‘TERRACE STANDARD |

INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

SECTION B”
JENNIFER LANG
638-7283

‘the. “E will never do again” list, I

’ ‘ter, well...

EV BISHOP

“Making a list, checking

it... too many times

AM A list maker. People who know
me, know this. 1 make lists about
everything.

We just came through the two times
of year that list makers find themselves the
busiest; Christmas (Grocery lists. What to
buy people lists, Your own wish list. What’s on
sale and where lists. Christmas card lists.) and
New Year’s! Even people who hate lists make
resolutions which to my mind are nothing more
than a couple of lists; the “I will do” list and
confess that
the latter is shorter now that I’m alder and cal-
older.

My lists are spectacular, rarely if ever ac-

tualized but nonetheless, SPECTACTULAR.

This love of listing things started when I
was about cight and my best friend and I deci-
ded that we were going to be detectives when
we grew up. We were inspired in our careers
by the amount of obvious criminals and secret
agents that lurked in the deceptively quiet
4600 block of Straume where we
lived. Everything was carefully noted... from
the favorite locations of Banjo the dog's favor-
ite places to urinate (We solved the “Who
Peed On Dad’s Briefcase Puzzler.”) to the in-
creasingly alarming homicidal tendencies of
Detective Tara’s big sister towards innocent,
hard working, not-annoying-at-all detectives.

My passion for note taking snowballed from

- there. 1 figured out the make-a-list-of-things-

you-want-to-accomplish idea. Not only could I

jist numerically, alphabetically or by most im-.

portant to least and vice-versa. I could tick off,
scratch out, N/A, highlight... The possible op-
tions for recording things accomplished i is truly
breath taking.

In my teen years I kept intensive lists about
all sorts of things, Most types have been done
away with but there are two kinds that [ still
love today. I recommend them to anybody who
thinks best in numbered lines. Warning:
They’re both “self-exploration” toals and so
they should be kept hidden. The lists won't
contain anything shocking but they’ll seem
weird to a non-list maker and can be hard to
explain.

‘My passion for note taking
.snowbalied from there. | figured
out the make-a-list-of-things-you-
‘want-to-accomplish idea.’

“One type of list was suggested to me by a
character in Paul Zindel’s book, Pardon Me,
You're Stepping On My Eyeball. “Marsh” Mel-
low (he had deranged parents) routinely made
lists of things that he hated and things that he
liked. My list style is modified from his... sort
of a Pollyanna-ish version. I get to wallow in
self-pity while creating a list of hated things

_ but then I have to follow it up with a list of .

liked things,

What makes this so fun and such a good
venting too] is that it’s never a general list.
No “] hate pain” or “I like candy,” It's always
very specific to the day. Eg: “I hate it when I
stub three toes at once trying to keep the cat
from escaping out the door and I can’t scream
anything stronger than ‘fruity-fruit, FRUIT’ be-
cause ] have small children.

Before I start my list I pick a number so
that I know how many I'm going to have to
think up: 10 or 12 is usually goad, 20 if it’s a
particularly hateful day. The purpose of these
lists? Well aside from making me laugh, they
help put life into perspective. No matter how
dark my “I hate” list sometimes gets, forcing
myself to do the “I likes” makes me realize
that there are good things all around me.

The following list is even more helpful to
me.I have days where I feel hideously grouchy
and/or depressed and can’t figure out why. It
doesn’t matter what anyome says or does: ] fee)
that everything, everyone is horrible. Especi-
ally myself. This feeling can sneak in anytime
and, except for prayer, this is the most effec-
tive.way I've found to deal with it,

First I jot down everything that [ feel is
wrong then beside each point, I write why on
earth I might feel this way. The third step is to

‘label each one as a {rue or false concen. Then

I write what I plan to do about them. Often
making the list is a far as I ever need to get
because frustrations shrink when I put them on
a page, For the ones that still need to be ad-
dressed, 1 feel better because I've already
written down my plan to attack the problem.

proof?

