The Prince George Citizen ­ Thursday, October 2, 2003 ­ 13 COMMUNITY CONNECTION Have an idea for a story or human interest feature? Got something to tell about your club or organization? Do you know an Unsung Hero? Or is there a special event you'd like our readers to know about? BERNICE TRICK 562-2441, Local 395 COMMUNITY Shoebox effort to help kids by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff Operation Christmas Child is gearing up for another season in Prince George. An open house to provide more information on the international charity initiative takes place Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Operation Christmas Child's local collection centre, Hartland Baptist Church, 6599 Driftwood Rd. Pe o p l e c a n p i c k u p b oxe s a n d brochures at the church and view videos about the project during this event. Prince George and Central Interior residents have been taking part in this project for a number of years now, said media co-ordinator George Krahn. In 1998 the number of shoe boxes sent from Prince George was just over 2,400, he said. Last year that total had increased to more than 5,400. Boxes collected in the city will be distributed to countries like Mexico, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala. This past January, Krahn and his wife, Frieda, travelled to Nicaragua to give out shoe boxes to children. The Krahns carried with them two shoe boxes put together by local schoolchildren to represent all the boxes sent from this city. You can fill a shoe box with gift items like toys, hygiene items and school supplies taken for granted in Canada. It's not necessary to have an official OCC shoe box. Ask for any empty shoe box from a shoe store or department store, or purchase a plastic box of about the same dimensions. People in poor countries can make use of these containers as well as the contents, Krahn said. Turn in shoe boxes to Hartland Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Westwood Mennonite Church, Fort George Baptist Church or College Heights Baptist Church before Nov. 15. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten CLEARING THE SITE -- Demolition work on the Yellowhead Inn is finally underway. The building was gutted by a spectacular fire on Aug. 26. Skate for literacy Join Spruce Kings at Coliseum Sunday Citizen staff Lace up your skates and join the Prince George Public Library and the Spruce Kings to help give literacy a boost on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Coliseum. The sixth annual Skate for Literacy is a community event to raise awareness and funds for literacy. "It's made possible by a partnership of school librarians, the public library and the Spruce Kings," said Joan Jarman, library public relations officer. Pledge envelopes are available at both branches of the public library. Jarman encouraged people to bring the whole family for an afternoon of fun, prizes and skating. It's an opportunity to skate with the Spruce Kings, the Ice Girls and members of the Prince George Teacher Librarians Association. "The school with the most participants at Sunday's Skate for Literacy will get a visit from the Spruce Kings for a floor hockey game at their school," Jarman said. "It's a big deal for the kids. They really do enjoy that." The Skate for Literacy event will raise money for books and materials at the Prince George Public Library through pledges collected by individuals or team skaters. But if you haven't had a chance to pick up a pledge envelope during the week, you can still skate by donation -- that is, by placing a donation in the box provided on the day of the event. "Any donation is welcome," Jarman said. She said the Spruce Kings are excellent motivators for young people to read. Team members will be available to go out to schools later in the school year to read for children. "They're great role models for young people in our community," she said. Spruce Kings team members will also be participating in Cancer run this weekend Citizen staff Organizers are pleased with the number of people registering for the CIBC Run for the Cure this weekend, but hope to see more turn out, says Margaret Jones-Bricker, media co-ordinator. The event to raise money for breast cancer research takes place Sunday starting at 10 a.m. in the University of Northern B.C. Agora. "Our team numbers are up significantly from last year," she said. A team is made up of 10 people. Last year there were only about 20 teams. "This year we've exceeded that quite a bit," she said. Individuals also run or walk one or five kilometres during the event. The cost is $30 per person. You can register online at www.cbcf.org or complete a registration form at any CIBC branch or the Running Room store. Money from the event goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. "All funds we raise go for research and education about breast cancer," JonesBricker said. ECE experts set to meet Citizen staff The ECE B.C. Northern Conference is being hosted this year in partnership with the Prince George Family YMCA and the Native Friendship Centre. The conference will be held in the Native Friendship Centre Friday and Saturday. In the past few years the conference has been attended by a variety of people from all over northern B.C. The keynote speaker this year is Gyda Chud, who will be speaking on Friday. On Saturday there will be a full day of learning and networking. The trade show will showcase businesses and organizations from across B.C., and is open to the public. Submitted photo Kevin Petovello, left, Luke Hughson, right, and Joel Leonard from the Prince George Spruce Kings and Sandy Smart from the Prince George Public Library are getting ready for the sixth annual Skate for Literacy on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Coliseum. Skate rental is free and skating is by donation. an initiative called Reading Is Cool, Stay in School. The public library will be producing bookmarks that will feature photographs of Spruce King players promoting their favourite books. "Those will be available at hockey games and at schools later in the year," Jarman said. In addition, after the skate coin drives will continue in schools to raise money for books and materials at the library. For more information on Sunday's Skate and how you can collect pledges, call 563-9251. Our mistake Eric