January 2010 Okanagan Edition - North of 50

An Independent Lifestyle Newsmagazine for a Grown-up Audience January 2010 Volume 8 Issue 12

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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Putting a Face on Poverty and Homelessness

story and photos by Christine Pilgrim

coming to dinner might offer.

On the other hand, Gateway, the Mission's working partner, terms the same people 'clients'. Both organizations offer counselling through Income Assistance, Interior Health, the Meitei Society, Addictions Counselling, Employment Agencies, Welfare and Housing.

But Gateway is operated under the auspices of the nonreligious John Howard Society which also provides shelter for 24 men as well as 14 transitional housing rooms and 9 rooms for a drug and alcohol harm reduction program.

Kelly Fehr, the Shelter Manager at Gateway, which offers beds to 13 men and 12 women year round, in all temperatures, outlined some relative statistics.

34% of male and 38% of female clients have children.

45% of male and 36% of female clients have been homeless for under a month.

15% of male and 7% of female clients were in prison at some time during the last 5 years.

Fehr points out that mental health, addictions and disabilities are under-reported by his clients, so the following statistics will not be totally accurate:-

Ryan (left) and Ronnie (right) tell their stories at the Upper Room Mission

“Are there no workhouses?”

With echoes of Scrooge's harsh Christmas solution to accommodating London's poor and homeless in 1843 still ringing in our ears, perhaps now is an appropriate time to reflect on the plight of our poor and homeless in 2010.

In Vancouver, as the Winter Olympics approach, seven shelters have been opened and the RCMP have been given legal powers to assist homeless people to these shelters when an extreme weather alert is issued.

But what about the poor and homeless in the much colder Okanagan?

I recall New Year's Eve a year ago, when it was at least minus 10 degrees, with an icy wind that must have rendered the temperature even lower. Bundled against the cold, my then beau and I walked arm in arm along Vernon's Main Street, en route to what promised to be a delicious meal at our favourite restaurant. Suddenly a frozen figure lurched toward us. Tears streamed down his face as he pleaded, “Help me! Please help me!”

The man had no gloves and no scarf nor hat. I put his frozen hand into my warm coat pocket and draped him in my scarf and toque as we trundled him off to the Salvation Army Night Shelter. When we reached it, we were confronted by a locked door and a sign that read, “This Shelter will remain closed tonight because it is not cold enough.” Not cold enough?! As we herded our reluctant charge off to another shelter (which turned out to be unavailable as well), a police car drove up. Two officers emerged. That night, 'The Tank' was the only refuge that could be afforded our friend ... by this time we knew enough of his sad life story to call him such.

In fact, most of the people served by the Upper Room Mission, John Howard Society and Gateway in Vernon, the Gospel Mission and Women's Shelter in Kelowna and the Salvation Army Men's Shelter in Penticton are there because of life choices and circum-

stances that might have overtaken many of us.

I spoke with three specifically at the Upper Room Mission's open house at dinner time just before Christmas. Each had a different story.

Ryan rents a room without cooking or washing facilities in a rooming house. At 11.5ft by 11.6ft, it is the biggest of three similar rooms and costs $450 per month. He's somewhere over 60 and uses two canes to walk. He says he is forced to dumpster dive to augment his pension sufficiently to survive.

At the same table sits Ronnie, a recovering alcoholic. He's starting a new life with the help of Gateway services, after six weeks at the Three Voices Treatment Centre in Creston. His clean cut face, clear eyes and warm smile promise success, but he will need a great deal of support.

Then there is Rob. Rob Aguilar is a handsome, engaging, intelligent young man who looks as if he has everything going for him. But four years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The evening of our conversation marked the imminent arrival, after a 12 month wait, of the electric scooter he needs to be mobile. “It is a good day,” smiles Rob who says he once earned up to ten thousand US dollars per month as a computer programmer with typing speeds of 90 words per minute. Now, because of his condition, he is lucky if he can accomplish 20 or 30 words per minute. (Symptoms of MS can include vision problems, fatigue, muscle stiffness, weakness, poor balance and spatial awareness, tingling sensations, bowel, bladder and sexual problems, pain, numbness, difficulty concentrating and depression.) So Rob eats at the Mission.

His room is even more expensive than Ryan's.

This random selection of guests represents a cross section of the 110 others eating at the Upper Room Mission that evening. The term 'guests' is carefully chosen by the faith-based Mission because nothing is expected from the people it serves other than respect, participation and help with the clean up that any guest

16% of males and 18% of females have disabilities.

34% of males and 32% of females have addictions.

20% of males and 26% of females have mental health issues.

Gateway has provided 'low barrier' shelter for 395 different men and 170 different women since it opened in Vernon on September 15th, 2008. (The term 'low barrier' embraces everyone in distress. 'High barrier' is more discriminating.) However, Gateway has been forced to turn away over half as many again (255 men and 35 women) because it was full at the time.

In order to accommodate Gateway's client overflow when its 25 beds are occupied, the Upper Room Mission recently received government approval to lay mats and provide blankets etc. for 20 people in its dining room, with added toilet facilities, once the temperature drops to minus 1. Executive Director, Chuck Harper, who joined the charity almost a year ago, put the argument to the Province that the H1N1 virus is a real threat to people sleeping out in the cold and that any temperature below zero is too cold.

Gateway also passes on some of its funding to the Upper Room Mission to cover the meals it provides to Gateway clients. The two charities work closely and harmoniously together.

The Mission provides 3 meals a day 7 days a week for an average of 110 people.

The regular 14 member staff at the Mission is augmented to 20 during the winter months and they are supported by 100 volunteers, including those who run the adjacent thrift store which is responsible for a great deal of their fund-raising.

Chuck Harper says that without these volunteers and generous donations from businesses and the community at large, the Upper Room Mission would be unable to function. They are always in need of extra toiletries, socks, bus passes, phone cards, gift certificates, toques, mitts – in fact, anything that can be easily carried in a backpack.

Meanwhile, Kelowna Mission is being granted $37,000 by the provincial government to allow its Inn from the Cold to continue to provide winter shelter.

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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DONATION DETAILS FOR THE LOCAL POOR AND HOMELESS ARE: Upper Room Mission Vernon 3403 27th Avenue, Vernon, V1T 1S2 250 549 1231 www.urm.org John Howard Society Vernon Men's Shelter: 250-542-4041 Gateway: 2800, 33rd Street, Vernon 250-260-2792 www.jhsnok.ca South Okanagan Women in Need Society Office: 218, 246 Martin Street, Penticton, V2A 5K3 250-493-7233 Toll-free: 1 800 814 2033 Administration 250-493-4366 www.sowins.com Rob Aguilar, one of the guests at the Upper Room Mission. Others clear the tables behind him.

Local MLA Steve Thomson said recently in a press statement, “The Province recognizes the efforts of the dedicated, faith-based volunteers who have run Kelowna's Inn from the Cold since 1999.”

He said this grant of $37,000 will help cover operating costs through to the end of March at the Inn from the Cold's new location where the cost of bringing the building up to code had strained resources.

In Penticton, Reg Petrie, Supervisor of the Salvation Army Men's Shelter, says it costs them $1,000 per night to house and feed 20 guests at each of the seven churches involved in their Extreme Weather Response Program. Once temperatures reach minus 10 degrees, Petrie collects the bedding and toiletries held in storage for each of their potential guests and drives them to the church that has volunteered to take in those less fortunate on that particular night. The guests are given an evening meal and a hot breakfast in the morning.

The program only started in early December and the organization is learning the ropes for its Inn from the Cold. Petrie hopes to avoid volunteer burn-out.

Why the increase in the number of homeless and rising costs of accommodating them? Some of this growing trend can be attributed to five years of skyrocketing house prices which have, in turn, led to exorbitant rent increases. Also, the boom in tourism in the Okanagan means less accommodation is available at reasonable rates to locals. The Winter Olympics have also cost the Province dearly and many programs have suffered cutbacks.

The gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' widens increasingly and, according to Mr Fehr at Gateway,

the erosion of a middle class society in Canada is palpable. He says, “If we could have used a mere portion of the millions of dollars spent on the Olympics on the construction of transitional housing, we would have reduced BC's homeless by 75%.”

Yet there are fewer facilities for the homeless now than in Dickens' day!

In a recent article in the Osoyoos Times, Paul Everest noted that there are no shelters whatsoever in Osoyoos.

The Town Council declared that if a community group wanted to put a shelter plan together, it would work with them and provide support. In the meantime, anyone finding themselves without accommodation at minus 10 degrees or lower would have to approach the RCMP who would then contact the Ministry of Housing to see if the person could be transported to Penticton.

It appears that if the mostly faith-based charities were not ready and willing to serve their communities, there would be nothing for the poor at all. MLA Stevens said that the number of homeless has doubled since 2001.

Kelly Fehr of Gateway says, “It would be beneficial if people in the community would realize that the majority of people who are homeless are suffering either from severe mental health issues and/or disabilities and a good portion of them also face eviction. It is therefore unreasonable to expect that a majority of the homeless can find long term employment and sustain it. The community needs to pull together and show compassion and love to these individuals to assist them in becoming contributing members of society.”

Kelowna Women's Shelter Box 20193 Kelowna, V1Y 9H2 Phone 250-763-1040 Salvation Army Men’s Shelter, Penticton Salvation Army Community Services Phone 250-490-9521 Kelowna Gospel Mission www.kelownagospelmission.ca Administration 250-763-3737 Shelter 250-862-3733

Fehr does not suggest that everyone follows in the footsteps of Prince William and dons a toque to spend a night on the streets, but we might take socks and mitts and toothpaste and phone cards and bus passes to the local shelter or food bank; we might volunteer at a thrift store; we might put more aside from our Christmas tinsel and fairy lights budget and instead give something toward a bed or a dinner for one less fortunate; and perhaps next time someone asks for a dollar in the street we might look them in the eye when we respond, smile and say, “Happy New Year!”

After all, it isn't as if we are living in the Dickensian era ... is it?

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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Transforming Tragedy Into Triumph

A competitive speed skater with the River City Racers, 15-year-old Josie Spence is one of several Kamloopsians to bear the Olympic Torch on Day 91 of the flame’s journey to Vancouver.

When Josie Spence bears the Olympic Torch on Jan. 28, she’ll be running with an angel.

Fourteen months ago the 15-year-old’s name was submitted into RBC’s Carry the Torch Contest. Included in the contest rules was a requirement to submit a pledge to do something to create a better Canada.

In August the Grade 10 South Kamloops secondary student received an email from RBC stating she’d been chosen to carry the Olympic Torch for a 300 metre stretch along its 45,000 km cross country journey to Vancouver for the start of the 2010 Winter Games.

“I was so shocked I couldn’t say anything,” says Josie as she reflects back on the moment.

“For me, being chosen was extra special because of my dad. He’s the one that entered me in the contest.”

Less than three weeks after submitting his daughter’s name, Owen Spence lost his life in an accident at home.

“My dad was so into winter sports. He was so excited about the 2010 Olympics. It’s an honour to be chosen, but for me it’s about more than just the community spirit of the Olympics. It’s about my dad.

“I know he would be here cheering me on. I know he would be so proud of me.”

Losing her father at such a young age unquestionably could have sent the teenager’s life on a downward trajectory.

But inspired by the traits she most admired and respected in her father, Josie took tragedy and transformed it into triumph.

“I guess I’m just like my dad,” posits Josie with soft-spoken strength. “I’m not a quitter. I don’t like to give up on anything.”

Epitomizing two Olympic principles — striving for excellence and living boldly — Josie has taken her pledge to make Canada a better place and make each

day count. And turned it up a notch.

By honing her energies in on her athletics, Josie’s quickly become a skater to be reckoned with.

In less than nine months time she has had her name added to the B.C. Provincial Development Speed Skating Team roster, earned the title of one of Canada’s top five junior female skaters in the 3000m event and made her world speed skating debut, with sister Tori, at the International Skating Union’s Junior World Cup Speed Skating competition.

And she’s not done yet, far from it.

