Baby Names 101: What’s in a name?
Choosing a name for your new bundle of joy is something that most parents look forward to but can also be an overwhelming experience.
Kids and Family
Mother is coming
This is a phrase I have said, myself, as I rolled my eyes. We have all read stories and watched sitcoms where adult children are saying this to their friends, clearly intimating that the upcoming visit will be difficult. And it always was, when my mother came to visit. But now the shoe is …
Yukon See It Here: Murray Martin
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon life. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on to [email protected] I like to submit a picture along with a saying to go with it. For this large tree, “Family tree: set your roost and firmly hang on to them.”
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their clinic
September 9 is National Teddy Bear Day The inaugural Teddy Bear Clinic in November 2017 was a hit with families and medical professionals alike as about 200 families came through the door to get checkups for their important stuffie friends. Those attendance numbers, and the overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents and children, made it essential …
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Celebrating the role of mining in the Yukon
The Yukon Chamber of Mines has prioritized outreach and community engagement as part of their programming. Heading into its 10th year, the annual Mining and Exploration Camp, which is held during Yukon Mining Week each spring, is one of two major events geared towards that work. (Family Day, held during the annual Geoscience Forum in …
Cake and Comrades
If Pinterest is to be believed, we might be raising children who expect a real live unicorn to come to their next birthday party. Do they even know how much a live unicorn costs? Imagine the hours it will take to source one. Parents of the world, let’s collectively admit to ourselves that children’s birthday …
There’s Always a Stack of Books Hidden Under Their Quilts
The Yukon Imagination Library — non-profit organization that gives free books to Yukon children from birth to age four — is turning 10 this year. To celebrate the milestone we have collected reading stories from families who have used the library and from a few well-known Yukoners. We will be sharing them over the next …
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Ghost-Hunting in the Whitehorse Copperbelt
You wouldn’t think a person could go ghost hunting in the middle of the day in the middle of summer, but MacBride Museum offers six to 12-year-olds a chance to do just that from August 14 to 18. “To hunt ghosts, and tell Yukon ghost stories, you need the historical perspective,” says Angela Drainville, manager …
There’s No Escaping: Family Is as Family Does
As family reunions go, the event I attended in Ontario’s Georgian Bay district on a recent weekend was a fairly small-scale affair. At its peak, a mere 24 people were in attendance. Officially, it wasn’t really a reunion, just a gathering in Canada’s quintessential cottage country to mark my oldest brother’s 80th birthday. Judging by …
The (Mis)Adventures of A Puppy
In life there can be many instances one regrets. Such as accidentally sending a text to the wrong person, or throwing out an ill received joke. Or, uttering the thought, “Let’s get a second dog.” Before we knew it, the puppy was arriving. Aside from another dog bed and Puppy Chow, we really hadn’t thought …
Those Were the Days. They Still Are
The emptying-out of Yukon’s schools signals the official start of that much-anticipated annual ritual: the Summer Holiday. We all know the narrative arc of that story. For the first little while, the kids are bursting to be outside every moment of the day, burning off the pent-up energy held hostage inside the classroom for months. …
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
The history of how we move is full of wild and wondrous stories about survival, romance, perseverance and everyday life. It’s also a great lens through which we can explore science and technology. Two new summer programs at the Yukon Transportation Museum will explore stories and science with kids and seniors to celebrate Canada 150 …
Experiencing Theatre in Namibia
It’s 15 minutes before our performance starts and one of my actors has a meltdown. “No, I am not gonna play,” he says avoiding eye contact. Philo is 12 years old and usually confident. I would never have expected that from him. It’s Valentine’s Day and we rehearsed for our little performance the whole week. …
A Rag-Tag Team of Do-Gooders
The Marvel Cinematic Universe strikes again with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, released April 19. Written and Directed by James Gunn with an additional writing credit to Dan Abnett, this sequel runs for an hour and 36 minutes and spans several solar systems as we take a closer look at Marvel’s rag tag team …
The Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow
With summer approaching quickly, parents are faced with a familiar question: Where do I want my kids to spend their days while I am at work? This can sometimes be a stressful decision for parents, with so many diverse options for camps and childcare, there is no shortage of possibilities. However, a new camp starting …
Do You Remember When?
