- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 17,2003-B5 - TERRACE STANDARD & JENNIFER LANG By JENNIFER LANG IT DOESN’*T matter if you prefer the rumble of a Harley to the purr of Yamaha, all you need is a big bike and an even bigger heart. The Terrace Roadrunners Club invites local motorcycle enthu- siasts to join this year’s Toy Run Sept. 27. Roar through downtown Terrace with a parade of local riders - all proudly bearing brand new toys and stuffed animals. Now in its 21st year here, the Toy Run is a chance for mator- cycle owners to take a ride toge- ther — and support the Salvation Army — in a thrilling spectacle that unites a diverse group of ri- ders, “It is open to any person with a machine,” club vice president Ed Willms says, adding he's getting his Yamaha ready for this year’s tide, his 15th. Riders meet at the weigh scales at the Highway 37/16 inter- section at 2 p.m. Some will gather at noon for a no host lunch at Mount Layton Hot Springs, first. The run winds its way through BONDING WITH BIKES: Terrace Roadrunner Club president John Vowells, seated, and vice pres- downtown to the Coast Inn of the igent Ed Willms invite other riders to join the 21st annual Toy Run. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO me West, where the toys will be pre- Veer sented to a representative from Bikes from as far away as Smi- their own events, which also draw the Hazelton Toy Run. the Salvation Army, thers, Hazelton and even Prince riders from across the region. “We go back and forth,” he ex- The toys will later be distriby- Rupert may join the toy ride. Last year Terrace Roadrunners plains. For further information, ted to local children in need. Those communities also host president John Vowels took part in call 635-3489. Motorcyclists unite for Toy Run MY POINT OF VIEW - ARON STRUMECKI Boys don’t like school WAS TALKING to my friend Sasha the other week about how her kids were doing in school. I was curious about the four-day school week, but 1 wasn’t expecting what she told me. Her daughter, the youngest, was doing quite well of course, she ‘loves reading and writing, but her son, her old- est child, was a different matter indeed. It seems he finds school boring. He doesn’t want to be there. Nor do many of his friends. Did I mention that my friend’s son is in his school’s gifted program? Boys these days, it seems, don’t care about school like they used to, In fact, they’re pretty “much at the bottom of the barrel in everything academic except for sports (Issues in Educa- tional Research, 9(1), 1999, 33-54. or hip Heducation.curtin.edu.au/ierfiterS/west.nt mi. It seems that we’ve been spending so much .time and energy making sure the girls do well in school, that we,ve forgotten about the boys. Now the boys are dropping out like never be- fore, in countries all over ihe planet, including ‘our own. It’s an alarming trend, and one that seems to get little or mo attention from the popular press, and for good reason. The topic is a com- plex one and more to the point, an unpopular one as well, For, as -writer Peter West points ,out in an article written for Men’s Health Week ‘Australia, in it are tied larger social issues ‘such as “the decline of fathering and aliena- - tion of many men from the family.” From my point of view, it’s.a trend that’s been ia long time in the making. Admitiedly, it’s beén quite:a: While since: attended grade school at Veritas, but even back when I was in Grade 7, I can remernber how the media, parents and teachers were: making a big hullabaloo how to get the girls to perform academically as well as the boys. This, I thought, was rather strange, as I' knew for a fact that the girls did better than the boys in just about everything except for math. I couldn’t understand why what they said was so different from what I saw, and when I tried to make the observation to my teachers and peers, nobody really seemed to care or lis- 1 was eager to do as little as possible while | was “serving my time” in the school system. ten, but it sure stuck with me. I suppose the fact that I was far from being on the honour list like my older sisters didn’t help the matter much. What can I say? I wasn’t anyone’s favourite student, and I was eager to do as little as possible while 1 was - “serving my time” in the school system. It was an attitude common to a lot of my peers. It didn’t help that I was a happy and ex- uberant child, quick to talk and act, and slow to concentrate and listen to the lessons put be- fore us. My teachers were tolerant, but went out of their way to spend more time helping the girls, who were more neat, obedient, and polite. I remember my one of my Grade 4 tea- chers telling me I would never get anywhere in the world “with a desk like that”. It was an attitude that, in many ways, helped me become a classic underachiever. ] had no hopes, concerns or thoughts about what I would do after | graduation, because I never thought that far ahead, I was bored now. I was busy with other more worthy pursuits like TV and computer games. My peers saw the value of their education. I didn’t. | was serving time while they were achieving something I didn’t understand the need for, They did their homework, and I found other interesting things to do, I think