While her short-term goal is set on qualifying for the B.C. Winter Games in March, Josie’s set her sights on a loftier goal.

“If I try and put my mind to it, I really think I can get to the Olympics,” Josie says, pointing out that with the typical speed skater not peaking until their mid-20s, she still has time to perfect her craft.

Whether it’s tearing across a sheet of ice at 60 km/h at the McArthur Park Sports Complex, in the open air on Logan Lake, at the Okanagan Regional Training Centre in Kelowna or the Olympic Oval in Calgary, the frozen oval is Josie`s home away from home; a second home she more often than not shares with mother/ River City Racers club coach Cathy Turnbull Spence and siblings Tori, Sara and Eric.

Competitive long and short track speed skating has long been a family affair in the Spence household.

With Josie’s parents Cathy and Owen founding the River City Racers Skating Club upon moving to Kamloops in 2000, the Edmonton native’s life has been shaped by her exposure to a sport that demands grit and determination.

“My entire family is blessed with athleticism and all involved in the sport.”

Quantifying the number of hours she spends training

story and photos by Sherry Bennett each week is something Josie must stop and think hard about, if only because physical activity has become so wholly integrated into her being.

Hours on the ice blur into hours in the weight room, hours cross-country skiing through the quiet forest, hours running through Kamloops’ hilly terrain —activities that leave Josie feeling full of life and with a strong body and mind.

“Sports are so important for youth. They do so much to help cope with stress.

Sports make me feel so uplifted, so cheerful. Whenever I’m having a bad day I go for a run and feel so much better.

“If I could give any advice to parents it would be to support children in their sports. Support them in their activities. Support them in whatever they do. It’s incredible how much difference it can make.”

The tremendous highs and tremendous lows Josie’s experienced at such a young age allow her the ability to speak with wisdom beyond her years.

Regardless of where conversation flows with Josie Spence, conversations void of blame and resentment, discussions invariably travel back to family.

“My family is what inspires me. My mom and my family are always there for me and always have been. Always. Whatever I’m doing they are always behind me supporting me.

“I love skating but I don’t want to be just a skater. I want to have a family. I want to have a job.”

When Josie bears the Olympic Torch on day 91 of the relay, on a stretch of pavement located between Kamloops and Williams Lake, she’ll be holding the torch high and thinking of her father.

And reflecting on the year she discovered the true meanings of family, community and inner strength.

“Never give up. No matter what happens. Never give up.

“Keep on trying, no matter what happens."

A competitive speed skater with the River City Racers, 15-year-old Josie Spence is one of several Kamloopsians to bear the Olympic Torch on Day 91 of the flame’s journey to Vancouver.

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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EDITORIAL I had hoped to slip into my 50th year with a soothing cup of coffee and very little fanfare, but alas, I am married to Dean, who chose to use his power as publisher of this magazine for evil, by announcing my recent birthday to all our readers. Thank you, dear readers, for the lovely birthday wishes. I have forgiven Dean with the understanding that he will take me on a Panama Cruise before my 51st birthday.

Five years ago, I had a secret plan to celebrate my 50th birthday with a good old fashioned early retirement.

But plans change, don’t they? I couldn’t have known then that I would fall into the trap of workaholism.

It crept up on me, really. I enjoyed a solid day’s work; I don’t deny it. But before long, I was staying at the office an extra hour a day, then two, then three. Soon I was taking work home.

I work while I cook dinner. I work while I eat dinner -- with one hand on my fork and the other on my computer keyboard. I switched from showers to baths because it is so much easier to read paper work in the bathtub.

Sleep? Who can sleep when there is work to do? I keep a pen and notebook on my bedside table, so I can write down anything that suddenly occurs to me in the night – and it does – often.

My favourite topic of conversation is work. Nothing is more annoying than being asked to stop doing my work in order to do something frivolous – like say, go for a walk, take a vacation, go out for dinner, watch a movie. Please, people, I have work to do.

I didn’t see myself as a workaholic. After all, work is rewarding. A job well done gives a good deal of satisfaction. But I confess, working 12 hours a day – day after day – week in week out – eventually, it’s just exhausting.

If Dr. Phil offered me a recovery program, but I had walk off that stage immediately and go with the counselor to a world famous treatment centre, I would decline his offer. I am not ready to quit work cold turkey, but I am willing to take a couple of giant steps back.

And that is my new year’s resolution. To work less. My desire for early retirement has all but disappeared – I LIKE this job. But slowing down feels like a resolution I can stick to. So …

Let me introduce you to Cassandra Redding, North of 50’s new creative director. Cassandra will be picking up a lot of my current duties, and adding a few new ones to her job description.

Born, raised and educated in the Okanagan, Cassandra brings many years of writing, editing and copywriting to the table, as well as a strong marketing background.

Over the next few months, you can expect to see a few subtle changes in the design and layout of North of 50. If you love it, you can thank your lucky stars for Cassandra’s input and creative genius. If you hate it … talk to Dean.

And dear readers, I implore you to support me in my efforts to slow down. I am ‘working’ on kicking this addiction to work, no pun intended. If every time you call the office, I’m here, you will know that I have been backsliding and slipping into old habits. Feel free to remind me of this editorial. Feel free to steal Obama’s slogan and encourage me. You can do it, TJ. Yes, you can.

NORTH of 50 January 2010 FAIR COMMENT

Cutting Arts Funding Hurts Us All

Did you catch this item back in October?

“B.C.’s beleaguered literary organizations are forming the Coalition for the Defence of Writing and Publishing in British Columbia one day after the Arts & Culture branch of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts simultaneously removed all funding from the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia ($45,000), BC BookWorld newspaper ($31,000) and B.C. Association of Don Sawyer Magazine Publishers ($20,000).”

No? That’s probably because there was little outrage expressed by the press – and even less fanfare by the government. And this little announcement was just the tip of the iceberg: Provincial funding for the BC Arts Council is dropping by 82%, from $19.5 Million (2008/09) to $3.5 Million (2009/10 and 2010/11). What do they do? Well, everything from supporting professional arts and cultural organizations throughout the province to funding amateur theatre, music, dance, visual, media and literary arts organizations, to maintaining programs that support community arts groups, festivals, museums, training and service agencies.

As William Gibson, author of Neuromancer put it, “As a futurist, someone with some experience in long-range scenario-based corporate and municipal planning, I’ve seen my share of jaw-droppingly shortsighted proposals. But these proposed cuts to support for the arts in BC (almost 90% by 2011) really take the cake. This is governance guaranteed to rot the fabric of our province’s future.”

So what? I can hear you asking. I’m no artist. Perhaps not, but you do live in a province enriched, culturally and financially, by the thousands that work in the cultural industry. And make no mistake, it is an industry. According to Stats Canada, Cultural industries contributed $40 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2002 alone. During that same year, Mining and Oil and Gas extraction contributed only $35.4 billion.

The Agriculture and Forestry industry contributed $21 billion to Canada’s GDP, approximately half that of the Cultural sector.

It’s also an industry that employs a whole lot of people, and the numbers are growing. Whereas Agriculture and Forestry combined with the Mining, Oil and Gas industry, employed 602,200 Canadians, Cultural industries in Canada were responsible for directly employing 597,000 Canadians in 2002 or 3.8% of Canada’s workforce. Between the years of 1996 and 2001, employment in the cultural sector grew at an annual rate of 3.4%, significantly faster than the overall Canadian employment growth rate.

A Place Like India

When this column comes out I'll still be in India with 17 high school kids from Salmon Arm, Enderby, and Armstrong. Today, one of the girls broke down because the day before we had passed an unconscious man splayed out on the street, face up with a sock stuck in his mouth. His head was partly out into the lane of traffic.

All of us were walking about twenty feet from his body, walking at a fast pace to get somewhere. We all looked over at his silent, prone body. We did not stop. The girl Calvin White had broken down this day afterwards because she still felt ashamed that she did not stop to try to help. Ashamed that she had been afraid of a possible reaction should the man have awoken. Ashamed of giving in to powerlessness.

I watched as she cried and assured her that it was principled and compassionate that she had felt that way and was now in emotional upheaval. That the shame and helplessness was appropriate. That not knowing what to do, but staring that in the eye and allowing oneself to feel miserable, feel the pain, was indication of strength and depth.

We shortchange our young here in Canada. We protect them from danger.

We create "good memories" for them, safe environments, orderly, predictable existences But in our understandable and caring intentions, we prevent them from wrestling consciously with the deep issues of self.

We don't give them enough experience with pain, with suffering, with raw, visceral unfairness. They do not experience enough situations where they are tested about who they are, about what life is, about what is meaningful. In our part of the world, we have allowed our children to live in triviality. We have allowed them to be sold to the marketers of gadgets and style. This is a life of emptiness. This rare school trip to India is to introduce them to the world of brokenness. To the world of no answers but one of personal responsibility. To the world of common blood.

The half-naked 8 year old who begs outside the temple while swinging a weeks old baby in her arms forces us to feel, to shrink in horror at the possibility for life altering calamity should the baby slip from that one child's arms and smash onto the hard red of the cobblestones.

What can we do? The other street boy outside the mosque that is driven away by

page 7 It’s ironic that the announcement came while my wife and I were in Europe, attracted by the museums and public art that enrich so many European cities. There, the importance of artists to a nation and a culture has been understood—and supported—for hundreds of years, resulting in societies that are more literate, more aware, and more engaged. And also more cognizant, apparently, of the significant economic benefits generated by the arts.

Let’s use the example of $96,000 of cuts cited above. When you attack the writing and publishing sector, you force BC printers out of business. Those publishers who can afford to, take their printing out of the province. When publishers themselves are forced to shut down, their staffs are put out of work. The books that would normally be produced and sold locally go elsewhere, reducing provincial sales and income taxes. Fewer BC writers are published, at a significant economic and cultural cost. When you slash support for BC BookWorld, you are jeopardizing the most effective book advertising medium in the province, leading to reduced sales. Reduced sales means more bookstores close, especially the smaller independent bookstores that are so central to the social and cultural life of smaller communities. When local magazines close, not only do we lose unique BC voices, we lose advertising revenues, national and international profile, skilled employees, markets for local writers, and wages.

Something is seriously wrong with the Government’s financial priorities. Salmon Arm’s local Arts Council was informed a few months ago that the $24,000 they had received annually to organize arts activities in the community and maintain the Art Gallery (the gallery—which hosts weekly jazz concerts, regular exhibits of local art, poetry readings, concerts by local and visiting musicians, exhibits of art from regional school children, weddings, community group fundraisers and many other activities—is a true community centre) was being eliminated. On that same day, the SA City Council was informed, without any request on their part, that $30,000 was being made available to them to host the Olympic torch run through our city.

These latest moves by the government send a chilling message: Art-related industries and activities critical to local communities and to the maintenance of a literate, aware and engaged society are neither valued nor respected. Clearly, massive subsidies to the Olympics and corporations and the construction of highways and bridges (though all the arts cuts combined wouldn’t pay for a mile of the Highway 97 expansion) take precedence over the work and contributions of thousands of artists, writers, musicians, actors, publishers and crafts people across BC. Don Sawyer is a writer, educator and former director of Okanagan College’s International Development Centre. He lives with his wife in Salmon Arm. You can contact Don Sawyer by email at donsawyer@telus.net or by mail at Don Sawyer c/o North of 50, Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0. For more information on Don’s writing and development work, visit his website at www.northerned.com

the hard blows from a cane rod, whack! whack! whack!, flailed by the merchant across the way who does not want him begging from us foreigners. That same boy who moments earlier had a few sections of orange placed in his outstretched palm by the 17 year old in our group.

What to do with all this? With all the thousands of other contradictions and dilemmas in a place like India? We have taken our young on this trip to immerse them in a pulse and a truth that can indelibly connect them to themselves. None of us on the trip have control. We do not know what we will encounter at any moment.

This is a far more accurate representation of life than what we attempt here in Canada, far more representative of the personal trials each of us will encounter at any moment in our own lives. We strive for and pretend to have control. We put on a good front. But inside, many of us are scared. In India, for these teenagers. We tell them it's appropriate to be scared. We tell them to look deeper, to pay attention, to let in the pain, to open up to understanding, an understanding that cannot be verbalized, quantified, but only acknowledged.

