_TERRACE STANDARD

Saddle club
introduces

‘SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

‘SKEENA- ANGLER -
ROB BROWN

Taimen 2

here were so many questions. Billy
wanted to ask them all at once. It had
been two years since he’d heard from
Lewis, and after all that hardship and
angst ‘came this call in the middle of the night.
He felt that he should be angry, but he wasn’t.

“Where...where are you?” he asked, at last.

“Ulaanbaatar.”

“Ulan...where?”

“Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. It's the capital.”

For a moment Billy, who was just now
shucking off the last vestiges of a dream state,
thought his old pal, his best friend and brother,

~ was pulling a prank, but an electronic hiss and a
certain tenuous, metallic quality to Lewis’
-yoice suggested that the call was coming from
far away.
’ “How did you get there? What are you...”

“Look, Bill, it’s a long story - I can’t - I

. haven't the time to go into it now. You've gotta
come — you won’t believe this place - won't be-
lieve the fishing...”

“Have you got e-mail?” Billy interrupted.

“Uh, no. Pretty primitive here. ’m out on the
river, in the bush. You can’t pass this up, Bill.
Give me your address I'll send you details.”

Billy heard a faint voice in the background.

“Who was that?”

“Operator. I only have a few seconds. Give
me your address.”

Bill repeated the numbers twice, correcting
the postal code, which he got wrong on the first
pass:

“T'll be in...” were Lewis’ last words before
he was cut off in mid sentence.

Billy picked up the, digital; clack fom, the.

floor: 3:40. Joan was. still sleeping: He. could
-hear her breathing. It was shallow and quick, as
if she was about to wake up. Sleep was imposs-
ible now, Billy lay awake, craving more details,
his mind in a loop. Joan’s breathing slowed and
‘deepened.

Light began to glow behind the curtains.
Birds started to sing. 6:30, He got up and put on
a pot of coffee.

' ‘It was seven-thirty before Joan joined
him at the table.

“Did somebody phone last night, or was I
dreaming?” she asked.

“Lewis.”

“Lewis!” They'd only been together a year.

-She hadn’t met Lewis but Billy talked of bim,
of their adventures together, often. At times,
Joan felt as if she was competing for Billy's at-
tention with someone whom she’d never met. In
fact, her desire to fill some of the void left by
her new partner’s former fishing partner was the
main reasons she’d taken up fishing. It seemed
absurd at first, but less so as Billy's bouts of ob-
sessive concern over his long lost pal’s where-
abouts and why he hadn't golten in touch les-

* sened.

To surprise him she actually took casting les-
sons through the Parks and Recreation depart-
ment from some ancient fly fisherman named
Theo, who was kind enough but a little short on
patience.

She'd never cared much for sports. Her coor-
dination wasn't anything to write home about.
She assumed she had no talent for it and her
first attempts at flexing a fly rod just confirmed
this. Ola Theo was clearly irritated with her in-
ability to grasp moves that probably came easy
to him and were as effortless as breathing now,
bul he made her his special challenge, and by
the end of the four lessons she was casting well
enough that she wouldn’t look stupid on the
stream.

They went fly fishing at every opportunity
after that and, to her surprise she actually came
to enjoy sport and look forward to each outing.

“Where was he?” she asked.

“Mongolia,” he shrugged in a way that
seemed almost apologetic to her. His eyes were
glazed, not just from lack of sleep, it seemed to
her, ,

“He said he wants me to came ~ said | had
to come and see the place — try the fishing.
Lewis is rally laid back. He was really excited,”
said Billy with unmistakable enthusiasm.

A wounded look came over Joan’s face.
There was an awkward silence between them.
She turned to pour herself a coffee.

“I can’t possibly go, " he added. He tried to
sound. convincing. “Where would | get the
money?”

Over the next two weeks, Billy: worked hard
to convince himself he had no desire to meet
Lewis. He felt he’d convinced Joan too until lwo

letters that arrived on the same day changed a all

‘that.
To be continue

By MARTY COX

HORSE lovers in the
northwest are saddling
up for another season of
Totem Saddle Club ac-
tion.

Club members are
particularly excited about
a new event this season
called percentage days
which shows the discip-
line of dressage.

This is a chance for
Tiders to try out dressage
under a relaxed atmo-
sphere with lots of en-

emphasis on the learn-
ing than the testing.

Dressage is a pro-
gram of suppling, balan-
cing and obedience work
that prepares a horse for
future pleasure-riding or
competition in either
Western or English.

Bach rider may parti-
cipate in for tests plus a
Kur, which is done to
music,

Fach test is judged by
the participants as well
as a judge. The results
are then a percentage of

@ Get outta my way

TERRACE’ S Tyler Quinn battles for the puck after a face-off while playing
t the Superpages B.C. Cup in Salmon, “Arm. Aprilto- 13, Quinn, was .

art

“naméd captain of, the Rorthwest | zone ‘team’: by his teammates - and —
‘coaching staif. ‘Only ‘three Terrace boys made the cut for the team con-
sisting of players from throughout this region. The northwest boys tied
one game and lost three at the tournament. Head coach John Amos said
the boys put in a tremendous effort and managed to keep most of the
games to close margins. Many of the players drew the attention of scouts
in the stands. Amos will be watching the upcoming WHL draft closely to
see if any of the northwest boys are picked, JAMES MURRAY PHOTO

how the test was per-
formed.
Percentage days join
' existing events such as
, clear round days and
_gymkhana.
Clear round days
. allow the riders to. jump
six rounds per horse in
a relaxed format. If no
rails are knocked down it
is considered a clear
_ round.

bade by

Sports Scope

Karate kids

STUDENTS from the Terrace Karate Club faced a
tough challenge as they took part in the Northern B.C,
Championships recently.

Six students under instructor Roland Lagace took part
in the March 29 event in Prince George. Kuljit Sandhu
picked up-a bronze medal in the 14-15 boys kata and a
gold in the kumite. Manbir. Sandhu picked up a gold
medal inthe nine-10 boys kumite.

.Mary Watts, Ben: Scharf, Cam Hundal and Sunny
Hundal also made the trip to the competition.

Pedal to the metal

THE TERRACE stock car association is gearing up for
its first weekend of racing on the Mother's Day long
weekend, The group meets on the first Thursday of each
-month at 4618 Haugland Ave. at 8 p.m. If you are inter-
ested in stock car racing or just need more information
call 635-9060.

Students set for sports

ELEMENTARY students are gearing up for the first of
two Terrace Elementary School Sports Association
events set to go in this spring.

Students in grades six and seven take to the Thornhill
Junior School gymnasium May 10 for a badminton tour-

_ nament May 10. The first birdie flies. at a.m, and the
* event should last-until 5:30 p.m.

And the annual TESSA track meet happens June 7 at
Caledonia Senior Secondary at 10 a.m: The popular
meet will likely sce students in Grades 4-7 from Terrace
and Thornhill also compete against students from Hazel-
ton and other outlying areas.

Ultimate exercise

LOOKING for a way to shed some winter pounds, build
up your cardiovascular stamina and Perfect, the art of
throwing a disc?

If you said yes, then the Terrace Ultimate Club has the
ideal sport for you. Ultimate. is a co-ed, team sport
played on a field. ‘The goal.is to pass a frisbee-like disc
from player to player to get o point in the end zone. It's
a fast-paced, exciting sport built.on the importance of
team spirit. Games are played Mondays and Wednesday
at the fields immediately. west of Caledonia Senior Sec-

- ondary.:The first game day is May 5.. ,
_. Newcomers and “experienced players’ are invited to
Lo come out; For more Information call Richard. or # Kelly at

couragement and more |

new event

Points acquired each
day are used to deter-

mine the year-end
awards.
The ever-popular

gymkhanas will continue
to feature pole bending,
figure 8, flag picking,
scurries, ring spearing,
keyhole and barrels.

These are timed
events with lots of thrills
and excitement. Paints
acquired each day are
also used to determine
year-end awards and the
team qualifiers for the
Northwest Invitational
Gymkhana to be held in.
Houston.

These events take
place about every three:
weeks on Sundays.

The club wil! be hos-
ting two horse shows —.
May 24 and July 19-20.

Riders participate in
showmanship, dressage,
English and Western
equitation classes, rein-
ing and jumping.

June 22 is the TSC
Queen contest with jud-
fing based on riding abi-
lity, dress, showmanship.
and a short speech. =

For riders who like to.
just hit the trails for fun.
and relaxation, three
poker: , tides © are -sche-
‘dilled for May 18 in New
Remo, June 29 in the
Nass Valley and August
3 in Rosswood.

The season kicks off
Sunday, April 27 at the
Thornhill community
grounds at 10:30 a.m.

Terrace Bluebacks plunge
into long course season

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
THE TERRACE Bluebacks are officially
into the long course season and recently
had a chance to see what they can do in
a 50 metre pool.

The local swimmers, who are accus-
tomed to taining and competing in a 25°
metre pool, took part in the annual Prince
George moose meet April 11-13.

Despite the long road trip, head coach
Mike Carlyle says the swimmers did well.-
for their first shot at a long course compe-
tition,

“This was an opportunity for the swim-
mers to race,” says Carlyle, adding it was
a chance for the athletes to test ‘their abi-
lities and see where their strengths are.

“This is the meet when we see them
pushing themselves smarter,” he says.

gate points.

medal,

This is where swimmers incorporate
techniques that they’ve been developing
and take a look at their goals and vision
for the rest of the long course season.

The moose meet came just one-week
after swimmers were in Kitimat for the
20th annual Eurocan-West Fraser meet.

The 11-12 boys’age group saw Alastair
Beddie tie for first Place i in overall aggre:

“Jason Ruchotzke put in an excellent '
performance earning his first aggregate |
medal ever, coming home with a bronze °

Ruchotzke’s medal was timely given it
came just five days before his 13th birth-
day - he has since aged-up and is
competing in the 13-14 male division.

Continued page B16

Strong-arming

TERRACE PEAKS gymnast Erica Dykes, 13, shows off her upper arm and ab-
dominal strength on the balance beam. Local tumblers are hosting the Peaks |
invitational gymnastics meet here this weekend. Athletes from around the .

‘northwest will be attending. Check out the action at the Ed Fairless Gymnasi- »

um next to the Thormhill community hall. April 26. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO