re The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - BS TERRACE STANDARD | S ss 638-7283 in MARGARET SPEIRS ° ROB BROWN Ron he memory is transparent and thin as gauze some 25 years later, but there are enough details. to stitch to- gether an- accurate recollection. This is it: there are three men of average height, all wearing hats with wide brims. One has one of those drooping mustaches we used to call Fu Man- chu and a big, grey cowboy hat, its brim turned up at the edges, an eagle quill stuck in-its band. They have a distinct 70s look, cowboy gypsies who could - be mistaken for Bob Dylan’s back up band. In their hands they have some hooks and line and - brilliant yarn, basic tackle they’ve just purchased. They’ re talking to Jim Culp,. the proprietor of the small shop we’ re in. The conversation is guarded, circumlocutions circle like fighting cocks about to square off. Jim’ and the man with the mustache interrogate each other as the other two glance sidelong at each other knowingly. ® The bell fastened to the door signals their depar- ture. I step up to the counter, put some merchandise on it and-ask Jim who those guys were. vo “Hanley, Wadley and Tetreau,” Jim answers. “They’re catching steelhead and putting radio transmitters in them — tagging them for the Fish and Wildlife Branch. They try to pick my brains for hot fishing spots, but they won't reveal theirs.” Later I learned that Ron Tetreau was the man with the eagle primary in his hat band, the leader of , those gypsy steelheaders. Nice. work, good job, we anglers often said to each other enviously. . - 1 got to know Ron, visited him a couple times at his home in Kispiox, met him at Mike’s, met him on the river from time to time and heard the stories of his nose for fish and of his fishing prowess. One fall day when the Kispiox was at its best, Webb and I were working over the water in the Up- per Patch when an inflatable full of Germans and Ron floated past. Ron beached the boat downstream. The Germans spilled out and began tossing spoons furiously. Ron rowed to the other side, made one cast and hooked a fish. “That’s Ronnie,” I yelled to Webb. “I’m going to walk down and say ‘hi’.” In the 10 minutes it took me to get there, Ron re- leased the steelhead, caught and released another. ~ “Ron,” I called over when I was opposite him, “How’s the fishin’?” “Seems to be pretty fair,” he called back as his float went down for the third time. ' Randy Murray recalls the time he and Steve Nickolls were drifting the Kitimat River in peak ‘steelhead time. Run after run produced nothing. As they approached the takeout; Steve was ina . state of severe disbelief. He looked downstream at a distant boat that had been ahead of them all day and wondered if their crew had found fish. When they reached the takeout things clarified. ' Ron Tetreau was taking out his boat. Did he catch ‘any steelhead? A few said Ron, a dozen or so. When it comes to steelheading, it takes a lot to impress Mike Wheipley. Ron could. One time, when. they -were stalking Lakelse - steelhead, Ron announced his intention to fish a slot a few feet wide on the far side of a log on the far shore. Mike pointed out that a fish hooked there was almost certain to get tangled up with the log. ’ With surgical precision Ron sent a cast over the river, over the log to the top of the slot. His float drifted a few feet then sank. . As Mike watched in amazement, Ron set the hook hard, the fish burst out of the river like a rock- . et. As it did, Ron pulled it through the air to the near side of the log, then proceeded to beach the fish and punch a tag into it. The stories of Ron’s skill came from bystand- ‘ers; they became legend. Anglers referred to him as “the human net.” Yet when I talked to Ron he never spoke of - numbers and size. When I told him of an article whose author claimed to have beached a Kispiox steelhead close to 40 pounds, Ron just smiled and said the ones he caught were generally in the 12 pound range. Early last week Ron was running two clients up the Kalum, jetting past snares and treacherous turns atop a river swollen with snow melt and running hard and cold. Jet boats are run against the grain; the distance between security and disaster is short. At Deep Creek the sum of small circumstances — switching a fuel line, the speed of the current a sweeper, a submerged stump — put Ron and his sports in the river. They got to shore. He didn't. Ron caught more steelhead than anyone on the planet, more than anyone ever will. It’s fitting that his last day should be on the river. It’s ineffably sad that he left so soon. 9 By MARGARE T SPEIRS “WHEN THE stock cars rumble onto the track this weekend, the Sweet family racing team will be ready to compete. Veteran racers Kris, sister Ta- mara and father Stan’ Sweet will be | joined this year by rookie driver and’ mom Peggy in her debut against the other women, : ‘Kris and Stan spent ‘the winter ; building a truck for the Thunder - class, in its second year al the speed- way. Tamara, who ‘will drive in from Prince George, will challenge the men for the first time, leaving the C- _ class spot.open for Peggy. ° Kris said Tamara decided to race. - against men after racing against oth- er women for five years. “She’s raced with guys before with the Memorial race and a couple of jamborees,” he said, adding she’s looking forward to competing with the, male drivers. ae _. Peggy debuts in the Bomber class. after five years of family pressure to . get behind the wheel of the Chevette, which races as #515. 