Yesterday, we also spent an afternoon at the house in Delhi where Mahatma Gandhi was shot to death. All over the compound are his words - words about personal responsibility, about common bonds, about seeking truth, about facing suffering. And there are stone footsteps placed along the last route that Gandhi walked toward the prayer ground before he was shot by a Hindu fanatic incensed by Gandhi's embracing of Muslim rights. The footsteps suddenly stop at the point where he fell dead in 1948. All of us could feel the palpable energy, the "vibration", of that spot, and to a lesser extent of the whole complex.

Later on, before we left, we gathered together to sit on the grass of the prayer ground and face the seat where Gandhi used to sit. In all Gandhi ashrams, the prayer services always included prayers of the major religions. So, our small group of mainstream teenagers decided to conduct our own short service. We recited a Muslim prayer, a Hindu prayer, a Buddhist prayer, and finished with the Lord's Prayer. I think Gandhi smiled a bit. And I think he smiled even more as our young girl cried today.

Calvin White is a retired high school counsellor who lives in the North Okanagan. He has over 70 essays published in various Canadian daily newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun and Province. If you have any comments on this column, you can write to Calvin White at calvinwhite@northof50.com or to Calvin White c/o North of 50, Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0

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Coming Events January 3 - Januaary 10, 2010 2010 Scotties Tournament Of Hearts BC Women's Curling Championship 250-492-5647 Contact: Penticton Curling Club Venue: Penticton Curling Club Cost: The 2010 Women's Provincial Curling Championship is coming to Penticton! The best curlers in our province will be competing on Jan 3-10 2010 for the honour of representing British Columbia at the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the National Curling Championship in March. This is one of the premier curling events in BC. The eight day event consists of the Provinces ten best teams competing in a round robin tournament followed by the playoffs. A celebration of the Championship will be held at the grand banquet on Jan 3 2010. The final game will be televised live throughout the province.

Saturday, January 9th, 2010 At 7:30 PM Colin James And Band Juno Award Winner And Multi-Platinum Recording Star, Colin James, And His Rock/Blues Band Will Play The Second Date Of Their Cross-Canada Tour On January 9Th 2010 At The Vernon And District Performing Arts Centre. Tickets At Ticketseller.Ca Saturday, January 9 At 7:30 P.M. The Elvis Presley Birthday Celebration Elvis Generations Consists Of Three Okanagan Elvis Tribute Artists. Amongst Them They Have A Competed In Festivals Around The U.S And Canada And Have A Championship Title From The Penticton Elvis Festival In 2008. Elvis Generations Performs All Era’s Of Elvis Presley’s Career Including The Movie Years, 50S, 60S And 70S. This Dynamic Show Brings The Authentic Style Elvis Outfits As Well As The High Energy Performance Elvis Himself Brought To His Fans.

Elvis Generations Is Currently Touring With The Appaloosa Show Band And The Uptown Hornz, And Has Recently Been Hired To Perform On Board A Carnival Cruise Line To Alaska In May 2010. Tickets, $22 At The Creekside Theatre Customer Service Counter, 10241 Bottom Wood Lake Road, Lake Country.

Reservations /Information (250) 766-9309.

Saturday, January 9 The Met: Live In Hd Presents “Der Rosenkavalier,”

By R. Strauss. Approximate Running Time 4 Hours 45 Minutes - 2 Intermissions. Featuring James Levine; Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Christine Schäfer, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, Kristinn Sigmundsson.

Salmar Classic At 10Am. Next Met Performance Jan 16 “Carmen.”Salmon Arm. Wednesday, January 13, 2010 At 7:30 Pm Thursday, January 14, 2010 At 1:30 Pm Sara Davis Buechner Vancouver Pianist Sara Davis Buechner Is A Classical Concert Pianist Whose Performances And Recordings Have Garnered Acclaim On Four Continents.Vernon And District Performing Arts Centre. Tickets At Ticketseller.Ca Friday, January 15 Deadline To Submit To Jan/Feb Exhibit At Saga – “Wish You Were Here.” Send Saga Your 4X6 Original Works Of Art. See Web For Details Sagapublicartgallery.Ca Friday, January 15 Pink Floyd the Experience Time: 8 pm 250-493-

4055 1-877-763-2849 Contact: Visitor Centre www. valleyfirsttix.com Venue: SOEC Cost: $ 40 - 45 Pink Floyd remains one of the most influential rock bands of all time. Their record-breaking status is legendary.

Now get ready for The Pink Floyd Experience! With an even more spectacular light show than before, full quadraphonic sound and six outstanding musicians dedicated to bringing you the most authentic Floyd experience possible, it's "a must see for any Pink Floyd enthusiast!"

Friday, January 15 - Sunday, January 19 Rail Trail 200 - Dog Sled Race Time: all day 250449-2111 Contact: Tom www.railtrail200.com Venue: Grand Forks to Big White and back race@railtrail200. com Cost: free The 2010 Rail Trail 200 is organized and run by The Boundary Dog Sled Association, a non-profit organization created for the sole purpose of managing this event. A hundred dogs and a dozen mushers. Two hundred miles of rail beds and river beds, logging roads, creeks and trestles: the Rail Trail 200 challenges the skills and stamina of all who take part. Starting and finishing in Grand Forks, BC, the three-day race passes by Jewle Lake, throught the Christian Valley and up to Big White for a mandatory eight hour layover. then it's down from the mountain throught Beaverdell, Midway and Greenwood, and a final dash to the Start/Finish. Volunteers welcome!

Friday, January 15th Colin James With Guests Kelowna Community Theatre 1375 Water St, Kelowna, Bc Telephone: 250-469-8506 Doors: 7:00PM Show: 8:00Pm Tickets Available At Ticketmaster Or Charge By Phone 250-860-1470 Tickets (Incl. Gst) $45.50 Saturday, January 16 The Met: Live In Hd Continues With Bizet’s “Carmen.” Approximate Running Time 4 Hours - 2 Intermissions. Featuring Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Barbara Frittoli, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Mariusz Kwiecien. 10Am At The Salmar Classic. Next Performance Feb 6.Salmon Arm. Tuesday, January 19 8:00PM The Fiddle And Drum The Vernon And District Performing Arts Centre Society And The Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Present The Fiddle And The Drum. Celebrated SingerSongwriter Joni Mitchell And Alberta Ballet's Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître Have Joined Forces To Create An Exhilarating And Emotional Rich Ballet Blending Mitchell's Music And Art With Grand-Maître's Choreography. Tickets At Ticketseller.Ca Friday, January 22 Deadline To Enter The 12Th Annual Okanagan Short Fiction Contest. Visit Okstorycontest.Org For Details.

Saturday, January 23 Three Tenors Concert Tickets available $20 in advance OR $25 at the door.

Group tickets available as well. You can purchase tickets at the Mission Creek Alliance Church office. (250) 860-2427. Featuring Kelowna Secondary School Choirs under the direction of Sheila French. Featuring lush accompaniments and the high powered vocals of Shane Wiebe - Canadian Idol Top 5 finalist and Jason Catron and Mark David Williams - featured tenors on Crystal Cathedral's Hour of Power and the Ruth Graham Gospel tours.

Saturday, January 23 Bill Bourne Time: 8pm 250-490-9012 Contact: The Dream Cafe www.thedreamcafe.ca Venue: The Dream Cafe Cost: $24 Bill’s multicultural rhythms have delighted audiences all over the world. “Bourne flows with this almost indescribable soul infused with a lonesome strain of blues... This man was put on this earth to play music.” - Crossroads Magazine - Tuscon, AZ A multiple Canadian Juno Award winner, Bill has received international acclaim for his recordings and live performances. A mainstay on the international roots scene, life on the road is reflected in Bill’s music - powerful rhythms and soulful songs, steeped in World Beat, Blues, Cajun, Celtic, Folk, Flamenco, Funk, Poetry and more... www.billbourne.com Sunday, January 24 At 7:00Pm Our Future The Youth Symphony Of The Okanagan Joins The Oso Onstage, Along With The Youthful Voices Of Candesca In Imant Raminsh's Soaring "Songs Of The Lights", And The Astonishing Venables Sisters In The Bach "Double Violin Concerto". The Oso's Own Timpanist Dominique Bernath Will Amaze In Rosauro's "Concerto For Timpani", Plus We'll Perform The Winning Composition From Our Young Composers' Competition, Khachaturian's "Masquerade Suite" And Canadian Composer Stephen Gellman's "Child Play". Vernon Performing Arts Centre. Tickets At Ticketseller.Ca Sunday, January 24 Crossing The Bridge – Your Akashic Tools From 2 P.M. To 7:30 P.M. Doors Open At 1 P.M. At The Creekside Theatre, 10241 Bottom Wood Lake Road, Lake Country. Join Spiritual Teacher And Author Lee Carroll In The Okanagan For An Intensive Five Hour Lecture And Live Channelling! Author Of 14 Books In 24 Languages, Lee’s 20-Year Experience In Channelling Kryon Has Brought National Recognition To His Work. Having Presented Six Times At The United Nations In New York, As Well As In Many Countries Overseas, Lee Attracts Audiences In The Thousands.

Books And Refreshments Will Be Available On Site.

Tickets $100 Reservations/Information: Truelight Communications: (250) 766-0443.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Kelowna Community Theatre presents a legend of Canadian folk music, Murray McLauchlan in concert on Tickets available at Ticketmaster in the Towne Centre Mall (250-860-1470) Murray McLauchlan is one of Canada’s best songwriting performers. Murray has recorded 20 albums, has won 11 JUNO Awards and in 1993 he received the Order of Canada.

Friday, January 29 Country Music Coffee House Sponsored By The Salmon Arm Metis Association. 7 To 10Pm At The Sascu Downtown Activity Centre.

Saturday, January 30 And Sunday, January 31 Saga Public Art Gallery Presents “A Reel Lunch” From 11Am To 2Pm During The Film Festival Weekend. Soup, Bread, Coffee And A Cookie For $7. Come Out And Meet Your Friends, See The Exhibition.

Saturday, January 30 8:30 PM Laugh Out Loud Presents The Snowed In Comedy TourWhat Happens When 4 Top International Comedians Join Forces To Go Snowboarding During The Day And Do Comedy Shows At Night? Tickets At Ticketseller.Ca

NORTH of 50 January 2010

Community Events Armstrong

Knitting Circle - We invite you to a relaxing evening of sharing, learning and meeting new friends. Bring a project - needles and yarn - or just yourself. Beginners always welcome. Now accepting yarn donations for local charitable projects. Judy at 546-9475 or Marlene at 546-6325. www.knittingcircle.ca Armstrong Toastmasters.

All ages welcome! Come try Armstrong Toastmasters – the best communication & leadership training you can get in a friendly, supportive atmosphere.

Every Tuesday, 7:20pm – 9:30pm.

Coffee, Tea & Snacks.

Armstrong Spall Chamber of Commerce (3550 Bridge Street). 250.5463276 or 250.558.8110 or visit www.freewebs.com/ armstrongtoastmasters/

Enderby

Enderby and District Wheels to Meals Society Luncheon held every Wed. at the Seniors Complex.

1101 George St. in Enderby.

Come for a home cooked meal and visit with friends.

Meals cost $6 and you must be 65 or older.

Enderby Cliff Quilters meet at the Enderby Evangelical Chapel the first and third Mondays of each month from 1 to 5 pm.

Call Sonia at 838-0685 or June at 903-1799.

Lorenzo’s Cafe - 901 Mabel Lake Road (8 km east of Enderby). Join the jam with Dan Engelland from the Hoo Doos every Sunday at 6:00 pm. For info call (250) 838-6700.

Kelowna

The Kelowna Newcomers Club Meetings 7pm, 3rd Wed. of each month at the Seniors' Centre on Water Street. Newcomers enjoy interesting and informative speakers at the meetings, and have a chance to join some of the many varied activities available. Coffee and goodies are served 250-764-9686.

Ballroom dancing to good music every Sunday evening . 7:30 to 10:30 P.M. at the Water Street Senior Centre, 1360 Water Street Kelowna.

Dress code: no jeans, runners, or sandals. Dance lessons 1/2 hour before the dance.

Cost $6.00 Tea, coffee and

cookies included.

Mah Jong drop in every Wednesday 1PM at Branch #17 Seniors Centre 1353 Richter Street Kelowna.

Refresher sessions available. Contact # 250763-9410.

Central Okanagan Naturalist Club will meet on Tues Dec. 8, 7pm in the Evangel Church meeting room, 3261 Gordon Drive, Presentation by Eva Durance, basics of xeriscape gardening and landscaping,focusing on the importance and benefits of using plants native to the dry Interior of BC. Visitors welcome. info 250-7657410 or 250-769- 5907 Raging Grannies a group of concerned ladies who express their concerns with satirical songs, etc. Meet 2nd & 4th Mondays, 11 am, Kelowna Legion, 1380 Bertam. 860-1576.

Kelowna Singles Club Dances Bored - nothing to do? Why not come out to the Kelowna Singles Club' Dance Held at Rutland Centennial Hall at 180A Rutland Rd. N. Kelowna.

Doors open 7:00pm Dancing 8:00pm - 12:00am Bar and Refreshments Light lunch at 10:30pm Members $9:00 per person. Non-members $12:00. 250-763-1355 or 250-763-1867 Seniors Skate (Kelowna Recreation & Cultural Services) every Tuesday at Rutland Arena, 9 to 10 a.m. and every Thursday at downtown Memorial Arena, 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. $2 per sesson.

The Good Time Entertainers of Kelowna are looking for members!

This is a choir of men and women who sing all the popular oldies at Seniors' Residences on Wednesday afternoons.

Merilyn Schram at 250-826-8080 The Alzheimer Society of B.C. holds a support group for people in the early stage of Alzheimer Disease and related dementia on Tues. mornings at 865 Bernard Ave. 250-8600305 or mwasylyshen@ alzheimerbc.org.

Also a support group for caregivers of people with Alzheimer Disease and related dementia on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in the

page 9 salmon Arm

evenings.

The Rug Hooking Circle meets every second Monday at 1pm in Room 204, Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna. Practice a traditional Canadian art form in a group setting.

Angela at (250) 767-0206 www.rughookingteacher.ca

Lumby

Lumby Legion - Don’t forget to join us Thursday for darts, Friday for Pool, Saturday for our meat draws and keep your eyes open for out specialty dances and events! For info call 250547-2338.

Penticton

The Penticton Seniors Computer Club drops in days at the Leisure Centre, 439 Winnipeg Street, are: Monday 1 PM to 3 PM Wednesday 1 PM to 2 PM Friday 1 PM to 3 PM Mac Computer Support Monday 10 AM to 11 PM Members and visitors welcome.

Information (250) 492-7373.

Penticton Concert Band rehearses on Tuesdays from 7 - 8:30pm, in preparation for performances and to share in the sheer joy of making music with others.

Intermediate to Advanced players. Available for entertainment. Info 250809-2087 Penticton South Okanagan Seniors Wellness Society 696 Main St. Programs for the community - Volunteer Development, Friendly Visitor Program, Health Education, Elders Leading and Adopt-A-Grandparent.

487-7455.

Royal Canadian Legion, presents: the Following Special: Monday Night is Miser Monday: with chicken wings, and Baron/ Beef $3.00 each; bar specials; entertainment 5 9:00pm with different every Monday. Friday Night: is Membership appreciation Night; with 5:30 6:30pm full course meal; 6:30 - 10:30pm different entertainer every Friday Night Wednesday: is Bingo Day; 1:00pm Bingo, and 6:30pm Bingo; Meat Draw, every Saturday and Sunday; 250-493-0870 The Franco 50+ group meets Thursdays to socialize in French, from 1:30-3:30pm. Call Lina at 492-2549 for info.

Salmon Arm Duplicate Bridge club meets at 6:45 every Tuesday at the downtown Activity Centre. and every Sunday at 12:45 pm at Branch 109. 8327454 or 832-7323.

Fletcher Park Seniors Resource Centre 320A 2 nd Ave., N.E. Salmon Arm. Meals on Wheels, Lunch With Friends, Monday Morning Market, Shop and Drop, Income Tax Service, Advocacy, Foot Care, Volunteer Drivers for medically related appointments, Day Away, Senior Advisor, Frozen Dinners at Home, Seniors Housing List, Home Services List, Good Food Box and Caregivers Group.

Call (250) 832-7000.

Sicamous

Senior Citizen’s Meals (Wheels to Meals) at the Eagle Valley Haven, in the C o m m o n R o o m .

Phone ahead: 836-2437, 836-4718, 836-4302 or 836-2031.

Sicamous Family Market at the Seniors Activity Centre, Saturdays 8:30 am to 2 pm 836-2587.

TAPPEN Carlin Hall in Tappen Bluegrass/Slowpitch Jam. Bluegrass instruments only.

For info call 250-835-2322.

Tuesday nights 7pm-9pm.

Vernon

North Okanagan Seniors Action Network Meetings at the Shubert Centre every 2nd Tuesday of each month.

Hosted by seniors resource bureau. Call 250-545-8572 for more info.

The Vernon Seniors Choir under the direction of Lyn Taron rehearses each Wednesday from 12:30 to 2:30 PM at the Halina Complex in the Vernon Rec. Centre. Our motto is " MUSIC IS OUR CONTRIBUTION". For more information call: 250-545-3119 OR 250542-2264 ELKS LODGE -3103 -30TH STREE -VERNON Every Friday Nite, Supper at 6:00 pm Cost $7.50 for Home Cooked meal and Mini Meat Draw 50/50 draw after Dinner.

Everyone Welcomemembers and non-members Vernon Singles ClubUpcoming Dances. Dances held at the Eagles Hall -

Subscriptions make a Great Gift!

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To start your sub today call 1-877-667-8450 Clip or photocopy this form and mail with a cheque for $22.05 to: NORTH of 50 Publications Box 100, Armstrong BC V0E 1B0

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5101-25th Ave., Vernon or Schubert Center - 350530th Ave., Vernon. For more information please contact Dawn 250-5589974 or Lottie 250-5492495 Fun Time Seniors 50+ Thursdays at the Schubert Centre from 10 to 11:30 am. Free event including games, entertainment, talks & videos. 545-5984 or 549-4201.

Oil Painting - Drop-in Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Vernon Community Arts Centre. Fee is $3.00 for members, $4.00 for non-members.

First Tuesday of every month the Vernon Placer Miner Club (gold panning club) meets at 7 pm,bsmt of Peace Lutheran Church at 1204-30 Ave. Guests welcome. Mem-berships for family, $20/yr. For more info contact: Donna Smith 250-545-3832 or mrspumpkin36@hotmail. com or Jerry Stainer 250549-4395.

Brazilian Embroidery Chapter Stitching group gathers every second Thursday of the month, 7 pm. Call Pat at 549-2219 or Mary at 545-3939.

Sunshine Seniors meet 2nd & 4th Friday of the month, downstairs at the Peace Lutheran Church, 1204-30th Ave., at 1:30 p.m. All 55+ invited to fellowship, devotions, games and always excellent

treats and coffee. Annual membership is $3.

The Vernon Lapidary and Mineral Club (Rockhounders) meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month, at 7:30 p.m. (except July and August) in the Art Centre, 2704A Hwy 6, in Polson Park. For info call 545-1274, or 542-0616.

Schubert Centre 3505 30th Ave. Shuffleboard, Monday to Friday at 8am 250-549-4201

Winfield

Cribbage Tournament at the Seniors Activity Center9832Bottomwoodlake Rd. Each 3rd Sunday of the month. Entree fee $12.00 Excellent lunch incl.

Games start at 10:00 am Play partners and meet new friends. John 250-766-3026

FREE COMMUNITY EVENTS LISTING: List your community event by calling tollfree 1-877-667-8450 or email details to info@northof50.com

NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 10

Equinisity

story and photos submitted by Liz Mitten Ryan

Equinisity is "the gift of finding the unexpected yet truly meaningful perspective through the almost 360 degree vision of the equine"

On 320 acre Gateway 2 Ranch in the interior gEquinisity is "the gift of finding the unexpected yet truly

meaningful perspective through the almost 360 degree vision of the equine" On 320 acre Gateway 2 Ranch in the interior grasslands of British Columbia, horses have a special job as teachers and healers.

The ranch offers E.A.R.T.H. (Equine Assisted Re-connective Therapy and Healing) programs to participants who come from all over the world to manifest their heart’s desires and a oneness connection to the land and the animals. The program recreates the experience of oneness and love found when we re-connect to our inner child.

Gateway 2 Ranch is home to crystals, vortexes, and natural flora and fauna as well as author Liz Mitten Ryan, her husband, and their sixteen horses, dogs, cats and Tesoro the steer. In this pristine setting, all things properly align for the highest earthly vision human beings can possibly experience.

Here, the free-roaming herd shares the barn/house with Liz and Kevin. The horses are loved and treated as family. Indeed, the animals of Gateway 2 Ranch have co-authored Liz’s four award-winning books. The four books have garnered eight Independent Publishing awards, gold and silver Indies and Ippy’s and most notably a silver Nautilus Award.

Nautilus Book Awards Winners are carefully selected in a unique three-tier judging process by experienced teams of book reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, bookstore owners, and leaders in the publishing industry. Mitten Ryan and Prima are in terrific company, as past Nautilus winners include Deepak Chopra, the Dahli Lama and Eckhart Tolle.

The Truth According to Horses is a handbook to life through which the horses reveal a higher perspective and a wisdom untarnished by human mass-mind belief. Living year-around in close proximity with the

herd and in seclusion from the rest of the world, Mitten Ryan has identified a door to spiritual realms and mysteries that many would like to open, but do not know how.

Visitors stay in wall tents and the Spirit Lodge in rustic yet very comfortable surroundings, and share vegetarian and organic meals prepared by a gourmet chef. Walking the land they experience a long forgotten connection with the rocks and trees, learn shamanic rituals and reclaim their power as wise spiritual beings in the company of spiritual equals.

In the pristine grassland, lakes, and forests of Gateway, the horses interact at liberty, visiting and communicating with amazed participants, sharing their healing gifts and teaching the subjects of truth and intuitive connection. Playing and riding is all done at liberty or with halters, bareback pads and treeless saddles.

To learn more visit www.lizmittenryan.com.

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 11

Comfort Foods That Won't Spoil Your Waistline Most cultures have their share of comfort foods that seem to make a bad day better.

Or perhaps they evoke feelings of family or special holidays. The trouble with most comfort foods is that they tend to be carbohydrate-laden, high-calorie items that can pack on the pounds. Something you may not be apt to do after making healthy resolutions.

There are ways to turn favorite comfort foods into healthier options that still satisfy. Consider these modifications to the foods you love.

Stew: Hearty stews can make winter weather bearable. Swap out fatty meats, such as chuck, for leaner cuts or even chicken breast. Increase the ratio of vegetables to meat and potatoes for a filling option that still has the ingredients you love. Use low-fat gravy or broth to create the stew liquid and thicken with a little cornstarch.

Chili: A warm bowl of chili is a favorite for many. Use the leaner cuts of ground beef (such as sirloin or ground round) and skim off any excess fat during cooking.

Or simply go with ground turkey or chicken as an alternative. Increase the amount of peppers and beans you add to the chili mix. Achieve flavor with seasonings, instead of fat. Serve with low-fat shredded cheese on top and a dollop of fat-free sour cream.

Mashed potatoes: Who can resist a heaping serving of mashed potatoes? The trouble is the butter and milk in the mix could make those potatoes much heavier in calories than you desire. Make mashed potatoes with a 50-50 ratio of potatoes and cauliflower. The texture will be the same, but you'll be using fewer carbs. Replace butter and milk with low-fat stock for flavor. You can also mix in some low-fat sour cream to thicken your potatoes and add a little bite to the flavor.

