by Fae Mooney

" T here’s

some-
thing
satisfying about
looking into your
closet and know-
ing you'll find
every dress
you've ever
bought..."

That’s the con-
fession of a com-
pulsive collector,
as quoted from a
magazine article
in the April-May
issue of Images
magazine.

Some

people

have a_ strong

urge to save stuff. And when it’s clothes they compulsively save, it also

means a stuffed closet.

Do you find it difficult to part with possessions? Does this
urge to hoard make it hard for you to “‘let go”’?

Compulsive collectors can categorize themselves as one of two
major types:

The Emotional Saver attaches memorable significance to
possessions. This person has difficulty letting go of the past. Past
feelings and emotions are wrapped up in the collection. A dress

‘can evoke a strong memory of the occasion on which it was
worm.

The Frugal Saver is usually clean, organized, and practical.
Wasic not, want not. After all, you never know when crinolines
might come back into fashion.

Whar can you do if you are a saver, if letting go is hard to do?

Images magazine offers these suggestions for cleaning out your
closet:

@ make uncluttering your closet a priority

@ make a mental picture of how you want your closet to look

@ make realistic goals — ‘‘if it took years to collect the stuff in
your closet, it’s unrealistic to expect that you'll clean it out in on-
ly one hour’”’

@ make smaller mini- goals — to start, clean out just the top
shelf of your closet

@ congratulate yourself, even if you’ve only uncluttered a bit _
(for the emotional saver there can be feelings of sadness and loss;
for the frugal collector, uneasiness).

When it comes to clearing out that cluttered closet, Emily Cho
is much more ruthless. In her book ‘Looking Terrific’’, she
describes the closet orgy:

‘SAll right now... Everything out — everything out of the
plastic bags and the boxes on the shelves and the dresser
drawers...’’

Ms. Cho puts nostalgia in its place, too: ‘‘Mementos are fine,
but they ought to be labeled as such and kept out of the closet...
We know that life means change, and yet possessions from
bygone days are found in almost every home, stuffed into closets
or under beds, and crammed into dresser drawers. Why? It’s one
thing to keep old favorites stored away in the basement or attic,
if you’re lucky enough to have one. But if you insist on keeping
them right alongside the garments you consider day-to-day, as if
it were still possible to wear them, you’re putting your yesterdays
ahead of today.”

Well, she does have a point.

Let’s look at what we’ve got. A heap of stuff piled high on the
_bed. The temptation may be to put everything back. It’s impossi-

ble to part with anything. But wait. Nothing has to be discarded.
All we’re doing here is organizing the clothes closet. Those ir-
replaceable treasures that can’t be parted with can be stored
elsewhere, as Ms. Cho suggests. This is where the closet orgy
begins:

‘It’s an orgy of try-ons!... And try to think of it as a pleasant
task. It should. be a good feeling to clarify one’s life.”

Ms. Cho advises we try on everything. This can be a trip down
memory lane for some of us. We'll relive the experiences and the
emotions attached to each piece in our wardrobe, But what we
need to be doing is looking objectively at today — what works
for us now. ‘‘Let’s find out what does and what doesn’t fit your
body or your personality.’’ Or your present lifestyle. What works
goes back into the closet; what doesn’t can be stored in a
memory chest.

This next bit of advice may be directed at the frugal saver:
“There are some things in your closet that need to be discarded
not because they’re old, but because they’re plain and simple
mistakes. Something that may have looked wonderful in the

store... may not have looked quite the same when you got it
home.
- “Remember that mistakes do not correct themselves simply

oe because you do penance. Opening your closet each morning and

being confronted with masses of mistakes is not good for the
soul, and it certainly is no way to make dressing a pleasant activi-

eau might think about... moving little-used clothing to the M S wi n ner

back of the closet. Then, if it hasn’t been worn in a given length

of time..
in your life.”*

. that item should relinquish its space to something new

What a task! A difficult task. But we’ve done it. We’ve been
unemotional and realistic and we’re ready to reload the closet.
Emily Cho has some excellent advice on organizing a clothes

closet. Here are a few highlights:

@ try to arrange things in your closet so that everything can be

secn

@ if your closet is dark and small, install a battery-operated light
@ label garment bags, shoe boxes, hat boxes, everything clearly

on the outside

® store out-of-season clothing out of the closet if possible

@ categorize your clothes by hanging jackets together, skirts and
slacks together, dresses together, etc.

