INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 SECTION B “ALEX HAMILTON 638-7283 ect -. SPEAKING OUT SARAH de LEEUW t’s getting colder. My cats’ fur coats are getting longer, the days are getling shorter, and I can’t stay in the lake as Jong as I could on lazy early July weekends. The other night my feet and the tip of nose were dislinctly chilly when I climbed into bed. It was a comfort to snuggle into warm blankets and prop my head up on soft pillows, It is a comfort I don’t often analyze. For the majority of us, sleeping on beds is taken for granted. Being able to put our children, our babies, on soft surfaces up from the cald floor isn’t something we give a second thought to. This is not the case many Terrace families. More people than most of us would like to admit are going without basic necessities. Beds. Pillows. Telephones or curtains. Baby bottles and beds for little ones. Even food. Recently, The Terrace Women’s Resource Centre started a ‘‘Free Store’’. We knew there were families in need in Terrace. We’ve been working with them, along with many groups, for over a decade. Organizations like the Terrace Anti- Poverty and the Emergency Shelter can at- test to the ongoing work needed to be done to help those Terrace families in need. In the scant three months the Free Store has been open, the Women’s Centre has taken the names of over 20 families and in- dividuals. who.‘cannot afford basic living items. The most commonly asked for item? Beds. Beds seem to be the item many families are going without. Making do with cushions or piles of clothes seems to be the most common solution to not sleeping directly on the floor, For some parents, sleeping on the floor is their only option if they want their kids to have a matiress or foam pad for comfort. Second trimester mothers have come to the centre looking for baby items, bottles, and something for their soon-to-be born babies to sleep in. The mothers are often sleeping on the floor, a bed for themselves secondary ta getting something for their upcoming child to sleep on. For some families, items at local thrift stores are out of economic reach. These families must rely on free things. They need free items so they and their children are not sleeping on the floor this winter. The real tragedy in Terrace is that the things some Terrace mums could use often go to the dump. They are stored and forgot- ten in the garage or are left unused in people’s attics rather than being donated and going to someone who really needs them. Terrace is a small community. We pride ourselves on being different from the cold, unfeeling cities of the metropolitan south. We pride ourselves on our sense of com- passion, on our ‘‘look-out-for-your- neighbour’? attitude. And most of the time we deliver on our principles. The Women’s Centre is hoping Terrace comes together with the Free Stare. Talk to your neighbours and encourage donations. When you're out shopping at garage sales, tell people unsold things could really benefit a family in need, The next time you’re doing a house clean, things you’re thinking of turfing could in- stead be brought to the Women’s Centre. People in need don’t want garbage. We all have standards, and none of us want things which are filled with holes or are stained and falling apart. But if you have reasonable quality stuff you’re not making use of, there is no shortage of families who would benefit from it. With winter coming on and really cold weather just weeks away, keep in mind the families and children who may be sleeping on the floor. The next time you snuggle into a warm bed, think about the people who don’t have that luxury. Think about it, and then think about what you can do help. - DRAB. GLOOMY. BORING. Those. words can’t be used to describe the Transition Houses’ five bedrooms anymore. The bedroom walls, which once were plain white, now shout out with colour, originality and, well, a touch of craziness. Kerry Stewart and Shelly Haynes-Marrelli, support workers for the Transition House, hired Skeena Native De- velopment Society Summer Youth Group students last week to bring their walls alive. They wanted the bedrooms to be more uplifting for the women who used them. The Transition House provides a safe home for women and children fleeing from abusive relationships. “‘We had some really dreary bedrooms,’’ said Stuart, who spearheaded the project. ‘We wanted the youths to offer their creativity and liven them up a bit.”’ And just like the Spice Girls would have done, the sum- mer students spiced up the bedrooms’ lives, **We pretty much gave the students free range to do what they liked — providing there was no profanity involved,” said Stuart. The 10 students, aged 14-17, in the Skeena Native De- velopment Summer Program, which helps boost young people’s self esteem by educating them and giving them work, had way too much fun on this project. ‘It was awesome,’’ said sumumer student Gina Erickson who covered one bedroom with drizzled paint and her own handprints, ‘‘It feels tike we really accomplished some- thing.” The Skeena Native Development summer program pays the students minimum wage for the work they do. In the past two months, students have leamed resume writing skills, first aid, computer skills, visited hatcheries and can- neries, aud they’ve done volunteer work for elderly people. “They get a lot out of it,’’ said the coordinator for the summer camp, Delee Kubik. ‘They feel accomplished, They get good positive community vibes.”" As for the Transition House’s employees, they get good vibes, too. “We love the bedrooms now,’’ said Haynes-Marrelli. “It’s a welcoming change.”’ Paint and supplies for the project were donated by Home Hardware, Colour Works and Terrace Interiors. 5 e a It’s all in the Bagg! Stand-up comedian lan Bagg, 28, who was bom and raised in Terrace, was in town last week filming a 30-minute-TV-comedy show, yet to be titled. The show will be an Investigative report Into why Bagg is so funny. The crew came to film the comedy-documentary in Terrace in order to do interviews with Bagg’s real life friends and family members, Once he's done filming here, Bagg is moving to Los Angeles from New York to do more television and filmwork. He took what he could get WHAT BDO CHEMICAL compounds and taxi cabs have in common? Absolutely, nothing — ex- cept for the fact that 21- year-old Norman Dreger is bringing the two unlike things together. Dreger, who's working towards a combined honors degree in chemistry and mathematics and a minor depree in German (he’s a brain) at the University of BC, is driving cabs here this summer because It’s the only work he could find. “The fact is there isn’t much work in Terrace,’ be said. “‘So F got to the point where I'd do anything. You've just got to take what you can get these days.’’ Dreger wanted to find work where he could use his German, but because the tourism industry is down this year, he was unsuccess- ful. He also checked the job bank for employment in the field of sciences, but the only job available was for a mining technician. After a month of job sear- ching, when the opportunity for driving cabs came up,, Dreger grabbed it. ’ “There's no point in making excuses and living off the government when you can work,'” he said. The truth is Dreger gets a major kick out of driving, He has his regulars which -' he picks up everyday, and he said Friday nights are al- ways an adventure thanks to the drunken partiers. And compared to the ex: .. tensive math problems he's | used to working on, driving FINGER PAINTING: Melissa Gerow (left) and Gina Erickson, two students in the | Transition House gets a facelift Skeena Native Development Society's Summer Youth Group Program, had too much fun last week painting one of the rooms in Terrace's Transition House. Around Town Coat drive The Terrace Emergency Shelter is in need of donations of men’s and women’s winter coats, toques, scarfs and gloves.Donations can be dropped off at 2814 Hall Strect or phone the Shelter at 635-5890 and they will pick them up. For more info call Janet at 635-5890. Thank you Our railcar clubhouse has finally arrived at its permanent home, next to Highway 16 West. Many companies and in- dividuals have kindly helped us along the way, and we would like to acknowledge their contributions. ‘ We inlend to build and operate a model railroad in this railcar. Everyone is invited to visit us in the future. You will always be welcome, and once you have seen what we have accomplished, you might even want to join our asso- ciation, Thank you all again, John Rinaldi, President of the Skeena Valley Model Rail- road Association. Titanic mania Titanic the movie will be released on video September 1 and local shops are ready, There are 25 people on The Bargain Shop’s waiting list for the video already. People living as far away as Kitwanga and Kitwancocl have put down deposits for the video. Fall Fair registration Registration for competition in the Fall Fair will take place Friday, August 28 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, August 29 from 12 p.m. to 5 pam. and Monday, August 31 from 12 p.m, to 9 p.m. at the Thornhill community hall. Hehe neti HE LIKES DRIVING: Norm Dreger finally found employment this summer driving cabs, He's going back to the University of B.C. next month to finish his dagree. cabs is relaxing for him. ‘Work is pretty easy — you just kinda’ hang out everyday.’ And the money, he said, isn’t bad either, ¥ou work on commis- slon. You have ups and downs.”’ Some 15 hour days he’s made $195, while others he’s made off with barely. $45. And what do his parents think about him driving a cab? ; “My parents are just happy that I've found employment, They're happy I'm doing . something I like.”” .