all the elec trical sockets, means there are fewer worries for parents. There's also no soda in the fridge, so that the tempta tion for children to beg for it is reduced. Lee seems to have thought o f every thing for this store and it seems to be paying ofT. She is genuinely surprised by how well the store's doing and with how quickly word seems to be travel ling. Already planning to expand to Burlington and Milton, word will be spreading much wider as well. Kids Craft Cafe is located at 2387 Trafalgar Rd. in Trafalgar Ridge Plaza. It is open seven days per week. The phone number is 905-257-7002. New hours for visitor centre . . . _ « Visitor Information Centre operating under summer hours The Oakville Visitor Information Centre, located in Town Hall, is operat ing under summer hours through July and August. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday. In addition, visitor information is available at Oakville's eight hotels and on the Oakville Tourism Web site seven days a week. Town Hall is located at 1225 Trafalgar Road, main entrance. Call 905 815-6055. or toll free at I877-OAKVILLE, email, tourism @oakville.ca or visit www.oakvilletourism.ca The Visitor Information Centre is a resource for brochures on destinations and attractions and travel assistance in Oakville and Ontario. Tourism counsel lors encourage visitors to "Indulge in a little Oakville" and extend their stay in the area. Oakville is recognized as a desirable location for meetings and events. The Visitor Information Centre staff can direct inquiries about unique locations to host your corporate or leisure meet ing or outing. Make Me Laugh! PL E A SE . D onovan I® is looking for you I Alumni search ~ cheer on your alm a mater! U nited W ay of Oakville w ants to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our bathtub race su rro u n d e d by old friends an d familiar faces! Losing bladder control whenever you laugh, sneeze, cough, or exercise is nothing to joke about. And now you can do something about it. To qualify for a clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness o f an experim ental m edication to treat this condition, w om en need to experience at least 1 episode a day, and be betw een 18 and 70 years o f age. T his 17-week trial will be condu cted by m edical experts in your area. If you participated in o ur b ath tu b race in the past, call June Ip at U nited W ay of Oakville, at (905) 845-5571, to register for the 40th anniversary celebrations on Sunday, Septem ber 21, 2003. Join this clinical study o f Stress U rinary Incontinence today. Start off the d ay w ith a pancake breakfast an d a m eet an d greet m 1-800-392-9534 Y o u r a b s o l u t e p r iv a c y is g u a r a n te e d . w ith Olym pic G old Medallist, D onovan Bailey (QEP, '85)! a