Allow me to take you back in time to when the words of today had a great difference in meaning… Close your eyes… and go back in time… before the internet, Mac, Dreamcast, Playstation or Nintendo 64… away back, I’m talking hide and seek at dusk… hopscotch, Double Dutch, jacks, kickball, mother may I, Red …
Right On, Yukon
I’m from Ontario, but boy let me tell you I would much rather be out here. Where I come from the only outdoor activities families engage in are taking the bus, and burying their heads in technology. You know that the next generation is going to be smarter than you when you’re watching a baby …
Fun Family Literacy Tips!
Don’t expect your little one to always sit still to read a book. Toddler’s move around. It is what they do. So don’t worry if they wiggle, tumble and roll. They may be on the move but they are listening. yukonliteracy.ca
Welcome 30 Below!
I was just getting started on working with Hollywood, my horse, out in Mendenhall (our home) when my grandparents were talking about the weather one night. As I lay in bed I couldn’t help to listen in when I heard “30 below.” Yikes! Anyway, he sucked it up after 20 minutes of walking in a …
What happened to the kids, the class of 2009
Spencer Sumanik How did he get into all this fascinating stuff? He and a childhood friend got their bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering at UBC Okanagan. After that, both of them moved to Ottawa to continue their studies, each in their own preferred field. They rented a room in Ottawa with another Yukoner. Spencer chose …
Christmas Eve Preparations in October
Organizers for the Christmas Eve Pageant Photo Shoot were on edge as October 2 dawned. Would there be a lot of snow on the Bonanza Road sites where the pictures were to be taken? Would it be too cold that day? Would there be enough sunlight to get good shots? It was, after all, a …
How to Write a Memorable Christmas Letter
The Christmas and New Year’s letter was a tradition in England that predated the first Christmas card in 1843, according to www.Smithsonian.com. With the expansion of the British postal system, Sir Henry Cole, who had many friends and acquaintances and not enough time to write a letter to each of them, commissioned the printing of …
Trying Something New
Ploytida Samanachangphunk had one sister living in Whitehorse before she immigrated to Canada. Now she has three sisters and an extended family here. Ploytida’s sister would return for family visits to their hometown of Nan, in northern Thailand, and tell her about life in the Yukon. Ploytida became intrigued. “I love my country. Thailand is …
The Collapse of Family
“While a part of me was glad I wasn’t like my brother, no part of me wished to be more fortunate than my mother. To be luckier than her was to be different from her, it was to be apart from her, it was to have a life that would take me away from her. …
Everyone Matters
One of the philosophical pillars of the Learning Tree Daycare is to teach the kids there about helping other people. “Teaching kindness and all of that stuff, it all feeds into what we want the kids to be learning,” says Christine Greff, who directs the daycare’s programming. Teaching kindness was the impetus behind the first …
What to do on Sunday Night
In the 2016 film Captain Fantastic, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen – The Lord of the Rings, A History of Violence), is a father with meticulous survivalist and socialist ideals. He lives live an isolated off-the-grid life in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six children. The 2015 documentary Sonita chronicles the heart-wrenching story …
Life is Tough with The Little Nag
My dinner dishes don’t always get done after dinner. There is a chair in my living room that has a continuous pile of laundry to be folded. Sometimes I forget the kid’s helmet, or swimsuit, or permission slip for school. The dogs haven’t been bathed for two weeks. I try to be a calm and …
Pickling Salt and Rubber Gloves
I recently came into contact with a terrifying Yukon beast: Mus musculus, the house mouse. After the encounter, I contacted everyone I knew, in complete panic. Kosher and authentic sea salt will also work in place of pickling salt. Rubber gloves are handy things to have around, for cleaning up after mice or cutting up …
Family Fun Literacy Tips
Literacy begins as a newborn – long before a child enters school. Literacy starts in the home with families. Your child is never too young or to old to talk, sing and read with. These are things you can try tonight. Learning to read starts from birth. Talk, talk, talk. Narrate the day as it …
Yukon Visitors
Everyone has a list of family and close friends that they feel the need to make an effort to visit every decade or so. If you’re like me and your entire extended family lives outside the Yukon, they may be making an extra effort to come and see you, because (though geographically cumbersome) the Yukon …
A Special Baby: Ellen’s Story
Ellen had four babies at Whitehorse General Hospital. Her births were always fast and she liked the support that she got at the hospital. In her fifth pregnancy her baby was diagnosed with spina bifida at the 20 week ultrasound. Spina bifida is a birth defect where there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal …
Birth of a Family: Christine’s story
“I would have loved to have had midwifery care and a home birth for all my pregnancies, but that wasn’t possible,” says Christine, a Whitehorse resident. When she was pregnant with her first baby and two months away from her due date she noticed some back pain that turned into premature labour. She was flown …
Summer Lessons in Hippo Munching
What a happy day it was when my four-year-old daughter Emily opened a gift from my wife and I revealing a classic game from our youth. Hungry Hungry Hippos was one of our “go to” games in the mid-80s. I remember battling it out with friends and family, frantically trying to scarf down all the …
Family earns a home; the community wins a family
Jeff Wolsynuk looks like his happiness will burst out at any second. Tanya Butler looks relieved and content. The couple is sitting in the kitchen of their home. Their home. That they own. Three years ago, they did not know that their lives would be so settled and secure; that their family – including Zahara, …
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The Politics of Rotary Park
Aristotle famously noted that humans are political animals. As I see it, human behaviour can be viewed in its most primal and pure state whilst observing children. Rotary Park, specifically the yellow triple slide, is a toddler cultural melting pot which, when observed from a political perspective, is a microcosm of the much larger political …
My First Baby: Emma
We moved into our newly built log house one week before my due date. We were racing against time, because we planned our home to be one where I’d have my child, and wanted our first baby to be born in the house we built together. She took her time. I had my first contraction …
What’s Up in the Sky
When I was a kid my mom ran a park in the southern interior of British Columbia. Mabel Lake Provincial Park. Mabel Lake is remote and undeveloped. There was electricity in our trailer, but no phone lines. Whatever isolation this lead to during the day, it meant the nights were dark. The same families would …
Especially Good Fun
There is something special about watching Special Olympics athletes compete. If you know people with an intellectual disability involved with the Special Olympics, then you know what it’s like to watch a person give everything they’ve got. It’s just like watching any athletes perform the sports they love – except there is an underlying air …
Spotlight on Kids at Vaudeville Camp
School’s out for the summer, which means that summer camp is IN! An exciting new day camp is taking centre-stage this year in Whitehorse – specifically, it is taking the stage at the Frantic Follies Theatre, home to the Frantic Follies vaudeville revue. For almost 50 years, Frantic Follies has been delighting Whitehorse audiences with …
Of lavender and squashed fly biscuits
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, we’ll have to make do with 500, since that’s all this space allows. The picture in question shows a young woman sitting under a bright yellow umbrella, playing a harp. The sky is brilliantly blue, with enough frothy white cloud to declare it …
You Are What You Wrote When You Were a Child
Ten years ago husband and wife Dan and Jenna Misener were at Jenna’s parents’ house for Christmas. The couple was in Jenna’s room, going through a box of childhood memorabilia. They found her diary. They spent the day reading entries aloud to each other. It inspired them. Back in Toronto, the Miseners booked a bar. …
Yukon’s First Lady of Physiotherapy
Mentioning Yvonne Emson’s name can trigger a response like my neighbour’s: “Oh, she saved my life! My husband’s, too.” Physiotherapists are not in the business of saving lives, but for people with severe or chronic pain, getting the right treatment can feel like rebirth. After nearly 40 years practicing physiotherapy in the north, Emson is …
More than Just Coffee
I catch Heike Graf between the lunch rush hour at the Caribou Crossing Coffee and picking up her five year old daughter from school. “It was busy today,” Graf, the owner of the coffee shop in Carcross, says while wiping the counter and putting a tray of fresh pizza on the display. The smell of …
A Warm Home in a Cold Place
Did you grow up or work in Tungsten, in the Northwest Territories? If so, you’re invited to a party and might not even know it. Expats from this now defunct mine and community are putting together a reunion June 24 to 28 at Mount Robson Provincial Park near Valemount, BC. The group hopes to get …
Family Camping
My daughter’s dad and I started taking our daughters for Dempster Highway camping adventures around 1991, and the magic and fun times of those trips stayed with them, helping them to become independent and adventurous souls. Here is an excerpt from my daughter Rachel’s 2001 essay, called “True Tracks,” that shows the kind of fun …
The CutOff Restaurant & Pub: Real food for real Yukoners
The CutOff Restaurant & Pub has really nice customers. On a Sunday night, looking at the crowd that has come in for the ever-changing weekly dinner special, you see a lot of long-time Yukoners. Real Yukoners who dress comfortably and laugh out loud. This is what you get when you open a new restaurant 20 …
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Tres Bien!
