TEM Meter ene RE rere ; : Bl4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, March 6, 1991 [Looking back.. [i from a few years back: this weck in 1988, city council reported that all approvals had been received and the swimming pool , S . ome completed, and some apparently forgotten recreation items “expansion project would begin in April. And they also reported the Beautification Society’s arena hill project was close to the tendering _ Stage; it would soon begin as well. But also from 1988, a recommendation from the Terrace Advisory Parks and Recreation Commission was being considered by council’s Recreation Committee: the city should consider installing a proper drainage system in the Christy Park area because the east end of the park floods during a heavy rainfall. And there’s this one from 1989. "It’s not going to happen overnight," we reported, "but sometime in the future there should be some tennis ‘courts at Skeenaview Park." This was short of the Terrace Tennis - Club’s proposal, which asked for a number of tennis courts throughout the city, but was far better than having no more tennis courts at all. Some items from council’s desk a year ago this week: in 1989, the Ministry of Environment told the city they would have to lock the gate at the city’s landfill after hours. And in 1990 complaints were rolling in from Kalum Lake Drive residents. Local residents, it seemed, when faced with a locked gate, were dumping their refuse on private property instead. And it was two years after the fact that alderman Dave Hull resur- ‘rected an issue of concern — First Responders. A year ago this week, Hull told council that with the implementation of the first responders concept, the fire department’s 01 rescue truck would respond to all in- town "Code 3". ambulance calls. This would mean faster emergency response and more effective use of fire department equipment. While council's Public Works Committee considered these two items, city administration was looking into "fair" cost sharing of regional services with the regional district. These services included the Court Liaison Officer, the Victim’s Assistance Program, recreation facilities, the library and the cemetery. “Terrace Fire Department went into a rescue operation at a Bornite Mountain mine site after the mine ceiling collapsed. This week in 1989, a 19-year-old Telegraph Creek man moved the cenotaph in front | n the world of sirens and flashing lights, it was 1988 when the of city hall about three feet when he failed to make the comer at: Lakelse and Eby. And a year ago this week, leaking diese! fuel was cause for concern when a low-bed truck was tumed on it’s side in the 5200 block Halliwell. The mishap occurred when a chain holding a swivel turret of a Link Belt line loader snapped, causing the load to shift and the tractor trailer unit to over-turn. Traffic was disrupted for several hours. Around the region, 1988 was the year Nisga’a natives were waiting for a decision from the Environmental Appeal Board. If they lost this round, they said they were prepared to go to the Supreme Court of B.C. to stop a Westar herbicide spraying program in the Nass and Cranberry valleys. At the same time Gitksan Wet’suwet’an natives were consider- ing their next move on a month-old logging road blockade designed to bring attention to resource removal and land claims issues. In 1989, principals of the Johnny Mountain gold mine picked Terrace for their main staging area. And in 1990, there was more good news. Both Orenda Forest Products and Skeena Cellulose said they would build new pulp mills in the northwest if their applications for a pulpwood agreement in the Prince Rupert Forest Region were accepted. Other news from a year ago this week was both good and bad. On the down side, Thornhill dump area residents continued their complaints of smouldering dump fires; one resident said he "couldn't breathe in his own backyard". Also, the ongoing search for someone to maintain remote airstrips continued, and our regional district Nisga'a representative, Harry Nyce, offered a gloomy picture of the Nass valley fishery. Alaskans were intercepting 58 percent of Nass River fish stocks, he said, and the Nisga’a wanted a closure on the entire Nass system. ‘"wr calth and education has seen a few stretches of rocky road over recent years. This week in 1988, the regiorial district debated the concepts of regionalized and centralized health care in the northwest for over two hours. At the core of the debate was the question of which community should get the new orthopaedic surgeon, if one was ever found... Terrace or Kitimat? In education in 1988, students passed but a Ministry of Education computer flunked government exams. When the computer error was found, students received a few extra bonus points; some even jumped a letter grade. And in 1989, there was a strong difference of opinion between some local educators and Victoria. According to Victoria, government exam results were no different from. what would normally be expected, even though study time was ‘lost during the teachers’ strike. According to a few local educators, though, that wasn’t true. Said one: "I don't agree with the Board of Examiners statement.” And the debate went on. IT’S ART, BUT IT’S FUN. Austratian puppeteer David Poulton entertained local school children jast week - among them Mandy McDougal and Julie Hoedt — and let them in on some the tricks of the trade as well. The school arts program brings a wide varioly of entertainers and performing artists from around the world into School District 88 classrooms. The New Orleans Jazz quintet also played the schools last week In addition to their public performance at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. Axis Mime Theatre will be here at the end of March. Speaking through puppets by Harriett Fjaagesund Australian puppeteer David Poul- ton entertained Terrace and Thorn- hill school children recently with his Japanese-style puppetry. High- lights of the one-man show included a sword-swallowing pup- pet and a skit involving the comic antics of a large bird and a baby dinosaur. A professional puppeteer for 23 years, Poulton says he became involved with puppets as a child when a teacher gave him a puppet to help him overcome stammering and stuttering specch. It became a hobby that grew and grew, and although the speech problem crops up occasionally when he’s speak- ing, Poulton says it never bothers _ him when he is performing. With a cast of approximately 200 puppets, which he and his wife Sally, also a puppeteer, make themselves, Poulton does shows for a wide variety of people of all ages, including the elderly, which he says are a fabulous audience. He classes his puppets as multi- cultural. And while he says people rarely remember him personally, they always remember the puppets. It is not unusual for someone to walk up to him and explain that they saw his performance five or ten, or even 20 years ago arid that they enjoyed the puppets as much now as they did then (this in fact did happen during the interview). Each puppet becomes. a separate character with his or her own particular personality, something Poulton says he cannot change. "I can’t change a puppet to another character once it takes on its own personality. It must remain particu- | lar character or it simply doesn’t work." But its not all fun and games — there is a lot of hard work involved, Each week’s worth of work requires one entire day doing nothing but selling (booking) the performance. The stage, designed by Poulton himself to break apart into five neat compartments, must be set up for cach performance, then dismantled and packed away again, something Poulton says can become a dreaded chore afler a long and tiring day. His commitment to take the show on the road means he can’t be at home as often as he'd like. Sally and their two children accom- panied him on this trip because the schools in Australia are out on a five-week vacation. Poulton writes some of his own material, but prefers to use pro- "El can’t change a puppet to another character once it takes on its own personality.” — David Poulton fessional writers because he simply doesn’t have the time to do it all himself. Before the actual writing begins, the writer needs to spend three or four days with Poulton and each individual puppet to become familiar with that puppet’s particular character traits. Like people, Poulton explains, puppets grow and change with time. British Columbia is very much like his native Queensland in Aus- tralia, says Poulton. Both are about the same geographic size and they have similar economies. One con- nection is that bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is extracted, is mined in Queensland and shipped to Alcan in Kitimat. Commenting on the schools in our area, Poulton says, "I’m quite impressed with this school district, Kids in Terrace are definitely not culturally disadvantaged. Terrace youth are more culturally advanced than those in Vancouver because here they receive the opportunity on a regular basis."