The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - BI TERRACE STANDARD | INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY JENNIFER LANG EVENTS B2 638-7283 “JUST “A THOUGHT EV BISHOP Losing me and finding me OW many people made some sort of resolution to lose weight this year? It seems to be the most popular New Year's goal. Magazine companies know it, Almost every issue has some skinny, manically cheerful mode! assuring us that we can get thin. Pseudo-scientific facts are printed about how some latest discovery will miraculously help shed all unwanted pounds, without any effort, in just 10 days! Pm furious with articles that equate losing weight with changing who you are. “New Year, New You.” They may as well just come out and say, “You’re just a body.” “Change your body, change who you are.” And we fall for it! We believe that some- how changing our body weight will change our lives and eliminate the stuff of life that hurts. We think that shedding pounds will help us shed the parts of ourselves that we don’t like, don’t feel comfortable with, Consider these statistics from the National Eating Disorders Association: Almost half. of American women are on a diet on any given day, as are 1 in 4 men. Half of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. Are you thinking, so whar? Think about this: 35 per cent of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting and of those, 1 in 4 will progress to a partial or full syndrome eating disorder; the kind that, with- out intervention, can kill you. In It’s Not About Food, Carol Emery Nor- mandi and Laurelee Roark say that while the symptoms are different, the roots of all eating disorders ‘are similar and that most of the mindset behind dieting has nothing to do with weight at all. It’s something less tangible than actual weight that’s bothering the individual... usually a feeling that, as a being, they’re un- acceptable or out of control. At age eight, I had my first binge and vomit session. The summer after Grade 7 I lived on a box of chips and a 2-litre of diet coke a day. J lost forty pounds and started a decade-long war, the battle of losing me. For eight years I abused myself, equating every problem in my life with the number on a scale and attributing every success to the same thing. Now I’m fat. Don’t worry. I'm nat putting myself down. I don’t see the word as an insult, more like a fact of life, like saying, “I have ‘brown eyes.” Strangely, I’m more at peace “with my body than I’ve ever been. I have been every weight, every size and I know that my life stays the same, my battles are the same and my pleasures are the same. In some ways getting big saved me. It made me aware that the reflection in the mirror has no bearing at all on who I am as a person. Despite the added weight, I’m probably healthier than when I was a teen. J can bump my knee without it turning purple and green all the way down my shin. I don’t get paralys- ing charley horses running the entire 'ength of ‘my leg, toe to thigh. I don’t wake up suddenly :in the middle of the night in front of the fridge, scarfing down leftovers. Still it would be healthy for me to Jose some weight. But 1 will never diet ' again. Ever. I have good reasons. ‘T just don’t hate myself enough anymore to endure the agony of self-induced starvation. I have two wonderful kids who need to know that their value has nothing to do with ‘externals, Society won’t teach them that. It may give the idea lip service but everything else in the media will contradict it. They need a strong, healthy, kind-to-herself-at-any-weight role model, me. So what can I do? 1 can start to listen to myself. I can quit stifling my emotions with ° food, thinking I have no right to them, and acknowledge when I’m pissed off, when [’m sad, when I’m afraid. I can move because it feels good to move. 1 can stop eating when I'm full because I know I will let myself eat again. Most of all, when the mirror says, “you're worthless,” [ can remember; the mirror lies. Maybe by not waiting till I arrive at some magic weight to participate in life, by eating when I’m hungry, by refusing to buy into soc- ° iety’s beauty ideals, I will sometime arrive at what, a long time ago, was my -body’s natural weight. But I might not. In either event, ] am — not my body. . If you are dieting, I hope you will remember that you are not a number on a scale. Your value is not in your waist size. Be kind to yourself and make sure that it’s weight that. you're trying to losé, not who you are. - _ follows at St. Andrew's An- . it sounds so pompous,” around the fact that he’ll be wm Literary affair NEW CHILDREN’S fi- brarians Melanie Wilke, left, and Jess Dafoe clown around with pup- pets Hayseed and Miggs as they prepared for a full house for Na- tional Family Literacy Day. The Terrace Public Library hosted the Jan. 27 avent, held to cele- brate family literacy — and teach kids more about the library by sending tham on a sca- venger hunt that re- quired them to look up books in the library's computers and read one book from the li- brary shelves as a fami- ly. Children who are read to saveral times a day do better in Kinder- garten than those who have only been read to a few times a week. Dirty feeders poisoning birds By JENNIFER LANG ART MOONEY says he’s never seen anything like it. Dozens of birds flocking to his backyard feeder this winter have been dropping dead. Each winter, hundreds of birds flock to his feeder, including pine siskins, tiny finch-like birds with brown streaks and yellow feathers on its tail and wings. These canary-sized birds are year-round re- sidents in B.C., and they’re known for gather- ing in large flocks during the winter, particu- larly around feeders. Mooney was horrified to discover the pine siskens “dying like crazy” this year while other species remained healthy. The pine sis- kens, on the other hand, would get lethargic, then aggressive, and finally waste away. “It’s quite a vicious thing to see,” he said. So he called the Wildlife Rescue Associa- tion of B.C. They told him the likely suspect was salmonella poisoning, an invisible foe that’s killing lots of pine siskins in Vancouver, where the mild winter weather there wreaks havoc in backyard feeders. “Bird droppings get mixed in with the seeds,” explained spokesman Jason Lesage, ible to salmonella. The only way ta combat the contamination is to routinely wash feeders with a solution of dish soap and 10 per cent bleach to kill the bacteria. Allow the feeder to dry before filling it up with bird seed again, Lesage also recom- mended cleaning the ground below because birds often spill seeds. “More and more people are putting up bird feeders and aren’t realizing what they should do to take care of them,” he said. Mooney, meanwhile, wants to get the word out in Terrace. “We clean our feeder, but they travel from feeder to feeder,” he said. Mission of faith Bill Anderson takes the helm in difficult times By JENNIFER LANG ANGLICAN PRIEST Bill Anderson is in for a name change and a promotion this Saturday. At a pageantry-filled ceremony at a cathedral in Prince Rupert, the Terrace man will go from “Father Bill” to the Right Reverend William Anderson, de- fender and upholder of the Anglican faith in the Diocese of Caledonia, On second thought, make that “Bishop Bill.” Elected in October, Anderson, 51, ad- mits campaigning for votes in- a bishop election is frowned upon. “That's considered a definite no-no,” the former social worker and social ser- vices manager grins. Curiously, his consecration will take place at Prince Rupert’s Roman Catholic church. “One of the nice things about the north is that people learn to work toge- ther,” he explains helpfully. Since bishops from B.C., the Yukon, and Alaska are coming ta seem designed to test the faith of even the most devout, In addition to administrative duties, he’ll be responsible for upholding church doctrine and the canons of the diocese among clergy and lay people alike. “What does that mean if you’ve just been laid off from Skeena Cell, or you've been told 15 years of service doesn’t mean anything and. I’m redundant?” he says. “The bishop is supposed to help clergy and lay peopie to apply that faith real world situations. That’s the tricky part.” He'll have to deal with some hard fi- nancial realities, too. The Diocese of Ca- ledonia isn’t self-sufficient; it relies on fi- nancial support from other dicceses. The Anglican Church of Canada set about reconciliation with people who were hurt by the residential school sys- tem. A lot of the funds supporting dioceses are routed through the General Synod, the legal entity of the national Prince Rupert, in addition to as many as 400 guests, they needed more room. His installation ceremony glican church, home of his new office. There, he'll knock three times on the daor to ask the dean if he can gain’ entry. Once inside, he'll be- come enthroned as bishop. “That’s the technical term,” he laughs. “I’m sorry — Still, there’s no getting Graped in splendid purple and cream garments during for- roal ceremonies — and wear that cone-shaped hat called a mitre. That and he’ll be responsible for some 7,000 parishioners and 20 churches, from the Queen Charlotte Islands to just out- side of Prince George, north to the Peace River district, the Nass Valley, Stewart and Meziadin. “It's a really big deal for me, petsonal- - ly,” says Anderson, an ordained priest for : 27 years who has performed non-stipen- ded (unpaid) priestly duties like wed- . dings, funerals and communions on week- ends and after work for many years. 7 People view the election of a new bishop, the symbol of church unity and - hope, as a welcome signal of change. “In particular, it’s a really hard time for the north,” he says. “People are really struggling.” _.He lakes the helm during times that -a Bill Anderson 4+ church, Anderson says that ~| body could be bankrupt by the end of the year. The Cariboo diocese de- clared bankruptcy last year “| due to rising legal costs re- lated to residential school lawsuits. Little wonder he wants to exercise good stewardship agement. “We do not have a lot of money,” he shrugs. At the same time he wants ythe church to reach out to ea parishioners, a job he “thinks it’s doing well de- spite the lack of resources. performed weddings, fun- erals, and communions on evenings and weekends, wants to meet with clergy and people over the next two years, “I want to hear from people about what we're doing well at the parish level and what we're doing badly.” He’s used to hearing the truth, he ex- plains as he describes his wife Marg as his “best critic,” “We've got that kind of a relationship that she can be honest with me without being hurtful,” he says. “You need a mir- tor so you can see yourself and get it right.” He’ll be enlisting a circle of friends ‘and colleagues both in and outsjde the church to help keep him accountable - and meet his goals. “It’s really important, especially if you can get people to tell you early on.” who said pine siskins are particularly suscept- Around Town and sound financial man- ' Anderson, who’s for years Potter is passe, but Lemony is in KIDS WHO love reading are invited to submit stories, poetry and even book reviews for a new li- brary newsletter called the Juntor Journal, Eleven-year-ald Dylan Powell gives the Fellow- ship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien an enthusiastic recommendation in issue No. 1 of the Junior Jeur- nal, “This is a heart-breaking book to pour your brain ali over,” he writes, calling the tale of four Hobbits and their adventure in Middle Earth “a book of amazing, descriptive imagination.” And move over Harry Potter: new children’s H- brarians Jess and Melanie say books by Lemony Snicket are the next big thing in kid’s reading, But be prepared — Snicket's The Bad Beginning, a story about children who have to go live with their horrible, disgusting uncle, is funny and mys- terious, but according to 7-year-old reviewer Laura How, is not recommended for people who like happy endings. Submissions to the Junior Journal, which will be published four times a year, can be left at the Ter- race Public Library for Jess and Melanie. Food bank able to share the generous spirit PEOPLE RELYING on Terrace’s food bank re- ceived a little more than usual in January, thanks to an outpouring of support from the community. “We were a little bit floored,” Terrace Churches Food Bank coordinator Kathy Miller said. Thanks to the num- ber of donations from Nov. 1 to Christmas, volunteers were able to put more “extras” in the grocery bags distri- buted to people and their families this Jan- uary. There was a little more to go around, so items like extra pasta mixes’ and noaodies were added. “It was neat to be able to give away a bit more than expected,” Miller said, recalling she re- members thinking, “I’m glad this is a problem I have.” She pointed out the donations of money and non- perishable food items that come in over the Christ- mas season have to sustain the food bank until it closes in April, “It's supported within the walls of the commun- ity,” she said. “We've been very fortunate in: hay- ing people coming by and saying, ‘T’'d like to make a difference,’ Kathy Miller