Mac and cheese: Macaroni and cheese may be one of the all-time favorite comfort foods. But with that much cheese, it's not so comforting for those watching their weight. For a healthier version, swap out regular macaroni for whole wheat. Use a low-fat cheddar or even an easily melting low-fat cheese spread in place of whole milk cheeses. Skim milk will help make the combination creamy, as will low-fat evaporated milk. Beef up the nutritional value of the dish by adding diced tomatoes or peppers. Turn it from a side dish into a main dish by adding lean ground turkey.

Potato chips: Do you enjoy a bowl of potato chips while watching television?

Many do, with consequences. Baked varieties are healthier, or try making your own "chips" at home. Thinly slice potatoes with the skin on. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Dust with salt, pepper or your favorite seasonings. Bake at 400 F until the desired crispiness is reached.

Lasagna: This popular Italian dish is heavy on cheese, possibly meat and pasta. It can be a recipe for dieting disaster. Substitute a whole grain or multigrain pasta noodle for regular lasagna noodles. Alternate layers of your lasagna with thinly sliced eggplant or zucchini to cut down on the amount of pasta. Select nonfat cheeses and use sparingly. Skip the sausage or ground beef and replace with chopped spinach.

Pizza: Pizza is a popular comfort food. The best way to cut the calories from pizza is to make it yourself instead of ordering out. Use a whole-wheat dough and low-fat cheese. Make the pizza more filling by piling on fresh vegetables. If you prefer plain pizza, fill up on a side dish of salad so you're less tempted to indulge in two or three slices.

Bread: Bread products can be better for you when you choose whole grain or multigrain varieties. Instead of butter, consider dipping bread in a small amount of seasoned olive oil.

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ey

NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 12 The Olympic Torch Relay arrives in Kelowna on January 25, 2010.

A celebration will be held at City Park starting at 5 p.m. with entertainers, celebration displays and of course the Olympic Flame. The highlight of the evening is sure to be when Olympic Medalist Scott Frandsen will light the 1.3-metre high community cauldron, in a move similar to the dramatic highlight of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremonies.

"We are really excited to have been chosen for a Community Celebration and overnight stop on the 2010 Olympic torch relay," said Reid Oddleifson, Kelowna Community Celebration Task Force Chair. "The Task Force is putting together the final touches of what we expect to be the biggest community gathering in Kelowna in 2010."

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Every new Suzuki vehicle comes with a 5-year 100,000 kilometre powertrain limited warranty.

See your dealer for details or visit Suzuki.ca for more information.

CONSUMERS SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING: Vehicles may not be exactly as shown. Limited time offers are subject to change without notice. Administration fee, duties on new tires (where applicable), $72 PPSA (where applicable), other taxes, license, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. *MSRP of a new 2010 Grand Vitara with automatic transmission (Model L2NB5T0), 2010 SX4 Sedan with manual transmission (Model S3LB1J0) and 2010 SX4 AWD Hatchback with manual transmission (Model H3NB2J0) is $29,545/$19,090/$22,990 ($1,550/$1,395/$1,395 destination and delivery charge included). *†Limited time finance offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit. Special bi-weekly purchase financing offer is available for a 72/72/72 month term or for a total of 156/156/156 bi-weekly payments. The bi-weekly payment at 0.9%/0.9%/0.9% purchase financing APR is $170/$97/$137 with $3,600/$2,000/$2,175 down payment. Cost of borrowing is $708/$404/$571 for a total obligation of $30,120/$17,132/$23,547 ($1,550/$1,395/$1,395 destination and delivery charge included). *‡Limited time finance offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit. Special bi-weekly purchase financing offer is available on a new 2010 Grand Vitara with automatic transmission (Model L2NB5T0) and 2010 SX4 AWD Hatchback with manual transmission (Model H3NB2J0) for a 60/60 month term or for a total of 130/130 bi-weekly payments. The bi-weekly payment at 0%/0% purchase financing APR is $227/$177 with $0/$0 down payment.

Cost of borrowing is $0/$0 for a total obligation of $29,545/$22,990 ($1,550/$1,395 destination and delivery charge included). ◊New starting price is calculated after subtracting dealer participation and stackable credits off the 2010 MSRP. Starting prices of a new 2010 SX4 Sedan with manual transmission (Model S3LB1J0), after subtracting dealer participation credits of $500 and stackable credits of $1,900, is $16,690. Limited time finance offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit. Special bi-weekly purchase financing offer is available for a 60 month term or for a total of 130 bi-weekly payments. The bi-weekly payment at 0% purchase financing APR is $129 with $0 down payment. Cost of borrowing is $0 for a total obligation of $16,690 ($1,395 destination and delivery charge included). Ω”NO PAYMENTS FOR 90 DAYS” applies to purchase financing offers on all new 2010 models. No interest will accrue during the first 60 days of the finance contract. After this period, interest starts to accrue and the purchaser will repay principal and interest monthly over the term of the contract. **MSRP of models shown, 2010 Grand Vitara JLX with automatic transmission (Model L2NB5VO), 2010 SX4 Sedan Sport with manual transmission (Model S3LB1KO) and 2010 SX4 AWD Hatchback JLX with automatic transmission (Model H3NB720) is $31,045/$21,040/$26,090 ($1,550/$1,395/$1,395 destination and delivery charge included). Certain conditions apply. Dealers may sell for less. Information shown is based on the latest available information at the time of print. See participating dealers for conditions and details. Offers end January 4th, 2010.

The celebration will be an opportunity for the entire community to come together and share in the Olympic spirit and Kelowna community pride. To accommodate the community in City Park, free transit will be offered.

SUZUK14205_BC DEC admat.indd 1

172 John St., Toronto, ON M5T 1X5 Studio Hotline 416 348 0048 x411

BC

12/4/09 4:35:09 PM

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542-3723 VERNON ETD& .

BRAK L NG I R P SComplete Spring, Brake & Front End Service

Docket Number: SUZUK15051

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Headline: PERFECT FOR OUR WINTERS Studio Designer: Aron Harris

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Fax 260-1799 2815 - 44th Avenue Vernon, BC V1T 7P4

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NOTES: THIS IS NOT A COLOUR PROOF. Refer to pantone chips and process match books for accurate colour samples. No trapping has been done to this file. Our artists have done everything possible to make this file mechanically perfect. However, before signing approval please check all copy, dimensions and colour space.

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 13

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 14

Home Photo Source: Tourism BC

Places to Find Powder in 2010 Sun Peaks Resort Catches a Bad Case of Olympic Fever In the contagious spirit of the 2010 Winter Games, this February 12 - 28 Sun Peaks Resort invites everyone to be an Olympian, at least in their dreams. Revelry knows no bounds at this triple-mountain complex. >From the creative minds who first added Snowshoe Golf to BC’s winter sports vocabulary come two new demonstration sports—Nordic Ski Nerf Biathlon action coupled with an extreme speed event, Tube Luge.

Trophies will be as highly prized by the winners as any medals listed on the resort’s podium count board where Canadian athlete’s accomplishments, together with the other top five nations, will be regularly updated. And there’s plenty of excitement to be had on the slopes – this is, after all, the yearly training ground for the mighty Austrian ski team. An added bonus? Canada’s most renowned Winter Olympian, skier Nancy Greene Raine, calls Sun Peaks Resort home. (Adventurers can ski with Greene Raine most weekends at 1 p.m. from the top of the Sunburst Chairlift.) To fully appreciate what makes an Olympic medal special, drop

by Nancy’s Cahilty Lodge to check out her impressive trophy stash. The ever-youthful senator may even offer to hang one around your neck, a priceless Olympic bonus. www.sunpeaksresort.com

Getting an Edge at Panorama Mountain Resort When visiting pros first dialed Panorama Mountain Village’s new Showoff Terrain Park last spring, they were quick to label it the biggest and best in the Canadian Rockies. To prove that was no fluke, this March 20 – 21, Panorama (due north from Cranbrook’s Canadian Rockies International Airport and a short drive from Calgary) will host the second annual Showoff Freestyle Weekend, featuring four events, cash prizes, and live music. The park’s freestyle terrain nestled alongside the Mile 1 chair provides a haven for those

not tempted by the breezy expanse of Founders Ridge.

Plus, the Mile 1 quad lift offers improved access for those snow sliders who want an “I can see forever” experience. Further up the 2,370-metre (7,775-foot) mountain, Panorama has opened a formerly inaccessible heli-ski area between the View of 1,000 Peaks and Stumbock’s runs. Deep powder turns, glades, and plenty of the intermediate-level terrain that Panorama is renowned for gives skiers and riders a glimpse of what to expect in this new area in coming years. In preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games’ alpine ski races held at Panorama’s sister resort, Whistler Blackcomb, watch out for an international gathering of Olympic alpine ski teams—including the Canadian Women Alpine Ski Team, the Canadian Alpine Snowboard Team, the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team and local Olympian, Nick Brush, guide for Paralympic silver medalist alpine downhill ski racer, Chris Williamson—here to sharpen their edges and skills. www.panoramaresort.com

Circus Time at Apex Mountain Resort The outcome of a visit to Apex Mountain Resort in the south Okanagan is a no-brainer: those who journey uphill from Penticton in search of champagne powder snow end up following a predictable routine. The day starts with an oogey-gooey cinnamon bun at the Fresh Tracks Café, followed a few descents later by a stop at the Billy Goat Hut, then, after as many cruisers as possible on the Motherlode—best intermediate run in the Okanagan—settling into the Gunbarrel Saloon to warm up. During mid-winter cold snaps, such a regime is truly heart and feet warming. This is a good thing, especially when the winds blow cold atop mile-high Beaconsfield Mountain, where views stretch south into Washington State. February gives added incentive for snowboarders and skiers to stick together. On Valentine’s Day, Pentagon Board Shop hosts the first annual Show A Little Love Showdown, a spectator-friendly, big-air slopestyle snowboard event in the heart of the

resort. No need to hike to the terrain park to catch the action as riders drawn from throughout the valley launch off a Showtime booter at the top of the course followed by a jib or two down into the village. Not to be overshadowed, the week-long Canada Post NorAm Freestyle Frenzy (February 26 - March 2) offers skiers the chance to blast through Apex’s World Cup mogul course, throw down one or two monster kickers, and stick a judge-pleasing landing to claim top spot.

Sounds like the white circus is definitely coming to town. www.apexresort.com

Bulkley Valley Nordic Marathon Maybe it’s the rolling white landscape, the crisp mountain air, a touch of cabin fever, or a distillation of all three. Whatever the draw, expect a competitive, pentup field of skinny-ski skiers to turn out for the Bulkley Valley Nordic Marathons—both classic and skate. Held in the snowy heart of Northern BC on February 27 - 28, winter marathons epitomize the region’s esprit de ski.

From past experience hosting such loppets, most recently the Western Canadian Championships in 2007, volunteers at Smithers’s Bulkley Valley Nordic Centre know how to stage always-colourful, mass-start races.

Plus the centre’s wood-frame Buchfink Lodge is plenty big enough to handle all comers, whether in search of a good wax job or a cup of steaming mocha. Cross-country ski roots run deep here on the slopes of massive Hudson Bay Mountain, home to the largest nordic club per capita in the province since 1984. When it comes to enjoying the countryside, the 5,575-strong citizenry of Smithers (seven of which qualified as cross-country skiing officials for the 2010 Winter Games) outperform their Yellowhead Highway town’s size. One caveat: majestically-horned moose also call the Bulkley Valley home. Don’t be surprised to find the occasional ungulate munching its way along a backstreet, not to mention in one of the valley’s moose meadows that double as nordic terrain in winter. The sight of the shy creature is enough to set any marathoner’s adrenal glands aflutter. www.bvnordic.ca

NORTH of 50 January 2010

and Away

by Hannah Rollmaker

Benidorm, located on the beautiful Mediterranean coast, has been the vacation spot of choice for many Northern Europeans ever since the 1960s, when holiday packages came into vogue and the city went from a quiet fishing village to a tourist hotspot almost overnight. The Benidorm of today is widely known for its oceanfront resorts and amazing cityscape, built with tourist money thanks to the millions of visitors who come to Benidorm to leave the world behind for a week. Benidorm also boasts some of the most raucous

Niagara is more than just home to the beautiful falls.

