eon rn nent The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 26, 1995 - B4 [TERRACE STAN INSIDE COMMUNITY — EVENTS B2 REG HORNE Chained to a plastic clutter y wallet is getting too fat for my pocket. It’s not that I have a lot more moncy than I used to have, nor am I filling the change purse with POGS in anticipation of the new doudloonie. It’s the plastic. A quick inventory and spring cleaning which I made recently will demonstrate. First, J found the required government docu- ments: a social insurance card which I use to clean off my windshield, a health card which I hope Iuever have to use, a birth certificate in case I ever decide to visit Alaska, and of course, a driver's licence which I rarely bring out now that my cheques have "Dr. Horne” on them. Then there were the financial cards. I had a business education teacher once who said, "never keep all of your eggs in one basket". Thus, I have a-collection of bank cards, che- que cards and credit cards, most of which I fever use, as I am still an old fashioned cash _ kind of person. T do have one card which is a combination credit card/cash card/bankcard, but un- fortunately there is no money in the account. Tam often tempted to take out the scissors and perform plastic surgery on this little col- lection. Finally, there are the other necessary cards ‘In my life, I have a phone card, but since I have now memorized the number, I never use I. also have a card with instructions on how to use my answering machine from a remote site. I put that in my wallet last summer when there was nobody at home for a month, but I . haven’t used it since then, Thave a UNBC faculty card, which is of no use here in Terrace as ] am the only university service available and I never ask myself for 1D. So, why not give everybody a universal bar code and tattoo it on the back of their hand? Then they could just pass it under the infrared light without the bother of opening their wallet. My job requires that ] have a library card, a pass card to use the photocopier at work, and a security entrance key card. I live in fear of misplacing these cards, In particular, [ am al- ways leaving my photocopier card in the ma- chine, and this has developed a fear that J will leave my bank card in that machine. I can’t leave now without checking three times. [have a frequent flyer card, although I rare- ly fly, and of course there is the always in use dub point collector card. While paying for groceries recently, I real- ized something very important. In fact, the .catds are worthless. It’s the bar codes on the back that pcople actually want. The cards are just bar code holders. So, why nol give everybody a universal bar code and tattoo it on the back of their hand? Then they could just pass it under the infrared light without the bother of opening their wal- Ict. This would also eliminate need to find dental records to identify unearthed bodies. Who can afford a dentist anyway? It would of course be painful if one stopped at a store that still used the compression type card re- corders, Click, click, ouch, ouch, One thing I don’t have in my wallet, is a wallet sized picture, We get them every year with the school photos and then proceed to send them all away in Christmas cards, When you think about it, a-wallet is not a very good place to keep a photograph anyway, The identification card that always comes in a new wallet also seems to have disappearcd. A friend who was watching my inventory suggested J use a fanny pack, those plastic things people strap around their waist these days. He carries his walkman in his, I think it's an invitation to carry more stuff, Maybe I should just forget it and leave everything at home. Sure enough, that would be the day, when you least expect It, someone steps up to you and says, "do you know how fast you were going?" Dr. Reg Horne is a member of the Univer- sity of Northern British Columbia, Faculty of . Nateral Resources and Environmental Studies, based in Terrace. OMMUNITY = Volunteers of the Year ee a lt 84 Three named for awards HREE WOMEN who have played key roles in working for the community will be honoured Friday as Terrace’s Volunteers of the Year, A panel of three judges selected Terrace pioneer and seniors’ volunteer Aileen Frank as the 1995 Volunteer of the Year, Honourable mention awards will also be presented at Friday’s volunteer recognition luncheon at the arena banquet room to Kinette and art gallery volunteer Vi Tim- merman, and breast-feeding sup- port volunteer Pamela Straker. The Volunteers of the Year awards are a celebration of the community volunteer spirit and are sponsored by the Terrace Standard and Overwaitea Foods, The adjudication committee — made up of cormmunications con- sultant Doug Smith, the Terrace Volunteer Bureau’s Lovina Tyler, and Qverwaitea manager Dale Lufkin — pored over the 36 nominations that came. in for 25 different local residents. Needless to say the task of se- lecting ihree for the awards was AILEEN FRANK has been named Terrace’s 1995 Volunteer of the Year for the work she does on behalf of local seniors, Community impact was a little ty till late last ycar. At the same not an easy one. harder to assess. . time. she also applied for the “There was a large number of _ 50m Volunteers hada huge im- volunteer job of senior counsellor nominations and without excep- pact in just a single volunicer for Terrace, 4 position run by the tion each one of them was im- ™%; says Smith, and others are social services ministry. pressive to the committee in involved in a wide variety of The senior counsellor job in- terms of their service to the com- Vllmtcer activities. — ; volved a wide variety of issues — munily,’? Smith says, “That real- “We felt that in choosing looking after scniors’ concems, ly made oursclection difficult,” ‘Aileen she fit all of those pensions, health premiums, and “We had about six other crileria,”” Smith says. accommodation: That jab spring- nominations who could have been “Aileen is a hard worker for boarded her involvement with there as well.” he added this community and for individu- other issues. Smith ; the jud . based als in this community and she For example, after discovering th eays me Jnepes pase doesn’t seck credit. She just does that Prince Rupert had Handi. eir decision on three criteria: TCE. upe! ad a Handi the job — for years and years, dart transit system, Frank and length of service, past recognition - end community irpact “She’s eloquent when she Betty Stewart decided Terrace : toi speaks, but she speaks with should have one too, and brought voce tis ed roe tenacity, and she represents jhe Handi-dart here four or five the number of years of service to S*MOrS very well. : years ago, th a “She does a lot of things that” «Tf Prince Rupert had it, why @ community Was an important just aren’t visible to the com- hovldn’t > oh Sh 4 factor, Smith ‘says, noting man . shoulen't we, she says. She an volunteers have be: ia fe munity at large but she does them Stewart also started the Medic- 5 or 20 v, ave Deen serving Tor’ nonetheless with 100 per cent ef Alert fine at around the same Simi ith also says the ju dges de fort We thought it was most fit- time, cided to look more closely at ting to have her named com- Recently, Frank claims she has i , : munily Volunteer of the Year.” started to scale back her volunt sgilcan recognition for whet SOUR S88 many | local Commiunents. Atte age af 80 they do. en volunteers — even beyond the 25 plus (she laughingly refused to We felt that it was important, who received nominations this give her age), she figures it’s time ear -~— should be recognized. in that there are many unsung . ¥ 8 lo slow down. : te 2) Guat “It’s tough when you’re asked = yet jt doesn’t seem like she’s heroes in the commaunity,”’ Smith tg select one or two or three indi- - slowing down at all. This spring says. viduals,”’ he says. “But in doing alone she’s helped over 50 this we’re not only celebrating 4 people, mostly seniors, with their volunteer — we're celebrating income taxes, That’s a number volunteers, . . any accountant would be proud to “We fecl Aileen is representa: Jain) tive of the many volunteers out She is also still busy with her there.’ _ position as senior counsellor, a . job which can be very demanding Aileen Frank at times, 1995 Volunteer of the Year “T once visited a lady ‘in the IF YOU ASK Terrace pioneer psychiatric ward at the hospital, Aileen Frank about the amount of who had been placed there be- time she spends volunteering, she case her daughter-in-law just shrugs her shoulders, claimed she was senile,’’ says “Volunteering is like therapy Frank. ‘‘But there was nothing for me,’’ she says. “I feel kind of wrong with her.”’ guilty accepting an award for The woman had come from that,” abroad to live with her son, but The majority of her volunteer she didn’t get along with his wife, work started eight years ago, ‘Since she had no where else to when she took on two jobs at go, they placed her in the once, meaning only to acceptane. psychiatric ward. She eventually She accepted the position of had to leave Canada says Frank. secretary at the Happy Gang Aside from her ongoing in- Centre, and served in that capac- volvement wilh Jocal seniors’ is- PAM STRAKER (right) with one of the many moms to whom she's Taught ennoedig techni. ques. That's Fern Fontes and her daughter Alaina, who was born premature. Shs sues, Frank plays the piano dur- ing Glee Club at the Happy Gang Centre and is a director with the’ Heritage Society. “And when she’s not volunteering, she’s looking after me,"’ quips Floyd Frank, Aileen’s husband, Despite her chins to the con- trary, countless Terrace. citizens would say Aileen Frank is well described as the Volunteer of the Year. Pamela Straker Honourable Mention 1995 Volunteer of the Year NURSING MOMS throughout Terrace will applaud Pamela Straker’s honourble mention in the Yoluateer of the Year awards, Straker has been volunteering as a certified lactation consullant for the last 15 years at Mills Memorial Hospital. Aside from holding down a teaching job, Straker volunteers two hours a day at the hospital, helping new mothers learn how to breastfeed their babies. “The two jobs are com- plimentary,”’ says Straker, ‘I just applied my teaching skills to an- other discipline.” Straker first. became involved. with breastfeeding issues after her daughter was bom in 1979, “Nobody could answer any of the questions F had about breast- feeding’? says Straker. She joined a breastfeeding support ‘group in 1980, then in 1985, took a six hour international board lac- tation consultant exam. She passed and: became one of only six qualified consultants in Cana- da, ‘Now Straker is in demand to give lectures and workshops, since she has been involved in the field for so long. “*The more you know, the more your skills are required,’’ she "says. She doesn't object to the demands on her time though. She views ‘her role as helping to rebuild the traditional support system for mothers. “T meet so many. interesting — people,” says Straker. ‘It’s a lovely time to be involved in people’s lives.’ Straker also credits the progres- sive and supportive nature of our community for helping to make . her job easier, Vi Timmerman Honourable Mention 1995 Volunteer of the Year FOR MORE than 25 years Vi Timmerman has been an out- standing volunteer for the Kinette Club in Terrace. When she passed the age of 45 ~— the age limit for membership. in the women’s service club — Kinette officials did the only thing possible: They declared her a life mem- ber. ‘Now they’ve really got me hooked,”” Timmerman admits. She reacted with surprise last - week when told she had been selected for honourable mention honours in the Volunteers of the Year awards, But it’s little surprise to. cancer, diabetes and heart fund campaig- ners who for more than 20 years have called on Timmerman as a consistent and reliable canvasser. She was also instrumental in the formation of the Terrace Art As- sociation and has-been-a key art gallery volunteer in the 11 years since it waa founded, “She just never says no,’ adds Vi’s husband, Nick, = Timmerman finds time for her volunteer labours after working at her day job as a bookkeeper at Skeena Jr. Secondary school. -. They’ve been here since 1969 and Timmerman became an ac- tive community volunteer im- - mediately. “We were lucky to come at that lime,’? she said. ‘*It was a real émall town, so you got in on the ground floor, you really got ta be part of something,” For Timmerman, voluntecring ~ isn’t just work —~it’s a chance to socialize. - “You get to mect a Jot of inter-. _. esting people,’’ she saya.