By Katie Schneider
The Eagle
Cochrane “desperately needs” government regulated child care in town, a local expert told council Nov. 27.
Malcolm Read, director of Pathways: Services for Children and Families, presented his Calgary West Childcare Initiative Report to council to show the lack of adequate family day homes in town.
In his study, he found the majority of child care occurs on an informal and unregulated basis, meaning parents leave children with providers who are not licensed, approved, or regulated by the province.
Provincial regulation restricts the number of children who may be cared for in any provider’s home to no more than six children under 11 years of age, with no more than two children who are less than two years old, and no more than three children less than three years old, his report states.
Though Read commended Cochrane for initiating a study on child care, he said of the 17 family day homes that hold a business license, only two are regulated by the provincial government. One of them operates under the Calgary Family Day Home Agency and the other under the Bowness-Montgomery Child Care Association.
He said there are about 500 children in Cochrane under the age of six who require day care, but the two regulated day homes can only accommodate six kids each.
The 15 additional day homes would accommodate 90 children so he said about 400 children are in day cares that are not regulated or licensed. Read estimated there are more like 40 family day homes in operation that don’t have a business license. Parents often hear about care providers by word of mouth or advertisements, he said.
“Without regulations, children may be at risk.”
And parents are also missing out on provincial subsidies to help them afford child care if their children aren’t attending a government-regulated program, he said.
Two-parent families with two children, with an annual net income of up to $70,000, and single-parent families with one child who have an annual net income of up to $52,000, are eligible for subsidies if their child attends a government-regulated program.
And with just two family day homes approved in Cochrane, that means only the parents of those 12 children can apply for the subsidies.
He added that the lack of child care also affects employment and housing in Cochrane.
“It’s pretty tragic we haven’t addressed this social problem.”
But Read said the main concern in Cochrane is the lack of child care in general — regulated or not.
However, he said the community can build on the problem and work together to find solutions.
“That’s the exciting part even though we are late in the game,” he said, adding the town would need help from the province.
In Cochrane and Canmore, Read said he found parents who showed an interest in “informal, temporary and part-time care” where they can drop their kids off when shopping or attending an appointment.
Read offered several recommendations to council, including increasing the availability of high quality, affordable, provincially-regulated child care by increasing the number of regulated day homes so parents can access subsides, providing support to day home operators, and reducing the number of children at risk.
He also suggested modifying town bylaws “to remove the barrier for development of more day homes and child care options.” Bylaw changes could allow for innovative ways of incorporating day care into new buildings, rather than building one giant facility, he said.
“It’s wonderful we’re trying to move on the issue of child care . . . it’s important to do at the municipal level and provincial level,” he said, adding the town also needs a “multi-sectoral body” or central agency, composed of representatives from businesses, education, social services, and community groups to help co-ordinate programs.
Coun. Ken Hynes voiced a concern that many day homes lack business licenses.
“I’m curious to what barriers there are for not getting a business license,” he asked, referring to the situation as an “enforcement issue.”
The study, which was conducted from July until the end of September, and included assessing Cochrane, Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, and the M.D. of Bighorn, was commissioned by the Family and Community Support Services in Banff, Canmore, and Cochrane.

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By Katie Schneider
The Eagle
Local parents and grandparents are seeking to develop Cochrane’s first Protestant Christian school program and have it up and running by next fall.
At the Nov. 23 meeting of Rocky View trustees, Elaine Cozac, Laurel Pedersen and Evelyn Van Hoeve of the Cochrane Christian Academy Society proposed incorporating a program with a focus on Christian education into the division.
The Cochrane Christian Academy would offer children a “Biblically-based education that promotes academic success, character development and service to others,” Cozac said. The proposal also states that students will receive an education that will focus on the “intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual” aspects of development and foster a “Christ-centred learning environment” through Bible instruction, prayer, worship songs, and Scripture memory.
“It will follow the Alberta program of studies and, in addition, will present Christian world view into the subject areas,” Cozac added after the meeting.
The principal and teachers would have both an education and Christian education background, Cozac said.
Pedersen said 51 students, or 45 full-time equivalent, have already enrolled in the program for the 2007-2008 school year; 11 for Kindergarten, 10 for Grade 1, eight for Grade 2, 15 for Grade 3 and seven for Grade 4, though she said she anticipates 54 (or 47 full-time equivalent) will be enrolled by next fall. Fifty full-time equivalent is the recommended maximum size for the school for the first year, but the society forecasts the program will have 74 full-time equivalents for the 2008-2009 school year, and 100 for 2009-2010, she added.
For 2007-2008, the society is planning for a Kindergarten class, a Grade 1-2 split and Grade 3-4 split, though the long range vision would be to offer the program up to Grade 12, Cozac and Pedersen said.
Also, because facility space is an issue, an existing Rocky View school would be needed, perhaps one that is not already at capacity, Cozac said.
The academy would appeal to parents who homeschool or drive to another Christian school.
“When the Cochrane Christian Academy is underway, that same parent has a choice,” to send his/her child to school in his/her own community and pay a nominal fee for Christian curriculum of $50, Pedersen said. “Suddenly it becomes affordable and realistic for everybody.”