This place in Canada also holds numerous hotels and motels that offer breathtaking views of the scenery.

There are many hotels and motels in Niagara Falls.

Niagara is one of the famous wonders of the earth that has an average of at least 28 million tourist visitors over the year. Peak tourist season is during the summer – the time when these falls look their most beautiful. There are many recommended places you can book into during your visit to Niagara Falls. Among the top most beautiful luxury hotels and motels in Niagara Falls are the following.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Niagara Falls – This five star hotel offers magnificent views of the Niagara Falls.

It is indeed the nearest hotel structure built beside the

and enjoyable nightlife around the Mediterranean, making it a hedonist’s Eden. It wasn’t always this way, though.

Before it became a bustling holiday wonderland, Benidorm was a city built with the noblest intentions: The aim was to create a zoned city that allowed every landowner extra space for privacy and comfort. This was an amenity unavailable in most of the other Spanish cities at the time. The city was perfectly situated to make use of all the natural grandeur that Spain had to

falls. It is a 42 storey building with 512 luxurious room accommodations. The Embassy offers Whirlpool Presidential Suites and a nightly Fireworks presentation by the falls. Tremendous recreation facilities are also provided such as an indoor pool, fitness center, whirlpool, outdoor sun deck, arcade game room, scenic wine route and the Shaw festival theater. Embassy Suites is definitely a trademark of many top hotels and motels in Niagara.

Marriott Niagara Falls Falls view Hotel & Spa – This is a 23 storey hotel with 432 guest rooms and suites overlooking the Niagara Falls. It is considered as among the best hotels and motels in Niagara. It is an awarded hotel for its top quality services and outstanding hotel amenities as well as facilities. Hotel amenities include an indoor pool, outdoor sun deck, whirlpool, sauna and steam room. They also offer in room massage treatments.

Blue Moon Motel – This is among the top hotels and motels in Niagara Falls. It is an affordable high quality motel located at Lundy’s Lane near Factory Outlet and the Niagara Golf Club. Motel amenities include an in ground heated swimming pool, picnic garden with barbecue area and a children’s area. The motel offers Jacuzzi Suite rooms, Family Suite rooms and different accommodation packages you can choose from.

Fall Manor Motel – This is a small motel that has

page 15 offer. The glimmering Mediterranean Sea was an arm’s reach away and coastline turned into lush, green pastures. More incredibly, beautiful Spanish Mountains were not far away inland. These mountains helped and still do help to give Benidorm what is known as a “microclimate”. Put simply, Benidorm enjoys some of the most consistently pleasurable weather thanks to the height of these mountains sending unwelcome wind patterns elsewhere. This same Benidorm exists today, albeit only in spirit. The pristine location is still perfectly seated between rolling mountains and a gorgeous seascape, making it a bounty for both the eyes and the body. The curious zoning laws of Benidorm are still enforced, as well, though this only applies to the seventy thousand or so people who call the city home. The many tourists that visit each year have as their home some of the finest hotels on the continent, like the Gran Hotel Bali, overlooking some of the most beautiful and cherished beaches known to man. Most notable among these beaches are Llevante, Poniente, and Mal Pas. Each one of these pristine locations has been recognized by the EU to be of the highest quality possibly attainable.

Benidorm, perhaps due to the many tourists who fall in love with the city and refuse to leave, is one of the most ethnically varied cities in Europe and has the highest immigrant population in Spain. Add to this the fact that hundreds of different races and backgrounds visit Benidorm each day and the end result is one of the most international cities on the planet. Surprisingly, there is very little crime and illicit activity to be found in Benidorm, aside from the seedier late night cabaret shows. Although most tourist towns keep a firm hand on crime in order to not detract visitors, perhaps the real reason that Benidorm is generally peaceful is because, no matter what your background, the city is simply too enjoyable for anybody to hold a grudge or feel anger. This very unique town on the Mediterranean just might be the closest thing to a Utopia that our species will ever have.

About the Author: For accommodation in Benidorm check this list of Benidorm hotels: http://www.hotelsrgo.com/Spain/Benidorm.html

been running for over 50 years now. It is one of the most affordable hotels and motels in Niagara. This small motel offers a wide variety of room accommodations from single bed rooms to honeymoon suites. All of which are clean and perfectly designed for elegance and convenience. Motel amenities include a picnic area, large outdoor pools, pet friendly cottage units and shuttle buses to the falls.

Anchor Lodge Motel Anchor Lodge Motel is an ideal motel for people who want to visit Niagara Falls and get a restful sleep afterwards. Unlike other well known Niagara hotels and motels, Anchor Lodge motel is located where it remains silent and reserved from the busy Niagara Falls. Anchor Lodge also offers Jacuzzi rooms and Family rooms with complete basic amenities.

The majestic and awesome beauty of the Niagara Falls attracts more than 12 million visitors each year.

Though the falls are the main attraction, the area around Niagara Falls also presents some of the best tourist places.

Visitors planning to visit this magical and popular tourist destination will also find a wide variety of hotels and accommodations near Niagara Falls. Cheap hotels and inns such as the Knights Inn Niagara Falls, Econo Lodge at the Falls North and the Caravan Motel offer value for money accommodations. Tourists looking for luxurious and 5 star hotels are recommended the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel, Radisson Hotel & Suites Fallsview and the Marriott Niagara Falls Hotel & Spa.

page 16

Arts and Entertainment

Submitted by Jude Edwards

Marty Edwards as "Kinda Kenny"

Remember Marty Edwards, the Kenny Rogers Lookalike who appeared on the cover of North of 50 in May 2007? Back then he was a realtor, who performed several times a year to raise funds for various charitable organizations.

With show demand on the rise, Marty left the real estate business behind to make more time for peforming. It has been, by all appearances, the endless entertainment season, with a swarm on national, overseas shows and a parade of “Kenny Rogers” and “Kenny & Dolly” tribute shows.

Last January Marty spent a month performing in Mazatlan, Mexico and with “Ed Sullivan” (Larry Merchison) joining him on stage, they produced the most sold out shows for the venue to date. Following Mexico, Marty traveled to Arizona where he worked the Casinos until the end of February.

Spring through October 2009, Marty spent a number of months working the Ontario market introducing “Kinda Kenny” and his Kenny Rogers Tribute to Eastern Canada agents. With his reputation preceding

him he performed in a number of eastern cities and has quickly become very well known, so much so that he will be heading back in the spring for a “Kenny and Dolly” tour. While the agents were promoting him in Ontario he was also busy flying to and from many of the two to three day shows outside Ontario including the Okanagan, Atlantic City, Michigan, Spokane, Vancouver Island, Orlando and several other cities.

Working with a top Las Vegas “Dolly” tribute artist, Marty has taken his show to a new level. The “Kenny and Dolly -Together Again” tribute show toured Ireland last year and this year has taken them to Australia for a tour during May and June. With the huge success they had "Downunder", they were asked to return to Australia with the “Kenny and Dolly Christmas Show” and are currently working another 6-week tour there that ends on Dec 7th.

After resting up for a few weeks, the next performance for Marty is a return show to Mazatland, Mexico, followed by more shows in Arizona wrapping this tour up March 18th 2010.

With inquiries from Singapore and South Africa, Marty looks forward to adding two more exciting venues to his experiences.

“I was working a deal for a South Africa/Denmark tour this winter, but due to time constraints, that tour did not come through this year. We will now be working to hopefully perform this tour for sometime next year. I am excited and would love to add this tour to my portfolio having so far performed coast to coast through Canada and the USA, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, England and Ireland. What a great opportunity Kenny Rogers has given me!” says Edwards. His tribute to some tribute to Kenny Rogers has now taken him international, to places he never dreamed he would visit.

Marty Edwards website is:www.kindakenny.com.

LAUREL PACKINGHOUSE RESTORATION BEGINS IN JANUARY A Cultural District cornerstone will undergo restoration beginning this January. During the restoration process, the BC Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop, located inside the Laurel Packinghouse, will remain open seven days a week. The VQA Wine Shop will move temporarily into a facility immediately behind the Laurel on Ellis Street.

The historic Laurel Packinghouse is the City of Kelowna’s first designated heritage building and is the oldest standing packinghouse in the province. Built from bricks made locally from Knox Mountain clay, the Laurel was in use as a fruit packinghouse from 1917 to the early 1970s. In 1982, restoration began and over the years the Laurel has become an integral part of the community “Restoration of the Laurel Packinghouse brings with it wonderful benefits and a better understanding of agriculture to Kelowna, to the Cultural District, and to the Okanagan region,” comments Wayne Wilson, Executive Director of the Kelowna Museums Society. “As an architectural icon and an important part of the area’s legacy, the Laurel Packinghouse restoration project is an exciting model for heritage in the community.”

The Laurel Packinghouse is owned by the City of Kelowna and operated by the Kelowna Museums Society which oversees the two museums housed inside the Laurel, the BC Wine Museum and the BC Orchard Industry Museum. The Orchard Museum has temporarily moved some of its exhibits to the Okanagan Heritage Museum where staff will continue to run Orchard Museum school programs.

The BC Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The VQA Wine Shop offers free daily wine tastings and a larger, more comprehensive complimentary wine tasting the first Thursday of every month, called the Neighbourhood Nosh. The next Neighbourhood Nosh event is January 7th, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information call the BC Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop at 250-868-0441 or visit www.KelownaMuseums.ca.

NORTH of 50 January 2010

Photo Credit: Charles Hope

Joni Mitchell's Fiddle and the Drum

The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Society and the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad proudly present Joni Mitchell and Alberta Ballet’s production of The Fiddle and the Drum, on Tuesday January 19th, 2009 at 8:00pm at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. The Fiddle and the Drum is the third of five shows in the Society’s Dance Series.

Joni Mitchell, one of the most influential singer / song writers of her generation has integrated 44 years of her music and paintings with Alberta Ballet’s innovative choreographer Jean Grand-Maitre to create a ballet that speaks volumes of Mitchell’s life-long concerns about environmental neglect and the temptations of war.

“As an artist creating today, quite frankly, I can see no other subject matter that is of more importance now.

We need people to awaken to this reality,” Ms. Mitchell said.

The Fiddle and the Drum is an athletically thrilling ballet set to selections from Mitchell’s stunning catalogue. Though mainly balletic, the gorgeous arabesques and high flying leaps merge with a variety of eye catching dance styles, including jazz, hip hop, modern and club.

Working together in extraordinary synergy, GrandMaitre and Mitchell guide the dancers of Canada’s third largest dance company to breathe the voice and rhythms of timeless songs into their movements.

The result is a critically acclaimed ballet that has consistently earned standing ovations across North America. It’s even captured the attention and imagination of Sir Elton John, who has since collaborated with Jean Grand-Maitre to create Elton, premiering May 2010.

The Fiddle and the Drum opens with Mitchell’s unaccompanied voice. Lyrics from the title track, “How did you come to trade the fiddle for the drum?”, give a fascinating chill as a single dancer stands alone in white trunks, his bare-chested body streaked with red and green paint, lips eerily scarlet. The company gradually joins him swelling into a huddle, walking upstage, as the haunting 1969 anti-war lyrics declare the timeless truth of peace over war.

The fusion of Mitchell’s brilliant lyrics and melodies accentuated with movement is captivating and poetic throughout the production. “In some pieces a trio of dancers are the three part harmony, with an ensemble of duets dancing to the groove -- often in contrast to the lyrics”, says Grand-Maitre. He hopes the various art forms will complement one another and speak to the audience on many levels: to their intellect, to their instinct, to their conscience.

Grand-Maitre, currently serving as Choreography Director for the 2010 Olympic Games Ceremonies in Vancouver, said this of his collaboration with Mitchell: “Even if it was for a very short moment – it was worth a lifetime for me.”

