B1 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 29, 2006 .

-TERRACESTANDARD game —— ——— —

DUSTIN

QUEZADA 638-7283

eir own

. THERE’S ONE discipline at the. Pacific Northwest Music —
Festival that’s decidedly Terrace-rich in tatent. AML but one
of the competitors calls Terrace home. co

They’re harpists and this year (hey "ve earned thetr own
“category, distinct from other stringed instruments. mo

Local teacher Robin Hollett, who teaches all seven of the’
harpists entered in the festival, says it was too hard for adju- ».
dicators to judge a violin solo from one on the harp.

e of t

ST A THOUGHT .
_EV BISHOP . :
“It's Ss. a 1 small, big world -

read a lot of historical Stories, and my fam-:

and«grew up hearing of, I’ve often pon-
dered what it felt like to"leave your homeland for
a “new” world, knowing full well that there was

every chance that you would never again see the, :

family and friends you left behind.
Letters were slow to cross the ocean and even

‘slower to traverse the rugged, dauntingly vast
terrain, taking months to come, if arriving at all. —
Even when telephones became commonplace, the.

cost of long distance calls maintained a strong bar-
ricade between faraway loved ones, and still meant

that “mere” acquaintances, passing friends, and

distant relations lost touch entirely, °~
The Internet has changed all that: Today, every

day, usually several times a day, people all over’
: the world receive news from distant relations: We °
~ read jokes that made far off friends smile. or groan -

"and click forward. We watch. babies: we’ve never

held grow up in digital pictures and get. quick snip-.

_ pets of text about what’s going on-in the lives of
_ loved ones: that we never see. ~.

Instant messaging allows for real time conversa-. .
tions that are almost free—with hilarious graphics

and options to boot. .Keeping in touch has never
been easier. Web pages and forums allow for the

sharing of information, passions and just plain odd

things.

But not only do e-mail, instant messaging and
‘Web forums keep us in touch with family and. “
friends—they create new ‘family ‘and friends:.
used to be that if you had eclectic interests or lived
in a very small town, you were just the odd one
out.

Now anyone can seek out like-minded cohorts
about everything from writing to politics to rub-
berstamping to home taxidermy to historical cos-

tume hobbyists to you-name-it-and-there’s-a-site- .

for-it. There really is something for everyone on

the Internet and most anyone who spends any time

there ends up corresponding v with people. they’ve
never er actually met. me a

ny

- ily roots’ in North America’ are quite young. -
In thinking about these lives that I read about’. :

ABOVE: Leanne Voogd, 16, will compete in four different categories starting to-
morrow at the Evangelical Free Church. At right, clockwise from top left are the
members of the Inveraray Music Children’s Harp Ensemble: Anna Linton, Katie |
Hollett, Kaela Evenchick, Aislin Dafoe and Sandra Yoo. The ensemble will perform |
_ a combination of song and strings. All five of the harp players will ‘also compete -"
individually, some in duets, ‘trios and quartets. ,

DUSTIN’ QUEZADA PHOTOS _

$5, 000.

“It's like apples and oranges,’
teaching here for eight years. . _
‘Her oldest and perhaps most accomplished pupil is Le-
“anne Voogd. The 16- -year-old has six years experience in
finger plucking the 22 to 36-stringed instruments. ;
“When her future teacher played at her school she says she an
-loved’it. “My oma:and grandpa offered to buy.me a: harp,” a7
said the talented teen who also plays the. piano, used to play’
the: saxophone and i is now tackling the acoustic guitar. - 2
~ Voogd has since added a. bigger harp to her collection, —
‘thanks to a lot babysitting and. newspaper delivery monies...
The smaller, 22-string harps cost around $1,500, while'the |
larger 36-string instruments cost in the’ neighbourhood. of oe

_ With five. years of competition under her belt, the Centen:
“nial Christian student says she no longer feels any perfor-
mance nerves. She’s already played the gala performance. °
and awards night four times. 7

When Voogd bought her harp in Grade 9 she says she.
knew she was serious about her future in music and she has »
designs on studying music therapy after high s school.

Her parents, Frank and Joanne, are thrilled: with their
daughter s determination and the music il produces.

“It’s a treat to be in’this house.” said her mom... , a |

Voogd and her fellow harpists perform tomorrow and Fri- :

day mornings at the Evangelical Free Chureh. ae

“the Internet with ‘its. varied

faces, personalities and. limitless
' locations can be an.amazing way to
both shrink the globe and to expand

your. world. ”

The Internet is a wonderful place to hang out.
It’s a great place to find new friends, utilize free
professional development, take forays into any
subject you: can dream of, and discover endless
fodder for the imagination.

