BA - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 23, 2000 CHRISTIANA WIENS SKEENA ANGLER | ROB BROWN The secret lake truce Lowe knew of a secret lake: a wild and won- Be body of water known, he assured me, only to his cousin, Brad, and maybe two or three other kids, all of them smart enough to know the inestimable value of a secret lake, and all of them sworn to sectecy. Of course, big fish swant in it. How big? I asked. Bruce stretched his arms. Up to 30 pounds, he said. They're lake trout. Well, I guess they are, eh? I mean if they live in a lake, they gotta be lake trout, I said. And, said Bruce, his eyes getting wider, and his speech slower to underline what he was about to say, there’s a boat there we can use. Sold. With this last disclosure my resistance to Bruce’s adventurous proposal melted. We'd done a lot of rafting of leaky, clunker-built rafts, which was fun, but the oppartuni- ty to row over the waves in a real, honest-lo-goodness row boat was rare and irresistible. Because of severe gear limitations our fishing needed platforms in those days, Sometimes the platform was a pier ar dock, sometimes a sea wali. Good fishing in fresh water, unless it could be found in a small creck, was next to impos- sible. With a boat, prospects improved dramatically; a baat was the best kind of fishing platform. When we goin’? Lasked, Sleep over at my place tonight, said Bruce, so we can get an early start. We dug worms, big, slimy ones, from the rich soil in talked about how you could make two worms by cutting one in two, and about the big snake-sized worms Bruce’s cousin claimed you could catch late at night between the gravestones in the Ocean View Cemetery, provided, .of course, that you had lightning reflexes and strong flashlight. The light stuns ‘em, Bruce said, dropping a moss divot into one of his mom’s canning jars, which he had deftly transformed into a bait bucket by turing the gilt lid into a ventilator with a few jack knife stabs. in’. I don’t know how it works, said Bruce, sealing the top of the jar, but it works. They freeze like statues for a split second and you grab ‘em up. Maybe Bruce slept that night. | didn’t. Rushes of the movie we were about to star in kept flickering actoss my mind screen. There were hundreds of scenes. They started the same way then spun off in wild variations: in one, the boat went dewn in a storm leaving Bruce and I clinging parts of'a mast the craft didn’t have; in another absurdity, we took tums being pulled overboard by an alligator trout, We were up and dressed at 4:30 a.m. I couldn’! recall if I'd ever been up that early before. My head felt like il was full of wool. | threw cold water on my face hoping, in vain, to wash away and the sand pile in my eyes. By five we were on our bikes clasping rods stretched between our handle- bars, the rest of our gear crammed into the expansive pock- ets of our nylon jackets. You remember the worms? I asked a mile later. Bruce felt the bulges in his jacket for a long lime. Yeah, he said at last, the word wrapped in asigh, but] for- got the lunch, We'd jammed some unidentifiable tinned meat between bread husks — jam sandwiches, Bruce called them — then dropped them in a bag next toa pair of apples and ajar filled with electric blue Kool Aid. We stopped to consider this last development. Without the whir of our tires, the land was still. | locked up ata sky full of stars. Then zipped my jacket up to the top to keep out the wet, cold air. Geez, I don’t wanna go all the way back, Bruce said, Bruce tumed toward the sound of claw clatter. Oh no, he moaned, it's Tippy. ] looked back.to see the shape of Bruce’s husky trotting through one of those cylindrical spots of amber old street lights with tin shades used to cast. Go home! Bruce yelled. Tippy stopped. Ga home! We chorused. Tip took a couple of hesitant steps our way. We chucked rocks in her direction. She looked like her feelings were hurt. We gave in, like we always did. Will she be okay in the boa? | asked knowing she would swim after us if we didn't tet her aboard, I guess so, said Bruce, anprily. We glided through the darkness, stopping from time to time to let Tip catch up. At the top of Sperling Hill the bog spread out below us, It was a huge expanse extending all the way from Bumaby Lake to Boundary Road, The whole thing was covered in’a lumpy fog: Still Creek ran through the bog from west to east. Sperling Avenue cut through it frora North to South and back. The rest was all untracked, unknown, unknowable, dangerous, bog,. said Bruce, the only route to the secre! lake ae ‘To be