This year marks the 35th anniversary of French immersion programs in the Yukon and the École Whitehorse Elementary School decided to do something big to celebrate. That big project turned into a musical production of The Little Prince, with 450 students in all of the grades involved. The school started having auditions in October and …
Erin’s Birth Story
Erin found out she was pregnant when she was 17. She still lived with her parents and had just finished high school. Her relationship with her boyfriend was complicated. She had friends who had had an abortion, and friends who had given their baby up for adoption, but neither of those were options she ever …
DIY Campfire Treats for Kids
Just building and helping to keep a fire going is great fun for kids of all ages. There is something magical about being near an open fire. A fire is even more of a happy time when incredible edibles are created even by closely supervised toddlers. Depending on what is being cooked, different tools are …
Bushmom
What am I doing? It is -45 C and I am starting to feel trapped. I haven’t left the house – unless you count visits to the outhouse or to grab more wood, which at these temperatures are so quick that they hardly bear mentioning. I haven’t left the house in 15 days. I haven’t …
An Open Letter to My Dog
Dear Parka, We invited you into our family last summer because we felt a void that only man’s best friend could fill. Down south last summer, we picked you from the litter of pups and brought you up North, to which you’re probably sarcastically thinking, “Oh great, I got stuck with the one family who …
Making a Difference
In January 2013 Daniel Adamson first travelled to the Philippines. It was the wish of his sick mother whom Adamson had been looking after for several years. After years of caring for her she wanted him to take a holiday. A Yukon wildland firefighter, Adamson decided to join a fellow firefighter for a vacation in …
Taking the Stress out of Learning
My Learning Disabilities Association of Yukon colleague’s daughter will be heading to Greenland next month for the Arctic Winter Games. She is competing in snowshoe biathlon, an event that requires athletes to snowshoe as fast as they can, then stop and shoot at a small target far off in the distance. With increased heart and …
My Journey to Confidence, Clarity, Empowerment & Freedom
Oh, my little Elsa is already three. Time goes by really fast, but not too fast. Time goes by at a perfect speed. I appreciate every moment and I try to be fully present as often as I think of it. Yes it is hard, but it’s possible. Every time Elsa’s birthday comes around, I …
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What Happened to the Kids?
