Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 18, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free pres tuesday december 182007 Manitoba Winnipeg repress. Com a7 three broken Knees Stop me if youve heard this one before. Or for that matter twice before. My Best Friend Well Call her big Dummy hons also known in various circles As the Prima cantorial soloist such an ugly face and or the Mother of this columns Favourite toddler Boogie last week apparently decided that it was time to get herself Back into newsprint. Rather than discussing alternative ways to make this happen she decided it was easiest to simply break her knee. Again. For the third time in one and a half years. Now dont get me wrong i love her dearly. I happily carry a copy of her most recent Canadian medical journal Case study with me and proudly show it to anyone Whord like to know More about the 31 year old woman who fractured her right Patella not once but twice and soon to be updated to thrice. Ive written to jeopardy offering to be the Guy who reads the video daily double answer As a Young Canadian cantorial soloist she twice thrice broke her Kneecap in absurdly benign everyday situations before being wrapped in Bubble wrap for three years to prevent further self destruction. Ive done her dishes diapered her daughter and dignified her diatribes against waxed floors icy sidewalks and staircases. Ism just getting a Little concerned about what appears to be her rampant addiction to emergency orthopaedic surgery. Nobody can believe that were going through this again. When i first walked into her Hospital room she took one look at me started crying and wept Arthur i cant believe this is happening again. As i hugged and soothed her i tried to reassure her that it could always be worse by pointing out that horses with broken legs get shot. She quickly made it Clear that she a snot impressed with my analogy i quickly made it Clear that i could spend the next 8 12 weeks at Home eating Bonbons while she struggled to make it to the can without assistance. We called it a draw. To pass the time while she was in surgery i began to rewrite some seasonal lyrics one the sixth night of a hanukah my Best Friend gave to me six Bucks for parking five stainless pins four calling doctors three broken Knees two extra strength advil and a car seat to Schelpp round Boogie. Sheds now at Home propped up on pillows and her husband and i have fallen Back into our respective roles of get this and Gimme that. Boogie is convinced that All mommies have broken Knees every 10 months and ism giving the Sals store a Good part of my paycheck every time the Kitchen needs stocking up with read made Home cooking i Man really. Who has time to Cook when Boogie needs to get to swimming lessons today is the last twofer tuesday. Before they go away on Winter holidays visit any participating Salisbury House restaurant location today and choose any combination of the 10 items on our twofer tuesday menu youll get each for half Price add a bottomless Pepsi or Sals private blend Coffee to your twofer meal for Only $ 1.29 6 am 10 pm Dine in Only at participating Sals locations. Store hours vary. The twofer tuesday take Home special visit any participating Salisbury House restaurant and take Home two or More 32 of. Containers of any of our delicious homemade soups and get each at half Price Complete twofer tuesday details Are available at All Salisbury House restaurants and online at wow. Salisbury House. Ca. After today twofer tuesdays will be away on holidays and will return again on tuesday january 8, 2008 w i n n i p e g wednesdays c o n t i n u e tomorrow Salisbury House puts the Winni and the nip in Winnipeg each wednesday were offering three of our Favourite tastes our regular nips regular Winnis and Back Bacon & egg nips for Only 99� each 6 am 10 pm Dine in Only at All participating Salisbury House restaurants. Store hours vary by location. Winnipeg wednesdays will be away on Winter holidays next week on december 26th, but will return again on january 2, 2008 in the House by Arthur Liffmann did you know Salisbury House gift certificates make the perfect Holiday gift available now in $ 5 and $ 10 denominations at All Salisbury House restaurant locations Rolls of pennies 33,700 weight of the Rolls 13,480 pounds helping the Christmas cheer Board priceless c Christmas cheer Board executive director Kai Madsen and his elves have done the impossible transform a cavernous warehouse into Christmas Central. And deep within the area far away from where people Are picking up hampers is where Many of the coins contributed to our pennies from heaven Campaign Are rolled. In fact the numbers above Are How Many were rolled there last year. Madsen is positively Giddy As we tour the cheer boards warehouse which this year is located inside the former sir sporting goods store at Ellice Avenue and Empress Street. The main area is where the hampers Are put together on a rolling Assembly line. Here students have been Busy since last month filling boxes with All the fixings for a Christmas dinner. And its Here that a group of students from Anola recently got together to help out. Weave been looking Forward to helping out said Ashley Miller 11. We know this food is going to people who need it. Nearby getting ready to stuff bags of Rice into a Box her Friend 