INSIDE. OMMUNITY- Savers COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 EV BISHOP Parenting from the couch ° A 1 COUGH, | hold my pounding head; it feels like my brain is bouncing against my skull. The force of my hacking al- most makes me vomit. If my coughing hurts the rest of my body, the aching in each joint and shivering cold is camouflaging it. . When my daughter was home from school with. this flu, she moaned, “I feel like I’m going to die.” I sympathized but thought she’s 50 cule and melodramatic. J take it back! I do. feel death is imminent... knowing better does not make mie feel any better and as the kids . clamor for dinner and ask if I can do this, do that and the words, “MOOOOMMMM, I need you!” come bellowed fram different rooms, [ : groan. I want my mom, As a kid, being sick was almost fun. The scent of chicken soup, with huge doses of gar-! lic, wafted everywhere. Apple juice was poured for me, served with a straw. Sprite was brought in. The phone was placed near in case of emergencies and a stainless steel bow! was | wedged beside me, also in case of emergencies. My mom would kiss me on my forehead and her face was always smooth and cool.., and then she’d yell at my brother and sisters to leave me alone, NOW. Everyone ‘hustled out of the house leaving me in blissful silence to get well. Riah presses my forehead with her palm, “You really are hot, mom.” Topher looks at "me, skepticism in his eye, “Mom... Are you really sick?” He’s suspicious because he’s fig- ‘ured out that you can watch inore TV when you’re sick and upon waking and asking, “Can I watch.a' show mom?” and getting a “No.” He replies instantly. “But [ think I’m sick! | cough violently, he moves out of my way and says to his sister, in a surprised voice, “I think Mom’s sick.” I bundle under two quilts, feverish or not I hate to shake with cold, and I survey the vol- eanic eruption of mess that is spreading over the living room. How does everything fall apart so quickly? I close my eyes; everything looks better. It’s my luck to be sick when my husband has to work full days and attend a seminar _every night at the college for a week. He gets off with an hour to spare and I’d like to feed him -but everything looks pross. He very wisely says nothing bad about the makeshift food or “about the dishes that have sat for two . days. Normally, he’d cook and do the house” ‘stuff foo but there’s'no time. He leaves saying, “See you tomorrow” because he won't get home till 10:30 and I’m aiming to go to bed at 8:30. Riah asks me if I need anything and I real- .ize that my kids are going to take care of me. She volunteers to read bedtime stories so that I won't have to.try to focus on print, She orga- nizes getting herself and her brother into pyja- mas and teeth are brushed. Then my strict nurse asks, “Do you need to do any typing to- “night mommy? Or are you going STRAIGHT | to bed?” I mutter that I should type, she raises an eyebrow and I admit that I really should go to ’ bed. We snuggle into my bed and Topher sings to me softly and pats my face. Riah hums the music. Sometimes she hunts “Go To Sleep, Go To Steep” while he sings “Twinkle, Twinkle.” It’s beautiful. ‘I survey the voicanic eruption of mess that is spreading over the ving ¢ room.’ Now it’s day two and I feel even | worse, Chris is a hero, bringing in fast food for dinner. He leaves. I lie on the couch; my kids play around me, We decide that the bedtime story will come from the TV. I think I should, but I honestly can’t, drag myself off the couch. It occurs to me that people with serious - . illnesses feel this way daily. I shudder. I’m relieved that it only takes the same ‘ amount of reminders, of prodding, of pleading from me lying prone on the couch as it does , when I’m right there beside them to get them into bed. Christopher finds a cough candy under the bed and hands it to me. Still wrap- ped, no lint or previous licking has hesmirched - ‘it. [take it thankfully, Riah is stern. “If you have to type, be quick and get to bed. You need your sleep.” J don’t ' laugh because it hurts my head. ‘Seeing my kids in action Jets me know that someday, other future sick family members - _will be in good hands. As for me? I’m getting a flu shot next year. “ FY TERRACE ST, The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 21, 2001 - BT SECTION B ENNIFER LANG 638-7283 Why some locals are preserving little-known varieties of heritage plants By JENNIFER LANG HAVE YOU ever heard of a Haida potato? Or how about a Skeena Strawberry? You're not alone. But rising numbers of northern gardeners are growing, saving and swapping little-known varieties of ‘seeds, tubers, and plants in the hopes of preserving these rare species for future generations. Successfully growing and pre- serving heritage or heirloom var-. f ieties is an irresistible challenge for people like Alisa Thompson, who has managed to grow Haida potatoes in her garden, but they’ve failed to truly thrive. Introduced to the Queen Char- lottes in the late 1700 of early 1800s by Europeans (Spanish or possibly Russian),. these finger- length, conical potatoes, she sus- pects, may be better suited to coastal conditions. - Thompson, who’s had much better luck with her striking New- foundland Blues, large, aubergine- coloured potatoes, is hoping to find someone else who's interes- ted in growing Haidas. That’s an arrangement that may come to pass at Terrace’s second annual Seedy Saturday, when Thompson will also be on the lookout for the elusive Skeena strawberry. “There are varieties disappearing from the seed catalogues every -year." ” 2 te a Thompson is a local member of Seeds of Diversity Canada, a net- work of growers who exchange heritage seeds in order to con- serve, document and use plants that haven’t been made into hy- brids. POTATO GROWERS Alisa Thompson (right) and Maureen Bostock compare their Newfoundland Blues, Haidas, Warbas, Norlands and Binijes, ail heirloom varieties. The group also sponsors Seedy Saturdays, community seed ex- changes that help preserve en- dangered or heirloom varieties of vegetables, fruils, grains, flowers and herbs. In the march towards more pro- ductive, hybridized crops with long shelf lives and short growing cycles, flavour often.gets bypas- sed, Thompson notes. As well, there’s real concern that relying on fewer varieties could create less resistance to plant-attacking diseases and in-' sects. “There are varieties disappear- ing every