INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2, CHARLYNN TOEWS That reminds me ID YOU HEAR about the Saltspring Women Preserve & Protect every tree except the ones we needed to produce this particular Calendar? I understand it sold quite well. And why do all clerks say “There you go” when they hand me my change? I feel like they might pat me on the head next. Whatever happened to “Thank you” I wonder. When | was a girl (sorry) and worked in the family store, I was trained to say “Please” whenever demanding payment and “Thank you” after successfully completing a transaction. _ Some drivers think it’s none of anybody’s business but their own which way they’re going to turn next. They don’t care how curious _ the person in the car at the Stop sign is, they are not telling. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” they say to thase nosey mot-. orists. “Wait and see,” they sneer. “Just watch me. w Prince Charles was trying to be kind by waiting until his forties to procreate. Look at’ the Queen Mum. This way, handsome William will only have to wait til his 60s, not his 80s, io gain the crown. We do what we can. The other day there was a clear cold night. Finally! After all that misty foggy wet dark- ness! | was looking at the moon. The lovely moon, a vision: of which is the birthright of anyone with sense enough not to live in this thick wet wool blanket we call a rainforest. Yes, “Skeena” means River of Mists and all, but this is ridiculous. We niust be the centre of ~ SAD, the Seasonal Affective Disorder caused. © by. having no sunshitie éver, And no moon, The mists take. away the sun and the moon! [ am — upset about this, even if no one else is. _..L have. also been resenting the mountains. Ever since | moved here from the flat regular normal middle part of the country, these mountains have been aggravating me. They block the view, they stop my viewing. of the vista, A person can’t see anything out here! J blame the mountains: they hide the sunset and constantly get in the way of seeing past your own nose. I have wished them away like freck- les, ‘The mists take away the sun and the mooni 1 am upset about this, even if no one else is.’ But that clear evening recently, I looked up Terrace Mountain to see the small cold moon perched just above some branches. I yelled for my family to “Come see the moon! Look up! Look up to the moont And all the stars! Look . up! ” Then Y saw the view, the view people | around here rave about. You can’t look across, at eye level, to see the view because the mountains thwart thal strategy. You have to look up. And so, at that moment, J stopped re- © senting the mountains. They are not blocking _ the view: they are pointing the way to it. Look up. Look way up. Oh, now I see. ; Something funny in “Psychology Today” magazine. There’s this study of laughing, It says that people do not laugh when they are alone. Exciuding “the social effects of media” (I guess laughing at the radio’ and whatever) we don’t laugh that much solo, We are 30 times more likely to laugh in a social situation than in a solitary one, these American resear- chers say. This reminded me. of an earlier cat-based study ] read wherein it was determined that cats do not purr when they are alone. It must * be a form of communication. Must be! _ Next - this is good - a professor and his gtad students “observed 1,200 people laughing “spontaneously in their natural environments.” They found out that the person speaking laughs way more than the person listening. To get a listener to laugh, the best iines are “Where ~ have you been?” or “It was nice meeting you, too.” That’s when people laugh! Weird, eh? The report states, “Only 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the laughter episodes we witnessed followed anything joke-like.” Then they report ‘two of the jokes Tesponded to by laughter in their study. One is “You don’t have to drink, just buy us drinks!” People laugh like mad for that one..Or the other one is “Was that before or after] took off my clothes?” . The study calls these things we laugh at. so much “hardly: ‘knee-slappers’”. and. “not neces: sarily howlers.” What a 1 bunch of goofs... TERRACE STANDARD. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 17, 200) - B} SECTION B MMUNITY-=2 City loses a lifelong community activist Walter McConnell remembered as ‘a quiet man with a raging passion for social justice’. By HELMUT GIESBRECHT MOST PEOPLE would have seen him when they walked in for pancake breakfast at the Happy Gang Centre. He was always there at the entrance to take your money and give you your ticket, just. one of the many volunteers giving something back to the community he loved, Wal- ter McConnell passed away the morning: of Jan. 6, 2001, Walter McConnell was born Jan. 15, 1915, in Ro- setown, Saskatchewan, and came to Terrace when he was six years old, The family lived on West Mc- Connell Avenue. He went to school here and got his first experience in logging at the age of eight when he and his older brother, Elmer, got-the job of cut- ting the family firewood. He also became a fairly good amateur boxer and rode a motorcycle in his younger years, long before paved roads arrived. Walter worked in the ‘ mines around Mayo‘in the . Yukon aid in Wingdam near Quesnel. He worked for the CNR for a while but most of his working life he spent in the logging industry based in Terrace. Walter was married to Blackie (Kenny) and he quickly became a cher- ished member of her fami- ly. During their years toge- ther Walter and Blackie shared many happy hours fishing, watching baseball games and enjoying their annual trips to Reno. Walter also spent much of his spare time gardening. Blackie passed away it August 1995, It was during his time in logging while rubbing shoulders with political activists that Walter be- came aware of unions and politics. He was a strong supporter of the trade union movement. He learned the hard way that you had to get involved. He was for years a quiet strength, working behind the scenes for a cause he believed in passionately. When elections were called you could always count on him to be there and he would do whatever he could to help. One of his favourite stories was about. the. day of his retirement. It was just after the IWA had ne- gotiated a pension. Walter walked into the boss’s of- a WNT Gad bets 7 Make : Your Mark in H rat a fice, pulled a portable tape recorder out and punched the play button. The recor- der belted out the Johnny Paycheck tune, “Take This Job And Shove It”. He then pulled out a bottle of rye and the two of them polished it off and remi- nisced, Walter was.a commun- ity activist all his life. He helped lobby for Terrace- view Lodge and the Happy Gang Centre. He remained a supporter of both, along with the R.E.M. Lee Foun- dation and the work of the Salvation Army. Years ago he presented his “worn in” ald boxing gloves to former MP Jim Fulton. Jim was to be well equipped for the sparring required when he got to Ottawa, His old hardhat, bruised from many years in the bush, rests at the Skeena Constituency Of- fice. I can’t remember exact- ly when I first met Waller. It was through politics ‘ sometime in the early ‘70s, Every federal, provincial and municipal campaign I was involved in: he was there as well. He was a quiet man with a raging passion for social justice, Since October 1991, sete ates fete sit Asie ae aaeui ss ae Forel LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Dale McFadden signs a page in the BC Book. A part of B.C. history Nearly 2,000 Terracites sign BC Book TERRACITES had their Jast chance to sign the B.C. Book on Dec. 29. The book travelled the province recording signa- tures of B.C residents for a millenium project. It first came to Terrace in August 2000 when there was an official signing ceremony. The oversized book handcrafted from a variety of wood from B.C. was re- turned to Victoria where it will remain at the Royal B.C, Museum. The project was suppor- ted by the provincial pov- ernment and B.C. credit unions. Several pages of the book were ijeft at the Ter- race. and District Credit Union to allow anyone Boarder lured back A MEXICAN snowboar- der’s thirst for powder brought him all the way back to Terrace New Year's Day. Upon his arrival Hector Hayashi vowed to spend as much time as possible at Shames Mountain during his three-week visit. ‘Driving in from the air- “port he insisted his friend slop the car.so he could sjump -into the “ nearest _anowbank and exclaim: “I love winter!” It's been five years since he’s been on a snow- board. The Celaya, Mexico, native was just 15 when he first came to Terrace in 1995 as a Rotary Club ex- change student. He'd never been snow- voarding or skiing before. * But he logged 54 days of snowboatding while he _ was billeted- in. Terrace _ that year, having been in- who didn’t have the chance to sign in the sum- mer to get their name in ‘the book prior to the Dec, 29 deadline. Terrace and District Credit Union chairperson Dale McFadden was the last Tetracite to sign. He has been on the board of directors at the credit union for 25 years. Approximately 2,000 Terracites recorded their signatures in the baok. to slopes iroduced ta the sport by his host families. He's now @ 21-year-old student in his third year of his tourism degree. Besides heading up to Shames Mountain during his return trip to Terrace, © Hayashi hopes to try sortething else he can’t do back home. “] wanna go ice fishing, another new experience,” he says. WALTER McConnell, 85, passed away Jan. 6. Walter had made daily stops to the Skeena Pro- vincial Constituency Of- fice. We enjoyed his visits. Walter would often let you know what he thought on political issues. Even if he disagreed with. you he re- spected your position. He | did not expect perfection. He was loyal, and he was ~ dearly loved for that. . So when Walter ended up in the hospital just be- fore Christmas it finally made us.realize that age was catching up to him. We visited him and en- couraged him in his. strug- gle and he gave it.a good round. He will be missed by a lifetime of friends and Terrace won’t be the same without him. Walter McConnell is survived by his sister Ger- trude of Kelowna, his bro- ther Elmer of Nanaimo, his adopted family, and his special friend, Jo Dobson of Terrace. Around Town gional chairman. Northern Drugs. bie at 635-0030. ing Week, Jan. 15 to 19. non-smoker”, free life. Our campaign is over, grams. Lose your locks for a local charity NEED A HAIRCUT? Why sot wait until Jan. 28, when yon can have your locks chopped for charity? Terrace’s hairdressers are holding a day-long Cut-A-Thon at the Skeena Mall, where they'll be out in force cutting hair and providing mini man- icures in support af a local chatity. Last year, hairdressers in Terrace, Kitimat and Prince Rupert participating in the Cosmetology Association of B.C.'’s Cut-A-Thon raised more money than any other region in the province. The proceeds from here, $1,700, were donated ta the annual Timmy’s Telethon. This time around, money raised will be donated to a local charity in- stead, says Debbie Taphouse, the associatian’s re- The Cut-A-Thon takes place between noon and 5 p.m. Haircuts will cost $10, manicures $6. The hairdressers will be set up inside the mall near Hairdressers from a number of different salons are participating, For more information, call Deb- Babies born this week take home a message MILLS MEMORIAL Hospital and the British Co- Iumbia Lung Association have teamed up to re- mind people of a message for National Non-Smok- Every newborn who arrives this week will be given a bib printed with the slogan, “f’m a born The bibs are a seminder that no one is born with an addiction to tobacco products. They also point out that everyone has a chance to live a smoke- Diabetes association grateful for support Thank you to all who have worked so hard, and to all who have donated so faithfully. The total amount raised is $13,000. Some of that money will stay in our local fund, and the rest will be sent away to support research and other pro- Thank you to Clarica’s Management and staff, who have again helped so faithfully. . From the Canadian Diabetes Association, ‘Jane Braam : Campaign Manager fi S