continued... i, ge TERRACE STANDARD Bnice’s mom's garden, carefully replanting most of the ‘flowers. ‘accidentally, overtumed during. ‘excavations, We . sent the northwest zone. cials and nationals later this spring. -W Good to. go. Terrace's ringette players are just a few of the 39 terrace athletes competing at the Winter Games in Quesnel this week. Kirsten Daumont (bottom), Danielle Billey and Roz Smith (middle), Smithers player Sarah Worsfeld, Jasmine Willlams and Nikki MacKenzie (top) as well as Kim Smith and Kylie Bird (not shown) will join five girls from Houston to repre- Most of the team will also compete at provin- How does it do that? Worms don’t have any eyes or noth- - There was one tin-topped streetlight. per. mile. along. Sperling; other than that there was only darkness and frog .[. song. We waited for the dog then cruised i into it, for it was, | Shames girls rule slalom at Williams Lake race SHAMES SKIERS Leah Leclere and Stacey Blake were poing for gold at a ski competition at the Timber- land Ski Hill near Williams Lake. The race consisted of two single slalom runs Sa- turday, Feb. 5 and a com- bined slalom on Sunday, Feb. 5. Leclerc won her first sla- lom run Saturday with a 1:12.21 time and beat Prince George’s Kari Mc- Millan by. four tenths’ of a second. Stacey Blake placed third in the same race. Stacey Blake won the girl’s second K1 race Satur- day, while teammate Leah Leclerc placed fourth. Blake also won the com- bined run on Sunday. Le- clerc, like many of the skiers that day, fell in her second run to finish fifth overall. But Leclere and Blake weren’t the only northwest standouts in Williams Lake. TERRACE SENIOR MENS FUSTAL ACTION Falcons slide into second SUPER .BM wen another easy Victory in men's fulsal action last week as the lea- gue enters the final third of the season. BM demolished The In- ternationals in a 15-3 win which saw Morten Fedder- son and Corey Waldie score four goals each. The Kitwanga Falcons moved into second in lea- gue stats, after beating Northern Knight 6-2. Their win saw the Caval- heiro's Blazers slip into third position. The battle for: second looks to be competi- tive as only one point separ- ates the two teams. The Falcons sit eight points back from Super BM in league standings and have played two more games. They atlempted to nar- row the distance from the - Blazers in their second . game against the Pipers last week, but the Pipers scored quickly to: take the eanly lead, The close game was ued ‘|: at one going into the second ~ Together, Shames’ eight skiers earned 10 medals and three most-improved skier awards. Shannon Kelly, who competed in K2 races, won ‘a silver and two bronze me- dals. ; Shames boys contributed with Ryan Monsees’ double silver medal performances and Ben Peters’ silver medal. Aaron Gingles and Mike Butler won top-10 placings in their age groups. League standings to Feb. 16 GF G4 GP WL T PTS Super 8M 69 25 12 ti 1 0 33 Kitwanga Falcons 46 47 14 8 5 1 2 Cavalheiro's Blazers 54 37 13 #7 3 3 24 Internationals 61 64 12 66 0 18 Jock's Pipers FG 32.31 12 #56 1 «16 Canadian Tire 36 50 12 38 1 «19 Northern Knight 25 68 13 112 0 2 half. The Pipers defence held off the Falcons.in the second, while their offence kicked in to. score two goals to end the game 4-2 Pipers. ~~ Tempers flared as Cana- dian Tire played the Blazers in a high-scoring game at the end of the week, Corey Trogi, who leads the league with 19 goals this season, put. Canadian Tire: on the board early, scoring two.quick goals at the beginning of the game. The Biazers came back: and tied the game at two when Jorge Silva fought off ‘the Canadian Tire defence to slip the ball past keeper. . -Nick, Butjas while falling lo ‘the ground. © game and when the dust set- tled the game was tied 6-5. Percy Fowler scored three times for the Blazers and Corey Trogi added two more goals to his earlier two to chart four goals in one game. As of Feb. 16, Trogi had a three-goal lead in league stats over Super BM’s Brian . Barwise. Nilton Praticante of the Blazers sits.in third with 14 goals this season while Marc LeBlanc, John Krisin- ger and Trevor Lutes. are tied at fourth with i2 goals each. _ Jackie Brown, of the In- ternationals, and Troy Mait- ; . land, of the Falcons, have Neither teat backed | down during the physical: -scored 11 goals each this season. _638-7283 INOR HOCKEY TERRACE Midgets hyped for 2000 tourney THERE’S LESS than a month to go before more than 300 AA Midget hock- ey players and coaches from around the province con- verge an Terrace and we want you to be ready. After all, you