Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 14, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Sun # i a v May Falzine focus editor Brian Cole / 697-7044 a Winnipeg september 14,1997 sunday free pres letters to the editor Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 a Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Redekop publisher email Rudy Redekop free press. My. Ca Nicholas Hirst editor Brian Cole i editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown / circulation sales and marketing Laurie Finley advertising Verne Kalichuk human resources Glenn Williams / 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 246 Shields new novel traces local character through Maze of life Larry a mom offers advice to stay alive the following is excerpted from Carol Shields new novel Larry a party published this month by random House of Canada. Shortly before Larry a thirtieth birthday he managed to get enough Money together for a Down payment on a Small House Over on Lipton Street a Handyman special just five rooms and a glassed in front porch and now he spends most evenings and weekends working on it. He and his wife Dorrie moved in two months ago and Ever since then she a been after him to Lay new tiles in the Kitchen and after that there a the bathroom fixtures to replace and maybe some ceiling insulation before Winter comes along. A list As Long As your Arm. But this summer Larry a been using every spare minute to work on the Yard sometimes with the help of his Friend Bill Herschel but More often alone. Might As Well do it while the weather a still Good Larry says. And he wants the whole Yard closed in so Ryan can play out there next Spring unsupervised. Head be working at it today Only his folks have invited him and Dorrie and the baby Over for the birthday festivities. Sunday dinner opening his presents from the family blowing out the candles the usual. Its 1980 he a about to enter the decade of decadence Only he does no to know that yet no one does he Only knows that he feels the Good hum of almost continuous anticipation in his Chest even though Dorrie griped All the Way Over to his folks place about How they were probably going to have a hot dinner Gravy and everything when Here it was the Bitch end of a sizzling Day. Her own idea of hot weather fare is a big bowl of ice Cream and a Glass of iced Tea. A brutal bored silence had fallen Between them these last weeks. A Mere three years ago he was a Young Buck walking Down a Winnipeg Street in his shirt sleeves. He remembers How that Felt no wife no kid no House no Yard. Now the whole pictures changed but that a Okay especially his kid Ryan. Another thing he a supposed to be sunk in gloom at the thought of turning thirty but he Isnit. He a unique and mortal he knows that and he a got this Sweet Little babe of a House and a Yard that a slowly taking shape All its Corners filling up with transplanted shrubs from the wholesaler Down in Carman. There a some Flowers too and a few Sweet peppers but its mainly the shrubs he loves. Dorrie keeps calling them Bushes and he keeps having to Correct her. A a you be got Shrub mania a she says but her lips smile when she a saying it. A you want to be the Shrub King of the maybe its True. Maybe he wants to make his Yard a real Shrub showplace. Somewhere Larry a heard that almost everyone in the world is allowed one minute of Fame in their lives or maybe that a one hour. Stu Weller Larry a dad got written up once in the weekend Section of the Winnipeg Tribune on the subject of his Corkscrew and bottle opener collection which included 600 items at the time of the interview and has almost doubled since. Larry solder sister Midge won a thousand dollars last year in the Art gallery raffle a enough for a trip to Hawaii with a Girlfriend a and she actually appeared on Channel 13 talking about How surprised she was and How she did no to usually waste Money on raffle tickets unless it was for a Good cause like expanding the gallery a exhibition space or something. Larry a own moment of Fame is still some years in the future and that a Fine with him. He a got enough on his mind these Days his Young family a Dorrie Little Ryan a and his Job at Flower folks and his current preoccupation with transform Carol Shields autographs a copy of her new novel for a fan at Mcnally Robinson booksellers. Ing his Yard. As for his Mother Dot she a had enough celebrity for a lifetime. Done to even talk to her about being famous especially not the kind of Fame that comes boiling out of ignorance and haunts you for the rest of your life. Dumb Dot. Careless Dot. Dot the murderer. Of course that was a Long time ago. When Larry was a Little kid his Mother warned him about the dangers of Public drinking fountains. A no one Ever Ever puts their Mouth right on the spout a she said a because they can pick up other Peoples germs and who knows what kind of disease you la this was bad news for Larry. At that age he liked to stand on tiptoe and press his lips directly on the Cool Silvery water spout rather than trying to catch the Spray in his Mouth As it looped unpredictably upward. Besides his mothers caution did no to make sense since if no one Ever touched the spout How could there be any germs he recalls a he must have been six or seven at the time a that he presented this piece of logic to his Mother but she Only Shook her he Adful of squashed curls and said sadly wisely a there will always be people in this world who done to know any he pictured these people a the people who did no to know any better a As a race of Clumsy unfortunates and according to his Mother there were plenty of them living right Here on Ella Street in Winnipeg a West end those people who mowed their lawns but failed to Rake up the clippings for instance. People who did no to know any better stored cake flour and other Staples in their original paper bags so that their cupboards swarmed with ants and beetles. They never got around to replacing the crumbling rubber backed place Mats from the Lake of the Woods with a