B8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 6, 1996 T IS SPRING. The song birds are back, The Fraser is unlocked. Soon the gray swelling river will be run- ning its fingers through the newly greened thatch sprouting from sandy banks. There is no freeway roar, no brown haze blanket over Vancouver. There is industry, but a shorl trip puts the metal tattoo of hammers and the rasp of saws out of earshot. It is 1860. John’ Keast Lord, former veterinarian from the tame countryside of Devon, England, now a trail blazer, explorer and naturalist, moves up the rising river in a long canoc. A giant fish, gunmetal pray and while erupts the surface, hangs in the air long enough for the crew to appreciate its dimen- sions, then plunges, Icaving a great wash in its” wake. “It’s as though a huge rock had been pitched in the river by some Titan hand,” writes Keast Lord in his masterpiece The Naturalist in Van- couver Island and British Columbia, some six years lalez. The rock fish is the descendant of the trans- formed daughter of Clothed-With-Power, the first chief of the water body now called Pitt Lake. Later it became known as the great white sturgeon. Acipenser transmontanus, whale like fish lurking in the sluggish, brackish water at the mouths of great rivers, haunting the deep canyons underneath the roar of unruly water, threading their way through the Rockies as many as a thousand miles inland.. Everything about the Great White of the “Fraser is magic; myths swirl around“it like the” dangerous currents in the Fraser Canyon where. the giants lie in excavations of their own making, intercepling rotting salmon carcasses, or anything else edible swept by. Ancient whis- kered fish with mouths like the truncated trunks of pachyderms sturgeon can enter a state of suspended animation that enables them to sur- vive, out of water and oxygen, for long periods of time. When Sumas Lake was sucked dry, farmers continued to plow up live sturgeon from the wet earth as many as three years after ihe lake was transformed into prairie. Natives speak of cap- turing sturgeon, tcthering them alive so that chunks could be cut from them during winter. Sto:lo speak of catching sturgeon, transporting them miles by pickup, then riving them with water from a garden hose. Of sturgeon and pickup trucks: The founder of Fred’s Sporting Goods at Vedder Crossing has a picture of a great white, head on the cab, tail draped over an open tail gale, a fish that ate his bait near the mouth of the Vedder Canal then towed him, boat and all, to Mission then towed him back before he subdued it. Sturgeon are sa big they catalyze beasts in the minds of men: Ogopogo, the monster of Loch Ness - the career of mythic monstrosities of all kinds may easily have begun with the sturgeon sighting, After swimming for more than a century, as many do, some of these fish reach enormous proportions. Several very large ones have been caught in the Fraser, one over 1,800 pounds being reported, The largest of which any authenticated record has been kept was one weighing 1,387 pounds which was caught opposite this city in the carly days by one of V.N. Vianen’s fishermen, This is a snippet from a story appearing in the “Royal Columbian” just before the turn of the century cited in Terry Glavin’s wonderful book “‘Ghost in the Water.’’ Not so much a book as a booklet, ‘‘Ghost in the Water’? is small but -acipenser transmontanus, The book is much more than facts; il is brief history of sturgeon and sturgeon fisheries: an valuable parable of neatly bound by the adventures of Dr. Marvin Rosenau of the Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks, and his quest to find out why alarm- ing numbers of Fraser sturgeon were in- lower Fraser. Glavin is fine writer and with a journalist’s knack for stitching a together the fabric of a compelling story with strong quotes. A sprink- ling of Margaret Atwood, the speech of an android, for example: First I will capture it/ with nels, traps helicopters dogs picces/of string holes dug in the ground doped food/ tran- quilizers guns buckshot thrown. stones/ bows and arrows/ Then | will name the species/after myself/ ...1 will publish the results in Icarned journals, adds spice and clarity to a discussion of sturgcon depiction. “Between what we can understand and what we imagine, there is the giant ‘vhite sturgeon, " writes Glavin, His small, appetizing book helps fill in that gap, oe Bo packed with fascinating information about: resource abuse, facts, photos and a fishin’ story - explicably washing up on the beaches of the’ - TERRACE SPORTS. COACH OF THE YEAR 638-7283 Decision day fast approaching THE DEADLINE has passed, The nominations are ali in and our judges are hard at work. And in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to tell you who has come out on top in our Jerrace Standard{Skeena Mall Coach of the Year Contest. - A big: thanks goes out to all of you who noniinated a total num- ber of eighteen well-deserving coaches. Our judges are certainly not going to have an casy