B4-The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 8, 2006: enter b o . ys that in April there is a fish much lik © a herring that comes’ up into. ‘the | small” ‘brooks to. spawn, and -when, the’ water is © L. not knee* deep. they: will presse up ‘through: your . in such abundance as is incredible.” ->So-wrote.a Puritan in-his diary. of 1663. ‘The: ‘small. fish he described was Alosa pseudoharengus, 7 ~ Jater christened the alewife by one of the diarist’ S., f contemporaries. Lome : — “Why, alewife? you: ask. Wei can ‘speculate that the ) man responsible for the appellation was brought his | . brew in‘a tavern attended by corpulent: waitresses . whose: fusiform figures reminded him of the com- “pressed, football shaped, herring-like fishes. that | Te crowded into the rivers near his village... In those days, centuries before the neo:puritans - of political: correctness would insist.that we call: * waitresses. servers, they were ‘known as. Alewives. , ~The name had resonance. It stuck.- Paar re ° Cousin to herring; shad and tarpon, ‘the alewife - has smooth or cycloid scales and an affinity for the sea, where -it. feeds: on small planktonic animals, - which explains why a 35-centimetre alewife. is a whopper. Unlike herring and tarpon, but like shad, the. ; alewife spawns in fresh water and will find it quite. agreeable given the chance. The most dramatic demonstration of its freshwater adaptability oc- curred. in .the years. following the construction: of. ‘the Welland Canal. ey ete =” - Swimming ‘under. the’ first Maritime traffic to take advantage of the new Niagara Falls bypass - were alewives. Once upstream of the locks, the ale- wives colonized the Great Lakes. 7 Since the Great Lakes’ formerly great lake trout populations were all but wiped out due to over- fishing and invasion of the exotic sea lamprey, the gregarious little alewife population grew extrava- gantly. ‘Runaway alewife populations sent fisheries per- sonnel on a job search for.a predator. This led to the introduction of Pacific Salmon species into the © _ lakes, creating a community that remains extremely popular with sports fishers.. - Exotics are toxic, and alewives. have been im- plicated i in the decline of many native Great Lakes | species through competition and predation. ~ .New Brunswick shares the St. Croix River with . Maine. Alewives are native to the river and the Ca- vy nadians like them because. they are prey. for had- dock, cod and Atlantic salmon. _ The Yanks don’t share this fondness si since the |. _alewife preys upon the fry of smallmouth bass ~ or | so the American sportsmen, who make a living "fishing smallmouths, claim. The St:.Croix smallmouth bass were introduced . | to the river by the Americans. In the 80s the exotic - - bass population plummeted at the same time that the alewife population increased. Using haywire lay science unfettered by clear ' facts’"and method, the American sportsmen con- - cluded the alewife was the source of their discon- _ tent and lobbied their state legislators. - Fisheries scientists on both sides of.the border hastened to assert that there was not a shred of solid - evidence to support the position of the American _ sportfishermen. One scientist pointed out that the worst thing an alewife.could give a predatory bass a bad case.of . indigestion. Other scientists pointed out that a host of. other factors, including low water levels during the years of bass decline, were plausible culprits. Deaf to reason and science and sensitive to job. ‘loss in-a state. where rural jobs aren’t all that-easy — to come by — and ever preoccupied with re-election ~ the Maine legislature passed a.law directing the water authorities to shut the fish ways that bypass’ ~ the dams on the US section of the St. Croix, thereby - effectively blocking the river and making it impos- " sible for the alewives to spawn. In 1995 the law went into force: In that time the “number of alewives in the St. Croix fell from an estimated 2:6 million to a miserable 900. — To stave off the extinction of the St. Croix run, Canadians, with the assistance of American con- servationists, especially those concerned with the welfare of the once abundant Atlantic salmon, are capturing alewives then transporting them upstream by truck. Unfortunately the small fish don’t travel well with the result that they can only be taken in small numbers. At this point it looks bad for the alewives of the St. Croix. When they are gone the food chain will shrivel, the exotic bass will succumb to the real source of their decline and we will be left with yet another cautionary tale of stupidity, cupidity an electoral evetem contaminated with venal self interest. xperience hath h taught tl them at New Plyin- : te Fede eee Pa ere > ye aaa | THESE .L LOVELY long-time lady curlers’ presented Vesta Douglas, seated front left, with flowers as part of the celebration of the 50th Valen- ~_tine’s Bonspiel that starts this weekend. Posing'with Douglas at Terraceview Lodge, ‘and scheduled to participate in the: -bonspiel’s opening gd ceremony ; are, from left, Lyn Apolezer, Rose Thomas, Norah Jacques, Marie Beckley, and Jan MacMillan, seetes right. 2°» MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO e social event of the season. Over 40 rinks expected for weekend of fellowship at 50th Valentine’ s Bonspiel_ By MARGARET SPEIRS CURLERS | .are .gathering and q -- technicians: are: “readying” ‘the ice: for the 50th’ Valentines’ Bonspiel, “ which organizers promise will be a grand celebration of the first bonspiel ‘played in Terrace. And those involved can’t wait to meet with their long-time friends and on-ice opponents from all over the region. _ Vesta Douglas, one of the found- ers of the. Terrace Curling Club, remembers the beginning of the or- ‘ganization. “ _- Douglas arrived here from Ontar- . io in 1950 with her husband Doug, and during a. sighseeing tour with * the late Ben Dodds, asked to see the | one thing she was surprised to learn | didn’t exist here. “He said ‘what. would you like to see and Doug said he’d like to see curling. I said I'd like to see the kids skating,” she says. ; She was “shocked” when Dodds replied that the town didn’t have an” arena and she decided to start a curl- -ing club. . She’s a lifelong fan of the ‘sport, which she loves for the fellowship and the independence that the rules give curlers. “You're dependent:upon yourself and nobody else,” rules... she says of the 1 “They’ re for everybody. no ex- .ceptions.””