Two years ago, I met (in person) someone I’d |

come to know in a-writers’ forum years earlier.
We've visited twice since and will be life long

. friends. ec s ine
_ friends. I have countless other “faceless” onl

friends with whom I have ongoing discussions. |
often work for people I've never seen. Online, I
can track down and pick the. brains of favourite
authors and-“‘talk” in forums with writers from all
over the world. Online, I can play with Google
Earth and (once quelling the slightly creepy feel-
ing it evokes) check out not only my friends’ hous-

~ es and properties, but the Nile in Egypt, the moors

in Scotland, and the restaurants in San Diego as
well.
In fact, I can explore any geographic region 1

~ can think of. I can learn about any subject that

I can imagine too (Want to sew medieval styled
boots for example? You'll have to refine your
search you’ll get so much advice!).

If there is a dark side to hanging out online, it’s
that forums and chat rooms ‘effortlessly create an
atmosphere of openness and camaraderie, mak-

‘ing you forget that you’re only seeing the sides of

people that they want you to see—you need to. be
wary. It’s also easy to wile away time that might be
better spent on relationships with the real people

‘in your life, and there can, be the. danger (we’ve |
-all heard the. stories!) of romanticizing someone

that you've met online as being your soul mate
(Relax—those are not the kinds of friendships T
pursue!).

Yet I think the good outweighs the bad. Even

‘a move across the ocean no longer means the end

of relationships! And while I’m fortunate to be
surrounded by wonderful, supportive family and
friends in the flesh, my online sidekicks add some
very real dimension and interest to my life. For
any average person who genuinely likes his of her
life and isn’t just trying to escape it, the Internet
with its varied faces, personalities and limitless lo-
cations can be an amazing way to both shrink the
globe and to expand your world.

eats
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Hai

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ABOVE. camp cook Wilbur Spence and Steven Doolan

show a fresh shovel of oolichan from’ the Nass River,
while at left, Kiti Ksan student Chantel’ Snyder talks

| ~ with Lorna Johnson, centre, and Verna Inkster on Chi-

na Bar. DUSTIN QUEZADA/ROD LINK PHOTOS

OOLICHAN HARVESTERS have
been busy catching and processing
the nutrient-rich fish which has been
making its annual spawning runs

“ up northern rivers from the Pacific

Ocean.
Overall, the runs are ~Jate this year

but the number of returning oolichan -

are satisfactory, say. harvesters..

At Fishery Bay, east of Kincolith,
Steven Doolan’s crew at Doolan’s
Camp was one of four groups of
fishers in the area collecting the first
oolichan of the season last week.

Efforts have been hampered by
ice and snow in and around the Nass
River but Doolan, who has operated
the camp for more than 30 years, is

_confident their targets will be met.

“We have a 30-ton container that
we want to fill,” he said.

Oolichan are off an

Oolichan are generally no more .

than six inches Jong and return to

spawn in rivers after two or three’

years of ocean life.

They contain ‘a collection of pro-.

teins and nutrients providing not

only food but also medicinal quali-
ties. They are preserved by being:

either smoked, air and sun-dried or
frozen.

down by being boiled to produce
grease and oils.

Traditionally, oolichan were wel-
comed as a source of food and nutri-
tion after the long winter months. .

And because of the work in-
volved in producing grease and due
to their food qualities, oolichan had
a high trading value amongst native

‘peoples.

But oolichan can ‘also be rendered

Doolan - said the ‘oolichan they

catch are not sold. “We © keep them *

for ourselves and trade them.”

Camp cook Wilbur Spence said °

First Nations come from as. far as
Alberta for the fish.
A field trip last. week along the

_ Skeena River by a Grade 3 Kiti Ksan...

class failed to find any oolichan but

_ the students did hear all about the -

fish.
“They give it to you just like cod
liver oil,” said Lorna J ohnson, one of

two ‘people brought along courtesy _
of the school district’s First Nations .
. Education Centre. “They made you

drink it. That was their ‘medicine

"years ago.”

Mixed with herbs, oolichan grease
was also placed on wounds and
worked so well, the ‘wounds would

running |

~ heal leaving no scars, she. said. .
As important as the oolichan’ is
for food, Johnson told the students i it.

also had a.cultural value..

“When you have enough, you.

share’ with: your neighbour. ‘This is

what I was taught when I was young
~ you share. It’s _good to-share be- |
cause in return, you will get” she

said.

sources of food provided by. water.
“Next month it will be seaweed
season. Before Christmas it was

clams. Salmon is the: last one, ” she

said.

- Inkster did note that alot of young
’ people in her community and family
have lost touch with traditional food

harvesting. _ ‘

" said Hollett, who has been *

Verna Inkster told the students the
oolichan is one of several seasonal