Life & Style

Richard Amery
For the Sun Times
They share a common thread: A love for knitting, cross-stitching and crocheting. And they’re gathering in places around the city.
The Lethbridge Public Library is bringing people together who are interested in fabric arts such as knitting, cross-stitching and crocheting every Saturday afternoon at the Crossings branch library on the west side.
“It’s for anyone interested in that sort of crafting,” said community outreach librarian Melissa Legacy.
Legacy has been knitting for three years, and when she has a new place to call home, she always tries to find a knitting group as a way of meeting people who share her interest.
“It’s people who enjoy sitting and knitting together. A lot of people like to be able to ask questions. They might be having trouble understanding a pattern, or they want to learn new techniques. For me, being new to Lethbridge, I wanted to find out where to find a good store to buy yarn and knitting supplies. Everyone’s just sitting and chatting and sharing skills,” she said.
“People are interested in knitting, so we just thought that we’d respond to that need,” she said of the reason to launch the group. “We thought it would be a popular program to have a public night at the Crossings branch because it is new.”
The program began as a test on Jan. 15 and the organizers were pleasantly surprsied to snag between eight and 10 people who regularly all gather around the fireplace to knit.
The program runs every Saturday and is scheduled to wrap up Feb. 26. However, feedback will be the determining factor whether it continues beyond that date.
“This is a trial run. We’re not sure what we’ll do during the summer. Knitting seems like more of a winter activity.”
For Theresa Parker, knitting is a spiritual experience as well as a social activity, which is why she is organizing Knitting Into The Mystery of Healing at the Martha Retreat Centre every Thursday night from Feb. 24 to March 24.
“It will be my second year (as facilitator),”  said Parker.
After visiting people in the hospital a couple years ago, she was impressed by how much handknitted shawls meant to the patients and organized a group to gather, knit, and think and pray for people in need.
“We start every session with a prayer. The connection between knitting and prayer is reflection. Knitting is a good time to reflect. Prayer is also a good time to reflect,” said the woman who has been knitting since she was a teenager.
“We all gather and share stories about who we’re knitting for or about ourselves.”
Fourteen people took part in the program last year.
“I’m impressed we had such good knitters involved. And we had a couple who had never knitted before so we were happy to share what we knew,” she said.
“Knitting is very popular now. It was quite popular years ago, then it went out of style for a while, now it’s back in style again.”

How well do you know your money?
There’s a lot more to money than just the piece of paper it is printed on. Plus, it is literally always changing.
“The bank notes are changed every 10-12 years,” said Marc Trudel, a Bank of Canada Prairies regional office analyst, during a visit to the Galt Museum & Archives, which is hosting the “Fakes and Forgeries: Yesterday and Today” exhibit.
Notes are always changing to keep one step of  the counterfeiters. So there are a variety of different security features added to each series. But one of the easiest way to detect a fake note is to feel it, he said.
The bills are made of a special cotton fibre, so they cost about 10 cents to make them, he said. But later this year, the bills will be made of a special plastic polymer.
“We don’t know which ones will be changed. They’ll probably tell us what they are about two hours before it happens, because they don’t want any leaks,” he laughed.
Another way to help identify fake notes is to feel the edges. The numbers as well as the Bank of Canada stripe on the right hand side of the bill are printed in upraised ink.
Plus, if you hold the suspicious bill up to the light, several interesting features “come to the light,” so to speak.
If you look at the white space on the bottom right side of the bill, you should be able to see an image of the Queen or prime minister featured on the bill. As well, what look like random lines, appear as both the denomination of the bill on the right hand side next to the phantom Queen or prime minister image as well as a straight line next to it.
Also, look carefully at on the holographic strip on the bill. It should not only reflect carefully, but also display maple leafs and the denomination of the bill in both large and small print.
And while the Braille is not a security feature, it also helps set apart genuine bills from their counterfeit counterparts.
“With the help of this technology, we’ll be a step ahead of the counterfeiters,” he said, adding one would be able to spot a counterfeit bill in four seconds.
“But not a lot of people are checking their bills. About 95 per cent of counterfeits are badly done,” Trudel continued.

