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The Richmond Review • Page 3
Rebekah Hammond photo
Salmon can plant to seal up shop
Despite having two titanium rods in her back Aurora Hull (right) regained her flexibility through pilates, and is now teaching alongside Elizabeth Burke.
Despite bountiful sockeye run, Richmond factory set to close by Christine Lyon Staff Reporter
Pilates gives back movement At age 10, Aurora Hull was diagnosed with scoliosis by Rebekah Hammond Contributor With two metal rods along her spine, Aurora Hull, 27, didn’t think she’d ever regain flexibility. But through pilates, she did. “Through pilates, I found my ability to move again,” said Hull, who recently joined the Pilates Group in Steveston as an instructor. “I wasn’t as stiff and rigid as I made myself think.” At 10 years old, Hull, originally from Sante Fe, N.M., was diagnosed with
scoliosis—curvature of the spine. Despite her condition, Hull remained active, but had to be more careful. “It was always in the back of my mind that I had to be a little bit more cautious than other athletes,” Hull said. As she got older, the curvature worsened and began affecting her heart and lung function. Hull underwent surgery at Boston’s Children’s Hospital when she was 14 and had two titanium rods placed on either side of her spine to straighten it. After surgery, she struggled to find
something to keep her active—something that didn’t impact the rods or her spine. “At that age, you want to be out doing stuff and being active,” Hull said. Hull eventually met pilates instructor Michele Larsson, founder of Core Dynamics, who also had scoliosis. Larsson worked one-on-one with Hull to help her strengthen her back and spine. “(Larsson) really stabilized my spine,” Hull said. “There wasn’t much rotation or bending, it was just to strengthen the muscles around the spine and then I added little bits of rounding, arching, side bending and rotation.” The stiffness began to disappear, so did the thought of having rods in her back. She began training to become a
teacher and is now instructing at the Pilates Group on No. 2 Road, a studio started by Elizabeth Burke. “Already we’ve learned so much from each other,” Hull said. “We compliment each other really well.” Burke, who danced with the National Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, took up pilates because her rigorous ballet training had “really pushed” her body. Burke got her teaching certification from renowned pilates instructor Diane Miller and taught in Hong Kong for awhile. “That’s when I really got the bug and wanted to have my own studio,” said Burke, who started her studio in 2005. “Dance was very self-absorbed while pilates is about giving back.”
Bunnies on their way to Texas From Page 1
Christine Lyon photo Joseph Martinez holds one of the bunnies that arrived at his Steveston clinic on Thursday.
Stacks of cages quickly filled the small waiting room at Martinez’s Little Paws Animal Clinic on Second Avenue and Chatham Street. This is a trial run. The Texas ranch agreed to take 1,000 bunnies, but the logistics of getting that many rabbits down south are difficult. The ministry permit lets TRACS take possession of a maximum 96 bunnies at once, after which the group has seven days to sterilize and ship them to Texas. The task is difficult considering the group relies on donations. “You can’t keep making these big trips, there’s no money to keep shipping rabbits down there,” said Saidman. Martinez is one of only three vets who can perform the surgeries, according to the ministry permit. “We basically have to do a whole whack of fundraising and try to get the ministry to add more vets and give us more time,” said Said-
man. Martinez has to complete all the operations by Tuesday so the bunnies can cross the border. They will be housed in a Washington State holding facility before making the long drive to Texas. It takes about one hour to spay or neuter each bunny, including the anesthetic, operation and recovery time. That means Martinez will work 10- or 12-hour shifts all weekend, while still caring for his regular clients. Though he is happy to help save the UVic bunnies, the donations he has so far received are barely enough to cover basic expenses and he is seeking further support. In April, Richmond council banned the sale of rabbits in stores as a way to reduce the number of abanded domestic rabbits in city parks. Local politicians are also asking other B.C. municipalities to get behind a ban on the retail sale of rabbits.
This year’s Fraser River sockeye run is the largest in almost 100 years, but not everyone in the salmon industry is profiting from the record return. Forty employees at a Richmond salmon can plant face uncertain job futures after learning their factory will close down in the new year. Ball Corp. announced plans on Wednesday to consolidate the production equipment in its Richmond plant at 1700 No. 6 Rd. Opened in 1985, the plant produces millions of steel food cans annually, supplying 100 per cent of Canadian salmon can requirements and more than 50 per cent of the Alaskan market. It will stop production during the first quarter of 2011 and its customers will be served by other Ball facilities. The 40 employees will be offered outplacements and severances. “Over the past two decades, our manufacturing operations in the Richmond plant have decreased as market demand and customer needs have changed,” stated Michael W. Feldser, president of Ball’s metal food and household products packaging division, Americas, in a news release. Headquar tered in Broomfield, Colo., Ball Corp. is a supplier of rigid metal packaging products and services, primarily to the food and beverage industry. After disposing of its building and land in Richmond, the company expects the closure to be cash positive by $8 million US.
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