The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - B]

TERRACE STANDARD

INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

JUST A THOUGHT
EV BISHOP
No cents

WO YEARS ago, I wrote an article ce-

lebrating Mother’s Time Off’s 25th

anniversary, Now I feel compelled to

write about MTO again. This amazing

program, offering support and educa-

tion to a huge variety of mothers and
children, got the news in late June that it was
over. No more funding. Kaput.

MTO averages 10-15 mothers per session.
There are “old-timers” who've been attending
for years. There are “transitional” moms who
come when they're adjusting to being new at
parenting, moving to a new town, etc. and
move on to other things when they’re feeling
more connected with the community. There
are “occasionals” who stop by when they
“need” it and, let's be honest, there are moms
who aren’t just enjoying MTO — they and their
children are surviving (avoiding a crisis} be-
cause of it.

MTO is not just a coffee and chatting
time, Daily programs are fun but often purpo-
seful — budgeting, anger and stress manage-
ment, active parenting, and nutrition just to
name a few common topics. Trained childcare
providers watch over youngsters in another
room, providing a break for moms and a fun
pre-school like atmosphere for kids. (A benefit
for those whose budgets don’t allow for pre-
school.)

Mike Beausoleil, the former Executive Dir-
ector of the Terrace and District Community
Services Society, said MTO was one of the
best programs they funded because “it’s a pro-
gram geared to help and support parents before
they have problems. It’s prevention which is
always the best and cheapest medicine.”

When I heard that MTO might be getling
the axe, [.was naively unworried. 1 believed
-the political rhetoric that I’d heard about how
they just wanted to trim the fat from Terrace
and District, be more fiscally responsible with
taxpayers, money, eliminate redundancies in

their programs, etc, etc... There is no other pro- °

gram even remotely like it in cost efficiency
or services provided, I was sure it was safe.
However, the minute the program closed
* for the summer and the moms weren’t there to
. witness, to speak out against the closure, MTO

was chapped. After 27 years! There is nothing
that warrants this closure. This turbulent eco-
nomic time when so many Terrace families
are financially stressed, a growing number of
‘homes are fatherless because the men have
gone tao seek work in other places, where
there’s less money for moms to make do for
their kids, where stress is continually climb-
ing, this time demands that a program like this
be fought for, not booted!

The person responsible for giving MTO the
-boot is not even familiar with the program;
they have never met its coordinators or the
women and children, families that it supports.
They can't have looked realistically at the
numbers. MTO runs on a total annual budget
' of $40,000, If it provides the skills and coping
abilities to prevent even two children from
going into foster care, it has paid for itself. We
’ ean’t afford to shut MTO down.

Closing down MTO to save a paltry $40,
000 is akin to me looking at my budget and
deciding that my car would run more econo-

mically without ail changes, brake jobs and.

regular maintenance. It might be cheaper in
the short term but soon the car would start to
suffer, it might even become dangerous... It
would certainly start to run roughly, maybe
break down all together. Anyone who drives
soon realizes that maintaining your vehicle is
the only way to assure its reliability and run-
ning strength. It's the same thing with
society. MTO may seem superfluous but in
reality, it holds many families
together. Without it, families may still
“make it” but they will suffer and some wil!
not survive. Families are society. Without
healthy, supported families, society breaks
down.

-Does our government care about low
income individuals, its children, and its
women at all? All of the cuts seem to hil
people falling into those categories hardest.

I’m outraged by the lack of logic (cutting
$40, 000 in one area of the budget only to have
that so called “saving” create a far larger

| expenditure in other areas of the Ministry’s

‘budget) and saddened by the lack of commit-
“ment to the children and families that the
‘Ministry is supposed to be “developing.”
“-The budget of the Ministry for Children and
«Family. Development may temporarily look
healthier. with this cut but our children, our
~ famities and our community will be infinitely
poorer.

Write letters and pick up the phone; ask
= the powers that be to recognize their error and
“to reinstate thé funding for this’ Program. Our
_ community needs it...

4

SECTION B
JENNIFER LANG
| 638-7283

ERIC HARKONEN, seen with other members of the Skeena Val-
ley Model Railroad Association, painstakingly adds dashes of

paint to the scenery being created for a layout of the Skeena line
between Prince Rupert and Terrace. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO

Train spotters

Modei railroaders say they need your help to complete an ambitious plan

By JENNIFER LANG

named their club after.

