INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

STEPHANIE WIEBE:

Challenging the
Three R’s |

Y AUNT Lorraine does not live

in this town, nor are you likely
to run into her on your next
holiday.

.That’s why I can be so brutally honest
here. Because Aunt Lorraine, sweet soul
that she is, would be mortified to hear what
I'm about to tell you: The other day, J
tossed out her special cushion.
-Aunt Lorraine’s cushion was a small
avocado green bundle, trimmed in’ black
crochet. It was fashioned from the yarn of
‘my uncle’s old cardigan, and stuffed with
the scrapings of — I’m not kidding — the
lint filter of her clothes dryer.

A resourceful piece of handiwork? Yes. A
clever recycling of textiles? Certainly. But
we’re being honest here. It was hideous.

‘the ugly cushion was a mere sample of
Aunt Lorraine’s talent. Like many of her
generation, she once lived through what
they call “Shard times.”’ Really hard times.

‘Harder times than I could ever possibly i im-

agine, I’m sure.
Those hard times gave Aunt Lorraine a

~ special make-do ingenuity: she can ‘make.

something out of nothing. I tell you; the
woman could sweep my kitchen floor and
concoct a tasly, nutritious casserole from
the small pile of crumbs.
Her specialty is recycling. She cuts plastic
~ pop bottles into tiny strips and twists them
to make earrings. She makes doll furniture
from old tin cans, and creates jewellery
beads from moldy bread. Nothing goes to
waste in Aunt Lorraine’s house. She once
built a smal! sturdy footstool from tightly
: rolled Reader’s Digest magazines,

All these cleverly made items become
gilts for family members, to their utter
delight — mostly. I must agree with them,
Aunt Lorraine clearly has a gift for turning
trash into treasure.

Sometimes, though — and it feels sinful
' to say this out loud — sometimes when I
- lock at the pop-bottle earrings and tin-can
toys, I can’t see their beauty. I see only
twisted bits of pop bottles and cut-up tin
_~eans. Because much of the unique charm of

“these items rests solely in the making of
them. Sometimes, despite it’s clever history
_ or brilliant design, a piece of pop bottle is
. just a piece of pop bottle.

Still, for eight years I kept Aunt Lor-
~raine’s ugly cushion on a chair in my base-
_ meat, a sinister tribute to my own wasteful
~ ways, Every once in a while I’d think of a
-- good reason to pitch the nasty-looking thing

— I mean, you never know when old dryer
lint might turn combustible on you — but
the threat of “waste not, want not’’ always
loomed overhead.

In my family, the ‘‘waste not, want not?’

threat is a killer. As the theory goes, a per-
son who lives a thrifly, make-do kind of life
~ will never have to suffer an extreme lack of
' supplies, At the same time, those who live a
__ reckless, wasteful kind of life will someday
regret it, Severely.

Admittedly, over my lifetime I have prob-

ably tossed out enough dryer lint to stuff a
-|. small couch, Of course, now that I’ve gone

-. and chucked Aunt Lorraine’s cushion, all
hell will break loose. It is only a matter of
time before P11 be struck penniless, my

_ children left barefoot and starving. The
entire family will be out in the street, beg-
ging for old yarn and dryer lint.

If that should happen, please give it to us.

-(Editor’ 5 Note: Shortly after writing
‘this column, Ms, Wiebe was arrested by
’ the Recycling Police and found guilty of
“wanton wastefulness of drier lint. As
{> befits such a heinous crime, Ms. Wiebe
-~ has been sentenced to make 220 Christ-
“mas ornaments from recycled socks.and
‘underwear —and drier lint, of course.)

_ TERRACE STANDARD

- The Terrace Standard, Weenesday, September 13, 1995 - B1

ane

Dancer’s dream realized _

PIANO MUSIC filters
through the large mir-
rored room. Grasping
the wooden bars
which circle the room
are 16 women, grit-
ting their teeth

- through the last deep

knee bend. .

‘And back to first posi-
tion,”’ The class collapses in
relief, shaking out tired thighs
and feet.

It’s the first day of classes
for adults at the newly opened
Flynn School of Ballet,

The school is certified by the
Royal Academy of Dance, and
is the only one of its kind in
Terrace.

It opened full time this
month, fulfilling a long-time

_ dream of its owner, Laura

Flynn.

