By Ruth Griffiths

Marjorie Bodnarchuk was honoured this year for the joy she brings to the community. She is the 2021 inductee into the Prince Albert Council of Women’s Hall of Fame.

Marj has been able to share her love of music with the wider community, especially at Pineview nursing home, where she was director of care before her retirement. She enjoys the old-time tunes. She has a natural ear for music, so if you can hum it, she can play it on piano or guitar.

Although her days are full to brimming with community service of all types, Marj always carves out a special time of quietness for music. She finds healing in music and shares that healing with others.

I asked Marj where she finds joy.

“I find joy in many things. In music I find deep down joy that flows through my veins and through my heart.

“Music is wonderful to listen to, to play and to sing. To create music for others is a wonderful thing.”

Prior to the pandemic, Marj often played old-time music and led singing at local long-term care homes. When restrictions eased in June, she led a musical event outdoors at Pineview. She led an afternoon of singing outdoors in Shellbrook in September.

“We are so happy we can sing again.”

Marjorie finds joy in simple things like baking muffins. She enjoys the process of putting together ingredients, creating new taste experiences and, most of all, sharing her baking with others.

“(Baking) is a very satisfying, joyful process… always comforting. Such a wonderful bit of happiness.”

Nature also brings joy into her life. She enjoys the changing of the seasons and the changes from morning, afternoon and evening.

“I enjoy the colours, the freshness of the outdoors. Throughout the seasons there is so much to see and celebrate.”

She often brings nature into her home. For example she brought inside some bare tree branches that she will decorate to compliment her Christmas tree.

Marjorie enjoys decorating for the seasonal celebrations throughout the year. She helped to decorate her church, Calvary United, for Christmas.

She finds joy in the Christian holidays, music, food and getting together with family and friends.

The pandemic curtailed larger gatherings, but didn’t extinguish her joy in celebrating with others.

“It’s been a long dry spell. We’ve been celebrating in different ways.

In January 2021, she could not host the large Ukrainian Christmas gathering that she usually enjoys. Her sister came to visit and joined her and her husband for a traditional supper. They phoned her daughter in Saskatoon and together lit candles and sang traditional songs. Then they phoned an aunt in Saskatoon, then an aunt in Regina. Although miles apart… “we were connected.”

In nature, in baking, in singing with others “the joy is there. It springs forth, fresh like sparkling snow.”

— Each year during Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas), I challenge myself to write columns on the Advent themes. This is the last in the series. I wish you hope, peace, love and joy.

Love has many definitions for Fay Harrison, but all centre around children, families and home.

For all of her adult life, Fay has been loving and supporting a diverse multitude of people of all ages.

As a mother, teacher and now a volunteer, she creates learning opportunities using crafts, books and conversation. Her current project is a Moms and Tots group sponsored by Prince Albert YWCA.

“I love it myself. I love meeting the little ones.”

Fay feels fortunate to have grown up in a family with enough shared love. As the youngest of three, she knew that everybody loved her.

With her mother as a loving role model, Fay has found the freedom in her life to pass on the love, no matter how it is defined.

As a teacher of English language, Fay is keenly aware of how love is interpreted by various cultures.

“There are many kinds of love. English doesn’t have enough interpretations. There is romantic love, filial love, love of nature, love of the Creator.”

She asks, should a passion for an activity be called love?

Fay sometimes encounters unequal and unhealthy family dynamics. She sees the power of “love” used in an abusive way.

“Love isn’t just a feeling, it is always holding people accountable. If I say I love you, we shouldn’t be doing things that are destructive. Maybe loving yourself is enough too.

“You might have promised to love someone forever, but if it (love) is being abusive, you have to get out of there. You may have promised to love but if it’s abusive it’s not really love.”

For children, love is unconditional, but it doesn’t mean giving them everything on a whim. Love can mean allowing a child to figure things out for themselves. For example, many of the mothers in her play group are newcomers to Canada. During craft sessions they step back and let their preschoolers interpret the craft in their own way, rather than expecting a replication of the example craft.

Children may feel that a parent is giving more love to a sibling. But some children need more attention, Fay says. “We all make the best decisions we can for each child. We love each the way that is needed.”

Fay explained the concept of the Circle of Security. “If a child feels secure, loved and cared for and their basic needs are met, they are then able to venture out of the security of that situation and know that the place of security is there.”