Karjaluoto is the creative director of smashLAB, the local design firm that has captured the interest of the Science Council of B.C. for a provincewide project, not Mark Karjaluoto as stated in a story in Wednesday's Citizen. We apologize for the error. Nukko Lake elementary school hosted its annual Terry Fox Run last Friday. Money was raised for Ronald McDonald House in support of a Nukko Lake student who is currently undergoing cancer treatments. The Grade 1 and 2 classes at Sacred Heart school are participating in Back to Hogwartz today. The event will take place at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum on River Road. Students will be involved in activities based on the Harry Potter book series. Students from grades 2 to 6 at Sacred Heart school are participating in the annual cross-country classic run hosted by Ron Brent elementary today. The run will take place in Fort George Park in the afternoon. All students and staff at Sacred Heart school will participate in the school's annual Terry Fox Walk on Friday. The route will take the walkers along Patricia Boulevard and through Fort George Park where, in addition to raising funds for the Terry Fox Foundation, participants can appreciate the beautiful fall colours of nature. Harwin elementary school staff are very excited to launch their school website. It is still under construction, but the school mission statement, goals, and newsletters are currently posted to the website. "In the future we will be activating the staff, Harwin happenings, and student work buttons," said Gail Walraven, vice-principal. Check out the website at http://harw.sd57.bc.ca As part of Harwin elementary's community school programming, a drop-in gym time for preschoolers and their parents will begin next week. This program will be offered on Tuesdays from 11:20 till noon beginning on Oct. 7. Schools raise money in annual Terry Fox Run All around our schools Van Bien elementary school students have been working hard the last three weeks training for the cross-country running team. Fifty-six students qualified for the College Heights Snowflake cross-country race held Sept. 25. Van Bien brought home 15 top ten places including two first-place finishes. Glenview elementary school's grade 1 to 3 classes and Immaculate Conception school's Grade 4 and 5 classes were the first to take part in the REAPS (Recycling and Environmental Action Planning Society) H2Ozone presentation. The presentation included interactive and hands-on activities through which students could learn about air and water cycles, how they are polluted and why it is important to conserve and protect them. The students did interesting science experiments to see just how pollution affects precious resources. Eighty St. Mary's Catholic school students are competing in a cross-country race at Fort George Park today. The students, who are in grades 2 to 7, have been practising in physical education classes and had a warm-up when they ran the school's Terry Fox run last week. St. Mary's Catholic school will be holding its annual Holy Childhood Association initiation ceremony Friday. The Holy Childhood Association is an organization that improves the quality of life for children in underdeveloped countries. "Our students participate in the three aspects of the Holy Childhood -- helping, praying and learning," says school principal Mr. Miller. The students receive newsletters and donate about $1,500 every school year. Prince George Native artist Peter George is at John McInnis junior secondary school until mid-November. George is carving a traditional memorial totem pole. Students are enjoying the opportunity to observe and participate in the 5,000-year-old form of traditional art. On Monday the grade 9 and 10 Career and Personal Planning (CAPP) classes at Lakewood junior secondary school attended a presentation sponsored by ICBC on driving responsibly and the devastating effects speed can have on their lives. Johnson, who lost a twin sister 10 years ago in a car crash in Vancouver, encouraged the students to make positive decisions in their lives and to be aware of the consequences of excessive speeding. A special thank you to Carolyn Robinson from ICBC who organized the event. There were many changes at Glenview elementary school this September. "We have welcomed students from Wildwood and Shady Valley as well as a few new teachers," said Anita Hawes of the Glenview Elementary Parent Advisory Council (PAC). "The amalgamation process has gone quite smoothly, and everyone seems to be settled into their new classes." Glenview elementary school has begun its parent advisory council-sponsored lunches, which usually occur every second Friday. Panago pizza, Subway subs, Amigo's tacos and hot dogs are available for students and staff to purchase at a reduced cost. The program is run by PAC volunteers. Students at Glenview elementary school have been practising most days at lunch since the second week of September to prepare for two races. The first race is today at Fort George Park , and the second race is Oct. 9 at Nukko Lake elementary school. Buckhorn elementary school welcomed superintendent Dick Chambers and assistant superintendent Norm Monroe to their school last week. They spent time visiting each classroom and touring the school. Buckhorn elementary embarked on a crossgraded guided reading program this week. Students from grades 3 to 7 are taking part in reading groups that will focus on improving reading fluency and comprehension through the Literacy 57 initiative. The groups meet for 30 minutes, three times a week. Seventy John McInnis junior secondary school students ran two kilometres in a Terry Fox Run to raise awareness of cancer. A coin drive is taking place in classrooms as well. All students at Hart Highlands elementary school had an opportunity to learn the language of drums recently. Milton Randell spent a full day at the school teaching students about drumming while allowing then to use the drums. Afterwards, the school was treated to a wonderful drum and dance performance given by all grade 4 and 5 students. Hart Highlands elementary had 40 crosscountry runners involved in the cross-country run at Southridge elementary school on Tuesday. The weather was great and the runners had fun. Hart Highlands elementary school will be having its Terry Fox run Oct 10.