JENNIFER LANG

CHARLYNN TOEWS

My career in retail

HEN I WAS in Steinbach, Manitoba,
last summer, I said
~ Reimer,” to my former employer.

He looked at me closely, then asked, “Did you
work for me?”

Well, I was only Second Head Cashier the
second summer I worked at his pharmacy, a po-
sition I felt noteworthy. at the time, but I simply
said, “Yes, I did.”

“You've changed,” he said, and that was about
the extent of our conversation.

When I worked at Reimer Pharmacy, the long
summer days, espécially after about four in the
afternoon, went on and on and on. The farmers
went home for chores, the townsfolk were barbe-
cuing. If there had been tumbleweeds in that dry

southern prairie town, I would have seen them -
tumbling down the bleached empty streets. Still,

the 'store stayed open until six, and there were -
teeny tiny aspirin, boxes to dust and pull forward —
.on the shelves, and chocolate bars to count: with -
_aclipboard and order sheet.

When I worked: at Reimer Pharmacy, a: boy

with:a motorcycle parked on the’ street and re-
clined’on his bike to Wwatch.me as I worked eve- °

nings, illuminated in the dark by the big display

windows. My coworkers would say, “Your ad-—
mirer is here again” to make me blush. I worked.
Fridays until nine, then went to a dance with a=

gaggle of girls or some other boy, then worked
again Saturday morning fresh as a daisy..

Heck, when I worked at Reimer Pharmacy I
was a girl, under twenty, and Mr. Reimer was a
white-haired old man, probably almost as old as
I am now. I guess I’ve changed and maybe he
hasn’t. .

I went to Reimer’s with a good solid resume,

having worked in my parents’ store since grade
seven. It was called Grow Sir (like “grocer,”

“Hello, Mr. .

get |

‘It was a new kind of convenience

_ Store, one that sold actual food.’

- it?) and the logo featured those odd sexless hu-
man figures popular with Participaction and the

1972 Olympics. Human-like stick figures that
anyone in any language-could read.

It was a new kind of convenience store, one
that sold actual food like onions and potatoes and
tomatoes along with pop and chips and smokes.
And a deli counter, which we as a’ family en-
joyed. When we were building the store, just a
few hundred yards from our back yard, us kids
knew that if Mom wasn’t at home when we got

there at lunch time, she was at The Store. She
had an electric’ frying pan upstairs, and fed us

that way:
My little sister and I shared a shift a week: she

bagged, I bossed. My brother was big teenager

and bought LPs with his wages.

‘Later on, | worked Thursday nights and Sat-.
_urday mornings and Sunday nights. I had a spe-

“Hang on a sec,” I’d say. “I gotta
customer.” Then I'd ring up milk and
bread and shrimp in a tin with the
Phone off the hook.

cial piece of plywood I set up between the front
counter and the back counter, and I would do my
homework on that. If I didn’t have math home-

- work, I would talk on the phone to my best friend

Celia, who had an identical shift at our second lo-
cation. “Hang ona sec,” I’d say, “I gotta custom-

er.” Then I’d-ring up-milk and bread and shrimp

‘in a tin with the phone off the hook. Good luck -
to anyone calling either store to see if we had.

Comet or cranberry sauce or six packs of canned
Coke on special.

“I’m back,” I'd say to Celia, and wouldn’ t you
know it, she had yet more news for me.

One time, a boyfriend I still think of often
came into the store after our latest break-up

(that’s mainly what we did, although I did end up .

asking him to Grad). “Guess what!” I said to Ce-
lia after dispatching toilet paper and cooked ham,
“Here’s still here! He’s hanging around Frozen
Foods! What should I do?”

I don’t recall her advice, although I semember
the intrigue and interruptions and integers of that
time.

Actually, my career in retail started in kinder-
garten, when my Mom worked at our Bakery. She
taught me to use the bread-slicer, imagine that!
Perfectly safe if you don’t put your fingers in it.
She also taught me how to deal with a dropped
loaf on a clean floor in 1964, but I won’t reveal
that strategy. Retail does have its secrets.