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By Ian Tennant
The Eagle
Cochrane Cobras’ Bruce O’Neil doesn’t want to sound like he’s been eating sour grapes, but it’s hard for the veteran high school football coach to not say field conditions in Westakiwin were a factor in their 15-10 defeat Nov. 25.
“I’ve never, ever seen a field like this,” said O’Neil, who has been coaching for 26 years.
“We were playing football in broomball shoes — you go figure that out.”
The loss against the Sabres ended the Cobras’ attempts to win their fifth straight Tier 3 provincial title.
Although the Sabres “are a good team, no doubt about that,” O’Neil said “clear ice” on the field was a factor. “You couldn’t call it a football field.”
While acknowledging that both teams faced the same conditions, he pointed out the Sabres had played two games on the field and practised numerous times so they were used to the surface.
Indeed, the St. Paul Journal reported that one coach of the St. Paul Lions said field conditions were a factor in that team’s 37-0 playoff loss on the Sabres’ field Nov. 11. At halftime, Lions parents were reportedly pulling socks over players’ cleats to hopefully give them traction.
The Journal’s report, plus some on-site observations by a friend of the Cobras, prompted the team to pack broomball shoes in case they were needed, he said.
In fact, the Cobras nearly forfeited the game because of a concern over players’ safety, O’Neil said
The team arrived in Wetaskiwin around 11:30 a.m. and O’Neil went to check out the dressing room while co-coach Rob McNab looked at the field.
O’Neil said McNab came back and reported: “‘You won’t believe it — it’s like a skating rink.’”
But, as it turned out the players couldn’t run “fast enough to hurt anyone,” O’Neil said.
The coach said the Cobras had to significantly alter their offensive strategy because of the field, unable to complete short passes to hopefully gain yards after the catch, while the Sabres successfully executed end-arounds where the runner could gain some speed.
Emphasizing that he didn’t want to sound like a sore loser, O’Neil pointed out that the Cobras had chances, failing at one point to punch the ball across the goal line on a three-yard, third-down gamble.
Nevertheless, “I don’t think we saw the best from either team” because of the icy field.
“Hats off to them,” O’Neil said of the Sabres, “but we are very proud of our boys.”
“We are disappointed, but it just makes you hungry” to get back to the provincial final.

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Wee Jackie weighs in
by Jack Tennant
Cochrane realtor Mike Borody is never short of ideas, some of them quite good.
This one is brilliant in its simplicity and need: Blankets for the homeless.
This bitter cold snap has been a real challenge to folks who care for the homeless, and one desperate and insatiable need is blankets and sleeping bags to get people through the cold.
The need is in Calgary, and the simple part is most everyone has a few old, but clean, blankets they could afford to give to others and everyone knows a realtor.
So take your old, but clean, blanket to your nearest realtor and Mike and the Borody Bunch will make sure they get to the Mustard Seed and any other agency that needs them.
Mike and his crew have contacted every realtor in town and of course all instantly and enthusiastically agreed to be a collection depot for blankets. You can drop them off today, but be quick because the need is now and we want all the blankets delivered by Dec. 1.
For the Cochrane Eagle distribution technicians (home delivery carriers to other newspapers), fill your bin full of blankets before you return them.
Once again, an opportunity to help others, and once again Cochrane will rise to the challenge. (more…)