7 Kris said the decision to move up a class from Bomber car to Thunder class sparked the desire to build’ av : truck, rather than a car. : “Basically we decided to move — _ up in class and looked around to see what we had for vehicles,” he said. “We had this old truck we-used to drive on the street five years ago .~ before the motor blew up — parked at my aunt’ s place. We measured the _ wheelbase and it met the rules and 399, we said ‘let’s build a trucks22--- He and his dad stripped out all the unnecessary parts and anything» flammable, such as the wooden bed, The family that races together, Stock car fans: get ready for the debut of the Sweet family racing team KRIS SWEET and dad Stan ‘show ‘off their nearly completed entry in this y year’s. Thunder races at the Ter-.- race Speedway. The pair spent part of the winter fixing this truck to have it ready to roll on race day. and began building the roll cage. They tested the brakes, the en-. ‘gine, and mounted a fuel cell. The duo found tires that fit and removed the hubcaps for safety. They piped the exhaust out be- hind the bottom of the driver’s door to avoid fuel lines and vapour. Running against t A bullet proof windshield, ‘anoth- er safety requirement, was ordered. : The back window will remain open.: . The only. tasks left include secur- ing the hood, adding. sponsor logos and painting a white stripe down each side. Kris said at last count, there were" six vehicles ready to race in the. ’ Thunder class. _A new trailer will carry the red 1981 Ford F150 regular cab to the speedway where Kris and Stan hope ; _ dust. e crow Terracite breaks goal time after training for marathon with Vancouver team A LOCAL MARATHON runner raced to his goal time in the Vancouver Province’s annual Adidas Vancouver International Marathon recently. Bruce Yeast trained. towards a three- hour and45 minute time ’ and broke it by nearly two minutes, crossing the finish line in 3:43.07. “I’m very happy and quite pleased with that,” he said. “T wanted to try to bring some recognition to the north.” -He said he wasn’t exhausted by the end of the race. “There’s definitely a stretch there where you get a little tired,” he said. “T was running with the 3:45 pace. . group which motivates you to keep up with everybody.” The weather in Vancouver held out for the marathon. “It was beautiful, just gorgeous. If anything it was a bit too hot,” he said. - This race marked Yeast’s tenth . marathon. He’s raced in -Prince George, Las Vegas, Victoria, Calgary and Kelowna. This was his fourth Vancouver marathon. He ran his. first there three years . ago and keeps returning despite the lack of money to help foot the bill. But this year there he received some help. Yeast joined the Province’s train- ing team last December when his ap- plication was accepted. “This year I put a little song and dance letter in there,” he said, adding he didn’t make the team last year. ““T said we’re a little more dedi- cated than most, running in the snow and sleet and hail.” ; Yeast was the first person chosen for the team who doesn’t live on the Lower Mainland. He travelled to Vancouver short- ly after to meet the six-member team and coach John Stanton, owner of . the Running Room. He travelled there three more times to train this year. He said Stanton taught the team the 10 and one training method: 10 minutes of running and one minute of walking. “It keeps you fresher. That’ s what he preaches and it seems to work,” Yeast said. 7 He joined the team. with the goal - of learning how to. improve. his ‘time. “I’m just about 45 years old now. | lL never started running until after I turned 40. I just kind of did what | thought was right, and there’s your way and the right way,” he said. Cont'd Page E Bit Figure 8 and Barrels. DANITA PET CH races Tabbu to the fastest time in the Pole Bending event at the Totem Saddle Club’s Gymkhana on April 24. She was also the quickest rider of the day in ‘Gymkhana gallops i in Thornhill Totem Saddle Club Gymkhana Winners April 24 : Category | Event Rider/Horse © Masters |Keyhole, Poles _ | Dan Muller/Marsh » Barrels a , Figure 8 | Karen Halvorson/Chico Senior Keyhole Lori Howard/Coco do Poles, Figure 8 Danita Petch/Tabbu Barrels ‘ Scurries ~ | Amy Hayduk/Terro Junior A. | Poles, Figure 8 » Neoma Patterson/XE Scurries,. Barrels Junior B | Keyhole, Figure 8 | Michalla Heighington/Triton .| Scurries, Barrels - an | Poles © Joey Muller/Nevada Junior C | Keyhole Cody Kuemper/Pride Poles, Figure 8 Isabelle Heaman/KD Barrels Junior D | Keyhole, Poles Amanda Stella/Tequila . , Figure 8, Scurries Barrels ; Leadline |Keyhole, Poles. | Amanda Howard/Coco Figure 8, Scurries Kalen Rempel/Doubles Poles Shayla Johnson/Cherokee Figure 8 Denver Long/Nash | Scurries Dayne Wright/Fizz Barrels Amanda Howard/Coco MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO