AT HER Saturday garage , sale, Rani Chhokr's vibrant and intri- cate traditional Indian attire sold tike hotcakes. Chhokr says many hanters Welcome to Terrace: garage sale capital of the northwest. a? be | Stories and photos by Joanna Wong SOME CALLA -ali- aiddica*- a year, ° ‘She gays. it’s! a *sidénts ‘going: to" and’ ‘hav- ibn? Othérs;'a ‘cut. But ‘according to’ Ter- ‘th. -pace’s die-hard bargain “hunters, garage sales are . the only way to go. “I go out every week- “end rain or shine — mostly rain,” laughs Cathy Bain, a self-professed garage sale junkie. “There’s a big following in Terrace.” And while they may not know each other by name, -the core members of the goad’ thance’ to ‘get’ rid Of" “strange leftover’ Christmas’ ’ presents and things her children have outgrown. And as she found out this year, it’s also a good chance to get to know your neighbours. While talking to a woman looking through children’s items, Snyder found out the stranger was about to adopt a baby from Slovania. ing’ ‘garage salés. °Y"" , “The? thing that’s amaz- ing is the economy has a tremendous amount to do. with it,” says Neys, who works in marketing at the The Mix radio station. “It has a lot to do with people leaving town or people trying to recoup some money.” In previous years, Neys made about 200 copies of the weekly flyer that ad-° Simone Snyder, a local ~. who occasionally hits the weekend sales. ‘But recently, Snyder ‘has noticed even the most . fanatical garage sale goers ‘are getting a little lazy. “ “People don’t want to ‘get up really really early anymore,” she says. “They _,want to sleep in on Satur- days. It’s the new thing.” -Lately, says Snyder, “Terrace’s best garage sales “have been on Friday nights “= or even earlier. “They say five o’clock : but the new trend is people _ show up at two o’clock,” she says. Snyder herself holds only about one garage sale AT THIS family's garage sale, Jeffery Straw, 10, 8 stuffed monkey and dozens of his childhood toys. “I’m so excited for her and I don’t even know the lady,” says Snyder, who quickly loaded her new friend up with stuffed toys and baby paraphernalia for free. With profits of only a couple hundred dollars, Snyder says garage sales aren’t really about money. “I was having fun,” Snyder says. “I gave away a lot but it was fun.” According to garage sale promoter Renita Neys, the number of bar- galn hunters in Terrace is increasing — dramatically. Neys says this year has seen a massive increase in the number of Terrace re- -for,” Straw said. “We've had fun times with them but now they got to go.” “garage sale vertises comm’ “it's very unique to Terrace. Garage barage ey out see Sale-ing is almost like a regular Satur- sales. This the same faces Gay activity, as much as going to the year, she’s “all the time — farmers’ market. It’s huge.” been put- “it’s really ting out up- funny,” says wards of 400 flyers a week to keep up with the sudden in- crease in demand for up ta the minute info on garage sales. Of course, Terrace has always had an unusually large population of garage sale devotees. “It's very unique to Terrace,” Neys observes. “Garage sale-ing is almost like a regular Saturday ac- tivity, as much as going to the farmers’ market.” “It’s huge,” she conti- nues. “You can see people travelling around town every Saturday in this train of cars. It’s not just a bar- gain hunting thing — it’s a social thing.” ald goodbye to an enormous “Some of them we're too old women were very taken the long flowing dresses, which | were brought to Canada by her relatives in India. JOANNA WONG PHOTO. SPORTING A million dollar price tag, Cale Nutma, top, shows what he’s worth. Middle, seasoned bar-— gain hunter Cathy Bains scours the CD racks for quality tunes. At her family’s garage sale, Megan White, below, was selling everything — kitchen sink. JOANNA WONG PHOTOS including the The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag CR The system worked Dear Sir: | moved to the northwest eight years ago for a six- month contract, but quickly fel! in love with the | people and the landscape. It’s now my home and over this past eight years | have been continually inundated with claims in the media that the acute care system we have available to us here is, when in . need, seriously flawed, and even negligently ineffectual. Like most of you, I have taken these complaints in stride with no real acute care experiences, opinions, and merely peripheral interest. Untik now. My newborn baby’s potentially life-threatening health issues left my wife and J at the mercy of the Mills Memorial, air ambulance, and B.C, Children’s