Richard Amery
For the Sun Times
If you have always wanted to be a homeowner, but have no idea where to start and, for that matter, don’t know if you can afford your own house, then check out the HOME program.
The Alberta government program has been helping first-time homebuyers become homeowners since 2001, leading them step by step along the way as well as giving them up to $3,000 off their purchase.
Participants enroll in an intensive five-hour crash course over two evenings that teaches everything one needs to know about the homeownership process. Topics include how mortgages and real estate agents work, and guest speakers including a lawyer and a home inspector. Participants receive a binder of the information related during the seminars.
The program is so popular in Lethbridge that organizers have planned to host them monthly. The next ones are Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Andy’s Place in Anderson Hall at the University of Lethbridge. The locations of the Feb. 28 and March 1 sessions was undetermined at press time.
“We already have people signed up for the next three workshops,” said co-ordinator Courtney Atkinson, a Realtor who has been orangizing the program for a year with mortgage broker Twyla Fisher.
“I got involved with it because I do a lot of volunteering. I’m a Rotary club member, but I wanted to do something that was more related to my business,” he continued.
He had lunch with Fisher, who convinced him this program would be a good fit, especially as he comes from an educational background, having worked in the registrar’s office at the University of Lethbridge.
“I wanted to make the program a lot cleaner. But like anything, the more you do something, the better you get at it. That’s our goal, to make sure the information is good,” he said.
He attributes the reinvigorated popularity of the HOME program to the return to a buyers’ market.
“We saw two really bad years for real estate. But now employment numbers and the GDP numbers are returning to pre-recession levels,” Atkinson said.
The Realtors involved contribute a portion of their commissions to the program, which is how new homebuyers can receive up to $3,000 off the price of their home, depending on how much they qualify for a mortgage.
“Our demographic is about 25 to 40. It’s not meant for people who want to flip the house,” Atkinson said
The program’s followup process keeps track of that  sort of activity.
It’s an exciting time to see all of the great developments in real estate” he said.
“The HOME program is an unprecedented opportunity for moderate- to low-income people to achieve their dreams of homeownership,” he said.
More information on the HOME program is  at http://lethbridgehomebuyers.ca/ as well as www.TheHomeProgram.ca. 

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is expanding its successful QuitCore program this month, bringing free tobacco cessation group support to 13 new communities across the province. Led by trained cessation professionals, the QuitCore program teaches tobacco users how to develop a plan to quit that will work for them, while providing strategies to deal with recovery symptoms, manage stress and prevent relapse. Consisting of six or eight in-depth sessions over a 10- to 14-week period, the program also connects individuals with other individuals trying to quit.
“Many individuals consider changing habits in the new year to improve their health and quitting smoking may be one of them,” says Susan Canning, AHS tobacco reduction manager. “We are pleased to expand the QuitCore program to new communities to support individuals who want to quit smoking.”
The program will continue to be offered in Lethbridge, Calgary, Cold Lake, Drumheller, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Stettler and Wetaskiwin. It will be offered for the first time in Brooks, Canmore, Coronation, Grande Prairie, High Level, High Prairie, Peace River, Rimbey, Sylvan Lake, Taber, Wainwright, Westlock and Whitecourt.
Sessions begin the week of Jan. 31 in the communities with the exception of Calgary and Edmonton. To register for the program or to learn more, Albertans can call toll-free 1-866-710-QUIT (7848).

Nominate outstanding teachers

Students, parents, teachers, principals and community members are encouraged to nominate a teacher or principal for their exceptional work with K-12 students in Alberta classrooms.
Nominations for the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Awards must be submitted to Alberta Education by Feb. 4.
The awards celebrate educators who use creativity and innovation to motivate students to succeed, demonstrate leadership to create a positive school culture or play an extraordinary role in enhancing learning experiences for students.
English and French nomination packages, which include details of eligibility and selection criteria, are available at www.education.alberta.ca by clicking on the “Teachers” tab and then on “Excellence in Teaching Awards.”
Approximately 130 semi-finalists will be selected. Twenty of those semi-finalists will receive Provincial Excellence in Teaching Awards, and three will receive SMART Technologies Innovative Use of Technology Awards. Award recipients will be formally honoured at a dinner and ceremony with the minister of education on May 28 in Edmonton.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards have been celebrated since 1989. To date, 8,962 teachers have been nominated and 469 teachers have received awards. Last year, 338 teachers were nominated and 23 received awards.

Awards celebrate excellence in early learning and child care

Nominations are being accepted to recognize early learning and child-care professionals who make valuable contributions through positive and creative environments for children and their parents.
Due to its success, this year’s 2011 Alberta Child Care Professional Awards of Excellence program has been expanded and gives Albertans the opportunity to nominate professionals working in licensed and approved programs as well as all 46 Parent Link Centres throughout Alberta. The Alberta Child Care Association has also introduced an additional award to recognize an inspirational leader in the child care field.
A nomination package with details about eligibility and criteria is available at www.child.alberta.ca/childcare, or at any of Alberta’s licensed or approved child-care programs, Parent Link Centres or Child and Family Services Authorities. To be considered, completed nominations must be received by 4 p.m. on Feb. 1.
• Nominees will be evaluated based on their innovation and creativity when working with children and parents and how they demonstrate professional excellence in four key areas:
• supporting children’s development and well-being;
• nurturing the individuality of each child;
• engaging parents, families and communities as partners in the care and education of children; and
• raising the profile of the early learning and child-care field through their commitment to ongoing learning and development and their willingness to share their knowledge with others.
The Awards Selection Committee will initially choose 40 finalists, with the top 12 recipients being honoured at a ceremony in Calgary on April 8, at the Westin Hotel.