IN NISGA‘A culture, when
someone dies. the whole
community comes together

‘to help out the bereaved

family. Tens of thousands
of dollars are donated and
disbursed in one day.

_ That could explain why a
recent benefit concert in Ter-
race organized by Nisga‘a

‘performers raised so much

money for tsunami relief.
TheJan. |S event featured
the Nass Mass Band, choirs
from the four Nass villages,
and a host of other perform-
ers, raising $15,732.42 for
the Red Cross Earthquake
and Tsunami Relief fund. -
That's been followed up
with’ a $20,000 donation
from the Nisga’a Lisims
Government,
total to nearly $36,000..
Like people all over, the
‘northwest, the plight of the

» victims of the Dec. 26 disas-°

ter touched the hearts of the

Nisga’a. a

“There was a ground-
swell effect where . every-
* "body, wanted to. help out, *°

“By JENNIFER LANG
NORTHWEST Community
College student Susan

» McDames_ has temporarily

left her studies behind so
she can discover life in other
parts of Canada. 4

The 21-year-old left Ter-'

race yesterday. bound for
Moosejaw, Saskatchewan,
as part of Katimavik, a na-
tional youth volunteer ser-
vice program.

She’s about to join 10
other young people from
French and English Canada
who will have to live and
work together in three dif-
ferent communitics..

“I think it’s really going
to be fun,” McDames said
last. week, as she prepared
for her long-awaited trip.

“It will be my. first time
travelling far away by my-
self, and my first time being
away from my family for so
long.”

; After
Dames’s group
for Truro, Nova Scotia, and

Moosejaw, Mc-

bringing the |

atimavik

wis headed .

, TERRACE STANDARD

Nisga’a . Lisims — president
Nelson Leeson said Friday
in Terrace. me
chiefs

When village’
challenged the. national

government to match what

Nisga‘a citizens and groups

raised, the executive quickly

“agreed.
“It's our responsibility’.
as a’ government to come -

forward and Support efforts
such as that,” Leeson said.
Red Cross’. volunteer

Sharon ‘Engele manned the’
- donation table at the benefit

concert. She couldn’t be-
lieve her eyes.

“Every $5 that went in:

was followed by $20, $50 or

$100,” she said.-Just $247
of the nearly $16,000 raised.

came in coins. “The rest was
all bills.” - ;
When the Chug-A- -Lugs,

a group from Kincolith, took

the stage, they passed a tray
around the audience, a ges-

ture that brought in $1,632.

“It's been an incredible

response given our’ ccono- ”
my here,” added Red Cross

; PFilign .

then Salmon Arm, B.C.
McDames, a_ self-de-
scribed: “bookworm” who
enjoys hanging out at the
college library, will also
be leaving her new fiancé,

‘James Charron, for a few

months while she’s away.

The two knew cach other
in high school, but only be-
gan dating last summer.

“He popped the question
on my birthday,” Oct. 28,
she smiles.

Still, she’s excited about
becoming part of the Kati-
mavik experience, which
stresses leadership, _ bilin-
gualism, helping the envi-
ronment, healthy living and
cultural discovery.

“I’ve been applying to
Katimavik for, like, three
years, and I finally got ac-
cepted,” she said. “I wanted
to travel.”

Katimavik is a federal
program open to young
people aged 17 to 2]. Par-
licipants perform volunteer

— work in their host communi-

* McDames,

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - Bt

MATCHING MONEY: Nisga’a . Lisims Government Officials Edmund Wright,. left,
_and president Nelson Leeson, presented $20,000 to Canadian Red Cross repre-
sentatives Wendell Hiltz and Sharon Engele last week.

JENNIFER LANG PHOTO |

regional council president
Wendell Hiltz. |

To date, northern B.C.
and Yukon residents have
donated” $876,587 to the
Red Cross for tsunami re-

‘lief.

Since that doesn’ t include
donations made through the
Red Cross website, it’s like-
ly northerners have pushed
that "amount over the $1
million-mark,. Red Cross

spokesperson Lisa Evanoff ....

said from Prince George.
“Its been overwhelm-
ing,” she said. “I’ve ‘been

‘here 10 years, and J find it,
absolutely mind-boggling.

oy

ties, and are encouraged to
. learn both official languages

if they"re only fluent in one.

Persistence paid off for
who was in-
trigued by the fact that Kati-
mavik participants get room
and board, travel expenses
and program-related activi-
ties covered.

She caught the travel
bug five years ago, when
she performed at Ottawa’s
Museum of Civilization as
a member with the Gitwink-
sihlkw Four Crest Dancers,
which are currently on hia-
tus: ,

At 14, McDames also
went to Hawaii on a family
trip.

“Tt. will be an interesting
learning experience,” she
laughs, referring to © Kati-

mavik, “And something that .

will build character.”

When she returns home,

she may go back to school.
She’s thinking about enroll-
ing in social work or .busi-
ness administration.

s Volunteer superstars _

MEMBERS OF the Mills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary gather for a photograph at the Lazelle Ave. Thrift Store
that’s been in operation for more than 40 years. The 35-member auxiliary raises money to help purchase
much-needed medical equipment, through Thrift Store and hospital gift shop sales, newborn photographs
and car seat rentals, and a popular Christmas baking and craft sale. Volunteers logged 8,000 hours last
year. Pictured above from left are: Betty Misfeldt, Betty Nordstrom (seated), Aveline McConnell, Ruth Shan-
non, Bea Muff, Cathy Baxter, Marlene Patterson (seated), Marie Whitney, Vesta Jo Christy, and Debbie
Dahms. The auxiliary recently donated $50,000 to the Dr. R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation towards the CT
Scan replacement project. New members welcome. Call Aveline at 798-2581 or Betty at 635-3352.

Evanoff said 61 volun-
teers have
to, deal with the volume of
donations coming ‘in, to the

appeal - 17,000 phoné calls.

to the Prince George office
and counting...

This is the largest appeal’
in Red Cross ‘history — both.

in terms of the scope of the
response needed and” the
sheer volume of donations
~ $135 million in Canada.

The Red Cross tsunami
assistance plan calls for $60

million on emergency relief
-for the next three months,
__ providirig victims with clean

“water, shelter, and food: The

¢ put in 655 hours:

rest of: the: money ‘is. car-.

marked for ‘reconstruction
and rehabilitation. oo
The Red Cross isn’t the

only charity benefiting from .
“an outpouring of generosity...
Linda Lee’s students. at ~
Thornhill Jr. Secondary or- .

ganized A Wave of’ Hope
fundraiser involving the sale

_of hot chocolate that raised ||
" $532 for tsunami relief.

The money was donated

' to Save the Children Canada.

“Because {the money] was
from students, they wanted
it to be going. to people their

BITTERSWEET: Susan McDames is excited about her -
trip, but it means she will be parted from her fiance,

James Charron.

ee a

Pye Terre. es

ee Ow ee ee

JENNIFER LANG PHOTO’

No crown

A 22-YEAR-OLD ‘Terrace

woman has lost her chance -

to wear the Miss Universe

. Canada crown.

Sukhdeep  Atwal was
one of 49 contestants: from
across the country vying for
the ttle, won by Toronto’s
Natalie Glebova on Jan. 25.

Glebova, 23, is now
headed to.the Miss Universe
Pageant in Bangkok.

-Atwal is the second pag-. a4

eant hopeful to approach

Terrace city council for help

defraying the costs. ;

She recieved . $500 : to,
help ofset more than $4,700
she needed to compete*in
the Miss Universe Canada
pageant. :

Last vear, ‘council also
gave

rie Fenger $500 to represnt
Terrace at the Miss Global
Teen Canada pageant in
Calgary.

Fenger later went on to
win the title of Miss’ Teen
Mayan World at a pageant
in Guatemala this fall.

Atwal currently lives in
Abbotsford, B.C., where
she is completing her fourth
year at the University of the
Fraser Valley. .

She wants to pursue a ca-
reer in medicine but plans to
take next year off to travel.

e Caledonia Senior Sec- -
ondary student Theresa Ma- ©

‘own age,” principal Dighton .
Haynes said. ve

Mt

Qu

smn