MEWS photo Neil Lucente THESE LADIES are baking up a storm for Sunday’s Hadassah-Wizo Bazzar at the North Shore Jewish Community Centre, 1735 In- glewood, West Vancouver. Pictured are (left to right) Helen Hoffman, Phyllis Eson and Maud Blitz. The bazaar will be heid from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. $3.2m Grouse theatre to be first-of-its-kind THE NEW Theatre in the Sky fa- cility being constructed atop Grouse Mountain wiil feature a mixed media presentation on the story of the city of Vancouver, an exhibition being billed as the first of its kind in North America. On Thursday Grouse Mountain Resorts received $700,000 in fund- ing from the Canada-B.C. Tourist Industry Subsidiary Agreement, a cost-sharing deal between Victoria and Ottawa, for the construction of the Theatre in the Sky facility, which is expected to cost a total of $3.2-million. “It’s a facility that has a couple of phases to it,’ said Grouse Mountain director of skiing Rob Wallace in describing the 140-seat theatre. ‘‘The first phase is a pre- show called The Best of Times that reflects on the signifcant events in the life of a Vancouver photographer and how Vancouver Wallace, who added that the main show will last about 22 minutes while the pre-show will last for about 10 minutes. “Once the people view the main show, they move into a gallery where there is a picture of the eagle mask being carved, that they saw in the main show. They then move into a gift shop where items con- nected with the main show will be on sale,’* said Wallace. “Our show will be an on-going show that will have a life span of about two years before it has to be changed. It is the first of its kind that tells the story of Vancouver,” said Wallace. The Theatre in the Sky facility is expected to be completed in mid July and is the first phase of a $5-million Grouse Mountain ex- pansion project. OUR MAN Sianley attended a conference on illiteracy here and reports that he was amazed by his own ignorance on the subject. For instance, nobody knows how your brain is at this moment processing those little black marks on this paper into words and sentences that have meaning. The hardware of the great grey computer inside your skull is somewhat understood. It is known which portions of the brain control the ability to read and write, in part because when these parts are damaged the ability is altered. However the software, the pro- gram whereby the transformation of arcane symbols into thoughts is achieved, remains a mystery. Like our ancestors, we are aware of lit- tle more than the fact that man is the only animal capable of literacy. Five million Canadians are func- tionally illiterate. British Colum- bia, as usual, has more than its share with 360,000 adults who cannot read weil enough to fill out an application for a driver’s licence or understand the labels on poison bottles. (New immigrants who speak languages other than English make up one million of Canada’s five million illiterates. This is offset, in part, by their children. Second generations of immigrant families test out as more literate than Ca- nadians who have been here for several generations.) Speaker at the Langley meeting was Wayne Kingston of Nanaimo. He found illiteracy so humiliating that he cut his wrists. Seventeen per cent of all suicides are people who cannot read and write, ke said. They also make up a big proportion of the rrison population. “Only another illiterate can un- derstand how humiliating it is try- ing to get along in this society without being able to read. You fake it. You can get along for quite a while faking it. But all the time you have a pretty poor opinion of yourseif.’” Mr. Kingston faked it at the MacMillan Bloedel Harmac plant for 13 years. When some new technology was introduced he found he couldn’t fake any more and that was when he cut his wrists. Facing the foss of his job was the culmination of years of fear and furtiveness. Not the least of these was the fact that he had children in school who came home with questions from books that he couldn’t read. He had been floated through the school system to Grade 10 but his true reading level was Grade 3. Having, like some homosexuals, chosen to come out of the closet, Mr. Kingston has made the first of two itaportant steps. The second step was to take special training, which has succeeded to the extent that he can now read and write and is so far advanced that he is well on his way to completing his first book on the subject of illiteracy. “*That sounds good. f think I'll have the same thing today."’ Kay Wagner, a coordinator of literacy training for adults hired by Langley School Board, told Sianley that the municipal pro- gram depends on tutors who vol- unteer their time. Some literacy students come to the little classroom in Sundel Square on Fraser Highway for the mandatory two hours a week of practice. Others, she says, can’t summon up the strength to be so public about their handicap and the vol- unteers tutor them in their homes. Ms. Wagner derives considerable satisfaction by students who tell Seventeen per cent of all Suicides are people who cannot read and write... They also make up a big proportion of the prison population. ’”’ It is more difficult to learn to read as an adult. As with the adap- tion to a second language, the human brain is most receptive in childhood and tends to lose some of its elasticity later. However, reports our man Stanley, once the desire to admit the problem and get help surfaces it is the main leap forward to a remedy. It resembles the alccholic who finally joins Alcoholics Anonymous. Like other submerged and unhappy minorities, illiterates learn to recognize one another. When handed a restaurant menu, a person who cannot read will study it for about the same amount of time as everybody else at the table. However he never orders first but waits until some- one else orders and then says her that learning to read and write is like getting out of a prison. Our man Stanley left the meeting recalling an incident in which a man of his acquaintance had berated his fiancee for failing to spot a street sign for him. “It was plain enough there on the street. Can’t you read, for God's sake?"’ She burst inte tears because that was exactly what she had been hiding from him for months. _ ras 1 i) WEST PRESS tet DESIGN, & PRINTING FROM. CONCEPT TO FINISHED PRODUCT 2443 Marine Drive. West Vancouver 922-0247 Bowen 947-9765, F-A-S-T COLLISION REPAIRS CALL THE PROFESSIONALS AT JAYLORMOTIVE 1959 LTD. FREE RENTAL COURTESY CARS B.C.A.A. APPROVED — A.R.A. CERTIFIED 1.C.B.C. VENDOR FOR ALL MAKES — a QUALITY WORKMANSHIP JAvCORMoTIV TRUSTWORTHY SERVICE 174 PEMBERTON AVE. consui tation NORTH VAN OR APPOINTMENTS 985-7455 ENRICH YOUR FAMILY LIFE Host an overseas student. Remuneration for room an Short or long terms available. CALL STUDENT HOUSING COORDINATOR 683-1199 Pacific Coast Language School #200 - 535 Howe St. has changed.”’ Wallace said the main show, called Our Spirit Soars, is the story of Vancouver, with particular em- ‘phasis placed on the legend of the eagle using 35 millimetre photography, moving film and other mixed media technology. The main screen will be nine feet high and 30 feet wide. “It’s a real overwhelming expe- rience and incorporates the state of the art technology. It’s an Expo type of presentation,’’ said Goveriment . ef Canada.