gwar Who is... Terrace Taco? by Betty Barton Terrace Taco is Terrace’s newest ‘manufacturing plant’ — of enchiladas, vegetable and fruit trays, subs and sandwiches. Owner Kathy Albert says the unique thing about it is that peo- ple told her it couldn’t be done. “We don’t do manufacturing in the north” they told her. She went ahead and did ‘it anyways. Kathy says, ‘You just have to use your imagination.”’ Terrace Taco now has a staff of five, including Kathy. They use local suppliers as much as possible and they spend their . money locally. Terrace Taco presently supplies. local retailers with a full product line and Ter- race Taco enchiladas are dis- tributed from Prince Rupert to Houston. Kathy is presently negotiating with a Prince George firm to distribute Terrace Taco products there as well. When asked where the idea for Terrace Taco came from, Kathy simply explains, ‘‘I used to make tacos at home for my kids. The family thought they » were pretty good. About two years ago, we had a fellow over for lunch. His comment upon tasting one was, ‘“‘I’d walk to the store to buy one of these’.”’ That started the wheels turning. Kathy began with a telephone survey of 250 Terrace homes to determine the interest in her pro- ‘posed products. She says, ‘“The, response was great!”’ She began the wholesale busi- ness in her own kitchen, ‘‘With a. little bow] of this, a little bowl of that.”’ Now, with her four helpers, Kathy can often be found ‘up to her elbows’ in a bowl of 40 pounds of ground beef or two gallons of sour cream. And Terrace Taco is now » in it’s newly renovated premises on Keith Avenue, across from Skeena Cellulose (in the old Sav- Mor Carwash building, for those of you who were around _ that long ago.) Terrace Taco maintains its original goal to provide. whole- some finger food at a reasonable price. Kathy does the deliveries herself. She likes the contact with her customers, the busi- nesses who buy her product wholesale for re-sale. Kathy is - thankful to the many helpful business people locally who have supplied her with sales and mar- keting information, ideas and their valuable time. Kathy Albert says she’s pleas- ed to be able to do something for the community that has been so good to her and her family for the past 16 years, She and hus- band Maurice moved here to -start their family (Joey, now 14, Nathan, 10, and Danielle, seven), in a safe, clean, healthy environment. *T can’t think of any place I’d rather be,’’ she says. “I am faithful to the Northwest.’’ Kathy’s first priority has always been her family. She knew she eventually wanted to start a business, but she wanted to wait until her youngest, Danielle was in school. Kathy adds that being in business for herself makes her time with the chidiren much more flexible. She often does her deliveries in the evenings after they've gone . to bed. During the day, they can bike over to visit her. She says, “They're very understanding. The kids have had a lot of me fora lot of years. My husband spends a lot more time with them now.’’ Danielle’s only comment? ‘‘Enchiladas, en- chiladas!”’ At the moment, Kathy and Lana work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, buying supplies, organizing the work, doing deliveries and the bookwork. The other three staff people generally work Monday through Friday from 2-8 p.m. cutting fruit and vegetables, making en- chiladas and sandwiches, and wrapping and labelling the pro- ducts. Kathy Albert’s motto is, ‘‘You can overcome any obstacle.” A few of Terrace Taco’s hurdles included devel- oping a logo. Her son Joey: pro-- vided her with a drawing of a -sombreroed Mexican having a siesta under a cactus. Some companies wouldn’t ac- cept her products without bar codes. She now has those. She’s had to wrap the pro- ducts in either breathing or non- breathing paper, depending on the requirements of the retailers. And most recently, she had to find the funding to expand her business and lease her present premises. Kathy explains, ‘‘After all the red tape and disappointment in dealing with financial institu- tions and the government, it was Joe Whitney from the Com- munity Futures Business Devel- opment Centre who called me! At no cost, Whitney sorted and organized all the business plans and financial information that Kathy had already gathered. With his assistance and exper- tise, Kathy went back to a finan- cial institution and finally got a loan for equipment, increased inventory, insurance and lease on the building. The Business Development Centre provided the financial assistance for the renovations on her present wholesale location. Joe Whitney continues to help Kathy analyze her business, im- prove efficiency and cut ex- cessive costs aS much as possi- ble, while maintaining a high- quality product. Kathy says, “If anyone is going into business, you really need someone like that to’ bounce your ideas off of. There are lots of people with