11 year old Hannah Kostiuk said ism glad to help out. Nikki Holling Kostiuk the Parent who brought the children to the cheer Board said she thinks it will be a learning experience for them. My kids and their friends have never needing anything she said. It is Good for them to know there Are people who do have a need and who Are wondering where their next meal comes from. Volunteer Jim Haddon who organizes the hamper fillers said a class of Grade 5 students filled 500 hampers in under 45 minutes the Day before. You could hear the wheels on the conveyor Belt rolling Haddon said. We buy about 40 per cent of what we put in the hampers that includes toys and groceries he said Madsen. We also buy All of the turkeys we spent $ 200,000 alone on turkeys last year. We have to buy them because we have to know where they came from. They cant have been re Frozen. Each of the cardboard hamper boxes donated annually by smurf it Mai has the cheer Board logo on the Side. Almost constantly seen rolling through the building Volunteer Linda Grayston is on a bicycle. I like to run but the Cement floor Here is not Good for the Knees so i brought a Bike in Grayston said. Its my grandsons bicycle and it gets me around. I know once i used a Pedometer and i took 15,000 Steps in an eight hour Day so this is better. Elsewhere in the building Muriel Gale has boxes of knitted sweaters toques and mitts while nearby Are boxes filled with balls of Wool. Gale said annually an army of 350 knitters pick up free Wool from the cheer Board and by next year finished sweaters and mitts come Back. Were Short this year of items for Ages 10 to 14, she said. If some of our knitters read the paper they should try to give us More of these next year. At the Back of the massive warehouse is literally ground Zero for Christmas dreams for Many children in the City the area where volunteers wrap the toys that have been generously donated by Winni Eggers. A Quick scan shows some Lucky kids will be ripping open brightly coloured paper to find a monopoly or. Or clue or. Game or maybe a Bratz doll. Madsen said lots of donors will bring toys or stuffed animals a very Young child can use but they ask people not to forget there Are also boys and girls aged 12 to 14 who be left out. Madsen said they can Only accept new toys because of Hygiene and safety concerns for the most part but also one other reason. Everybody should get a Brand new toy. They can break it the same Day but they should get a new toy to begin with he said. Madsen said the wrapped toys Are then put in bins with signs marking the gender and age of the recipient. Even this seemingly innocuous act is done for a reason. The matchers will match the toy with the right gender and age for the hamper. By having the toys wrapped if someone has donated a $ 100 toy we make sure we can never be accused of favouritism by giving someone a toy of greater value. Because they re wrapped in the toy department our Matching Guys dont even know what the toy is. Last year 19,409 hampers went out to people who might otherwise not have a merry Christmas. They expect the numbers to go Down a bit this year but that still Means thousands of people who rely on the cheer Board and our pennies Campaign to help them. Well give the last word to Maggie Maxwell who is close behind mad sends 37 year involvement with the cheer Board. Were helping an awful lot of families who need help at Christmas Maxwell said. This is one of the happiest places to work because everyone is kind and caring. Kevin. Rollason free press. My. Ca Kevin Rollason where to give contributions for pennies from heaven can be made at. All six Winnipeg Wal marts have drop off bins at the front of the store. Portage place has our giant Penny on the second floor. Most branches of the boo Bank of Montreal. The Winnipeg free press has a bin in our front lobby at 1355 Mountain. Cheques can be sent to pennies from heaven a o the Winnipeg free press 1355 Mountain ave., Winnipeg my r2x 3b6. Receipts will be issued by the charities we support. All Shell service stations in the City can accept spare change for the pennies Campaign see video at wow. Winnipeg repress. Com Christmas Central a Happy workplace two vehicles have fallen through the ice on the red River in the last week and Selkirk ramp Are advising Manitoban to keep vehicles off the River. The incidents occurred last tuesday and again on sunday near Selkirk. Officers Are still searching for the first vehicle a 2007 Ford f 150 super Crew. The fact that there were no injuries is a Blessing in itself said const. Rick Schroeder of the Selkirk ramp detachment. He cautions that with fluctuating temperatures it is too soon to determine the depth and safety of the ice. The red is known for ice fishing with the stretch Between Lockport and Selkirk especially popular. Stu Mckay owner of outfitting business cats on the red in Lockport said he has not yet allowed any of his clients to drive onto the ice. There could be 10 inches of ice in one area there could be four inches of ice in another area. We have just not had cold enough weather said Mckay. Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg free press Anola school students Ashley Miller Noah Kostiuk and Dylan Lagasse from left and former classmate Jazmin Federowich right pack hampers. Fishers falling for red Rivers thin ice ;