Each of us has a deep need for love… to be cared for by at least one loving person. For many in Prince Albert, Fay Harrison has helped to fill that deep need for love.

Samantha Humphreys appears peaceful, even though her life is very busy. She’s a young mother, a theology student and the youth minister at Calvary United Church. She has a full life.

Sam (as she is known) defines peace as “balance.” She finds her peace in the midst of her loud and active extended family. The isolation of the pandemic helped her to cherish her family even more… which includes her church family.

“I never realized how much it meant to me…my actiive and loving family.”

Even though she lives a boisterous life, Sam pairs “peace” with “quiet”. She visualizes the quiet of winter, the sparkling white carpet of snow. She loves the Christmas decorations and the traditions of Advent candles. She finds peace in rituals of the church.

“I see peace in the midst of family life and being with them. My family is far reaching and that extends into my church family. Family has a very wide definition.”

Sam also links “joy” and “peace”.

“As someone who is extroverted, I find peace even if it is loud and crowded. As someone who is loved, I find peace around people who bring me love.”

For Sam the opposite of peace is imbalance. Growing up in a large family, she has often witnessed disagreements, but she says balance can be restored when people take time to reflect.

Sometimes Sam seeks out quiet, centering moments when she is looking for balance in her life. To restore balance she takes time out to reflect. She balances care for the physical side of her life with care for the spiritual. She takes time to be with God, seeking inner peace.

To find peace within a group of people she listens to everybody’s story. She listens to make sure that everybody feels heard and loved.

“At Christmas we are offered so much peace … from people that we might not otherwise. We are working toward this common goal of making this a special time of year.”

—

Each year during Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas), I challenge myself to write columns on the Advent themes. Last week I told you about The Hope Guy; next week I’ll tell you about a life lived in love. I wish you peace.

by Ruth Griffiths

People were calling him “the Hope Guy” because he was placing the word “hope” in various forms throughout Prince Albert.

It started during the early days of the pandemic lockdown. He was recovering from cancer surgery and was skiing at Little Red River Park. He used his ski pole to scratch the word “hope” into the snow beside the ski trail.

It was also close to the 40th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run… the Marathon of Hope. He had been an organizer of the Run for many years. Hope was a big part of his life and he wanted to share that hope with others.

He left messages of “hope” in the snow in many places. His biggest covered a soccer field. Walking on snowshoes, he created a huge “hope” sign in the snow between the goal posts. It took about two hours … an exhausting exercise motivated by the desire to encourage others in their personal battles during the pandemic.

Come summer, he continued to spread hope, scratching the word into bare soil at Kinsmen Park and using a hoe to carve a larger hope message at Little Red River Park.  He helped others creatively trim the lawn at Calvary United Church to spell out “HOPE”. Their message has survived through seven seasons, continuing to spread hope until it was buried in snow.

When the Canadian Cancer Society closed the Prince Albert office, he was given the Terry Fox Run materials along with the metre-high HOPE letters that had been used each year at Relay for Life.

He began to plant the HOPE sign at locations around the city where it was frequently photographed. 

The sign had been at the staff parking lot at Victoria Hospital when a blizzard destroyed it. Our Hope Guy asked Markit Signs to fix the sign and they created a whole new sign, free of charge.

During the summer he began to paint “hope” on palm-sized stones and some smaller “pocket” stones.  He placed the stones along the driveway at care homes, seniors’ apartments and the hospital. He was pleased that the stones at the hospital staff entrance disappeared rapidly because “these health workers are our true heroes.” Making and giving away “hope” has given him hope for his own journey.

The Hope Guy heard stories of “incredible connections.” People told him how his hope stones arrived at just the right time to encourage them. His hope stones have gone to seven provinces and as far away as Texas. “Hope spreads… I hear stories of the stones giving hope at the right time.”

As the pandemic drags on, he continues to spread hope. Earlier this month he stomped down the snow to create a HOPE sign on a hillside in a small city park. It’s the third time he has created the sign there.

Why does he continue to work so hard to create signs of hope?

“Hope is something the whole world could use right now… We need it more now than ever.”

— Each year during Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas), I challenge myself to write columns on the Advent themes. The first Advent theme is hope.

