_ Terrace resident Gunther Holtz has made a career of travelling

a the world and meeting people since his retirement from the woods

- industry. His photo album includes pictures of a god-daughier in
the Phillipines who is three years old today.

Students offered
. summer deal on
: _ bus passes

Summer bus passes for all local high school students are now
available. For $20, pass holders get unlimited rides on the
Terrace transit system during July and August. _

Students can buy their bus passes at city hall. The passes will
be in effect from July 3 to Sept. 2. B.C. Transit notes that there
will be no local bus service on July 2.

Summer bus timetables and further information are available
from bus drivers, city hall or the B.C. Transit office at 635-6617.

Who is... oe ne

‘Terrace Review —

Gunther Holtz? —

‘Wednesday, June27, 1990 B75

GUNTHER HOLTZ: They're so

poor, but so generous.

by Betty Barton

Gunther Holtz was a second

ioader and ~bucker’ for Columbia

Cellulose in Terrace’ for 27 years,:.

until his early retirement in 1983.
In his beginning years with the
company, Gunther Holtz worked
right through | his holidays i in order

to cam extra money for his young

family. Now he’s making up for it

— travelling four to six months
each year. And spending the sum-
mer months as a fishing guide
right here in the Northwest. Many
of his fishing customers are Ger-
man. tourists. This gives him the
chance to practise his German and
eam some "pocket money" for his
jaunts around the world.

Literally and figuratively, Gunther
Holtz has come a long way since

_ his first big holiday in 1979. The

year after his wife Eva’s death in
1978, Holtz needed to get away.
So he took a six-week holiday to
Hawaii. And loved it! Since then,
he’s been to Mexico, the U.S., Fiji
(twice), Australia, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore and China,
"In ’81, they weren’t ready for

tourists in China." explains Holtz
_ "But I still correspond with my

Chinese guide. I might go back
some day."

Holtz’ travels in recent years

_ keep taking him back to the
qf .-Philippines. , ‘He. loves {o "meet

people, exchange ideas and ex-
perience new things. He thinks

travel is a wonderful way to ac-.

complish all three. On his first
tips, Holtz felt the best way to get
to know a place was to take tours.
In China particularly, all tour
group members had to identify
themselves with tour stickers on
their hats or lapels. Gunther's
"claim to fame" on that trip was
for the largest collection of tour
Stickers in his group of fellow
travellers,

SS an ee aan — ¥ ”

PICTURE THIS!
Portraits Taken Today

after 3 o’clock

“Sure E
- Photograp

osure
ic Studio

Phone 635 “9 714

4617 Lazelle Avenue

ti Pick up color preview proofs, next day:

(some restrictions apply)*

(beside, 5 ears)

Next. Day. Custom Framing

-Art Work
Cross Stitch ©
Needle Point |

Bring in-by'12 o'clock noon

Pick up next: day tes
(oe dea (after 4 o'clock) =~ |
orien R hotography etc. . (some. restrictions apply)*... ..:..

"Does not apply to Sundays or Holidays and Weddings

"Now I prefer to go out by
myself." he says. "It’s "hand and
feet communication’ when you
don’t speak the language. That just
makes it all more fun." Holtz says,
"I’ve never been afraid. Even
when our family escaped from
Pomerania’ on the Baltic Sea in
East Germany in 1946. I had con-

‘fidence and I bluffed well." Holtz

goes on to say that those - yeats

- between 1946 and 1952 were the.
best times and the worst times. He

and a group of friends smuggled

‘contraband goods back and. forth

across the Berlin Wall —. vege-
tables and alcoho! from East Ger-.
many to West, appliances and
clothing from west to east. He says
it was a challenging time and they
had such fun. Gunther still can’t
believe the changes that are taking
place in Europe at this very

* moment.

While still in Europe, Gunther
obtained his master’s degree in
shoemaking. "I was forced into it
by my parents, so I never liked it.
I wanted to be a butcher or a
baker." Since arriving in Canada in
1953, persuaded by his salesman-
brother already here, Gunther has
never worked as a shoemaker. He
does still do leather crafting as a
hobby, though.

Gunther had been thinking about
emigrating since age 20. He was
almost 35 when the Baptist Church
sponsored Gunther and Eva to go
to Winnipeg. Gunther is Lutheran,

. but he didn’t mind the slight conc-
. ession, as long as he could get to

wesiem Canada. Once they'd

. ther acknowledges that the politics

635-2641 if you'd like to get

TOURISM IS GOOD BUSINESS!.,
MULTIPLY AS THEY CIRCULATE THROUGHOUT THE COMMU-
NITY! BUT NO MATTER HOW BEAUTIFUL THE SCENERY, VISITORS
WILL BEST REMEMBER THE WAY THEY WERE TREATED BY THE
FOLKS WHO LIVE HERE! NORM HOLMES HAS LIVED IN TER-
RACE SINCE 1958. AND OPERATED TOTEM PETRO-CAN FOR _
THE PAST ELEVEN YEARS... NORM LOVES THE LIFESTLYE...THE a
EASY ACCESS TO FISHING...AND HE'S ALWAYS READY TO. :

WELCOME VISITORS WITH A WARM SMILE! IT’S SO EASY.. . . a

If RRACE & Dis ORG HAMEL |? OF
WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE CITY’OF TERRACE

settled in Winnipeg, Eva was quite
happy to stay there. She’d come
from a big city in Germany and
didn’t want to go to the wilderness
of the west. After half a year in -
Winnipeg, Gunther left to explore ©
and settle in Terrace. Three ©
months later, Eva gave in and
followed him. Gunther says, "We
never felt sorry that we did (come '
over). I really love it here." |
Gunther is now torn between his”
love for the Pacific Northwest and
his desire... to refurn to . the
Philippines. He’s got a.place to
stay on Sebu Island. He’s the
godfather to a fisherman’ s daughter. Lo
there. "They’re so poor, but so
generous. And it’s funny, they -
think we're all millionaires, I guess :
we are, by their standards." Gun-:

are bad in the Philippines. "The -
people still support Marcos, and’:-
the children aren’t educated
enough. I try to help by taking .
over clothes and books when I go. \
And I send parcels. They’re happy _—
with so little. I think I do it as _
much for me."

Gunther Holtz would like to see
an exchange happen between the
youngsters of Terrace and those in
‘the village where he “hangs his
hat" on Sebu Island. Call him. at

involved in such a project. He’ll be | _
retuming to the Philippines some S
time in November when the fishing: . .
season is over, a chill is in the air.. =~
and the warmth of the south:
Pacific and its. peoples draw him

again. te

. th

Pe oe
a tee -
iow)

-GENERATING DOLLARS THAT

é

COMMERG c. =e