Getting back to t

New program
takes aim at

diabetes stats

By JENNIFER LANG
DOCTORS CALL it the
“survival gene”.

In times of famine or
hardship, it enables the
body to max out on food,
converting fuel into sugar.

It’s a good thing. With-

‘out it, humans would have

perished long ago.

But this amazing survi-
val mechanism, thought to
be particularly attuned in
aboriginal people, is at
odds with a sedentary
modern life where high-fat,
high calorie foods are just
a drive-through away.

“Now with Safeway and
Overwaitea and 7-Eleven
and all those other stores
down the street, it’s a lot
easier for us to get food,”
Dr. Greg Linton told guests
ata Jan. 16 feast launch-
ing an innovative program
aimed at reducing diabetes
in Terrace’s native com-
munities,

One in three native Ca-
nadians develops diabetes.

“Those are incredible
numbers and they’re bound
to increase,” Linton said,

With type two diabetes,
the body has a problem
producing or using insulin,
which. drives sugar — the
fuel our body needs to
function .— into the cells.

While type two dia- -

betes is usually seen in

‘older adults, “This is a.

problem for you commun-
ity through a wide range of
age groups,” Dr. Michael
Kenyon told the crowd at
the. Kitsumkalum Com-
munity Hall,

“I try to tell aboriginal
patients of mine this is a
gene to be proud of. This is
a survival gene.”

Kenyon pointed out that
a traditional diet -— like

* some of the items on the
menu served at the feast ~

is a good diabetes preven-
tative; salmon, bear meat,
and kelp are all healthy
foods.

“When you look at a lot

’ of the traditional foods, the

content of fat is much
lower,” said Cynthia Mor-
tis, an RN who is a com-
munity health nurse for
Kitselas and Kitsumkalum.

Moose meat, for exam-

ple, is low in fat. So is ©
grouse meat and other tra- .

ditional foods obtained by
hunting or trapping.

“It takes exercise, ac-
tivity, to go out and get

‘those foods. It’s kind of a

win-win situation.”

Morris is at the centre
of the Kitsumkalum and
Kitselas Diabetes Initia-
tive, a three-year project
made passible through
Health Canada.

The feast, organized by
a committee of community
leaders from Kitselas and
Kitsumkalum, was a way
to make everyone aware of
the new initiative and in-
troduce Terrace’s front-line
diabetes experts.

“At any given feast,
there’s a large turnout —
we're collective peaple,”
Morris said. “It’s part of
our basic value system.”

As if to signal a new
tradition, junk food was
banned that evening, Des-
sert came in the form of
apples, oranges, and whip-
ped soap berries,

Better nutrition and ex-

A VOLUNTEER server 5 doles out ripe navel oranges at a feast t kicking off a new
diabetes prevention program for Terrace’s First Nations communities:

ercise are the cornerstones
of the project, which is al-
ready offering ongoing
education and exercise
programs in the two com-
munities, something she
views as key to changing
people’s habits.

Morris said community
kitchens will help teach
people haw to cook low-
fat, high fibre meals as a
diabetes preventative.

Morris noted 37,2 per

cent of native people in
B.C. are also affected by
heart disease.

“There really needs to
be some strategic planning
around exercise, nutrition-
al intake, and education,

‘mainly from a prevention
* made.”
The initiative will also:

see -@° number of mini-
workshops and “shop
smart” tours of grocery
stores led by a nutritionist,

Morris plans to develop
a database this year using
random blood sugar tests
from residents. She’s en-
cauraging people to get
tested. In 2003, the final
year of the project, she

. may follow it up to deter-

mine if the initiative was
effective.

For ‘more information
contact Cynthia Morris at
635-6172 or 635-5084.

Friends reunite over golf in Foursome —

By JENNIFER LANG

I really: like lists. Do I need to list more

AS AMERICAN humourist
Dave Barry and others have
noted, the male of the human
species can be divided into three
distinct categories: boys, men,
and puys.