. ing and attended all the games and “ bonspiels for as many years as she could. She continues to watch curling on the TV in her room at the Terracev- iew Lodge. , “Curling is a hobby and I’m in- terested in every player,” she says. Jan MacKinnon, 91, says that, back in 1956, only eight local wom- . en curled. ‘Eighteen rinks’ competed at the first Valentine’s Bonspiel that s same . year. The Valentine’ s bonspiel has re- mained relatively the same over the. years, she says. Decorations always included cu- pids and. hearts. A former club President, Mack- ° “innon says she also enjoys the. fel- lowship of the sport, “[Curling] is “a very ‘sociable thing. I know people from all over the province,” she says. Cindy Brown, this year’s” bon- spiel chairperson, says everyone looks forward to it. “It's the annual event. I think all the ladies in league curling always curl,” she says. . ; Brown, who's curled for 18 years, , errace star brightest of all Although. ‘Douglas: never curled” tes here,‘she: never missed a club meet=**SHé"says. ' says fellowships are the biggest at- traction to, curling. _ ; “Curling: is‘such a social sport,” ok Keene “The: people you ‘meet t especially in other clubs are lifelong friends.” What draws such sociable people _to the sport? “] think for one thing there’s alot _of courtesy involved. It’s called a ‘gentlemen’s sport’, protocol and “Pd love to see a junior team take the A-event,” _ - Cindy Brown — fair play are huge. You don’t find. any fights like you do in hockey:and ~ you don’t boo or hiss; you shake hands when you go on and say ‘good game’ when you come off,’ ‘she says. She says everyone looks forward to the entertainment planned by the host rink and this year is no excep- tion. -The 50th “spectacular” will fea- ture favourites from yesteryear star- ring some of the older ladies. The “gala” banquet will be held off-site this year for the first time, as a.large crowd of close to 200 is t ‘ice. By DUSTIN QUEZADA. WADE FLAHERTY’S dream season in the American Hockey League keeps getting ; better. - The Terrace-born goaltender was the star of the AHL All-Star festivities to the delight of the home crowd in Winnipeg last week. Flaherty won the top goaltender award , in the skills competition and topped that the next night being named co-MVP of the showcase game Feb. 1. , “To get the top goaltender (in the skills competition) and the co-MVP in front of the home crowd was awesome, “T was a little surprised and happy obviously but it doesn’t get any better than that.” The 38-year-old said he was feeling ‘nerves because he didn’t know what to ex- pect on both nights. “It’s pretty nerve wracking,” Flaherty said. “It’s the unknown and you ‘don’t have a lot of control over it.” Added to the nerves of facing the league’s. top shooters in a display geared for offence, Flaherty also had the pressure of performing in front of the fans that have come to expect his puckstopping heroics. Every time his name was announced, the Winnipeg crowd roared, Flaherty said. “It \ {? ”* Flaherty said. gives you chills down’ the spine.” In the skills competition Jan. 31, Flaherty started slow; allowing three goals on 10'shots in the rapid fire event: however, he shut the door from there. . _ The 17-year pro stopped all three shots in the pass and score drill. then blanked six shooters in the breakaway relay. Flaherty said due to the nature of the event, the game day was not typical, with © a luncheon and many media requests, leav- ing little or no time for stretching and stick maintenance. ~ ; That didn’t seem to bother the Team Can. - ada starter, who stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced in his period of work before a sell- out crowd of 15,015. Flaherty helped stake the home team toa . 2-1 lead ‘they would not relinquish, winning | 9-4 over PlanetUSA. Flaherty says the Manitoba’ ‘Moose or- ganization put on a great show but now it’s time to get back to the playoff dnve. “Its ‘back to the real hockey | jnow. ” Fla- - herty added. Entering last weekend’ 's play, the Moose were second i in the North Division standings. The team is pinning its hopes on its starting goalie continuing his dream season. expected. Brown promises more prizes too, and ladies who no longer curl but ‘are still members of the club, Brown says. : The opening ceremony returns this year after a short absence and a piper will lead the teams onto the " ice. Mayor Jack Talstra, current club president Lynn Gascon and four long-time lady curlers will take" part. Jan MacKinnon will hold the _ broom while Norah Jacques throws the first rock, and Rose Thomas and Marie Beckley sweep it down the At least one junior team has reg- istered and Brown is eager to see this local rink, skipped by Jody Kucha- tyshen, play.’ “These are avid junior curlérs who want to become competitive, ” she says. “T’d love to see a junior team take the A-event.” _ Brown hopes the bonspiel will rekindle interest in the sport as at- tendance has dropped off. “T hope this will. rekindle the excitement around going to out-of- _ town bonspiels and having fun,” she says. . ; WADE Flaherty made the most of his one period action in the AHL All-Star game Feb. 1. He stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced and was named the game’s co-MVP. JONATHAN KOZUB PHOTO dat “Invitations - and :-banquet’ tickets: were sent out:to past club presidents”