good business ideas in this town. 1 encourage them to go there (the Business Development Cen- tre). Terrace Review — Wednesday, August |, 1990 Bil THE TERRACE TACO CREW has created a vigorous new local enterprise based on supplying retailers with “home grown" Mexican treats and other take-out foods. Northevest travelogue. When the crabs bite back on the Queen Charlotte Islands by Harriett Fjaagesund Vacations are odd in that it’s the unplanned events that stay in our minds long after the sight- seeing, hiking trails, and museum tours have all faded to a fond memory. Or maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be. It happens io all of us at:one time . or another. But sometimes these memories can be a little em- barrassing, so it helps to have a good sense of humour. That, or you wear a paper bag over your head for the rest of your life! Last summer Diana Wood and I visited the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was the first time for both of us, and we did all the things we were sup- posed to do; hiked to the wreck of the Pezuta, wandered through museums, saw the golden spruce in all its glory, even climbed Tow Hill. But it was the unplanned events that got us into trouble. We’re both crab fanciers, so what could be more natural than to try our hand at catching a few? Unfortunately for us (or fortunately for the crabs, de- pending on your point of view), neither of us knows much about catching crustaceans. We were camped at North Beach. Diana dragged me out of bed at 6 a.m. She’d been down to the beach and said there were hundreds of crabs caught in tidal pools, We grabbed an old can- ner that had been brought along for the occasion and trotted off to secure breakfast. Our plan was simple; we would sweep the canner through the water and crabs would oblig- ingly tumble in by the bucketful. The crabs had other ideas. They surrounded us like miniature Sherman Tanks, pincers armed and ready (I was stupid enough to wade in without my shoes). We finally scrapped Plan A and hurriedly went to Plan B — we would use the canner as a club and knock senseless the first crab that got within striking distance. After what seemed like half a lifetime and several close calls at knocking each other un- conscious, we managed to catch two. All in all, it was a humbling experience. A couple’of days‘later we ‘had the chance of a ride on the 50-foot Haida war canoe, Loo Taas, that was paddled down to Expo ‘86. The night before we'd found ourselves a deserted stretch of beach just down from Skidegate Landing and had ‘‘celebrated’’ until the wee hours of the morning. I’m not exactly sure what we were celebrating — maybe we were still trying to live down the crab incident — but we weren’t feeling too healthy the next morning. After climbing in and noting that we had a full load of passengers, I wondered idly where the paddlers were going to sit... until someone shoved an oar in my hand. We were forced to paddle out onto the ocean and around a small island. At one point drowning would have been preferable to the rocking of that canoe. The final embarrassment was to come at Gray Bay. We were huddled around a campfire after spending the day walking the beaches. It was quiet and peaceful until I heard a loud and rather threatening ‘‘humpf”’ in the forest behind me. I accused Diana of trickery, but she swore she was innocent. For the space of a heartbeat we stared at one another, then bolted headlong for the camper and locked ourselves in. We de- cided that either a rogue bear or a mass murderer who prayed on lone women was waiting out- side. Just in case the camper should prove an insufficient sanctuary, we took stock of our weapons; a hammer and a flashlight. After arguing over who got to hold the “flashlight while the other bashed him/it on the head, we decided -on clever ways to break into the cab without leaving the camper. Eventually we crawled into our beds and hoped that whatever was out there would go off to find easier prey. Early the next morning a doe and her fawn walked through our camp. They were so close we could almost reach out and touch them. And if deer can smirk, then these two were doing a pretty good job of it! Is there a moral to all this that you can learn from? If so, then it’s this —- when you visit the beautiful Queen Charlotte Islands you should: a) Leave your canner at home (although it is useful for cooking crabs). Take an approved crab trap or buy your crabs from one of the local fishermen. b) Check out all possibilities of a sea voyage before settling down to celebrate. Making a pest of yourself is preferable to taking a chance. c) You should make friends with each and every deer you en- counter. Leave nothing to chance; climb every hill and dale and look into every nook and cranny. So have a great time, and I’m sure that with just a few pre- cautions you won't have too many embarrassing moments to bring back with you!