Ever since she was’ seven-
years-old, Laura Flynn has
wanted a career in ballet, _

The Terrace youngster. first
took ballet classes from Bar-
bara Nunn, and proved to be
both talented and dedicated.

“I was very focused,”’ says
Flynn. “‘A lot of girls quit
when they’re between the ages
of 13 and 16... But once

you're through that age group-

you know that’s | What you
want,””

When Flynn was 13 and 14
years old, she spent two sum-
mer sessions with the Royal
Winnipeg Ballet. : 4
“Butat Winnipeg. they tara"

me I lida’, » quite have the S

Town

Toy run hits
the streets

IF YOU SEE a giant stuffed
panda doubling on the back of
a motorbike on September 30,
don't call police, He's probably
just taking part in the 13th an-
nual Terrace toy run,
Motorcyclists meet at noon

. for a no-host lunch at Mount

Layton Resort. At 1:30 p.m.
they leave Mount Layton for
the Terrace Weight Scales.

The parade of toys is sched-
uled for 2 p.m. Motorcyclists
will parade around town,
ending at the Coast Inn of the
West, where they'll make the
toy drop off.

Organizers caution motor-
cyclists to remember that chil-
dren of all ages need toys.

Last year approximately 150
people rode just under 100
motorbikes in the toy parade,

All proceeds from the toy run
go the Salvation Army Christ-
mas campaign for Terrace,
For more infocall 635-9217.

Speech
contest
“WHAT DOES Canada mean
to. you?. If you can describe
your feelings.in a five to seven
minute speech, be sure to en-
ter the upcoming Terrace
Toastmasters speech contest.

The contest is open to the
public, and the winner from
this: event will) go ‘onto the
area-wide contest, and so on,
until contestants reach the na-
tional level,

Finalists at the national level
will present their speeches on
Canada Day next year.

The Terrace contest will be
held at 7:30 p.m. on Septem-.
ber 19 at the Coast Inn of.the |
West. Contestants .must be

over the age of 18.
For futher. information. éone

tact club: president Linda Tan
‘ner at 638-1856,.. :

~-

body to dance professionally
— it’s a style thing,’’ explains
Flynn. “So they told me to
look into teaching instead.’’

‘She returned to Terrace
where she taught ballet 'stu-
dents at the Northwest -Acad-
emy of Performing Arts, But
she was still in high school, so
she could only. teach classes
after school:

When she graduated, Flynn
was free to pursue her goals,
taking training in Vancouver
and Edmonton, getting her
teaching degree: privately
through the Edmonton School
of Ballet.

Now Flynn is qualified to
teach students right up to the
professional level... And her
certification through the Royal

. Academy of Dance allows her

to teach anywhere in the
world.

“But I wanted to come back
to Terrace,’ says Flynn.
“*There are no registered ballet
teachers here.”?-

She enjoys passing her
knowledge along and watch-
ing students improve.

Although Flynn is only 22,

she has already helped another.
dance student achieve her ©

goals.

Heidi Turner, now an 18-
year-old dance major at Simon
Fraser Universily, was 12
when Flynn started teaching

her.

-For three years Flynn

_coached her, then left: Terrace

to get her leaching qualifica-

“tions, -
When Flynn returned to Ter-

BALLET INSTRUCTOR Laura Flynn began classes last week at

the new Flynn School of Ballet, located in Thornhill. That’s

Robyn and.Marlee Cater, two students registered in classes tl this:

fall. Adult classes have also proved surprisingly popular. -

face last January, she helped
Turner prepare for her. dance
‘auditions at SFU.
"Tt was wonderful. to see the
“improvement”, “itt her,
hear the jay. in | her voice when

*

_ daughter. Emma painting the. logger.

her daughter Elizabeth Loulse.: :

‘lg Watercolours

IF YOU'VE DRIVEN down malin street lately, you ma

coloured fire hydrants, One a logger with a perky mustache, one a gtandma with her grand-
child in-a snugly,. and.a Kermode. bear in tront’of. city Kall, ‘That's Jeanie Keating: and 'hi

They sha q Painting duties with. Joann. ‘Thomson ‘and

and to

“she told. me she'd been: aC Wee

cepted at SFU,""
Classes at the Flyan School
of Ballet are fi ing: up quickly. .

FoF ‘regist¥ation information, * mts
call 638-2077...

y have noticed three new w brightly |

CRIS ; LEYKAUF
: 638-7283