DUSTIN QUEZADA Around Town Riverside post-mortem ‘THE SEVENTH annual Riverside Festival Aug. 5-7 experienced a breakthrough year according to organizer Betty Hamilton. And that was despite less than ideal weekend weather. “It- was quite successful,”’said Hamilton, who added festivalgoers were asked to fill out a survey regarding their weekend music experience The feedback was almost ‘unanimously Rood, said Hamilton. : For Hamilton, who organizes the event with | husband and chair Gordon, this year saw their big- ges artistic coup to date, With a budget “not big enough to go very big, they were able to land Valdy, the eee anaiiy _recognized folk musician and singer. Hamilton said his four performances were . marked by the performer’ s trademark energy, en- thusiasm and professionalism. “Wien he wasn’t on stage, he spent much of his time either with the fans and/or other musicians,’ added Hamilton. . With expenses for property rental, artists’ fees ‘and sound gear, Hamilton said only a slim profit is expected’and that goes to the Elks Purple Cross . Fund for Children... © The festival drew in excess s of 1,000 people for the three. days — up from 2004 — with the bulk of attendees coming on the Saturday. 4 Hamilton wished to express how much she and her husband value and support the business com- ' munity’s contributions. — Art and interaction THIS IS the last week for the public to view an art show making its debut in Terrace. «°° - The local branch of the Northern Savings Credit Union, along with those in Masset, Queen Char- lotte City and Prince Rupert, is displaying 48 total pieces of photographed original artwork. The Terrace branch has 19 of the pieces that have been displayed since. Aug. 15 and will remain open for public view until Aug. 31. Many of the pictured pieces have been created by Canadian Artist Guild recipients. The artworks will begin to be judged in the first week of September and 24 pieces will be chosen for 2006 and 2007 calendars, respectively. Half of those will be picked by people’s choice, while the other 12 will be selected by an internal credit union committee to ensure equal geographic and medium representation. The calendars will be sold by donation, with the proceeds going to fund the Success by 6 initiative. Success by 6 is a screening system for young- sters between the ages of 18 months and six years to ensure a proper opportunity at literacy and lan- guage, and problem-free vision and hearing. The public is also invited to the local credit union branch Sept. 9, where winners will be announced. Support team, arthritis THE LOCAL Terrace Blueback Swim Club is raising money this Saturday for a September fundraiser research. The young swimmers will be washing cars — while also taking bottle donations — at the Mohawk TERRACE STANDARD 4 The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - B1 Piano teacher brings program to Terrace that stresses fun learning with music. process, not a performance-oriented program,” said Lima: _ rock their babies in synchronization with music it stimulates in Vancouver benefitting arthritis - LONGTIME Terrace Piano teacher Kelly Lima displays one ‘of the rudimentary in in- struments that newborns will get to play with in the Kindermusik program she will begin teaching in the first full week of September. The chime balls are one of a number of sound-making items children will get to play with that stimulate rhythm, melody and tempo. . DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO By DUSTIN QUEZADA. AS A local piano teacher for 16 years, Kelly Lima has seen ; _firsthand how young people can be. turned on and. off of music, That’s why she’s bringing an internationally taught music _ program for children up to the age of five that stresses fun. “The most important thing with Kindermusik i is thal it’s a As an example, Lima cited the case of her eldest son, | Jesse, who started keyboard- “designed music lessons at. age three. learned unconsciously. _ So, after two open houses and eight confirmed registra- tions, Lima will introduce Kindermusik to children and their . parents starting Sept. 7. There are three separate programs: . Village; for newborns up:to one and a half, Our Time, for one and a half to three- | year-olds and. Imagine. That for three to five-year-olds. Each group has a weekly session ranging from 45 minutes for the | newborns to an hour for the elder-kids. Lima, 30, took her training online and she said the re quirement was pretty easy to attain. . “You have to be able to sing unaccompanied ‘and you ‘have to be able to keep a steady beat,” scoffed Lima. . She finished the training last month.and has ordered the: »materials that accompany the teachings. With a wealth of. . experience teaching i in a more structured environment, Lima | said she, too, is looking forward to the more carefree ap- - proach the program promotes. While it’s fun,and games on the surface, Lima and other ‘promoters of Kindermusik say. it-has far-reaching benefits beyond music. The program’s promotional material states that. research has shown that even at five months, babies are able to detect minute differerices in musical frequency and at seven to nine | months, they organize and respond to melody, tempo, and rhythm just as adults do. Rhythm, melody and. tempo are basic building blocks of music and human voices carry those same patterns in speech; therefore, says the literature, singing, dancing, chant- ing shymes, reading stories and conversing to your infant all - enhance a child’s organizational and creative learning skills, their language development, balance and coordination, and a sense of self. | ; Lima said an example is that when accompanying parents said Lima. “Music should be 7 99 the vestibular system and establishes a sense of balance. Lima said parents were enthusiastic at her introductory _ sessions in July. “Parents were saying, ‘finally, we have something like this for the young ones,” she said. “The program lets kids be totally themselves,” said Lima. _ “Parents can-be too quick to say,” ‘the kids should: be doing - this and this and this...” « ‘Music should be experienced’ in one’s own way, said Lima, and that’s one reason her new young students won t be using any recognized instruments. Here, it’s sound-making objects like chime bills and sandblocks that are rubbed together, _ “(The kids) will be busy the whole time while they’re.. here and there’s no follow-up at home,” she said, something parents are bound to like. Kindermusik by Kelly still has spaces open. Classes will _ take place at the Terrace Academy of Music. gas station on Lakelse and Eby between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The car washes are by donation and the club has to reach a target of $1,000 in order to enter the relay _ at the pool on the campus of the University of Brit- ish Columbia. The first annual Aquatics for Arthritis relay also ~ ee eve eet will make the drive to Vancouver, | The day before the relay (Sept. 9), participants -will get a training camp session with a member of the national swimming team. The relay goes from 2 to 6 p.m. the following day, with teams of four swimmers in the water for 4 a half an hour. 4]... Coach Mike Carlyle said the $1,000- -target will be hard to make, but he’s hoping to convince lo- cal corporations to support the team. Call Mike for information on supporting the team with a donation at 635-7988. mA crowning event ANNA WILKE decorates her crown at one of the numervous booths at the afternoon Fantasy Fair in George Little Park August 11. Skeena Childcare Resource and Referra! hosted the free activities to give children the opportunity has benefits for the eight to 10 local swimmers that to try out different roles. KAT LEE PHOTO Be a ae eather cnants aust a dndtult CONTRIBUTED BY STEVE DONAHUE. | TRAVEL, PEOPLE and ideas are fascinating. Curious by nature, I decided todo something entirely different on my Central American holiday — I fig- ured out a way to tutor ESL (English as a Second Language) in exchange for accommodations. This experience forever changed the. way | understand globalization in the areas of health, and education. It also helped test the idea of www. 4 eslwithoutborders.org, an organiza- tion being developed to share specif- ic information and ideas in English. I landed in Costa Rica with a guide book that helped me to navi- gate my way around. After three like something was missing. Nicaragua came to mind. Having little Spanish skills, I needed a guide and translator, since “dos cervezas por favor” wasn’t going to do it. I was introduced by a friend of a Sandanista gun runner who remains bus from Costa Rica, the “Switzer- land of Central America”, to Nicara- gua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas (North to South). Back in the ‘80s, Nicaragua was the Iran-Contra jungle war zone, with the CIA pitted against the ultra left Sandanista Rebels (synonymous with Cuba and Fidel Castro). Today, the Sandanistas have a days of peace and tranquility it felt _ 'That’s when the idea of ESL in . friend who knew Gustavo, a former. well connected. We crossed over by | strong voice in parliament with very good ideas to help develop a basic social net, something we Canadians have long enjoyed. Over.50 percent” of Nicaraguans live in absolute pov- erty — with not enough food to eat’ Gustavo arranged family ac- commodations in Granada, a 16th century Spanish colonial town. Ev- erything was protected with locks, gates and barbed wire, The perfect post civil war urban school house I ' thought. Family — cousins, uncles, grand- ma — all lived close by, even next door. My daily private ESL students consisted of a lawyer, a business woman, high school and university students, special needs teachers, rel- atives and many children who also helped me learn basic. Spanish. - We openly discussed revolution- ary politics, primary. health and edu- cation issues and what they thought some solutions might be. | visited the local hospital and schools to gain greater understanding into their situ- ation. One afternoon, I bought a soccer ball for the neighborhood “gang- sters” numbering 15 unemployed youths mostly under 20 years old. We practised slang English, breakdanced to a ghetto blaster and enjoyed the best game of soccer in . my life, the score: Nicaragua 3 Can- ada 2. The “hood” came alive with excitement. Teaching ESL created opportuni- ties to socialize that I had never ex- perienced or thought were possible. Vacation takes educating turn TERRACITE Steve Donahue hangs with some of the local youth in Granada during his time in the Central American country of Nicara- . gua. Donahue taught English in the formerly civil war-torn country in SUBMITTED PHOTO > exchange for accomodations. Everywhere I went, people wanted to communicate and share. In a two-week period my per- spective of life’ had altered perma- nently. J learned what was important to people who experienced civil war, . what they valued, and their expecta- tions of the future. Everywhere, people agreed that communication was essential and learning English was a portal to knowledge they desperately needed. The idea of www.eslwithoutborders. “org, came from a holiday. Who knows where your next hol- iday might lead you. ‘Steve Donahue is a former Ter- race resident who recently returned from Nicaragua. He is interested in international development and is currently finishing his B.Ed. at UBC. !