Damien Cornect and Jack Madore of Terrace Bay walk away with top honours at the talent show. Vol. 18, No. 29 "To lose a child for any reason is a night- mare in itself.. But when a perfectly healthy baby dies with no medical explanation the parents are usually faced with an overwhelming mountain of guilt. Our baby was perfectly healthy. Healthy children don't die. It must have been something we did or did not do."' Unfortunately, lack of knowledge and under- standing of Sudden In- fant Death Syndrome plays an important role in the grieving parents feelings of guilt. We hope the following infor- mation will answer some of the questions about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (S.I.D.S.) S.1.D.S. (often called "crib Death'), is the unexpected death of an apparently healthy in- fant which remains un- explained after a com- plete autopsy. The Canadian Foundation believes that about two in every one thousand babies die of S.I.D.S. It is the major cause of death in the first year of life. Of special inter- est is the discovery that the babies who die of S.LD.S. had sustained some development de- viation a relatively long time before death, pro- bably before birth. The evidence would sug- gest that the tissues had failed to receive their full oxygen require- ment, over a period of time. As yet, the cause of these changes is not understood but this find- Terrace B Sch Terrace Bay POT 2WO ing stimulates a strong research thrust. There has been an especially active inter- est among researchers to find the causes of S.I1.D.S. Some research is designed just to find the market by which an infant may be identified as having a special sus- ceptibility to S.I.D.S. The hope would be to apply a specific pre- ventative measure during the period when there is a threat of S.LD.S. The Canadian Foun- dation for the Study of Infant Deaths is active- ly engaged in soliciting financial support for students to participate in medical research into the causes of S.I.D.S. and/or the effect of S.LD.S. on a family. Sometimes the friends of parents of a S.I.D.S. victim repeat misinfor- mation to them, causing them needless distress. There are: many myths surrounding S.I.D.S. deaths. We are able to assure parents that their baby did not suffocate in his bed clothes or choke on regurgitated milk. We can also assure them that the baby did not suffer. Death in these - infants is sudden, al- most instantaneous in most cases. Although fears about the health and well being of other children are understand- able, S.I.D.S. affects on- _ ly infants and not older children. It is almost inevitable that parents will go over minute details of what Public Li brary Ontario C.C.T.F.N, S.1.D.S. Support Group for North Shore they did or did not do, wondering if they cont- ributed at all to the death. In terms of hu- man emotions, the be- reaved will be faced with feelings of anger, re- lief, guilt, aimlessness, and sadness. These emotions must be ac- cepted and dealt with individually. Difficulty arises because wives may take much longer to 'get over' the loss than husbands, since their lives often revolved much more around the baby. When a child dies, everyone sympathizes with and tries to sup- port the mother and father. What about the siblings, grandpa- rents, and other per- sons who will be affect- ed? Other children of any age are affected by the loss of a baby bro- ther or sister. An im- portant task of parents is to help these children with their grief. A child too young to talk much needs the reassurance of his parents' presence and may need repeated confirmation that the baby is indeed 'gone.' Probably not until six or seven years old is a child's understanding of death similar to an adult's. If an older child's behavior changes soon after the baby's death, a little extra help and understanding may. be needed to deal with the experience. Grand- parents also are often deeply affected. For them, the child's death is a double blow: the Country and Rock fans were entertained by a large variety of art- ists at the Nipigon arena on June 9. Performers came from Geraldton, Schreiber, Marathon, Nipigon and Red Rock to compete for top points in the CJLB "Search for Country and Rock Stars" Talent Show. The show was sponsored lo- cally by the Nipigon Lion's. In the country cate- gory two winners were chosen, Wayne Harmer of Marathon and duo Damien Cornect and Jack Madore of Terrace Bay. Each winner re- ceived $100 towards ex- disappointment of their expectations for a grandchild and the pain of seeing their own children suffering. While the Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths participates in the con- tinuing search for the causes of S.I.D.S., the families of its victims require support ser- vices and the community requires information to provide appropriate re- sources. The goals of the Foun- dation are: 1) To provide information and coun- selling support to the families who are strick- en by such a tragedy. 2) To carry out a program- me of public education. 