EVENTS B2 AT THE LIBRARY — SHEELAGH MEIKLEM — Get your garden growing N CELEBRATION of the anniver- sary of my first column, I am returning to the scene of the crime: the garden. The library has a lot of wonderful new books in the gardening department, several from Reader’s Digest and a notable one from Time Life Books —— The Big Book of Flower Garden- ing is full of photographs of amazing gardens with step by step instructions on how to design your garden, which plants to grow where, how to deal with diseases etc. If diseases are a problem in your garden, there are two very comprehensive books ‘for you, Rodale’s Landscape Problem Solver, and Rodale’s Garden Problem Solver by Jeff and Liz Ball. These books give the latest, safest organic pest and disease controls for everything from tent caterpillars to squirrels and fungal fiends. You will discover new uses for garlic and hot peppers! For youthful gardeners there is a little book by Pamela Hickman, A Seed Grows: My First Look at a Plant’s Life Cycle. This is for children aged 3 to 9 who are curious about how things grow. It is easy to show children the growing process if you allow them to plant in a container. Gay Search has turned container gardening into an art form in her book Gardening without different and unusual containers and gives ex- amples of colourful plantings. Any space no matter how small can be transformed by an ar- rangement of flowers and shrubs. If space is not a problem for you then you might be interested in the Reader’s Digest Com- plete Guide to Water Gardening, a wonderful guide to the design, construction, planting and maintenance of water features from miniature fountains to wildlife ponds. Even a small garden can have room for a pond made with a flexible liner — simple to do and very attractive. Many plants are more than just a pretty face as you will discover in the Encyclopedia of Medi- cinal Plants by Andrew Chevallier. For in- stance, lobelia is a powerful antispasmodic, used for respiratory and muscle disorders. Cab- bage can be used as a poultice or as an antidote to alcohol induced discomfort! According to Greek myth the cabbage sprang into being from the perspiration of Zeus. Now all the work is done, it is time to your garden. What better way than a picnic! Once your garden has grown you need to read Keeping the Harvest by Nancy Chioffi, This is a Classic book that has been revised to cover 4 wide range of preserving techniques and has recipes for the use of all manner of garden pro- duce. No garden is complete without the presence of some wildlife. Birds are essential for the propagation of many plants and trees. UBC Press has published a four volume set titled The Birds of British Columbia, the ultimate guide comprising two decades of research by ornithologists and naturalists. To keep your birds happy, house them well by studying Dorothy Egan’s book, Painting and Decorating Bird Houses. Here are 22 projects with step by step instructions on building and painting birdhouses from flower shapes to lighthouses or adobe hacicndas! Now all the work is done, it is time to relax and enjoy the sight and scent of your garden. What better way than a picnic! Perfect Picnics by Margaret O'Sullivan is full of incredible recipes for common picnic fare such as Stuffed Duck in Aspic! Ida’s Aberdeen Sausage seems great idea. Spring and gardens are all about rebirth and survival in the face of adversity, a struggle man and nalure have engaged in eternally, Hopefui- ly, we and our favourite roses will always emerge tiumpbant Dionysius wrote: “Tam a little wounded, I am not slain. | will lie down for to bleed awhile, then arise..to fight again.” - - TERRACE STANDARD | The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 28, 1997 - B1 INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY | CRIS LEYKAUF a 638-7283 Special Olympics volunteer remembered for her kindness A DEDICATED volunteer and teacher has died. Joan Cox died May 20 from complications due to breast can- cer, She was 43 years old. Cox worked as a kindergarten and learning assistant teacher at Thornhill Primary for the last 20 years. In January she became too ill to teach and moved to Vancouver to be with her fam- ily. *‘Toan just loved to work with children,’” said her colleague Barbara Howe. ‘‘The school certainly is missing her.”” Thornhill Primary held a spe- cial assembly on Monday to give the children a chance to Cox had also been involved in Special Olympics in Terrace since 1987, She served as a iocal coor- dinalor, regional coordinator and secretary treasurer for Spe- cial Olympics. In 1996 she was nominated for the Volunteer of the Year award for the work she does with handicapped athletes, Every Saturday Cox would volunteer at the bowling ally to encourage the special athletes. But she was surprised that she was nominated, saying that ‘her’ athleles were the ones who deserved the recognition. Her involvement with the mentally handicapped began ,when she was just a child. When Cox was five years old, her 20-year-old mentally chal- lenged cousin used to come over and play barbies with her. At the time, Cox never suspected there was anything unusual about her cousin. It was this friendship which spawned both her career and her volunteer work, said Cox, SuH, Cox downplayed that volunteer work. **Maybe I have the ability to help them excel at it, that’s all,’ she said during an interview in 1996 about Special Olympics athletes. ‘I'm their cheer- leader.’’ a Garden. She explains how to prepare several _ relax and enjoy the sight and scent of more practical and Greek Salad Skewers are a share memories of Cox. ABORIGINAL STUDENTS gifted in academics, sports, and music will be recognized at a special ceremony on June 7. For the first time in the Terrace school district, and pos- sibly in the province, the achievements of First Nations high school and elementary students are being celebrated. “Tt all started when we wanted to recognize the achieve- ments of our high school graduates,’’ said Caroline Daniels, She’s part of the First Nations Education centre, located at Clarence Michiel elementary. The drop out rate for aboriginal students is much higher than that of the regular student body. Thal was part of the reason why the First Nations Education Centre was set up, This has been its first fuil year in operation and the em- phasis has been on including native culture and First Na- tions role models in the schools. The June ceremony will be the culmination of a ycar’s work. “We realized that all achievements need ta be recog- nized,”’ said Daniels. That’s when the ceremony expanded to include students in all grades. There are approximately 875 aboriginal students in the Terrace and Kitimat area. Over 130 of them will be honoured at the ceremony. Categories include academic and sports achievement, sportsmanship, most improved, best attendance, diligence, attitude, music, drama, art and more. Native bands from the area have all thrown their support behind the awards. The recipients of the awards have been chosen by teachers and principals of local schools, ‘‘We left the se- lection completely up to them,” said Daniels. The ceremony will! be held in the Kitsumkalum Hall and Daniels expects the 500 seats there to be filled. Local artists have donated their works for awards and for a raffle which will take part during the ceremony. And, like any large aboriginal event, there will be plenty of food and entertainment. . David Rattray and the Tahltan dancers and Emie Phillip and the Shuswap traditional and fancy dancers will share the stage with the Thornhill Primary skippers, Teachers and principals will present the awards. “We're hoping to encourage students to maintain their grades, graduate and go onto post-secondary,’ said Daniels. She thinks the ceremony is one way to get aboriginal students excited about school. “] think that’s happening to a larger extent in schools right now,’” she said. “Students and parents see First Na- tions people in school and see school as more of a place where they fit in.’” = . out ahead... STUDENTS from Cas- sie Hall Elementary took full advantage of the fantastic weather last week to try out their new playground equipment. The parents group at the school spearheaded the project to putin the new equipment. The city and the school district bath chipped in too. CARVED PADDLES will be among the awards handed out at the first ever First Nations Achievement Awards, to be held June 7. Artists have also designed spe- cial place mats and commemorative cards for the event. Examples are held by Caroline Daniels and Barbara Toye-Welsh of the First Nations Education Centre. First Nations students recognized Terrace actors are the best TERRACE ACTORS took top marks, but Burns Lake heat us out for top spot overall at the Skeena Zone Dramafest. The annual festival decides which northwest theatre group will be sending its production onto the provin- cial festival. Adjudicator Janet Michael said it was a choice be- tween a theatre group which did an excellent job of a straight forward production, or a took a very good try at a difficult play. Sharon Lynch took best female actor while John McGowan was best male actor. Both starred in Ter- race Little Theatre’s The Watering Place. The Lakes District Community Theatre won best ensemble, best visual presentation, best director and best production for Coming Apart. The play now goes onto the provincial festival in Kelowna in July. Kitimat’s Judy Johnson won best supporting actor female, while Clair Robertson was best- supporting actor male. . The Then family from Smithers won the Tom Rooney Zone recognition award and Evan Lyon and Stan Ginther of Terrace were recognized for their outstanding backstage work.