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By Katie Schneider
The Eagle
Cochrane council agreed to grant an extra $5,000 to the Library Board in the town’s 2007 budget for promotion and marketing of the Marigold System, but declined to kick in more to help cover the $117,000 yearly fee for the service.
The co-operative public library system would allow every library member within Cochrane to access materials from any other library in the province that also belongs to the system.
Both Coun. Mary Lou Davis, a member of the Library Board, and chair Adamo Cocuzzoli, said the Nan Boothby Memorial Library would join the Marigold System even without extra funding from the town.
Although Cocuzzoli is excited about the board’s decision to join Marigold, he said there are pros and cons for everything.
A “big con” is that members of the library who live in Rocky View or the Stoney First Nation will face a hurdle to use the service, he said.
“Only Cochrane residents,” he said. “It’s a bit of a shame, but the board will definitely work hard to make it so people in the M.D. will find value in the library.”
Rowena Lunn, director of Marigold, which is based in Strathmore, said since the M.D. of Rocky View does not belong to Marigold, individuals or families would have to pay $70 to get the Alberta Library Card to access libraries that belong to Marigold. The M.D. of Bighorn belongs to Marigold, she added.
Cocuzzoli said the board needs funding for the system itself more than for marketing.
“What we need is funding for Marigold, not promoting for Marigold,” he said.
But since the money will be coming out of a reserve, the taxpayers are paying for it in the end, he said.
“It’s all out of (the) taxpayers’ pocket,” he said.
And the board acknowledges the budget was a tight one, he said.
“It was a daunting budget for them, and the library board understands that as well,” he said.

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By Ian Tennant
The Eagle
Chief Ernest Wesley will face three challengers in an election for the Wesley band, one of three that comprise the Stoney First Nation.
Advance polls will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 1 at the administration office in Morley, while voting day is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Chief Goodstoney Arena.
Valentine (Tina) Fox, Tom Snow Jr., and Clifford Poucette will run against Wesley.
In the race for three seats on the overall Stoney council, the following Wesley band members have been nominated: Tater Van House, Laron Gregory Two Young Men, Adriene Hunter, Wilber (Bruce) Wesley, Watson Joe Kaquitts, Hank Snow, Clint Treavis Hunter, Malcolm Eugene Fox, Lena Augustine Fox and Rufus Wayne Two Young Men.
Three men will stand for election as the Bighorn councillor for the Wesley band: Charlie Abraham, Robert Curtis Crawler and Gary Dixon.
The Bearspaw band is also holding an election but a list of candidates was not available.
Advance polls for Bearspaw voters will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Stoney administration office. Voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Morley School gymnasium.
Bearspaw voters will elect four councillors, including two from the Eden reserve.
The Chiniki band held its election last year.

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Coffee with Warren
by Warren Harbeck
“’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la.” So goes that Yuletide favourite. But for so many in our society, ’tis the season to be lonely.
Loneliness at this time of year seems to be especially a problem among the elderly who have lost their life companion and whose children and grandchildren have moved far away. They have so much love to give, but there is no one close by to receive their hugs.
As Vincent Van Gogh put it, “One may have a blazing hearth in one’s soul, and yet no one ever comes to sit by it.”
But loneliness is not restricted to any one time of the year, nor is it reserved for only a few.
“No person has ever walked our earth and been free from the pains of loneliness,” writes my longtime coffee companion Ronald Rolheiser in his 2004 book, The Restless Heart: Finding Our Spiritual Home in Times of Loneliness.
“Rich and poor, wise and ignorant, faith-filled and agnostic, healthy and unhealthy have all alike had to face and struggle with its potentially paralyzing grip. It has granted no immunities. To be human is to be lonely.”
Many of the responses I receive from our readers speak of loneliness. Often they point to the “virtual coffee shop” of these columns as a means of coping with it.
I was discussing this the other day with Bruno Struck, owner/operator of High Country Framing & Art Gallery in Cochrane. He likes the coffee shop metaphor.
“Just sitting in the coffee shop, we actually become part of the person’s life we see regularly,” he said. “We may not know their names, we don’t know much about them; but there’s a therapy in just seeing them every day.”
I couldn’t agree more. The people I encounter in my daily visits among our town’s coffee shops and through the correspondence around these columns are lamplighters to my soul. They light up my life and in the midst of my own longings for the presence of others, they make me feel connected, as I hope I do them. They are good “therapy.”
Ron Rolheiser, in one of his weekly columns, put it this way: “When you are lonely in certain ways, no matter the pain, you can still put out a hand and someone will take it, hold it, offer empathy, and the loneliness itself can lead to a deeper sense of being loved and valued.”
Another writer, Elisabeth Elliot, spoke of this “deeper sense” in her 1988 book, Loneliness, which she shared with me over coffee some years ago.
She tells the story of George Matheson, a young man in the late-1800s who went blind shortly after getting engaged. His fiancée ended the engagement.
“Perhaps there is no more bitter loneliness than that of rejection,” Elisabeth writes. “Not only must one learn to do without someone he had come to feel he could not live without, but he must endure dagger-thrusts to the heart, such as: You deserved to be rejected. You are not worthy to be loved. You will never be loved. Who would want you? You are condemned to loneliness forever, and nobody cares.”
Such thinking, she says, leads some to wonder if even God has rejected them and “the devastating conclusion is reached: I am alone.”
Matheson’s spiritual struggle led him in a very different direction, however. He turned away from “the powerful temptations to self-pity, resentment, bitterness toward God . . . and selfish isolation which might so quickly have overcome him, and lifted up his ‘weary soul’ to a far greater Love — one that would never let him go.”
And out of the loneliness of his soul and the darkness of his blindness he penned a hymn that has brought comfort and light to many in their own loneliness: (more…)