the Story of Wood pulp stamped in the Middle. That was the problem with people who did no to know any better they never threw things away not even their stained Tea towels not even their oven mitts with holes Burnt right through the fingers. People who did no to know any better actually ate the coleslaw that came with their hamburgers poking it out of those miniature pleated paper cups with their stabbing Forks. Someone their Well meaning mothers probably told them they should eat any and All Green vegetables that were put in front of them not that there a anything very Green about coleslaw especially when its been sitting in a puddle of wet salad dressing and improperly refrigerated for heaven Only knows How Many Days. These people have never heard of the word Salmonella or if they have they probably can to pronounce it. Whereas Dot Dorothy Woolsey Weller wife of Stu Weller Mother of Larry and Midge grandmother of Ryan knows about food poisoning intimately tragically. She was Early in her life an ignorant and careless person one of those very people who did no to know any better and who will never be allowed now to forget her Lack of knowledge. She a obliged to remember every Day either for a fleeting moment a her Good Days a or for Long suffering afternoons of gloom. A your mothers got a nip of the blues today a Stu Weller used to Tell his kids while they were growing up in the Ella Street House and they knew what that meant. There sat their Mother at the Kitchen table again still in her Chenille Robe again when they got Home from school her hands rubbing Back and Forth across her face and her eyes Blank and Glassy reliving her single terrifying act of infamy. Taken with permission from Larry a party copyright 1997, Carol Shields. Published by random House of Canada. $31. Done to allow City to sell Hydro Val Werier did his usual competent Job keep City Hydro pubic free press sept. 4 with a Strong and Clear argument for our however the same did not apply to the opposing article by the executive director of the Manitoba taxpayers association. Or. Victor Vrsnik City Hydro Sale makes sense quoted a Standard accounting practice of equity versus debt to show that our Utility was in a minus $98 million position. The problem is that Book value is meaningless with a 90-year-old Utility that has been continually upgraded and also depreciated. The reality is that our Utility has a $1 billion replacement Cost and a debt of $122 million period. He also used the now familiar no Issue of $500 million in repairs and once again this is simply a 20-year plan to add $10 million yearly to the present $15 million maintenance spent every year. This still leaves Council with $5 million annually for City coffers and this is hardly a a a shortfall in Revenue when they knew full Well that the difference would be needed. It Washow 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 sent via the internet obviously cannot be signed but must include Home address and Telephone number. Incredible arrogance to Factor it in on a permanent basis but they can now simply take it out. The second reality is that at the end of this 20-year program we will have a top notch facility. With no valid reason to sell Winnipeg Hydro the remainder of this article skateboarders just want to have fun in their own Parks. Was a transparent Effort to say a we want privatization simply because we want the confusing aspect is that surely a a a taxpayer group would demand to know Why these deficits occur corrective measures and flatly refuse government a a Quick fix Cash injection. Should they not be concerned with it reoccurring but then again one rationale was a a privatized Hydro would pay corporate tax a it is naive at Best. We must remember that a Large majority of taxpayers did not want its sold and they ignored us and sold it anyway. Do not let them peddle another heritage Possession belonging to you and future generations without a fight. This is one that we can win folks. Wayne Hancock need own Parks i read the article entitled skateboard ramp trashed. I was not surprised that something of this nature would occur in our City. I have been skateboarding for eight years and i have been subjected to this kind of disrespect Many times. I also Wasny to surprised to learn that it was our City police who destroyed the ramp. In fact they Are the ones who have carried out this aforementioned disrespect towards myself and my fellow skaters. I have been assaulted verbally and physically and generally treated As a piece of dirt. I am sorry but i digress. The purpose of my reply was not to Point fingers or even whine like a Little baby girl. I would like to beg the people of Winnipeg for a Public year round skateboarding facility. Many critics Are Quick to snap a it get used and a it would be a waste of this is not True. I personally know dozens of skateboarders from All Over Winnipeg who would frequent such a place. I must give Vancouver As an example. There Are Over 12 Public skateboard Parks in the greater Vancouver area. Sure the population is approximately 1.82 million versus our 640,000. However by my calculation that works out to about four skate Parks for us. I done to want four i Only want one. Z. Klym Winnipeg Teresa kind thoughtful i just want to let your readers know what a kind caring thoughtful person Mother Teresa was. I had sent her a get Well card when she was so ill a just addressed it Mother Teresa Calcutta India. She received it and i received a very touching thank you letter. She will be missed. N. Schneider Winnipeg architects know our City a news Story mentions that the Arena architect has been flown into Winnipeg to consult on the design of the proposed new Ball Park. Too bad you would think that a Little project such As an outdoor seating area looking out Over grass could be handled by Winnipeg architects. After All who knows More about our Long harsh Winters mosquitoes winds River Levels Snow loads and local building codes and criteria than our own taxpaying professional architects. S. Rigby Winnipeg ;