should know who to rool for come spring break. This week's players fea- ture the team’s bruiser, Brad L'Heureux, who, ac- cording to team statistics has spent 75 minutes in the penalty box in just [2 games. L’Heureux has the height and weight to toss around, too. Just four months away from turning 18, L’Heureux stands almost six feet tall and weighs 230 pounds. The midget, if we can call him that, plays more than defence. He also works the right wing when asked to and has scored three goals and one assist this season. L’Heureux, who says the guys just call him by his last name, was born in Cran- brook, B.C. and started playing hockey when he was IQ years old. He has not been injured this season. Marc Gagnon has spent 61 minutes in the penalty box this year, which gives him a bronze medal when in comes to racking up the time behind hockey bars this season, The defensive star is 17- years~ -old and weighs 170 pounds. wae Et ‘* Gibnon’s fav@urite team is the Montreal Canadians. and he admires players who combine brains and brawn. Gagnon, who says he prefers the nickname “cupcake,” has not been in- jured this season and scored Brad L'Heureux Mare Gagnon Kyle Randrup five goals and 10 assists in 24 games this season. Wearing jersey number Corey Friel seven is 5°11, 185-pound Corey Friel, a 17-year-old player who refused to share his team nickname. Even though he’s sported shoulder, knee and minor injuries this season, Friel has played [9 games this season and has scored three goals and nine assists. We figure that’s pretty good, for a guy who splits his time on the defence and offensive lines. Friel’s ties to the game run deep because he started playing hockey before he started school, Besides hockey runs in his family — lie claims Joe Sakic is his brother in-law! And last, but definitely not least is Kyle Randrup, one of the team’s mighty goaltenders. Randrup can be found in front of the television set | during any Leafs game, ‘| where he'll scout out Curtis 2 : Joseph's, saves. Randrup, 16, is 59 and weighs 147 pounds. He wants locals to know he’s “quick as lightning.” In the {5 games he's played he boasts six wins. Sports Scope month. March 3. be ordered in time. g.bujtas@kermode.net. Get your motors running THE SKEENA VALLEY Snowmobile hosts the annual Mogul Blaster Hillclimb at Shames Mountain next The race features local riders and a host of big names, who tour B.C. Snowmobile Federation events all winter long. Qualifying runs start Saturday, March 11 and the finals run Sunday, March 12. All races start at 10 a.m. For riders interested in parlicipating, registration takes piace Friday, March 9 at the Etks Hall on Tetrault Street from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Everyone’s welcome. The fee for spectators is $5 for adults and $2 for youth, Children under 12 are free. For more information call Trevor at 635-2909 or Joy at 635-4858, Corporate challenge SKIERS, SNOWBOARDERS and telemarkers are invi-) ted to take part in Shames Mountain’s first ever Mr. Mike’s West Coast Grill Corporate Challenge Sunday, Get a group of three participants (with al least one fe- male) and race down Back Eddy together, The winning team will have the besl average time. Businesses are encouraged to battle each other, but ringers and friends are allowed. In fact, Shames Moun- tain Ski Club members will be auctioned off at 9 a.m. race day, for teams short on players! Besides the hill-top beer garden and Mikeburgers for sale, all participants get a t-shirt and Mikeburger and a full day lift ticket for the half-day tate, Races start at 11 am, The entry fee per team is $40. Teams are encour- aped to pick up an entry form at Mr. Mikes, Valhalla, Ruins or All Seasons as soon as possible so t-shirts can Youth soccer clinics THE TERRACE Youth Soccer Association is hosting a series of coaching, referce and player development cli- nics for the 2000 season this summer. The clinics begin April 14-16 with the Communily Coach Youth Clinic and continues Apri! 29-30 with two Class 4 and Class 5 referee clinics. The Community Coach Senior Clinic runs May 6-7. Contact George Buljtas at 635-3719 for mare infor- mation. He also can be reached via email at Drop-in futsal INTERESTED in playing indoor soccer, but not sure you can commit to a full season of leagne play? Why not try Thursday night drop in futsal at Thornhill Elementary. The session began Jan. 6 and tuns for two hours from 7 p.m, to 9 p.m. This is a more relaxed form of coed indoor soccer and all are welcome to attend, Non-marking indoor shoes are required. a ==. ...._.._ eee eee eee