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By Jeremy Broadfield
The Eagle
The 9th annual dinner and dessert theatre production by the Cochrane Alliance Church of “Grounded” is not just another variant on the Christmas story.
The play, which opens Nov. 30 and runs until Dec. 9, was written by three members of the congregation, Debbie Bujold, Dennis Hayes, and Yolanda Bosma, who is also directing the play.
The play, set on Dec. 21 in a small terminal of the Winnipeg airport where a storm has caused the cancellation of a flight to Vancouver, focuses on the interaction of the stranded passengers.
With only one set, the play relies on the strength of the characters to tell the story.
“The central theme is weathering storms,” Hayes said at a dress rehearsal Nov. 26.
This play was more frustrating to write than others he has worked on. The challenge was to balance the serious side of the interactions with comic relief, as well as trying to keep the static setting interesting throughout.
“We had to break some rules of reality,” he said.
Along with having helped write the play, Hayes is also starring in it while his wife Melia Hayes is the producer.
Melia does the behind-the-scenes work so that the cast and crew can focus on the play.
“I tend to be wired in organizational mode,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
To order tickets call 932-3000.

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Gaydon Willis is a Cochrane resident, a mother of six, a registered massage therapist and despite two clean mammograms, a victim of breast cancer. She’s agreed to share her story and her challenges on a regular basis with Cochrane Eagle readers.
By Gaydon Willis
Every time I see my little grandson, he says, “Grandma, is your cancer gone?”
That’s the way things work in his world.
I wish it was that easy.
Cancer can become a full-time job if you let it. Between doctors appointments, lab tests, workshops, counselling and support groups, there is hardly any time for anything else . . . like living!
So I’ve decided to give myself one hour a day to talk, read, or write in my journal, and the rest of the time I’m declaring a “Cancer Free Zone”. I have two choices: to start dying or to start living. It’s a sure bet what I’ve chosen to do!
I joined a support group two weeks ago, held at the old Holy Cross Hospital site in Calgary. I had a lot of fears about going. This is a group for women whose breast cancer has metastasized to other parts of their bodies. I’m told it’s a group no one wants to belong to. I also knew that I would see other women in varying degrees of wellness and wondered if I was going to see a preview of myself.
What I saw was a group of women, all different, all responding to their treatment in their own way. Not one of us was the same. But we all had a story to tell. The dreaded “Cancer Story”.
“Wait a minute,” I wanted to say. “Yes, we all have cancer, but tell me about you! Who are you? Do you work? Where do you live? Are you married? Do you have kids? Grandkids? What do you love to do? What are your hobbies? Tell me who you are as a person!”
I am more than cancer.
I am a woman, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, a friend , a massage therapist. I’m a walker and (recently) a runner. I collect rocks. I love chocolate and red wine! I love to laugh, dance and party. I want to learn how to play African drums. I want to learn about Native spirituality. I want to paint, knit and crochet, maybe even quilt. I’d like to try meditation and yoga.
Okay, so maybe I am in denial.
My counsellor has suggested that my positive attitude and sense of humour could be coping skills that I use for running away from the obvious and not dealing with things.
Hmm, perhaps he is right — or not.
This is not a new behaviour for me. I’ve always been this way. I grew up in a household where the cup was half full no matter how bad things were. My family was made up of upbeat, positive, fun-loving people who had the ability to laugh at themselves.
I wonder if a positive attitude and sense of humour is a learned behaviour or a personality trait. And is it normal? (I don’t know why I worry about that I’ve never been normal in my life!) There are a lot of things I would gladly change about myself but this ain’t one of them!
Coping skill? You bet! So I’ll keep on laughing at myself and living my life until something better comes along.
I wonder why there are no support groups in Cochrane for women with breast cancer, or for people with any type of cancer, for that matter. Surely I am not the only one living here.
It would be nice to meet other local women who have similar challenges. Perhaps it’s time to roll up some sleeves and make it happen. I think I’ll put that on my wish list to Santa.
And Santa, in case you want to contact me you can reach me at
gaydonwillis@shaw.ca.

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