Several months ago I walked into a beauty salon for advice on a skin problem. Kayla Dewdney appeared from the back of the shop. She looked at my skin and offered her advice. It worked! Today I made an appointment with her for a facial, which involved lying down during the treatment. I felt very good …
Christmas in Dawson
Christmas is a time of gatherings with family and friends. But what if you find yourself alone at that time of year? Well, if you’re in Dawson City, you have nothing to worry about. The community will make sure that everyone has somewhere to go. Dan Dowhal has first-hand experience with the Christmas spirit of …
Internet Fame
Today the internet is an active place with crazy things going viral all the time. From cat videos to fail compilations, to the latest greatest talent, the internet world holds all the weird and wonderful sides of life within it. One such example of a strange thing to go viral happened last week. A young …
Working for Free: Gaining so Much
There was a time in my life when my father called me a professional volunteer. Working for a handsome wage was much less of a priority in my youth. It started with summer camps, and continued to take me all over the world to share pieces of myself with others; yet, I would argue I …
Old Friends and Family Recipes
When my Mom and Dad were a young couple living on Avenue Road in Toronto their local watering hole was the rooftop bar at the Park Plaza Hotel, one of Toronto’s most elegant drinking spots. Mom and her best friend, who lived in the same building, would hop on the Avenue Road streetcar and ride …
Didee & Didoo: THOSE MY AUNTIE
I CALL THOSE MY AUNTIE HE AN’ HE CALL THOSE UNCLE SHE. THOSE AUNTIE HE’S NOT THAT NEW AND SNUFF HE ALWAYS CHEW. I THINK HE STILL WEAR BLOOMER AN’ HE MAKE STRONG RUMOUR. THOSE AUNTIE ALWAYS SMOKE PIPE AN’ HE USE CATALOG TO WIPE. THOSE MY AUNTIE HE FEEL BIG WHEN HE MAKE DOUBLE …
The Chilkoot Pass: The Challenge Of My Summer
This summer my family and I hiked the Chilkoot Pass. When we kids learned we were actually going, the first response was “Why?” and “I don’t want to!” We got over it and realized that we were, in fact, going to go no matter what our opinion was. Eventually, when we were actually hiking, we …
Word Play for Early Readers
Experienced readers know that words make a world within a story come alive. However, for early readers, sometimes they need the world around them to help the words on the page come alive. The Family Literacy Centre at the Canada Games Centre has just the ticket: Reader’s Theatre, an interactive tool for learning to read. …
Putting an End to Picky Eating
If you have a picky eater at home, you are not alone. For many parents, dinner time can be a battle. Between changing tastes and an unwillingness to eat different foods and different textures, getting your kids to eat a healthy, balanced diet can be a challenge. Fortunately, a recent study offers help that could …
Fine Wine Starts in the Garage
There’s at least one person for whom the drought in California has a silver lining. Luigi Zanasi is hoping for some magic to come out of his garage this year, thanks to the intense wine grapes he believes the California drought has produced. An economist by profession, and an enthusiastic gardener, Zanasi has been making …
Extraneous Bananas
When your friend blows into town, you hang onto your hat and lay on the groceries, especially the Stolichnaya Vodka, or “Stoli”, as he calls it. Your friend is a Martini drinker, and particular about his cocktail of choice. He likes a dry Martini, so the vermouth must be dispensed via a tiny spray bottle. …
Another Christmas without my family
Living far away from your family means that sometimes your strength and persistence will be tested. It’s Christmas 2014 and I am in Montreal. A cold wind is blowing, the sky is grey and it’s raining. I wander rue Sainte-Catherine, watching people with shopping bags rushing from store to store. I already bought my gifts …
The Cozy Feeling of Being Absorbed in a Book
As a kid and a teenager I read a lot. I remember taking home five to seven books every week from the library of the small town I was living in. I was scared that someday I would have finished all the books and there wouldn’t be anything left to read. Luckily that never happened. …
Cuisine for a cause
Off the southeast coast of Africa lies the beautiful island of Madagascar. While the children’s Madagascar movies paint a nice scenic picture of the island, there are serious issues taking place. Rachelle Czerwinski was born and raised in the northwestern region of Madagascar and now lives in Vancouver. She left the country in 1984 when …
A Star in LA
It’s the last Thursday evening in July, and Elyn Jones is sitting beside the parking lot of Universal Studios giving an interview on her cell phone. She and her husband, Jerome McIntyre and their daughter Breda, 12, have spent a scorching afternoon touring the worksite of numerous Hollywood stars, along with three of her nieces …
Dancing in Denmark
Destiny Clennett, 13, was one of eight students from Northern Lights School of Dance (NLSD) to attend the 13th World Congress of Dance and the Child International (daCi) in Copenhagen, Denmark in July. I was five when I started dancing, and ballet was my first dance class. It was fun and exciting. When I was …
Hardest Year Yet
On the first day of kindergarten I didn’t know what to expect; playtime was now scheduled between certain hours and, in order to sit in the circle with the other kids, you needed to pass the test of finding your name. These were hard times in the eyes of a five-year-old. However, I got used …
Going for the Beat
As the famous Alice Cooper song says, “School’s ouuuuuut for the summer!” But for kids of various ages whose passion is music, classes are set to resume next Monday, when the Yukon Summer Music Camp begins. The week-long annual event offers instruction in a wide range of musical forms and styles, for students of varying …
Orienteering: What to do when Things Go Wrong
It is up to the orienteer to choose the routes between controls. The key to staying on track is to look at the map often, because it can take up to three glances before you realize the surrounding terrain is not what you are expecting from the map. Looking at the map more frequently ensures …
Drumming Festival will ‘wake up the land’
“You feel it to your core; it is a heartbeat; so uplifting; it just goes right through me.” Steve Smith, the chief of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, is trying to explain what drumming means to him and his First Nation. “It was dormant in me for quite a while,” says Chief Smith. “But …
Cannibalism: What’s the Big Deal?
