Terrace Review —— Wednesday, January 8, 1992 Role of family in community to be discussed The B.C. Council for the Fam- ily has chosen Terrace as one of eight sites for public forums on the subject of making families stronger. Called. "Community Chal- lenges: Strategies to Strengthen Families", the project is intended to identify. ways in which com- munities can devise preventive _ solutions to many of the prob- lems facing their families in the 1990's. B.C. Council for the ‘Family representative Marian Rose said last week, "The em- phasis will be on helping people before they get to the point at which they have to go to social services for help." For that rea- son, she said, the council is hoping for considerable grass roots participation in the meet- ings. . After weeks of frenzied shop- ping, list checking, card mailing, _ tree hunting, house trimming, food preparation, office parties, and that _ great New Year's Eve bash where you impressed everyone by swing- ing from the chandeliers while belting out the title song from Cabaret, it hardly seems fair that * those dreaded after-Christmas blues are creeping up on you. But - ~-you needn't despair. There are several things you can do to fight : back. "The forums are open to any- one who has an. interest in the topic,” she said. "We want to bring out the positive aspects of families rather than ways of dealing with them when they’re already in crisis". Rose said the Terrace meeting, expected to be a day-long event, will take place sometime | between the end of February and ‘the beginning of April. She-said the council hopes people who want to get involved will hold "kitchen table discussions” on the subject of their presentations before going to the meeting. Background materials and out- lines for presentations are avail- able by writing the B.C. Council - for the Family, 204-2590 Gran- ville St., Vancouver, B.C., V6H 3H1. Hear this, Donald Lander: . you're too timid by So postage rates are on the rise again. Nobody likes paying more for something they used to.get — for less, but it really irks ‘me to- pay two cents more o maila - letter. Not that 42 cents is an 1 outrage- ous price — on the contrary. If I offered to pay you 42 cents to deliver a letter.to my sister in Toronto, would you take the job? Not likely. Undeniably, a 42-cent stamp is a bargain. No, two cents will not change my affection for the mail. There’s nothing like a friendly letter in - the mailbox, and for 42 cents, it up than to envision digging around skates out of storage? Or if you're in the warm, fertile soil, planting and nurturing tiny bits of creation . that will provide you with a boun- . tiful harvest of nutritious and tasty food. Knowing exactly how you feel, the seed companies thought- fully send out their glossy cata- logues the day after New Yeat’s. Perusing these colourful cata- logues offers hours of informative "enjoyment, and you admit that planning your garden in the dead of winter is the only way to go. Come spring when all the other would-be-gardeners are fighting over the last package of Burpee’s feeling especially suicidal you might even want to give skiing a try. The nice thing about.skiing, . apart from all that crisp mountain air, is that if you take a nose dive off a mountain top and somehow manage to survive, you'll have an exciting adventure to tell your grandchildren some day. « Start planning next Christ- mas. If you’re one of those effi- cient people who have all their Christmas preparations completed by mid-July, this is probably the one for you. Incidentally, the rest remains a cheap thrill. What gets on my nerves are - these annual piddly two cent - hikes, It’s like having a bird - pecking at your flesh, bit by bit. I've got to be honest — if I was in charge of Canada Post, I wouldn’t go for this wussy two- cent stuff. I'd shoot the price up to 45 cents and vacation in Vegas *til the.dust settled. Forty-five cents makes sense. © Multiply those three extra.pennies by the number of letters mailed — in this country, and you’d have quite a nest egg. Why, if you invest that in a regular savings - account at the nearest bank, you wouldn’t have to bother people with irritating two cent price ‘nibbles for a long time. I'L bet you that half a cent out of every price hike goes toward arranging and announcing the damn things. If I ran Canada Post, I'd be - ruthless. I’d not only go after those three extra pennies, I’d tack . an "Annoyance Fee" on any obnoxious junk mail. All envel- opes printed "SWEEPSTAKES WINNER VERIFICATION NOTICE" in red capital letters would automatically qualify for the two dollar rate. A picture of Ed McMahon on the envelope . would cost another dollar. This would not only add to my grow- ing account at the neighbourhood. bank, it would cut down on junk mail, too. I’d demand to have GST removed from postage. Mail is. not a frill to be taxed, it’s a far working. I’d flavour the glue on. my stamps; and I’d charge more for chocolate. If I ran Canada Post, I'd solicit ideas from the users. Any person ‘with a suggestion that saves dollars, improves service or just plain makes sense, would be rewarded — maybe free stamps for five years or something. — If I ran Canada Post, my sav- ings account balance would be up in the bazillions by now. I’d skim off some accumulated interest arid invest in future business; that is, I’d purchase some of my own 45 cent stamps (out of which three cents would go back into my account) and send them to primary school classrooms across ‘the country. Each bundle of = stamps would have a list attached, bearing addresses of other primary school classes, and voila — entire classrooms of pen pals would enter my mail system. If I ran Canada Post, I’d sell advertising space on postage stamps. For a ridiculous amount . of money, I’d print "Just for ithe... jaste of it" on half the mail, and "You got the right one, baby, uh huh" on the other Half. I’d refuse to advertise alcohol, cigarettes or violent toys, and of course - there’d be no advertising fee for ‘the Queen or famous dead poll cians. After a few years, my savings. account balance would reach the. megagazillions, and I’d be paying. off the national debt and feeding - the Third World on the side. And of us poor slobs who always end up mailing our cards and parcels three weeks after Christmas — we - hate you. We really do. not irritating people with piddly annual price hikes, either. That’s what I’d do, if I could put my two cents in. staple, like rice and macaroni. I’d also mail fake “decoy” letters every once in a while, just to Prized Tomatoes and shouting obscenities at frightened store clerks, your garden is all neatly «Join a gym or exercise ; class. Let’s face it, all that pump- - kin pie you pigged out on over the . “holidays didn’t do much for your a ‘waistline. And as added proof, ” you've just tried out that nifty talking scale your Aunt Zelda gave you for Christmas, the one that tells you, in a quiet and digni- fied voice, exactly how much you . weigh. Except when you stepped on this highly advanced piece of technological wizardry it burst into.gales of uncontrollable laugh- - ter and called you a very naughty _ name. . Justa word of caution if _ you've never seen the inside of an exercise gym before. You will be confronted by several nightmarish _ contraptions that look like some- > thing right out of Edgar Allen ls Poe’s fiendish novels. A smiling “attendant with perfect teeth and a perfect figure will introduce you _ .to:each piece of exercise equip- ~ thent, vigorously assuring you that a each piece is completcly safe and _<~ has nothing whatsoever to do with »’, térturé chambers. You will proba- bly remain unconvinced. ly.» Take up a new hobby. You > “might, for example, decide to - plant a.smiall garden this spring. Whit better way to cheer yoursclf planned and laid out. You spend the rest of the win- ter contentedly drooling over mouth-watering pictures and mak- ing out neat lists, And didn’t you read somewhere that gardening is good for reducing stress? _ : Write a sizzling novel. This is an excellent way to rid yourself of the blues, regardless of your lit- erary skills. And because you don’t actually have to show it to anyone, you can let your imagina- tion run hog wild, Not happy with your boss? No problem. You can make him or her the villain of your story, the one who gets run over by the speeding train, cap- tured and eaten by cannibals, attacked by a mysterious and thor- oughly fatal disease, devoured by swamp rats, or whatever. . Do you wish your in-laws. would move to another planet? No problem. Just put them on a space ship and send them to the planct - X, where they will be forced to - watch old TV reruns of Auack of the Killer. Tomatoes one zillion times. os _ * Take up a winter sport. How about digging your old \o $48 per room/per night on a Standard Single, Double or Twin Room any Friday, Saturday or Sunday Come in and enjoy our ‘Waterfront Restaurant or have a drink in Charley’s Lounge. Call for a Reservation ; Tall Frée 1-800-663-8150 /f 222 West 1st Ave. Phone (604) 624-6771 - check on how the system Is G.A. ROSS HEARING CLINIC 4626 Park Ave. - | Terrace = 635-4327 "Ambassadors of Better Hearing" Opening January 15, 1992 Clinical Audiologist on Staff «| (Workers’ Compensation Board authorized) ‘Hearing evaluations. © ‘Hearing aid fitting -¢ Repairs + Batteries - Service B.C. Government Licensed Dispensers