Foursome, Terrace Little
Theatre’s dinner production, is an
engaging, well-paced comedy
about four guys, aging college
pals who once had a fot in com-~-
taon, and aren’t sure if they still
do.

Fifteen long years after their
1983 graduation, they reunite on
the golfing green for an early
morning Game of golf.

Told in a series of short, laugh-
filled vignettes as the guys pro-
ceed around 18 holes, Foursome
is kind of like The Big Chill with-
out Motown or jogging shoes.

But you won’t find any maudlin
sentimentality over lost idealism
here, thank goodness.

These guys are salesmen after
all. There’s Ted (Ryan Sergetic),
a beer-swilling computer sales-
man who’s on his second marri-
age, stealthy Florida boat sales-
man Rick (Joe Zucchiatti), suc-
cessful TV advertising salesman
Cameron, (Greg Misener) and

a

RYAN \ Sergerie (en), Greg N Misener and Joe Zucchiatti hang out in Norm Foster's Foursome.

Donnie (Bob Costain), a straight
arrow hardware salesman and
contented father of five.

Not that they don’t tackle the
big issues: work, marriage, kids,
and friendship are all skewered as
one-liners fly across the green.

They also ask themselves burn-
ing philosophical questions like
can Buddhists drink beer?

Rez Sisters earns

A NEW northwest theatre compa-
ny has reached a major milestone.

Not only has the Skeena River
Players’ debut production, The
Rez Sisters, just been cast, the
fledgling company has also
earned a $5,000 Canada Council
of the Aris development grant.

“When you're starting with
nothing, every penny counts,”
notes artistic director Marianne
Brorup Weston.

The grant will help cover some
of the initial costs: venue rentals,
set materials, costumes, travel
costs, and technical equipment —
but more money is desperately
needed,

The Rez Sisters, a play by
award-winning playwright and au-
thor Tomson Highway, looks at
life on the reserve — eyes wide

open. It follows
a group af
women who
are on a
mission to get
to the biggest
bingo in the
world.

Since late
summer, the
Skeena River
Players have
hosted a series

: Brorup
of acting work- Weastgn
shops for aspir-

ing actors, in preparation for audi-
tions.

With rehearsals now in full
swing, the production has already
confismed one performance of ‘The
Rez Sisters May 3 at the R.E.M.
Lee. it will also be presented in

Marianne

And we wonder: will these
guys be able to turn back the
clock and restore the tics of
friendship that once meant so
much? Or will a $1 a hole wager
that quickly balloons to $20 as
tensions and competitive inclina-
tions escalate renew old rivalries
and drive them apart once again?

Foursome, the latest offering

from playwright Norm Foster and
one of his best, is directed by
Gordon Oates.

This is the first time the TLT
has mounted a dinner theatre pro-
duction in February. It’s presented
at the Skeena Valley Golf and
Country Club — a venue that’s a
perfect match for this romp arownd
18 holes.

federal arts grant

elton, and

Oa nical, and fi-
maancial chal-
qlenge, but
Weston is con-
fident.
“['m not fright-
ened by this,”
she says.
“There” 8 so much support sur-
rounding the whole thing.”

A celebratory feast held at.the

Larry
Guno

Kitsumkalum Community: Halli:

Jan, 20 signalled the start of the
long toad ahead.
“I'm really excited, says Laary

Guno, president of the Skeena
River Players hoard of directors.

“My enthusiasm is strictly out
of ignorance!” he laughs. “The
rest of us have very little exper-
ience — aside from good inten-
tions.”

Brorup Weston and her hus-
band Alan, community theatre ve-
terans, are providing their exper-
tise to the project...

Guno hopes. Skeena River
Players will open new doors for
young First Nations people here.

“It’s no longer just our leaders
on stapel This, to me, is one of
the things. we're trying to
ptoinote.”

- The dream is to one day estab-
Jish a performing: arts centre to -
foster talent and provide writing,

Continued on page B3