In early-1993 my mom took my sister and I to see Alive, a film about an Argentinian rugby team that must survive a plane crash in the Andes. But the film was rated R and I was 11, so my mom had to do some research. She phoned our family friend, Hector MacKenzie, who worked …
Grief Writing in Dawson
Jacob Scheier wrote his first collection of poems about the loss of his mother; he was 20. She had gotten sick when he was in high school. It was part of his shift from writing as a hobby to writing because it felt very necessary. And, ultimately, writing about his loss was an important part …
Tykes for Chickadees
Whoever said learning can’t be fun has never been part of the Chickadees program in Whitehorse. Designed for toddlers aged between three and five, this pre-school definitely puts the cool in school. At this joint kids get free playtime, story creation, painting, crafts, fieldtrips, and the ever-sopopular circle time. If these perks aren’t enough, there …
Let Kids Have Time to be Kids
I recently wrote an article about my perspective on the benefits of organized sports and activities. In that article I touched on my strong belief in a balance between organized and un-organized play. If I was forced to take a side, I would side with free play. I believe it breeds independence, in addition to …
It’s the Little Things
I’m blessed. Or “blessed”, depending on how you look at it. I am a part of one of the biggest families in the Yukon. I bet my family could launch an honest invasion on a sovereign nation — looking at you Luxembourg. That’s just one side of one side of my family. There is so …
Didee & Didoo: When I was a Kid
ALL THE LADIES WORE HANKERCHIEFS. EVERYONE HAD HIGH CACHES. ALL THE ELDERS SMOKED PIPES. EVERYONE USED DOGTEAMS. WE MADE OUR OWN TOYS. EVERYONE HAD BIBLE NAMES. WE ALL USED GASLAMPS AN’ CANDLES. PLANES LANDED ON GRAVEL BARS. WE PACKED WATER FROM THE RIVER. WE CAN BUY CANDY WITH A PENNY. INDIAN AGENT WAS A BIG …
How To Cancer
My first idea was to write about women building for Habitat for Humanity. That fell through; no one got back to me. Then, I tried to get in touch with the Victoria Faulkner’s Women Centre to talk to about May being sexualized assault awareness month, but I was too last minute about it. I was …
Zen and the Art of Parallel Parking
When I was learning to drive, one required skill haunted my dreams. Leading up to my driver’s test in the summer of 1998 I would go down to the Qwanlin “Mall” parking lot, after hours, and set up pylons. Then I’d practice parallel parking in my family’s 1987 Tercel 4wd wagon. It was boring and …
Where the Cats Rule
Breaking news in the world of virtual lifestyling: the real world simulation game, The Sims 4, now has basements. Virtual people worldwide can now get their damn virtual stuff out of the virtual hallway closet into a virtual two-level underground storage space. Electronic art has caught up to real life and it’s time basements got …
Our Everyday Athletes
The Canada Games Centre, near the top of Two Mile Hill, opens every weekday morning at 5:30 a.m. I did not get there until 7:00 a.m. and that was an effort. As I walked in, I kept passing people on their way out. They were already done their workouts. I approached one of those early …
Puddle Jumping at The CGC
My daughter Emily just completed Puddle Jumpers. It’s the first of a six level swimming course called the Little People Program. The lessons are offered at the Canada Games Centre (CGC) for children, ages three to six. She was all smiles when she came home after her last class with her progress report card, indicating …
Learning is Everywhere
‘Road-schooling’ is the concept of using travel, either by itself or in concert with a curriculum, to educate a child. It brings learning to life and is grounded in the belief that learning is all around us, waiting to be explored and embraced. We began our road-schooling journey 18 months ago when we decided to …
Kin and Creation
Before he met his wife, Simon Gilpin’s paintings were dreary — depicting cloudfilled skies. After, he created wide-open, blue-skied paintings. “I only just realized I did that.” Gilpin used to destroy work he didn’t like. Now, “it’s not fair for me to judge.” Paintings he doesn’t like move others to tears. He lets his paintings …