The dozen or so active members of the
Skeena Valley Model Railroad Association
are trying to complete a major project in time
for a big celebration in Terrace -— the town’s

75th anniversary in 2003,

Inside an old rail car that measures 80 feet

“THEY .WORK in miniature but their dreams
are as large as the mighty river r valley they

as the yard foreman in Terrace — be-
fore pursuing his true passion.

His job kept him qway from home
for much of the year, so-he put
long-standing: plans. to’. join ‘the
model railroad association on hold
until his retirement.

“T liked the railway,” says Rinal-
di, who brought his grandson along
on arecent Monday evening. “I was
working for the railway for 35 years.

in length but just 10 feet wide, they’re recreat-
ing a layout model railway replicating the
Skeena Line between Prince Rupert and Ter-
race,

After working diligently Monday evenings
for the past four years - ever since a crane
gently lifted the once rusting rail car into posi-
tion in its permanent home on the Grand
Trunck Pathway — the association is extending
an open invitation to anyone else who wants to
help complete the layout, |

After that, I wanted to play.”

‘| Ken Haun is one of three associa-
lion members who make the week-
ly trip from Kitimat to Terrace to
work on the Skeena Line layout 1 in-
side their rail car.

“We're trying to have it ready for
early next year,” Haun says.
1 “When we get it going, we'll open
J it up to the public.”

Right now, it looks like a daunting
task.

“It’s pretty tight," Haun admits.

It’s hard to argue with logic like Model “We're always looking for new
that. , members, but we can't afford
These days he’s working hard at locomotive many, because we don’t have the

creating the trees and hills that form
part of the scenery for the layout, a painstak-
ing job, but a necessary one.

The scenery must be installed first, one
segment completed at a time, before the track
goes in because once the track’s been laid

room!” Haun adds, quickly pointing
around the skinny room.

While he admits the association is working
under constant financial constraints, there’s
something money can’t buy..“What we need is
time. Some additional people would be nice.”

No experience required — all you need is
the right attitude. Besides, you'll learn on the
job from guys like Richard Rinaldi, who
worked for CN Rail for 35 years ~ 17 of them

Get booked

A summer program rewards young
readers at the Terrace Public Library

By JENNIFER LANG
SUMMER AT the library means
you'll never have to hear those
two words every parent dreads,
“I'm bored.” ~

How come kids can turn that
one tiny word into a whiny, two-
syllable accusation?

Never fear. Liza Vande Velde
has an antidote.

The University of British Co-
lumbia education student heads
up the summer reading program at
the Terrace Public Library, where
there’s something going on for
kids of atl ages nearly every day
of the week.

Puppet shows, reading, and
crafts and games are all on the
agenda this summer.

In addition to ongoing programs
for different age groups weekdays,
some evenings and Saturdays, the
library is also offering a summer
reading club.

As many as 300 children have
signed up for the reading club in
past summers, ;

This year's theme is Booked
for the Summer. Kids keep track

_ of how many books they read in a
reading passport they’re given as
part of the club.

They’re encouraged to keep a
log of when they read. Voracious
readers are entered into weekly

draws for prizes.

“Some kids are getting right
into it,” Vande Velde grins. “It’s
really neat.”

At the end of the summer, the
young readers will receive awards
recognizing their literary achieve-
ments.

The reading club wraps up at
the end of August with a day in
the park that will feature refresh-
ments, puppet shows, bubbles,
games and a book exchange.

Po

Here are some tips on how to
make the most of summer vaca-
tion when it comes to reading and
your child.

Experts say reading to your
child from a young age has bene-
fits that reach far into the future.

Not only does the act of read-
ing together bring together family
members, it can also fay the foun-
dation for learning at school — not
to mention a healthy propensity

for lifelong learning;

Reading to your child more
than once a day can improve their
future academic skills at school.

Make reading, whether it’s a
bedtime story or thunibing through

‘the newspaper, a part of a dally

routine.
~ Be a good role model: let your

down there’s no going back.

Rinaldi has his own layout at home.

“Mine is nothing, raind you. You should see
Ken’s. He’s got a beautiful one.”

If you're interested, wander over to the vint-

age CN rail car (its exterior is now restored to

_ its former glory) next to the linear park at 7:30
. p.m. Mondays — except statutory holidays.

LIZA Vande Velde, summer reading program coordinator,
uses puppets to help kids develop their interast In reading.

child see you reading.

Encourage your child to write
letters or send postcards to rela-
tives and friends.

Make your own books about
summer. Children love. to. read

owl

what they’ve written themselves.
Slash books everywhere — in
the car or in the home...
You can even take them along
on outings like: Picnics of long
drives. ae