Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 18, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba S Undy life focus editor Brian Cole 1697-7044 h Winnipeg May 18,1997 sunday free press it takes 5,000 boxes to fill stalls Book marketeers toil the year round on my desk was a note from my wife a Why done to you write something about a slice of my life a it was attached to a Sheet of graph paper on which shed drawn a rough plan of the inside of a moving Van trailer with sections Colour coded. This was in Early april and while most people turned their attention to the surging red River Janice and a Bevy of other Volunteer women from various Hospital guilds were Busy putting the finishing touches to the annual children a Hospital Book Market. For la months people had been taking used books to drop off Points around the City books that eventually found their Way to the basement of the Community services building 671 William ave., the place they affectionately Call the Hole. In the Hole women a and some men a classified and priced the books then put them in uniformly sized cardboard boxes. The boxes were marked and stored by category in rooms Down the Hall. Based on estimates from the Volunteer managers of the six Book Market shops it takes about 5,000 boxes to Stock All shops for the duration of the event. It takes four Large moving vans to carry these boxes to St. Vital Centre Over weekends. Two Supply the books for the first few Days the other remain on the shopping Centre lot to be emptied during the with David Williamson weeks of the Sale. This year scant Days before the second weekend the Transfer company phoned Janice to Tell her they would not be Able to spare any vans. As a result of the flood threat All of the company a vans had been pressed into action. Some frantic hours later another company was found and the loading Job was under Way. As in past years members of the St. Andrewes society pipe band were recruited to move the boxes from the Hole into the four vans. The boxes were assigned to a Section of Van designated on the Colour coded plan. To fuel everyone a efforts the women made sure there were lots of refreshments a Coffee bagels doughnuts. My Job in All this was to draw and letter the definitive version of the plan meanwhile other vans and the lord Selkirk boy scout pipe band were Over at a Panet Road warehouse picking up the wooden stalls that every year became the Book Market shops. Early sunday morning amid the Many mall walkers the pipe bands and various male and female volunteers set up the shops at strategic Points inside. By 10 30 a.m., All shops were set up and they were starting to unload the boxes of books. Once again the Colour coded plan came into play. Boxes marked fiction went to the fiction shop shop number 2. Harlequin romances biographies War chronicles All were designated for a specific shop. Crews in each shop unpacked their boxes and put the books on the shelves. They flattened the empty boxes and put them on carts to be taken Back to the Hole in someone a station Wagon. On monday april 21, the children a Hospital Book Market opened for business. The usual Early Birds flocked in to get first picks. The Sale has its regular annual customers that come in to browse and Load up with inexpensive Reading material. Book Market buffs that i know always find a prize or something they be been looking for for years. Some go just for the excitement. Many take away loads that they read and then give Back to the Book Market to be recycled next year. I watched the serious faces of the Veteran browsers and the cheerful faces of the Volunteer women in their Crisp baby Blue smocks. A a we re a Little Down from last year a Janice told me after the first Cash Book markets Success is fuelled by Many volunteers. Register Check. A the flood threat is taking its toll a i said. The main beneficiaries of All the exhausting work Are the children a Hospital and the children a Hospital research foundation. This year the Book Market turned Over a Cheque for $180,000. As a writer i perhaps should be opposed to Book sales of this Type. After All writers done to receive a cent of Royalty on books sold in this manner. But i applaud the efforts of the Book marketeers. There Are no harder working volunteers anywhere and the Book Market is another example of warm hearted Winni Eggers pulling together for a wonderful cause. They re already sorting and pricing for next year. And if you consider the big picture you have to believe that this event helps the cause of literacy and perhaps a few secondhand books will Lead a Reader to a Book store for Brand new books in the 50 weeks in which the Sale does no to run. Slice of life is a weekly column featuring Manitoba writers. David Williamson is Dean of business and applied arts at red River Community College and for the months of february and March was writer in Resi Dence at the University of to the editor forces appreciate our love support armed forces Convoy Heads for rail Yard before shipping out. Dear Manitoban in the name of 3,000 soldiers regular and Reserve who have been fighting the red River since april 21-22, thank you for your outpouring of love and genuine support of our efforts. It has been a tremendous fight one which we have won together and it has been our pleasure and honour to have toiled in Aid of fellow canadians. We came from Western Canada including from Winnipeg and Shilo. We operated in your midst from Kapyon Barracks at Grant Avenue and Kenas ton Boulevard from the Arena in Des Chenes from the Arena in Dominion City from the school in Lasalle from the Community Centre in Altona and from Many other places you offered to us. While creating our own teams with the air Force and the Navy we went to work beside and for you a it was Tough work but it was a labour of love. Although our contribution was Small in comparison to the of individual volunteers and organizations we Are proud to have been part of your fight and we Are now confident that the flood has been beaten. My soldiers and i deeply regret the devastation that has occurred to Peoples lives and Homes. I know that my soldiers were heartened by the courage and conviction of All who were affected by the a flood of the Century a and they Are proud that you accepted us to work beside you. We sincerely thank you for the love and support you have shown especially to our injured mates. Although there is still much to do we will continue to Hope that the situation returns to Normal quickly and that affected communities will emerge stronger. We Are better soldiers and canadians for the experience. We wish you All the Best in the future. . Bob me rating Calgary How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from readers. Letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed name address and Telephone number. Names will be published but not addresses. All letters May be edited for style and length. Short letters Are less Likely to be condensed. Please address letters to letters to the editor Winnipeg free press 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Letters can be sent to our fax number 697-7412. Letters May be submitted through the internet at letters @ free press. My. Ca. Letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be signed but must include Home address and Telephone proud of each other i guess we Veall heard or read about a thousand flood stories a tragic stories frightening stories inspiring stories. Here is one More. I live in Selkirk and the Day after the flood crested there i dropped in at a local grocery store to pick up a few things. I found myself in the Check out line behind a Young Soldier. He looked pretty tired and i knew How he Felt. The tension and worry the empathy with the people South of the City and chucking a few thousand sandbags had worn everybody Down. Waiting he turned and nodded politely to me. I said hello and thanked him for being there. He smiled and said it was a pleasure not to thank him it was his Job. Then he said a you folks in Manitoba have a lot to be proud of. No one in the unit has Ever seen anything like this. The Way you All work together. People just show up and get in a line and work. No belly Ching no panic. And you be sure been Good to us. Manitoba has a whole new meaning As far As the is modesty is generally one of the better character traits of the people from this part of the country but i think the Young Soldier was right a we should be proud. Not just proud of the dikes we built but proud of each other. H. Douglas Mclaughlin Selkirk cows columnists share existence someone should Tell Tom Oleson that cows no More exist to produce hamburger than columnists exist to write nonsense done to confuse pets with people Tom Oleson april 24. John Youngman Winnipeg hey Tommy clean up your act Preston Gimme five free press May 8makes me wonder what he does for a living. Preston Manning a Youthful sexy and charismatic appearance has obviously unnerved old . To the Point where he just has to say something Nasty. Why is it when liberals and socialists feel threatened they always degenerate to ridiculing their opponents very human attributes such As speech manner and or appearance is not the god that made Preston the same god that made Tom confidentially though Tom with a shave and Shorter sideburns you could have the Avant Garde Preston look. Its not late to a a Reform your image there so a nip Quot no darn Point for a a a Liberal makeover even though being a a conservative at this Point in time would most Likely prove disastrous. J. Winston Struss heading Eydee Blue Success Good for humanity its a shame the Winnipeg free press sees a need to take on the role of a a masseuse for humanity a wounded Pride next time free press May 14. Get a grip. The defeat of Garry Kasparov by in my a deep Blue is hardly cause for alarm. Be have just witnessed a transcendent Point in technological Utility. The ism team has developed algorithms . Methods of computation that Challenge the intelligence of humanity a most gifted games Man. Rather than humiliation this signals an unfolding of possibilities. With the help of advanced programming algorithms people might just live better More fulfilling lives freed from the base humiliations of hunger want fear intimidation and disease. Those Are the stakes. If a computer can defeat Kasparov a computer can be used to provide compassionate help provided we done to shy away in paranoia. Chris Hlady Winnipeg inner City streets need our help the Portage amp main article in the May 3 free press streets Challenge us All by Brian Mackinnon is timely and i Hope will be noticed and acted upon by All Levels of our governments. Some years ago our son was sent by his employer on a business errand to Chicago. After completing this business he was taken in the evening to the top of the highest building in Chicago to observe the City lights. He noticed a Black Hole in the Middle of this sea of lights. When he inquired about it he was told it was a very poor and disadvantaged area where even the police and firefighters hesitated to go and any burned out Light bulbs were not replaced because they would just be shot out by the residents. Do we want that to be the future of our inner City this is what happens when people have no help and no Hope. All youth require decent education and recreation to Lead a meaningful life. Certainly the underprivileged in the inner City As Well As others should be helped in this achievement. Ger Durh. Harris Winnipeg Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 a Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Redekop / publisher email Rudy Redekop free press Nicholas Hirst / editor Brian Cole i editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown / circulation sales and marketing Ian Cummins / technology Laurie Finley advertising Verne Kalichuk human resources Glenn Williams i finance and administration a 1997 Winnipeg free press a division of . Newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 a member of the Manitoba press Council vol 125 no 136 a they there Tommy Gimme a break a Tom Oleson in his column hey there doonesbury by Garry Trudeau ;