Hospital staff. Neither of us had experienced the emotional irauma this period represented yet surprisingly (after having listened to the tamentations of the protesters). found it to be extremely positive. The efforts, emotional support, and concern provided to us from these peaple went far beyond job descriptions, or even normal working hours. They actually came back to check on us on their own time. It must be incredibly difficult to care so much about the well being of your patients. Yes, budget constraints and staff shortages have left the remaining employees tired, and the walls unpainted, but my wife and J would like to thank you all for our daughter and for the exemplary. service and support we received while in your care. Our only regret is that we'd shown you so little interest previously. Doug Quibdell, Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer, Terrace, B.C, Electoral madness Dear Sir: I have lived in the Skeena region for over 50 years and never has the Skeena riding bordered on the ‘Okanagan until the federal electoral boundary commission bunch of yahoos started free-basing on Lower Mainland politics, despite Mr. Justice Bob Hutchison’s denial. If you look at the proposed boundary changes map on Page 8 of the July 31 issue of The Terrace Standard, it proves that bureaucrats only wink at you when they open one eye. The issues of the current Skeena riding arte far different than those of the Cariboo region, thus a Member of Parliament from Williams Lake is going to see these issues in a whole different perspective than someone from the northwest — or vice versa. Another myth Hutchison is suggesting is giving First Nations more clout by being in Skeena. The more ridings that represent the natives the better off the natives. Putting so many of them in one riding Means they can sweep more under the rug by- ignoring that one riding... +: vrs ees Ls © Frankly,:[.don’t give. a hoot if we. get: Fo, xoteil for every one vote in the Lower Mainland. | think it's about time northerners got something over them city slickers, I say give Williams Lake back to Prince George and extend Skeena back along Highway 16. And leave guys like Hutchison with the headache of sorting out the lower mainland’s mess. Brian Gregg, Terrace, B.C. Self government muddle Dear Sir: While Liberal candidate Paul Martin might be better looking and less embarrassing to cail a Prime Minister, he is plagued with the same liberal mentality. His campaign is directed toward fast tracking native self-government without knowing what it means. When the chief of the Assembly of First Nations ' either can’t explain, doesn’t want to explain or prefers -to leave the meaning of self-government open ended and the federal Minister of Indian Affairs can’t . explain native self-government, then where does Paul Martin get his information from? Just the fact that Chief Matthew Coon Come side .steps the issue is a pretty good indication that the . boundaries of self-government should be clearly defined before any decisions are made. If left wide open it could mean an extra burden on the taxpayers as well as another loser for the Indian people who would have to go to court to regain some of their rights. If no guide lines are clearly drawn, self-government money can easily be “used up” before working class Indians ever see any of it. Native self-government needs to be self-supporting with equal rights to all native people. If it isn’t then it’s a good recipe for trouble, Chief Coon Come ‘ should consider this while he’s collecting money for his intimidating sounding “War, Fund”. Lloyd Brinson, Nass Camp, B.C. ss Morally superior? Dear Sir: I have a few comments for Steve Weatherbe from Victoria about his Aug. 7 letter to the editor. In ancient Rome converts were “won” by torture, . fear and murder of anyone not a Christian. If that is what you want to call “living distinctly different from and morally superior life,” feel-gorry for.you, Secondly, 1 think there-are Christians out there, or " at least I hope there are, that would be disturbed by ; your judgmental comments against some of the Christian teachings. Perhaps you need to study and really understand your own belief system commandments. Laurel Ballard, Terrace, B. c. About the Mall Bag” The Terrace Standard weicomes letters. Our address is 32tO Clinton St., Terrace, B.C, V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at standard@kermode.net. No attachmanis, please. We need your name, address and phone number for verification. Our deadline Is noon Friday or noon Thursday If: it's” a long weekend. Pe Past ot i Ow et og ie