job choos- ing just one winner and two run- ners up. Our most recent nominees in- clude Copper Mountain vol- leyball and basketball coach Dave Crawley, minor hockey coach Chris Gunnlaugson, Calendonia senior girls basketball coach Scott Stewart, fastball coach Vic Buteau, Hazelton wrestling coach Joe Sullivan, Kitwanga softball coach Patrick Ranahan, softball coaches Greg Frezeil and Vivien Raposo and junior curling coach Kathy Gardiner. They join our previous nominees, basketball coach Scatt Armstrong, scnior boys basket- ball coach Cam MacKay, bowl- ing coach Eva Wilkinson, figure skating coach Jessica Lambright, gymnastics coach Kris Fairless, Hazelton —_ basketball coach Maurizio Basso, karate coach Roland LaGace, basketball coach Gary Paulson, and minor hockey coach Tom Turner. And here = are nominees... Dave Crawley Crawley was nominated by the new ‘three of the girls he.coaches at.. Copper Mountain. Amy Sunberg says he teaches the leam how to play fairly, and adds he’s an all around nice guy, ‘‘He’s a really good friend and doesn’t put too much pressure on us,’’ she says. Crawley, who coaches both vol- leyball and basketball, says he ‘likes seeing kids get motivated and interested in sports. **Sports is a great way for kids to grow and learn and develop so- cial skills.” Chris Gunniaugson Arlene and Ron Ridler nominated Gunnlaughson, who coaches their son in Terrace novice hockey. *‘He’s really good with the kids and he’s not worried about win- ning,’’ says Ron *He’s fair and he’s good,” really Sf EQ) Sam WCE YEAR Gunnlaugson has been coaching hockey for five years and four of his own kids playing. ‘Working with kids is ex- cellent,’’ he says. “T judge how I’m doing if all my players are coming out all the time. Then f have a balanced pro- gram.”> Scott Stewart Stewart has been coaching for ibree years in Terrace, and this is the second year in a row his senior girls basketball team has gance to the provincials. “Tenjoy the whole idea of com- petition and the intensity it brings out in people,’’ he says. Stewart also coaches track and field and he’s currently doing his Masters degree in coaching at UVIC in the summer breaks. He was nominated by fellow coach, Scott Armstrong who says Stewart is very dedicated to his Scott Stewart team. Vic Buteau Buteau has coached fastball in Terrace for 24 years and was nominated by one of his players, Kim Montieth. She says he always taught his ‘team the importance of sports- manship and fair play. On her nomination form she writes ‘‘many of us grew up look- ing at him as a father figure.’’ “If like i, you just keep doing it,” says Buteau. He has .coached his teams to _ Sullivan has been involved with wrestling as a player and/or coach for 41 years. He’s currently coaching at Hazelton Secondary and was nominated by three of the teachers there, “His students respect him,”’ says Theresa Jack. “‘He’s really fair and he always encourage the kids. He never pushes them,”” i - Sullivan says its very reward- ing working with kids, “Tt’s rewarding to sec them de- velop into responsible and healthy adults.”’ Patrick Ranahan Ranahan started coaching solt- ball in Kitwanga about six years ago. His two oldest daughters wanted ta play, so he decided to form a team there. “He finds kids in the villages for his team,’? says Kitwanga school teacher Teresa Lindseth who nominated hin. “Some of them are kids who don’t get a lot of support at home BE e ee Chris Gunnlaugson and he iooks after them.’ She says he drives around and picks up any kids who are willing to play. She says Ranalian is respected by everybody who knows him. Greg Frezell Frezel] has coached softball for about four years and his daughter Lindsay says he’s very talented and dedicated. On her nomination form she writes ‘‘he coaches fairly and he still wants to win.’ She says he reflects a positive image of coaching and adds ‘he’s one ofa kind!”? Frezell has also coached minor hockey and hardball. , Vivien Raposo Raposo has coached softball for over five years and was nominated by one of her players, Jamie Frezell. Jamic’s mom Cathie says Raposo rushes straight from work lo Seacball field, and nuts her. din... always has a smile. on her. face:and make sure the kids have fun,”’ says Cathie. She says Raposo always makes that every member of the team gets equal playing time. Kathy Gardiner Gardiner wis nominated by four of the girls she coaches in junior curling. They say she pives a lot of time and effort in improving the skills of all the junior curlers, And they add she’s instilled in them to ability and know-how to achieve their goals, Gardiner has coached junior curling for three years. ON TOP OF THE WORLD. Three representatives from the California based “Powder” Magazine are back at hame with smiles on their faces after spending the week of February 19-29 skiing in the Northwest. Four of those days were spent at skiing and snowboarding on Shames Mountain. The group explored the main ski area and the back country, and all agree Shames rivals the world’s best! Wendy Shymanski photo.