NORTH of 50 January 2010

Urban Chickens

page 17

by Trudy Frisk

The chickens are coming. From Kamloops to Vancouver fowl fanciers arelobbying city councils to approve keeping back yard birds. This isn't a B.C. phenomenon. Across the U.S. sales of chickens to urban residents are up by 25%.

"City folk are turning to chickens," reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "not just as childfriendly pets, but as garden accessories, call them live yard-art, at a time when the mere glimpse of a few fat birds puttering around in the petunias lays a big smile on their faces. Call it the simple life.

Credit the fresh eggs. Regardless,chickens are flying high, not just in Atlanta, but right across the country."

This schmaltzy urban take on chickens just shows what good P.R. can do for a species. I respect chickens. There's no better method of turning grasshoppers, grubs and seeds into eggs. For decades chickens provided sustenance to the farm family and a source of income to the farm wife.

These days, however, few people know chickens personally.

They've heard the stories. The Little Red Hen, that thrifty provider, diligently working away while other animals scoffed at her. Chicken Little, the world's first non-human weather predictor, warning that the sky was falling. Wise, dedicated, caring birds. Just the sort of thing for the back yard.

Someone should warn those city folk that, unless they change their assumptions about chickens, they are in for some nasty surprises.

They can kiss their petunias goodbye, along with most other yard plants. Those sweet birds busily pecking around the property also bite and scratch and will uproot any plant they can get at. City gardeners will have to choose: chickens or petunias.

It's not likely they'll get to keep both.

"Child-friendly,eh?" There's an urban myth in the making unless chickens have changed considerably since I used to pass the hen-house at a full gallop, hoping to out-distance the rooster. Somewhere, in some breed, there may be roosters which have taken a pledge of non-violence. I never met one. Leghorns, Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, one and all had roosters renowned for their ferocity. Size is no guarantee of gentleness; the bantam roosters were toughest of all.

SARA DAVIS BUECHNER SET TO “WOW” NORTH OKANAGAN AUDIENCES. The spotlight will shine in two directions when the North Okanagan Community Concert Association presents pianist extraordinaire, Sara Davis Buechner, January 13 at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre.

As though they were entering the Academy Awards, audience members will be in the limelight as they walk The Red Carpet into the foyer. Everyone is invited to dress up as their favorite famous person – dead or alive – or just don their best duds. A “faux” but vivacious Mary Hart, clone of the renowned TV entertainment columnist, will randomly interview these “rich and famous”.

Regrettably, previous commitments prevent Ms. Hart from also attending Sara’s matinee performance on January 14. Some people may want to exchange their afternoon tickets so they can participate in the evening fun.

At curtain time, the spotlight turns to the star of the evening. World-renowned Sara Davis Buechner, who is also an assistant professor of piano and chamber music at the University of British Columbia, is serious about her music. Her repertoire overflows with nearly 100 different concertos, ranging from Mozart to Chopin to Busoni.

She is also in great demand as an adjudicator at important music festivals, and as a lecturer and master class presenter from the Royal Academy in England to the Julliard School in New York and the Kobe-Yamate Gakuen in Japan.

Sara’s charmingly dry humour and gregarious personality leap from the stage. She carries the audience along on musical adventures that were described by The New York Times as “having intelligence, integrity and allencompassing prowess”.

Everyone has the opportunity to catch Sara Davis Buechner’s performance.

Single tickets to the North Okanagan Community Concerts are available for $34.50 (half price for those under 18) from the Ticket Seller in Vernon. Call 250-549-7469 or e-mail www.ticketseller.ca to reserve your seat.

The evening performance, which includes “The Red Carpet Event” is 7:30, Wednesday, January 13 and the matinee is at 1:30, Thursday, January 14 at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre.

As for being "child-friendly", we children were the ones they picked on because we were smaller and more vulnerable. I still have the faded scar from the time I ran headlong into a barbed wire fence trying to get away from the resident rooster.

Nothing made an impression on that rooster until the day when, drunk with confidence, he overextended himself and attacked our father. Father was just coming out of the out-house, doing up his braces and thinking solemn thoughts when the rooster launched himself and landed, talons out, right in the middle of Father's back. The rooster soon realized his mistake. Dislodged from his perch, he ran faster and faster around the yard pursued by Father who was kicking at him while holding up his pants and uttering strong words.

People usually protest that this sort of behaviour is to be expected from roosters, but that hens are quiet, kindly, clucking creatures, symbols of domestic coziness. Hah! City chicken-lovers are about to discover the origin of the term 'pecking order'!

All nature is a circle. What goes into a chicken, whether it's worms or chicken feed, must inevitably come out. Unless the chickens are penned, which lessens their interactive potential, the resulting manure will be all over the yard. Explaining to a chagrined canvasser for the Heart and Stroke fund that she's just slipped on a pile of yard-art droppings may mollify her. Then, again, maybe not.

I'm betting it won't be her ''carbon footprint'' she's thinking of while attempting to clean her shoes.

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

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Health Matters Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society Alzheimer Awareness Month, January 2010 Currently, there are 500,000 Canadians living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, a number that within a generation could reach more than one million people across the country. In short, our aging population is fueling a rising tide of dementia that threatens to overwhelm our health and social systems.

This January during Alzheimer Awareness Month, the Alzheimer Society will be releasing a pivotal study Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society. This study will, for the first time since 1991, provide new startling information on the growing economic impact of dementia in Canada. It will also outline a series of potential intervention strategies that could help reduce the number of people affected by dementia, if our governments were to invest in the right solutions.

"Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a rising concern in this country, an epidemic that has the potential to cripple the Canadian health care system if changes are not made today," says Debbie Benczkowski, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "The Rising Tide study is a call to action – both to our country's parliamentarians, as well as the general public - to put their minds to making change happen, while there is still time."

According to Statistics Canada, already, 4.3 million Canadians are aged 65 or older, meaning that one in seven of us are now senior citizens. By 2015, the number of seniors is expected to reach 5.4 million. As age remains the number one risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, it has been long feared that

the aging of our population was going to have direct consequences on the number of people living with these illnesses.

Rising Tide studies dementia in great depth, with a view to understanding the current demographic and epidemiological profile of the disease, along with the economic consequences over the next 30 years. Based on what we already know about dementia, for example how to reduce the risk and how to support people already living with it, this study also analyzes the possible effects of certain interventions, and how they could affect the health care and economic impacts of dementia in Canada.

Measure of Hope While Rising Tide will present some frightening statistics, we must remember that this only represents a future where no change is made. However, by investing in research and prevention, by educating and supporting our caregivers, and by raising awareness and ensuring that people are diagnosed early in the disease process, we can make a difference.

But we can't do it alone. The voice of the Society is only as strong as the number of Canadians we have supporting our call for action.

"With the release of the Rising Tide study, we will have the evidence we need to ensure our call for change is heard by governments across the country," says Benczkowski. "At the same time, it is critical that Canadians continue to champion the fight against dementia, working in partnership with our governments and encouraging them to take action."

For more information on Rising Tide, please visit www.alzheimer.ca.

Life-Saving Transplant Programs Go Platinum!

This year, BC Transplant, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority, is pleased to celebrate two significant milestones—the 20th anniversary of both the liver and the lung transplant programs in BC. Organ donation saves lives. Register your decision on BC’s Organ Donor Registry at www.transplant.bc.ca or telephone 1.800.663.6189.

Sneak Some Exercise Into Regular Activities

Many people equate "exercise" with doing a workout video or heading to the gym. This doesn't have to be the case at all. Regular daily activities provide a lot of the exercise a person needs and can be tweaked to provide even more. * Move while watching TV or playing video games: There are several video games today that make physical activity part of the fun. Even if your gaming system doesn't feature getting up and being active, do so on your own. While watching a television show, dance, walk in place, do jumping jacks, or any other activity during commercials. * Go outdoors: Instead of recreational activities inside of the house where space is limited, play games, go on walks, or organize a pick-up sports game in the neighborhood. You'll burn calories, get exercise, and enjoy fresh air, too. * Leave the car at home: Whenever possible, bike, walk, rollerblade, or get to your destination another way. Suburban life tends to create the car-to-store-tocar-to-house pattern, which doesn't make for much physical activity. * Keep moving: If you simply must sit, such as in school or at the office, tap or kick your legs. A little movement is better than none at all. * Park further away: When in store parking lots, park furthest from the entrance so you're forced to walk a bit more to and from the car. * Take a walking tour: Sightseeing during a vacation? Many big cities are perfect for strolling. With so much to see, you won't even realize how much walking you're doing.

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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SNOWBIRDS Arizona Border Buffet Bye Cab California Call Camping Canada Canadian Crossing Desert Email Far Fishing Go Green Groups Highway Holiday Home Icy Insurance Keno Bay Mail Mexico Money

New Year Parks Pool Recreational Resorts Roads Sandy Sea Seniors Snowbird Stay South Sun Sunshine Swap Time Trailer Travel Trip Truck Vehicle Wet Winter Yank Yuma

Find the words in the grid. When you are done, the unused letters spell out a hidden message. Words can go left or right, top line to bottom line. Words can go horizontally, vertically and diagonally in all eight directions. Answers to puzzle is on page 22.

Across 1 Hay 6 Wing 9 Recede 12 Tan Color 13 Drink Slowly 14 Toilet 15 Asian nation 16 Government agency 17 Container 18 Bunsen Burner 20 Finale 22 Asian peninsula 25 Exhibited 26 Doctor (slang) 27 Jogger 29 Eye infection 31 Visit 32 Less than usual in size, power or character 36 Looked at 39 Gone to lunch 40 Medicine from a plant 43 Comic book word 45 Texas stew

Pleasant Valley Mortgages

Brenda Tuttle Mortgage Professional

We will be accepting new mortgage applications by appointment only.

250 - 546 - 8908 2520 Pleasant Valley Blvd., Armstrong (Next to the legion)

INDEPENDENT RETIREMENT FOR ACTIVE SENIORS � � � � � � � � � � �

Affordable Studio, One and Two Bedroom Suites Weekly Light Housekeeping Nutritious Meals prepared by our Chef Air Conditioned Suites equipped with Independent Climate Control Crafts, Library, TV Room Easy Access to all Amenities Guest Room for Family or Friends Planned Entertainment, Social and Recreational Activities Cable and Utilities included (except phone)

DOWNTOWN LOCATION 333 Martin Street, Penticton, BC

492-3600 or 1-800-665-2221

46 Hot his 47 Combine 48 Communication Workers of America (abbr.)

50 Sends by post 54 Vane direction 55 Tons 56 Heron 57 Distress call 58 Aurora 59 Full of swamp grass

DOWN 1 Welkin 2 ___ Sting 3 Male sheep 4 BB Player Abdul Jabar 5 Old Man ___ 6 Afloat 7 Kisser’s need 8 N.A. Indian 9 where the funny bone is 10 State capital 11 Removed the bones

Happy Days Nanny Service

19 Qualm 21 Noble 22 Disks 23 Spoil 24 Gelid 25 What pepper makes you do 28 Unworn 30 Vile 33 Long time 34 Dirt 35 Possessive pronoun 37 Roof hanger in winter 38 Gable 40 Peaks 41 Rhinoceros’ nickname 42 Vetoes 44 Use 46 Caps 49 Date 51 Anger 52 Headed 53 Pigpen

Back issues of

“Livestock & Pet Care when you can’t be there” Over 30 Years Experience Bonded Licensed Insured References Available

250-832-7308 Cell: 250-550-7249 or creamo@telus.net Call:

are available on line at www.northof50.com

NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 20 Do you have a personal experience story you would like to share with North of 50 readers?

We would like to invite you to submit your story for publication. A personal experience story can be about anything. It might be inspiring, funny, scary or weird. It might be about a wonderful holiday or a travel nightmare. It might be about pursuing a lifelong passion, how you coped with a health crisis or a personal loss. It could be a love story, a ghost story, a travel story. It’s YOUR story, whatever that is.

Guidelines: Stories should be between 600 and 800 words and can be on any topic, but must be your personal experience.

You must include your telephone number and address. These will not be published and are for verification purposes only.

Submit your story by Mail to: Personal Experience, Editor, North of 50.

Box 100 Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0 or email to: editor@northof50.com or fax to: (250) 546-8914.

Busin ess Oppor tunity Ask M e!

Cleans, Polishes, Protects Sid Robbins, Director/Ind. Distributor Kelowna, B.C. Phone: 250-769-7467 Cell # 250-863-2400 z Email: robb7467@telus.net Web: www.dwgint.com z PIN # 125270

Call for Nominations and Volunteers She's talented, innovative, hard-working and gets results in her chosen field. Who is she? You tell us!

Nominations are now being accepted in 11 categories for the SOWINS 2010 Women Front and Centre Awards Dinner and Gala to be held Saturday March 6, 2010. Don't wait. All supporting documents must be in by January 29, 2010. Also, note the changes: three nominators required instead of just one. No nominee questionnaire.

Added detail and examples requested in order for the regional judges to gauge the winners. Like us to come talk to your workplace staff or service club about nominating a special woman? Phone for an appointment.

Gala volunteers are needed to help spread the word re: nominations. As well, are you a closer? We need you, too, to help sign up sponsors and donors. Proceeds from the gala help women and children facing domestic abuse.

Our gala goal is $35,000. For more information, contact Donna at 493-4366 ext 105, or donna@sowins.com.

(Check www.sowins.com for updates.)

Commit to a small task or two, and together we’ll get it done!Get-together 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Thursday, January 7 at the Penticton Community Centre (meeting room #2).Newcomers are welcome. Hhlpers in outlying communities (Summerland, Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos, Princeton) are also needed. Follow SOWINS now on Twitter at www.twitter.com/womenhelper Support Group - Kelowna The Alzheimer Society of B.C. holds a support group for people in the early stages of Alzheimer Disease and related dementia on Tuesday mornings in Kelowna. The next meeting takes place on January 12th from 10 am 11:30 am. For further information please call 250-860-0305 or email: mwasylyshen@alzheimerbc.org Hop the Bus with KDSC to the Vancouver Motorcycle Show!

The Kelowna & District Safety Council is organizing two buses to the Vancouver Motorcycle Show at the Abbotsford TRADEX in January 2010.

The Vancouver Motorcycle Show is BC’s largest motorcycle event and part of a cross country, seven city show tour where all the major manufacturers travel coast to coast with their huge corporate exhibits. It's an opportunity for the riding community to get its first glimpse of the new 2010 motorcycles, scooters, ATVs gear, and accessories.

The show also offers a wide variety of entertainment, seminars, celebrities and much more as major retailers and distributors feature every conceivable product and service of interest to the rider. Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Harley-Davidson, Honda, BMW, Ducati, Buell, Victory, Triumph, KTM, Hyosung, BRP, and others will be featured.

KDSC has scheduled one bus for Saturday January 23rd and a second bus for Sunday January 24th. Both buses will be one-day trips, departing early in the morning and returning later that same night, giving participants up to 6 hours at the Show. Pick up and drop off locations are scheduled for Rutland, Kelowna, and Westbank.

The cost of the trip is only $60 (no taxes) and includes return trip aboard a comfortable Country Coachways bus, admission to the show, a mid morning snack en route, and even the chance to win one of several great door prizes on the bus. KDSC has been given special permission to drop people off and pick them up at the VIP entrance to the Show.

This event has sold out 5 years in a row, so register early. Gift Certificates are also available. For those who plan on attending the Show, but who won’t be on the KDSC bus, single Show tickets can be purchased for only $12 by contacting KDSC. Visit www.kdsc.bc.ca for more details, or contact KDSC at 765-3163 to register.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR! CONTEST FUNERAL SERVICES

Wayne Kyle

I know what you’re thinking! Christmas hasn’t even arrived and you’re already talking about Valentine’s Day! I have to! How else can I tell you about our new fun contest.

Full Funeral Services Pre-Arrangements Cremation • Memorial Markers Independently owned & operated Serving Enderby, Armstrong & Vernon 2980 Smith Drive, Armstrong Tel. 546-7237 Fax. 546-8237 email:pafsarmstrong@telus.net www.personalalternative.com

VALENTINE’S DAY WRITING CONTEST FOR NORTH OF 50 READERS!

Tell us a love story. It can be any kind of love story - humourous or heart warming. It can be about the first time you met, the last time you saw each other, unrequited love, a long distance romance - YOU TELL US in 500 words or less. Best three stories will be selected and printed in the February issue.

Fiirst place winner will also win a Valentine’s gift basket valued at $40. So put pen to paper and get that entry to us by January 16th at midnight!

You can email your story to contest@ northof50.com or you can fax it to us at (250) 546-8914, or mail it to North of 50 Contest, Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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MOVIES & BOOKS THE BOOK SHELF from the publishers

TRAUMA FARM

BOOK DETAILS: September 2009 ISBN 978-1-55365-474-2 Hardcover 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" 352 pages Nature $35.00 CAD AWARDS Winner of the 2009 Writers' Trust of Canada Non-Fiction Prize Long-listed for the BC Award for Canadian NonFiction An irreverent and illuminating journey through a day in the life of the affectionately named Trauma Farm, with numerous side trips into the natural history of farming.

Beginning naked in darkness, Brian Brett moves from the tending of livestock, poultry, orchards, gardens, machinery, and fields to the social intricacies of rural communities and, finally, to an encounter with a magnificent deer in the silver moonlight of a magical farm field. Brett understands both tall tales and rigorous science as he explores the small mixed farm—meditating on the perfection of the egg and the nature of soil while also offering a scathing critique of agribusiness and the horror of modern slaughterhouses. Whether discussing the uses and misuses of gates, examining the energy of seeds, or bantering with his family, farm hands, and neighbours, he remains aware of the miracles of life, birth, and death that confront the rural world every day.

Trauma Farm tells a story that’s poetic, passionate, practical, and frequently hilarious, providing an unforgettable portrait of one farm and our separation from the natural world, as well as a common-sense analysis of rural life.

Fortune Creek Kennels Open 7 Days a Week for Dog & Cat Care Indoor/Outdoor with in-floor heating Several play yards for individual attention � Seperate small dog area � Seperate cat building � All rooms have music for a calm and peaceful atmosphere �

�

3779 Creamery Road, Armstrong

(250) 546-8639

NEW IN THEATRES - from the producers

LEGION

January 22, 2010 Supernatural Action/Thriller In the supernatural action thriller Legion, an out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race.

When God loses faith in Mankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner and the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany).

LEGION is rated R by the MPAA for “strong bloody violence and language.”

DEAR JOHN February 5, 2010 Drama

Directed by Lasse Hallström and based on the novel by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, DEAR JOHN tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas--correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences.

YOUTH IN REVOLT January 08, 2010

The outrageous and heartwarming tale of Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) and his quest to win the heart of Sheeni (newcomer Portia Doubleday) and hopefully lose his virginity along the way. Based on C.D. Payne's cult-hit novel of the same name, YOUTH IN REVOLT is directed by Miguel Arteta.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES January 22, 2010

From his working class roots, John Crowley (BRENDAN FRASER) had finally begun to taste success in corporate America. Supported by his beautiful wife Aileen(KERI RUSSELL) and their three children, John is on the fast track. But just as hiscareer is taking off, Crowley walks away from it all when his two youngest children,Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with a fatal disease. With Aileen by his side,harnessing all of his skill and determination, Crowley teams up with a brilliant, butunappreciated and unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill (HARRISON FORD).

NORTH of 50 January 2010

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NORTH of 50 Publications Phone: (250) 546-6064 Toll Free: (877) 667-8450 email: sales@northof50.com

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Reach 100,000 plus readers in the Thompson/ Okanagan/Shuswap region with a free advertisement up to $1000 Value* in our classified section. * Offer not open to businesses / commercial

Apartment for rent

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1400 square feet with two large bedrooms. Call for appointment 250546-8910 or 250-546-8975 Chase - 1 Bedroom appartment, close to downtown, $530/mo. includes utilities & cable, available immediately.

Call (250) 679-2700 or (250) 766-1223.

1966 SS396 walnut shifter knob also SS396 rear trunk emblem original parts, asking $150.00 for both. Rebuilt 350 heads #333882, asking $950.00 for the pair. Call (250) 5427118.

Washer and dryer Maytag $400.00 for pair. Single box spring with metal frame and mattress like new $300.00.(250) 542 7118

Coloured Candle 19 inch T.V, remote control ,works, adjustable stand $35.00, 4 All season tires 195/75 R14. Mounted Good shape $150.00 ph 250-546-8776 For Rent 1 bedroom apartment close to DoT $530.00 month includes util & cable. Available immediately Call (250)679-2700 or (250)-7661223 For sale. 4 Maxtour tires and rims. P215/70 R15 98T M-S. from 2000 Pontiac Montana. Used less than 5000k $450.00 ph 250494-9542

85 Western pocketbooks $40. for all. ph 250-5032086 (Vernon) Hand embroidered table cloth 30-60 years old , also damask table cloth. from $10 up. Ph 250497-6311 For sale Sofa Bed very comfortable , very clean, good condition asking $150.00 or best offer ph.

250-554-1399 For sale Daybed, single mattress, white frame, hardly used asking $100.00, 2 brand new River Cree Resort fall jackets, mens sz M and L. Light fleece lining.

Black and dark grey. $40.00 each 250-8600187

FREE CLASSIFIEDS*

PHONE: 1-877-667-8450 *Some Conditions Apply. See below

North Of 50 Classifieds Got something to sell? We’ll place your ad - up to 25 words FREE! Max. $1000 value* Space Permitting

Name: Address:

Telephone #: Mail to: Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0 or email to: sales@northof50.com *This offer is available to individuals only and is not available to businesses or commercial enterprises.

One ad per household - Maximum value $1000.

Over $1000 value or business / commercial ad: the rate is $12.00 for up to 25 words then each additional word @ 25 cents + GST ** Publisher reserves the right to refuse any ad.

Word Search Solution:

Jerry’s Antiques and Things

Honey, it’s very cold outside

Spring cleaning, Moving, downsizing?

CASH PAID for antiques, records, collectables & miscellaneous items.

Will buy whole collections, household and estate items.

809 George Street Enderby, BC (250)838-0644

Tax Tip Only available for the 2009 tax year.

The Home Renovation Tax Credit is a nonrefundable tax credit based on eligible expenses for improvements to your house, condo or cottage. It can be claimed on your 2009 income tax return.

It applies to work performed or goods acquired after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010 under an agreement entered into after January 27, 2009.

Eligible expenses for goods acquired during this period, even if they are installed after January 2010, will still qualify. If an eligible expense involves work performed by a contractor or a third party, and the work is not completed by the end of the eligible period, only the portion that is completed before February 1, 2010 will qualify even if a payment has been made.

The HRTC applies to eligible expenses of more than $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum non-refundable tax credit of $1,350 [($10,000 − $1,000) × 15%].

This tax tip has been brought to you by Armstrong Business Centre. (250) 546-8910

70,000 reasons to get involved!

Did you know North of 50 Lifestyle Newsmagazine has a website. You can find this entire issue - and over a year’s worth of past issues online at www.northof50.com British Sweets, specialty chocolates, eductional toys, games and puzzles, jewelry and watches, glassware, special occassion gifts, handbags, hats, scarves & pashminas.

This is your chance to make a difference for the more than 70,000 British Columbians who are living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

The Alzheimer Society of B.C. needs volunteers now to help organize the annual Investors Group Walk for Memories fundraising event in Kelowna, which will be held on January 31, 2010.

To learn how you can help, call Louise at 250-491-9404 or visit

www.walkformemories. com.

Got a Story Idea?

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Confectionary 2516 Patterson Ave. Armstrong!

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North of 50 Lifestyle Newsmagazine is about honouring folks who’ve made a contribution to their communities, professions and families.

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 23

Attention Home Buyers:

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AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE! 20-40% off selected items

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NORTH of 50 January 2010

page 24

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