By Ruth Griffiths

The television sitcom Third Rock From The Sun entertained us as we entered the 21st Century. The TV series followed the antics of four extraterrestrials on an expedition to Earth. They assumed human form in order to observe the humans on the “third rock from the sun.”

We call it Earth, but I wonder what others in the universe might call our small blue planet?

And not all of us on this planet call it Earth. Our planet does not have the same name in every language. Like most words and names, Earth has its own unique name in each of the many different languages around the globe. Other names for our planet include: Tierra (Spanish), Aarde (Dutch), Terre (French), Jorden (Norwegian), Nchi (Swahili), Bumi (Indonesian), askiy (Cree).

Our ancient ancestors didn’t know a lot about the composition of our planet. They would have known about a river, lake or ocean near where they lived, but they could not have had any idea that approximately 70 per cent of Earth’s surface was covered with water. They did, however, know the ground beneath their feet.

It’s no surprise, then, that “Earth” came from the Anglo-Saxon word “erda” and the German word “erde,” both of which mean ground or soil. The Old English version of these words became “eor(th)e” or “ertha,” which eventually became “Earth.” In fact, one of the earliest recorded uses of the name Earth can be traced back to the translation of the Bible into English.

In English, the word earth also means soil. Maybe this is why some of us treat our planet like dirt. We don’t appreciate the richness of Earth and squander its resources, polluting the land and oceans into one giant garbage pile.

But good earth is not dirt. Horticulturists know that good soil is a living ecosystem composed of living organisms, organic matter and minerals. The bacteria, fungi and small creatures that live in our soil create a balance that produces a healthy growing medium for plants. Soil that has been sterilized by heat or chemicals is inhospitable to growing things.

Likewise our planet, Earth, is an interdependent system of land, air and water. When humans harm the balance of nature, the whole planet suffers.

The ancient Greeks believed all things sprang from Gaia, the mother of everything. The name Gaia has come to symbolize the concept of Earth as a living being.

During this era of climate crisis, we might ponder the name of our planet and how we can heal it for future generations.

Heather Stefanson made history last month when she was elected leader of the governing Progressive Conservative party. She will becomes Manitoba’s first female premier.

The only other current female premier in Canada is Caroline Cochrane, government leader of

Northwest Territories since October 2019.

Rita Johnston was the first female premier in Canadian history. She served as Premier of British Columbia for seven months in 1991 after she won the leadership of the governing party. The second woman to become a premier was Nellie Cournoyea, government leader of the Northwest Territories 1991-1995.

Other female premiers have been:

• Catherine Callbeck, premier of P.E.I. 1993-1996
• Pat Duncan, premier of the Yukon 2000-2002
• Eva Aariak, premier of Nunavut 2008-2013
• Kathy Dunderdale, premier of Newfoundland & Labrador  2010-2014
• Christy Clark, premier of British Columbia 2011-2017
• Alison Redford, premier of Alberta 2011-2014
• Kathleen Wynne, premier of Ontario 2013-2018
• Rachel Notley,  premier of Alberta 2015-2019 and now leader of the Opposition.

The Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell is the only woman to have been Prime Minister of Canada.

Locally, one of our first female politicians was Ella Muzzy who was a Prince Albert Alderman 1937-1942. Marion Sherman was Prince Albert Mayor July 15-Sept. 24, 1975.

Women have slowly been attaining seats in the various levels of government across Canada. But it appears to be an uphill battle.

Charlotte Whitton, first female mayor of Ottawa, is oft quoted: “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”

The female politicians of the 21st Century have built upon the strength and courage of these political pioneers:

    •   Hannah Gale was elected to Calgary City Council in 1917, becoming the first woman ever elected to any municipal office in Canada. However, women had previously served as school trustees since 1890.

    •   Louise McKinney was the first woman elected to a provincial legislature. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1917.

    •   Agnes Macphail was the first woman elected to the House of Commons. First elected in 1921,  Macphail was reelected in every subsequent election until 1940. She was the only woman in the House of Commons until 1935, when she was joined by Martha Black.

• Mary Ellen Smith was sworn in as Minister without Portfolio in the British Columbia government on March 24, 1921. She was the first female cabinet minister in the British Empire.

• In 1936, Barbara Hanley in Webbwood, Ont. became the first woman ever elected as a mayor in Canada.