I surprised a lot of people, including myself, when I managed to graduate from high school in spite of myself, and ever got into college and university. I'd finally realized the importance of true education - to help you bring out and realize your potential as a human being and as a func- tioning member of society (not taxpayers). In the end however, I think it’s unfortunate that it's a lesson that many of us have forgot- ten in our cultural obsession with jobs and ma- terial possessions. More importantly however, ] think it’s a lesson that’s been lost to entire’ generation of boys such as my friend Sasha’s son, as well-as his teachers, and our school system. ; We've spent enough time encouraging the girls to do well. Now it’s time to concentrate on the boys. They're part of our fulure too. WELL DONE! Elizabeth Peters, 11, holds ribbons she earned in the 4-H clas- ses at the Skeena Valley Fall Fair for her rabbits Cindy and Romeo. Fall Fair windup — the 2003 results THE SAWDUST has been swept up, the displays have been taken down, and the tents have been put away for another year. The 33rd annual Skeena Valley Fall Fair may be over, signalling the arrival of another autumn in the northwest. But first the Terrace Standard would like to re- cognize the proud achie- vements of the many hard- working livestock and ex- hibit hall competitors who took part in this year’s events. SPECIAL WINNERS CHILDREN'S SECTION Junior photography Emily Braam Baking Daniel Pedro, Tianna Pedro, Devon Foote Decorated cake Tianna Pedro Horticulture Renee Ewald Jonah Preston Miranda Tuininga Arts and crafts Andre Favron Tianna Pedro Laura Braam - Quilting Rachel Muller Sewing Gillian Jones, Andrea Pedro, Rachael Muller Conservation and education Wade Lindquist Kaylyn Mailloux Elizabeth Peters Brendan Patershak A RED ribbon winner. Cedna Guerreiro OPEN CLASSES Cut flowers Mary Haigh Charlene Halladay Decorative arrange- ments Kathy Tycho Container plants Lorraine Ridler Fruits Martin Holzbauer, Chris Harrison Vegetables Harry Ridler Yvette Favron Home produce Barb Adams ’ Yvette Favron Wine and beer Pat Weissner Paul Sametz Home preserves Kathleen Pedro Lorraine Ridler Pat Weissner Jamie Spyksma Home baking Kathleen Pedro Roxanne Ridler Aliana Lima Sandra Kirby Bonnie Juniper’ grown Andrea Pedro Textiles Marie Mailloux Wanda Olsen Charlotte Cameron Jessie Norbirg Lorraine Ridler Yvonne Stowell Kathleen Pedro Donna Mailloux - Rachael Muller Alicina Lima Displays Jeanne Fournier Julie Shinkaruk Arts and crafts Casey A. Braam Trudy Rafuse Victor Pedro Douglas Adair Julie Shinkaruk Val Preston Photography Trudy Rafuse Kathleen Pedro 2003 COUNTRY _ FAIRS CONTEST Kathleen Pedro Roxanne Ridler Lorna Schmidt - Denise Vandevelde Jeanette Ewald LIVESTOCK RESULTS RABBITS Purebred doe (under 6 months): 1. Krista Voogd 2, Barb Adams 3. Barb Adams Purebred (under 6 months) 1. Barb Adams (junior: reserve champion) — ae 2.Val Preston 4. Julian Vendittelli ; Continued Page 58 ‘buck’ Around Town Guitar great will give an electrifying demo WANT TO learn how to play your electric ghitar like the pros? ; A musician some critics say is at the top of her craft along side other guitar gods like Joe. Satriani or Eddie Van Halen is coming to Terrace Monday for a clinic at Sight and Sound. Her name is Jennifer Batten, and if you don't recognize her name, you might recognize her sound, She uses a two-handed rock technique and other fancy fingerwork, has earned her considerable rock cred in the studio and on tour with the likes of Jeff Beck and even Michael Jackson. Batton has mastered funk, fusion, metal and rock only to carve out her own unique sound; take a listen to her recent CD, Tribal Rage — Momentum. She*ll be presenting a guitar clinic here from 7- 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22 at Sight and Sound on Keith Ave. featuring the Digitech GNX3. The event is free, but please note: it’s not a per- formance. It’s intended as a clinic for guitar play- ers ; For further details or for tickets call 635-5333. From Zto A BACK IN THE ‘80s, when he was known as “Zappacosta”, he had a string of hit singles, in- cluding the powerhouse pop ballad “Passion”, and the song “Overload” from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Since then, Alfie Zappacosta has evolved as a performer. On his musical side, he’s branched out into jazz. He’s also done some acting, appear- ing as a lead perfor- & mer on stage in musi- @ cals like Hair and § Evita, and more re- cently he's acted on TV and in film pro- ductions. But it’s his distine- tive singing voice that continues to earn him rave reviews as a live performer. The Kitimat Con- cert Association re- cently described him as a “cross between Sade’s soft, mellow jazz and the high en- ergy of Ricky Martin.” His concerts fea- ture a blend of original songs as well as timeless jazz standards, His appearance Sept. 19 at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre kicks off the Terrace Concert Socicty’s -2003-04 concert season. The show starts at 8 p.m. sharp. Tickets at Cook's Jewellers in the Skeena Mall, The concert society has fined up seven different performances this season. Next up is the Buhr Quartet, a fresh, inventive jazz ensemble, Sept. 26, Alfie Zappacosta