ad 4 . ft A4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 21, 2006 a — TERRACE STANDARD | ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 © PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 - FAX: (250) 638-8432 . WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard. com “Two councils _ ‘IT’S AS if there are two Terrace city councils. There’s the council that wisely cut expenditures when first Skeena Cellulose went down and then ». when its new owner, New Skeena Forest Products, Spent four years trying to Te-open it. There. were ono taxes paid to the city during those years : and - council did the right thing i in assuming those taxes ‘would never be paid. Thus the spending cuts to. avoid spending money the city would never get, placing it in a deficit. | - “There’s the council. that had the vision of put: “ting together the Grand Trunk Pathway ' which to- ay is a marvelous addition to the city. : ~ And there’s the council that, in the face of criti: “cism, spent $1 million to buy the old Co-op land in anticipation of some day using it. for. either. a. - partner. _But then there’ S ‘the city. council that is driven by whateve ven means, necessary to build a second ‘sheet ofice |. As laudable as that goal i is, and with full marks ‘for stubbornness and perseverance, the ‘council | " \ has-now cut its: loose its previous: architectural firm, the one it paid $500,000. The city -has now. hired a second firm, at - $200, 000, which it believes can deliver the goods at about half the $10.5 million and change i it would . _ have. cost using the design and advice of i its previ- 7 - ous. firm. This i is a huge leap of faith given that the city | spent $500,000 on its former firm and took its ad- vice several times in trying to find a way to cut costs as the potential construction bill rose. And it’s a-remarkable thing-for-a council in the “city the size.of. Terrace.to.essentially admit that it ' - has spent $500,000 without any return. But that’ s the decision this council has made. -But it’s even more remarkable that the city con- tinues to pursue its goal without knowing exactly what the wishes of its citizens are in this regard. _ The last referendum on this, for a project that was different than the one now proposed and * which would have involved the rural area in pay- - ing for it, was a decade ago: : “That’s a. huge gap in time and i in circumstanc- . es. It’s great to have a goal and to be stubborn as that’s what leadership i is all about but both should not come with blinders: | If the city can write off $500, 000 on one firm and spend’$200,000 on another, ‘then it‘can find the money and take the time for a referendum. Yes, the clock is ticking but it is ticking any- way while the new firm draws up its plans so a referendum would not materially get i in the way of things. . - City council desperately wants to get this s right and so it should. But it is mandatory that the wish- es of citizens are first determined. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: - Rod Link | ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach - PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur _ NEWS: Sarah A. Zimmerman COMMUNITY: Dustin Quezada NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping, Carolyn Anderson — " CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham © ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: ; “Bert Husband, Ellie Higginson - AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik _” PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur . SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: | - $57.94 (+94: 06 GST)=62. 60 per year; ~ Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65. 17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73, Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10.98 GST)= 167.89. MEMBER OF Be. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, Be] COMMUN NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION _ BI c. PRESS COUNCIL more bopresscoune!.org) ; “Faraw Goleavio gaol abe Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of — 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Columbia, V8S 5A2. Black Press Stores, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy- poiders, including Black Press Lid., its iHustration repro services end advertising agencies. . ‘oduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. jal thanks to ail our contributors and . Spocispondents for their time and talents t N pure public use or in combination with a business ) “ BEING: WOKEN uP EVERY 30 MINUTES, | Y Twey cau \ That TORTURE? “MY MOTHER became a miss- _ing person on, Sept. 16; 1973 . when her car was found aban- _doned on an isolated highway near Canmore, Alberta, i4 - days before my 13th birthday, . during the period of the Trans- Canada Highway Murders. A two-day search by 20. RCMP officers brought no evidence to light apart from her vehicle’ still . containing her purse and belongings. My ‘mother was never heard from _again. This was over 30 years ago and tears still well up as I : ‘write. ~ Years later I read my moth- . er’s two-inch ‘thick “Missing ° , Person” file. She was. noted _ - to be a topless dancer and be- . lieved to have committed sui- cide even though a gun was never discovered in the trees ‘and shrubs where she appar- ently went.in the middle of the night and shot herself. _ There was no mention of - the woman I spoke to years later that lived in the same house who mentioned a man that had stood ‘in the hallway yelling at her the night of her disappearance. _ Onsharing my mother’s sto- ry and photograph at work one _ day with an architect friend, to his and my delight he declared, “ft know your mother, she was in my ski club.” I recalled her file men- | tioning the surgical pin that had been inserted into my ‘mother’s ankle after a.skiing accident. My ‘father . assured me my mother had never been a topless dancer. On Sept. 16, 1993, 20 years to the day after my mother’s disappearance,. I. received a jarge box of. my mother’s be- SHELLEY SAWATZKY — longings that had ‘never been claimed through the RCMP. It contained wonderful pho- ‘ tographs, a priceless birthstone ring, and stacks of personal papers and information. There was her Petroleum Ski Club card, her: flying -1i-. cence that she received while living in Montreal for two years and records indicating her approval for designing and law courses at Mount Royal College accompanied by beau- tiful conservative clothing she had sketched out on paper. There were also numerous T4-slips and employment re- cords proving my mother’s employment at law offices and other secretarial positions. There was only one ques- tionable T4 slip from a hotel in Calgary, To my surprise, on’ having coffee with a friend of mine, 15 years my elder, and sharing my mother’s story and photograph once again, he de- clared, “I knew your mother, she was a waitress at that hotel. She was the classiest woman I -ever-knew.” My friend also insisted that my mother would not have | worked asa topless dancer. My mother’s box of belong- - ings also contained newspaper . articles concerning a woman’s human. remains that had. been found in the Banff vicinity in ° 1979 and never identified. _, ‘The reconstruction of these “ remains done by an. artist in Calgary had been similar to. my own native appearance. . with black hair and strong fea- - tures; however, a more recent reconstruction done in Colo- : ‘ rado appeared very similar to my mother’s Norwegian . soft looks with blonde hair and : blue eyes. I learned that t the first artist lived i in Victoria where I lived, and we met together. This artist was also excited about the prospects of these “bones belonging to my mother _ and encouraged me to contact ’ the RCMP, which I did shortly" after and my blood was drawn for DNA testing. % I received a éall approxi- mately a month later that my DNA did not match that of the human remains and. from that time forward in 1999 my mother’s “missing person” file has been reported as lost apart from my own copied portions. There is no happy ending to this story and I am sure that _ «the RCMP did their best with what they had at the time, and many of these officers have. been extremely helpful to. me over the years. - And possibly the RCMP conclusion of suicide is cor- - rect. I was not there and do not know. However, I do know this. There is much misunderstand- . ing in this world and I must ensure that my heart does not This God has given me comfort — ~ grow cold. People: may think. ihéy re- member my mother~as one whose few belongings were : ‘never claimed, one who un- fortunately and desperately turned to topless bars to care for herself, one who sadly gave up and killed herself. However, I know my moth- “er in my heart to be the most " beautiful woman I have ever ‘had the blessing to know. She was. a woman who suffered - “much abuse through her child- hood and yet was one who ~ against all odds did everything. > - in her: ability to be a produc- ** tive member: to society - and seek her dreams. I know of a God in Heaven _ : who also saw my. mother’s beauty and who sent His an- gels to carry her home to per- fect peace in Heaven. eae ¢ This is a God of understand- ing who would have done the exact same thing even if she had resorted to topless: danc- ing and a God who is angered by acts of evil and. violence chosen by man’s free will that . possibly took her away from me. This is a God who has giv- ‘en me the comfort and under- standing to endure years of an- guish and desperate longing to be with my mother once again and the assurance that this will be one day. - And this is a God who’ deeply loves and knows where» each young woman from the Highway of Tears is right at _ - this moment. I pray for each precious and beautiful woman. | pray for truth and justice, and.I pray for deep comfort and strength for those who loved them. book about the Watkins: man (WM), individuals who ped- - «dled J, R» Watkins products’ io from farm to farm in the 1930s _to'1950s at first from a horse and buggy, later from acar. * Atwood is seeking - recol- lections from prairie people of their WM. — a or . Our WM. drove. an early — ' van with ample room. for his: _f sample suitcases. Each suit-- - case was the size of a trunk though only 18 to 20 inches thick, with brass scuff protec-_ tors riveted on each corner and a sturdy handle to carry what I judge would easily weigh 60 - pounds, possibly more. The suitcase hinged open into two long halves that lay . flat. Each half was separated into two horizontal “shelves” by a rigid hinged plate which supported the weight of the: samples in the layer above. Each shelf displayed an array of glass bottles or tins containing liniments, cough syrups, spices, mustards, and -CLAUDETTE SANDECKI } THROUGH BIFOCALS other kitchen goodies. Because he visited only once or twice in summer, ~.Mom stocked up on black’ pepper and spices for Christ- mas baking; Pinex for winter coughs; lemon, maple and va- nilla flavourings for pies and puddings; and gallon jugs .of flavoured syrup to be diluted with water for refreshing hot weather drinks. Mom always chose orange, ending our bick- ering before we started. The J.R. Watkins Company was founded in 1868 in Min-.- nesota by a 28-year-old entre- preneur who brewed his own blend of red liniment to treat ‘minor muscle aches. He bottled his famous lini- | . ment in glass with a trial mark "part way down the bottle. When the customer used the ’ product to the trial mark, if he wasn’t completely satis= fied with the product, Watkins refunded 100 per cent of the cost. - Watkins is credited with guaranteed, or your money back” slogan, later adopted by ' . both T. Eaton and Sears. From Minnesota, Watkins salesmen fanned out across -the U.S., into Canada, and Australia. The WM is history © but Watkins products are still available from local represen- tatives or by catalogue. » For her book, Atwood seeks detailed stories from the 30s, 40s and 50s when people were isolated on the farm and the WM’s visiting was an im- portant and welcome event not » only for the products he sold, | The Watkins man was I favourite ~PAULINE ATWOOD, a nurs- _ing instructor at the University of Alberta, intends to write a . but for. the community news, he brought with him. | How did the WM interact. with you as- children. or did he? Did he give you gum, peppermints, or - life-savers?- As-a child, what was your re- action to the WM? What did you or your par-. ents buy from the WM? Do. you have any stories to do with using salves or ointments to treat sick animals? Did any of the medicinal products help ‘treat sick family members? - Originating the “Satisfaction. - -Did your mother make any favourite dishes using Wat- kins’ ‘spices? Were -her fa- vourite recipes passed along? Did your family have a Wat- kins cookbook? Was it handed down? To whom and why? Atwood stresses she needs stories with lots of details -- _ names, prices, smells,. tastes, anything that will fill in the. picture for readers. To share your stories, phone Atwood at 780-430-8774, mail to Box 59074, RPO Riv- erbend, Edmonton, Alta, T6H SY3 or e-mail thewatkins-— man @ gmail.com.