© hang blouses and tops next to skirts and pants

@ sweaters should be folded on a shelf close to the skirts and

pants

@ hang belts on belt hangers, line up handbags on a closet shelf;

use shoe bags for hanging shoes all in one place.

Now your closet should be organized, filled with clothes you
can wear — and can be easily seen and coordinated.
‘*You know where you stand on the clothing that’s in your

possession...

From now on,”’ Ms. Cho concludes, ‘‘it’s a matter

of determining what else you need and setting out to get it.””
As an emotionally frugal saver, it seems to me that’s just
where a compulsive collector would want to be.

The winner of the Multiple
Sclerosis Society lottery wasn’t
from Terrace, but local people who
bought tickets can console them-

selves with the thought that the

money went for a good cause —
research into a puzzling disease
that affects the lives of many
residents of this region and. all
across Canada. |

Terrace M.S. coordinator Doug
MacKay said last week that ticket
sales this year exceeded the
society’s goal of raising $120,000
for the cause. MacKay extended
thanks to all those who bought
tickets for the raffle, the volunteers

. who sold them, with special

mention to the B.C. and Yukon
Building Trades Council and the
BC. electrical workers’ union. _

Winner of the 1990 Dodge van
gtand prize was John Ives of
Quesnel.

' assistance,
- arrived first,

IT’S ALL ABOUT KIDS — in this case, the ones at the Terrace Child Development Centre. The
Miss Terrace contestants, including Miss Copperside Terri Ludwig, teamed up May 4 with
Copperside Foods to raise $808.11 toward operating expenses for the center. The contestants
pumped gas at the focal retail chain, and management, represented here by Chris Cormier,
donated five cents from every liter. Center administrator Margot Hayes accepted the welcome
donation in the building's gymnasium while some of the center's young clients looked on.

First responder concept helps
organize emergency response

Terrace city council has con-
firmed their willingness to partici-
pate in the First Reposonder con-
cept and will be conveying that
message to the B.C, Ambulance
Service. They have set a limit to
their degree of city participation,
however, and will also be advising
the B.C. Ambulance Service that
there may be occasions when the
Terrace Fire Department is unable
to respond.

Using the first responder concept,
the Terrace fire department would
respond to-all in-city "Code 3"

medical emergencies with their 01

rescue truck, If firefighters arrived
at the scene before the ambulance

. @8 first responders they would be

prepared to provide the required
If the ambulance
local firefighters
would be right behind them to

offer additional. backup | service.

Rescue truck 01 carries a variety

of lifesaving equipment including
the Jaws of Life. At the present

time, firefighters are only advised

of an emergency if their expertise
is deemed necessary by the RCMP.

Until 1988, ambulance dispatch
was handled out of the Terrace
Fire Hall. In 1988, however, the
B.C. Ambulance Service imple-
mented a new system in which all
dispatch services in the province,
other than the Lower Mainland and
Vancouver Island, were handled
out of Kamloops. For the greater
Terrace area, they put up a build-
ing of their own at the corner of
Eby and Hwy. 16 and relieved the
Fire Department of their ambu-
lance-tending role,

Prior to the change, Terrace
firefighter Ron Flemming sug-
gested on behalf. of the Terrace
Firefighters’. Union that it. was

possible the new dispatch system.
could result in a delay in response

SE ROP eos

time under some conditions anc
asked city council request the B.C
Ambulance Service to implement
the First Responder concept in
Terrace. Council, though, feeling
the change was inevitable and
there was little they could do to
change it, did nothing.

Almost two years later, on Feb,
26, 1990, alderman Dave Hull
brought the issue back to the table
and the idea was sent to the Public
Works Committee for a second
look. Hull told council that the
idea was being used in other com-
munities such as Kamloops and

Prince George, where it had been —

proven that the First Responder
concept didn’t compromise the fire
departments fire fighting capabili-
ty. Instead, said Hull, it makes
better use of available resources
and might often reduce emergency
response time without costing
laxpayers another dime.

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