Yukon Toy Story
My three-year-old daughter Emily has a new BFF in our home. Her and I used to have tea parties, play dates with dolls, and trains moving down a track to a farm that was ruled by the Potato Head People. But now she prefers her new buddy to daddy, and it wouldn’t bother me that …
Vacation’s Over, Kid
Recently my wife and I went to Mexico. Rather than bring our three-year-old daughter, Emily, we decided to fly my mother from Quebec to take care of her. Emily doesn’t get to see her grandmother too often so we knew a week with “Nana” would be one of spoiling, late nights, and treats. Which is fine. …
The Joys of Reading in Beaver Creek
This year was Beaver Creek Library’s first year participating in the TD Summer Reading Club (SRC). The summer reading program is a joint initiative by TD Bank Group, Toronto Public Library, and Library and Archives Canada designed to get kids reading in the off-season.The program provides participants with free program materials that include a reading passport …
Hunting with and for Family
Around this time ever year I spend hours looking at maps and checking over equipment to ensure it can handle another hunting season. All the while, I hope I will be lucky enough to provide healthy, wild Yukon meat for my family. We are very privileged to have the resources we do. The Yukon is …
Springing into Summer
There are so many things I want to do this summer. The very first thing I’m going to do is put my school books in a corner where I won’t look at them for the entire summer, and then write a What’s up Yukon article about all the other things I’m going to be doing. …
Napping: My Changing Opinion
When I was a kid I would visit my grandparents at their home in Burnaby, B.C. Their property was three-quarters of an acre and featured exotic treats like apple trees, blackberry bushes, rope swings, and a large garden. The rear of the property bordered a lush, west coast gulley. These surroundings afforded me the opportunity …
We’re all works-in-progress
Sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re related. That’s the reality for Maggie and Rose Feller, the central characters in the 2005 film In Her Shoes, a comedy-drama available on DVD at Whitehorse Public Library. Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is a freewheeling party girl who doesn’t seem to ha ve much on her mind except men and clothes …
Twins Equals Double Trouble
I have four sisters and one brother. The youngest two sisters, Heidi and Elsa, are twins who are five-and a-half-years old. The story of us finding out that my mom was having twins is very funny. It goes like this: When I found out that my mom was going to have another baby, I was …
My Husband, the Artist
My husband, Ken Burke, was a late bloomer. It wasn’t until he retired from Canada Flooring in 1998, that he took up painting. As his wife, I knew he was looking for a hobby to fill his leisure time, and I also recognized he has artistic talent. So I encouraged him to take an art …
Badminton takes it to the next level: Looking for new players to join the pool
“I don’t believe we’ve ever been competitive,” says Gary Burdess, president of the Yukon Badminton Association. Yet, in 106 weeks, he hopes to send eight members against world-class competition in the 2007 Jeux du Canada Games in Whitehorse. “For the most part, it’s drop in. But there have been tournaments and a Yukon Championship for …
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Family; More Than Just a Word
I was born in Yellowknife and raised in Churchill, Manitoba, the same town my mother was raised in. One by one her siblings moved away as they got older, including her. This is common in small towns; a lot of people move on to experience different places with new opportunities. Sunday evenings are the most …
Hopping for a good cause
Mollie Fraser (from the left), Jenna Fahr and Hannah Pederson are practising for the big day, March 25, when they will hop as many times as they can to help raise money for Nlaye Ndasadaye Daycare’s Hop for Muscular Dystrophy. Pledge sheets have gone home with the children but, if you did not get the …
The Art of Timing: Planting by the Moon