3) To promote and sup- port research activities into the causes of S.I.D.S. and other as- pects of this tragic prob- lem. A Northshore Chap- ter of the Foundation has been established to catry out these goals locally. On August 8th at 8:00 p.m. the film 'You Are Not Alone" about S.LD.S. will be shown in the - Terrace Bay Rec- reation Complex Confer- ence Room. All interest- ed people are welcome to attend. Peggy Lyons, National Co-ordinator of the Canadian Founda- tion for the Study of Infant Deaths will be in attendance to answer questions and provide information. For further informa- tion call; Pat Savage - 825-9196 or collect Laurie Bottomley - 825- _ 9516. CJLB - "Country Countdown" penses to travel to Thunder Bay to com- pete in the finals at 'Labatts Pro Rodeo' August 7. It should be a block- buster of a show. Plan to attend. Winners there will receive an all ex- pense paid trip to Re- gina to compete in the Academy of Country Music Awards. If they win there, further prizes included a recording session valued at $6- 10,000. Nipigon's Rodney Larson found himself with nobody to compete with in the Rock section. Rodney played for us anyway, three delight- "ful numbers, proving to one and all what a talented musician he is. ' Although the Rock com- petition had to be can- celled due to 'lack of interest' Rodney receiv- ed $100, with an invita- tion to compete next June in the Free Style competition in Thunder, Bay. Should Rodney win, there, he will receive $4000, toward the cost of: a recording session. The evening was fun, : but the biggest compe- titor to be dealt with was the SUN! Due to heavy doses of sunshine there was a very small audi- ence, but those that were there had a really fine 'foot stompin' time.' Part of the entertain-, ment for the evening included Carole Martyn and Heather Hanson, both previous winners talent shows. Carole won the country talent in Thunder Bay last year' and the free style com- petition this year. Hea- ther was second runner. up three years ago. Both. talented ladies, they sang country music, pro- viding inspiration and a fine example to all the. young hopefuls waiting their turn on stage. All competitors received free t-shirts from Harry Mcintyre of CJLB. "NEWS" READERS AND ADVERTISERS PLEASE NOTE The deadline for ALL advertising and ALL stories, etc. will now be FRIDAY NOON! Peter Platmochuk proudly displays his Govt. of Ontario plaque, which was presented to him by MPP Jack Stokes. Jack lingered on at the festivities to enjoy an indepth conversation with the 'birthday boy'. Happy 90th - Peter Platmochuk Thursday, July 21st, marked the celebration of Birchwood Terrace's own Peter Platmochuk's 90th birthday. 'Friends and residents of Birch- wood spent a fun-filled afternoon helping Peter to celebrate his special day. Also on hand for the festivities were MPP Jack Stokes and Joe Kennedy. Handshakes were of- fered for the occasion. Cake and ice-cream was plentiful and gifts and special presentations 'were made. Jack Stokes honoured Peter's 90th birthday by presenting him with a placque on behalf of William Davis and the Govt. of On- tario. Councillor Joe Kennedy also presented Peter a placque on be- half of the Township of Terrace Bay. The staff at Birch- wood Terrace did a brief profile of Peter's life and it is broken down as follows: Peter Platmochuck was born in Ukrania in 1893. He came over on a cargo boat with 12 other men from his country, in the year 1913 when he was only 20 years old. The cargo boat landed in: Hallifax and he then went to Montreal via the train. He stayed in Mon- treal for one week and was then sent to Coch- rane to work on building a new railroad for the Province of Quebec. Peter lived in con- struction camps and slept on beds that were constructed of pieces of wood with straw for mattresses. To top it all off, he earned a whop- ping 20 cents an hour. Peter left the Ukraine because there was no. work. Back then, the. factory workers earned 25 cents a day. Peter settled in. Ger- aldton in 1937 and re- mained there until 1981, when he came to live in Birchwood. He keeps busy in his retirement years by doing various things throughout the day but makes sure that he walks at least to far as_ the beach for his morn- ing exercise! Peter belongs to Birchwood's "Under 100 years" bowling league and professes to also be a great cribbage' _ Player, winning the Le-: gion Cribbage Tourna- ment in June with his partner, Mr. Pineault. He also enjoys a chal- lenging game of bridge with his friends from Schreiber. He keeps up with the political scene and is very knowledge- able on world affairs.' Peter will also do any- thing to get his hands on a copy of 'National Geo- hic.' oils friends describe him as a happy, con- tent man; a joy to be. with and to talk to. And although he has no family here in Terrace' Bay, he indeed has a great number of friends and he also pays a visit to Geraldton for his an- nual vacation. We, at the Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, wish Peter all the very best for a great many years to come.