year from the seed cata- fogues,” says Thompson. Meanwhile, in backyard gar- - dens and small-seale farms, gar-, deners and grawers are happily planting, propagating. and presery- ing heirloom and heritage varie- ties of flowers, fruits, and veget- ables. Consider the case of the Cari- boo potato, a robust tuber with ex- cellent flavour, according to otga- nic grower Maureen Bostock of Crowsnest Farm, “The flavour is unbelievably good,” Bastock smiles. “It tastes like it’s already buttered.” When the government banned the sale of Cariboo potatoes — be- cause they are difficult to harvest mechanically — growers in that re- gion were outraged, and began of- fering them at cost to anyone who wanted them, she says. Bostock also grows the Nor- land, an old variety of ted potato, the Warba, an excellent early variety, and the Bintje, a flayour- ful Dutch heritage potato with yellow flesh. “We're interested in providing good tasting food to our custo- mers,” she says. But it’s more than just good business for Bostock, who’s drawn to heritage varieties for their cul- tural importance as well. “We come to Tetrace from all parts of the world, and we bring our heritage. A lot of people star- ted their gardens with the plants from where they came from. It’s part of our culture.” For example, early settlers brought fruit trees that still pro- duce fruit. But those Nova Scotia and king apple trees — popular in , the 1920s and ‘30s — aren’t avail- able as seedlings at today’s gar- den centres, Thompson says. New gardeners and people without their own seeds are also encouraged to attend Seedy Sa- * turday. “It’s not simply a seed saie. You’re going to come and learn how to preserve varieties of seeds,” Thompson says. “If you have a type of poppy you like, = why not propagate it and give it to _ your friends?” Seedy Saturday takes place March 3 from 11 am. to I p.m. at Northwest Community College. Kermode building towards the future THE KERMODE Friend- ship Society is having to First Nations people who live off reserve who are The, small society owns a building and the redefine itself. After nearly 30 years as a community resource, - for urban natives living in the Terrace area, the soc- iety tightened its spending and restricted itself to core programs last spring, when funding sources shrank. “There was some beit tightening at the end of our last fiscal year and the start of our new fiscal year,” says Shannon Rick- ard, the society’s finance and administration staff person. “We did really have to tighten our purse strings back then.” Now the society is thinking about a slow ex- pansion of services based on funding ~- as well as boosting memberships, which currently sit at about 300. Friendship centres ori- ginally catered to First Nations people making 4 transition to urban life. “Some of our mandates are still that way,” the society’s executive ditec- tor Rick Miller says. “We have a bulk of ‘ pretty much on their own,” Miller says. “We try to foster a friendly face for people to drop in.” But the modern reality of government funding means that its core group of constituents is evolving. Miller says the centre's doors remain open - in more ways than one. “My philosophy is, if someone comes in and needs assistance, I don’t care what cultural back- ground’ they’re from,” Miller says, conceding it hasn’t always been that way. , “As | said, it’s a wild vision!” Redefining the role of a friendship society in the new millennium is a job that’s taking place across Canada. -Miller says the socic- ty’s main objective is sim- ply, “Assisting urban first nations in achieving their goals in life, in becoming independent and masters of their own destiny.” land it’s on. Three pragram directors manage health and parenting programs, tutoring, computer pro- grams, and an alcohol and drug counselling program. About 50 Students use the society as a drop off and pick up point for their correspondence studies. The, centre also pro- vides a tutoring program for students to the post secondary level. People can access the internet and use five com- puters. “There are a lot of First Nations here who don’t have computers,” says Corinna Morhart, youth in- tervention worker and pro- gram director. When asked where he'd like to see the society in the future, Miller says, “As an ideal goal, [ would like to sce a First Nation Long House built, and we encompass a lot more pro- VOLUNTEER Vivian Banson, seen here with Rick Miller, says she’s gained valuable job experience. grams than we have right now. A place big enough to hold cultural events.” The current gathering room upstairs holds a max- imum of 80 guests. “['d like to see a room for a gathering of 200 people,” he said, “As [ said, it’s a wild vision!” He laughs, but the light in his eyes reveals much hope. Folk singer to give a special performance in Terrace to see if she could ar- ABOUT 30 music fans will have the rare op- portunity to take in a fireside performance by a tising folk star when Aengus Finnan plays Karen Birkedal’s living room Sunday night. Called a house concert, the Feb. 25 perfor- mance offers people here a chance to see this Irish-Canadian singer-songwriter in a castal, intimate setting where every seat’s like being in the front row at the concert hall. Birkedal agreed to host the house concert for Finnan because he’s heading to the north- west this weekend for engagements in Prince Rupert (at the Performing Arts Centre Feb. 24) and Kitimat, but wanted to play Tertace, too, He recently called Birkedal from the road range a venue here. “liked him and said I'd vacuum my house,” Birkedal says, adding Finnan already has a fan base here. The singer-songwri- ter told Birkedal he’s sold a lot of copies of his latest CD, Fool's Gold, to Terrace people over the Internet. For those not already familiar with Finnaa or his music, Birkedal Aengus Finnan describes him as a consummate storyteller and folk balladeer. He was born in Dublin to a performing fa- mily that emigrated to Canada in the 1970s. Now based out of southern Ontario, Finnan gave up teaching to become a folk singer, Birkedal says seating is limited for the house concert, where Finnan will perform on a little riser in front of her fireplace. Guests will have to book seat reservations in advance, and pay an artists donation of $10. And, it might be a good idea to bring your own folding chairs and finger foods. - To reserve a seat, call 635- 3603. The con- | cert starts at 7:30 Ps m.