The “art of good timing” is the age-old belief in lunar rhythms. In the old days, people would plan their daily life, from health and home, to nutrition to farming, forestry and gardening, around the positions and phases of the moon. The moon controls ocean tides, influences the groundwater tables and even the movement of …
Artful stories of the Children of Gaia
Of the thousands of photos from the devastation of Sept. 11, photo editors around the world chose one photo that would tell the story of that day. It wasn’t of the Twin Towers burning and it wasn’t of the plane hitting the second tower. It was The Falling Man. It was a photo of a …
Unspoken universal language
I released the cold brass doorknob and walked up a half-step into an invisible wall of ammonia, iodine, freezer-burned meat and brown-sauce stench so thick and acrid that my nose burned. The floor was shiny – impeccable – the kind that looks like tiny chips of coloured pebbles with flecks of dichroic gold. The clacking …
Discovering a Rich Cultural Heritage
Colleen Potter has an infectious smile that can put even the most-guarded person at ease. It’s a smile that doesn’t fade when she begins to talk about her ancestry. Potter is Métis. We often think such a fact should be pushed to the side, that ethnicity should not be discussed in polite company. Because of …
Little hands are ‘Kreative’ Hands
Take one child or a group of children, add some art supplies and mix it with limitless imagination and what do you get? Kreations. One Sunday, each month, children create at the Yukon Arts Centre. Jessica Vellenga’s role is visual-arts engagement, precisely what Kidz Kreate is about, engaging kids of all ages in exploring artists’ …
Launch into winter with local writers
“We’re a productive bunch!” said Claire Eamer when she was asked to attend the Yukon Authors book-signing bash at Mac’s Fireweed Books this Saturday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eamer, who had Super Crocs & Monster Wings and Spiked Scorpions & Walking Whales released by Annick Press, this year, was the featured …
A friend in the house
I’ve discovered that if you want to meet some terrific people, just advertise your house for sale. Immediately, people start phoning you to ask to drop by to have a look. This is what happened to Daisy and I last month when we decided to sell our house privately. These really nice people came by …
Burps, pizzas, ‘Hug Bugs’ and Charlotte Diamond
In Charlotte Diamond’s 25 years as a children’s entertainer, she knows a few things about entertaining children. She knows that modern children need to move around. And they develop language and thought processes when they use their imagination. And, just the thought of a humongous whale letting out a humongous burp will have them rolling …
A Musical Reality Check
If Bryden Baird had known more about the music business early on, he might have chosen a different career. “I may have considered just doing it for fun and having some other type of job,” he admits. “Fortunately, I’ve been fine, but if you monitor the way the major labels are shrinking year by year, …
Down and dirty in Dawson
They’re getting down and dirty in Dawson City – dirty actions of the gardening kind, that is. Dawson City Community Gardens, now in its third year of existence, is alive and thriving with more people joining every year. “It’s about coming together to develop relationships with the garden, each other and the community,” says Derrick …
TV Devolution
I’m starting to think the doomsayers are right – perhaps the end is nigh. A chance flicking around the tube this past weekend landed me onto the mind-blowingly ridiculous NBC’s Dateline: “The Perils of Parenting”. Dateline in itself is usually good for a laugh as they regularly show a feature called: “What Would You Do?” …
The Little Blue Daycare That Could
How did a little blue daycare put Dawson City on the map for early childhood education? By an employee winning the Prime Minister’s Award for excellence in early childhood education earlier this month! Stephanie Davidson is the supervisor and pre-school teacher at the Dawson Childcare Center, and founder of the Kindeready program, which prepares pre-schoolers …
