et]

SARAH ZIMMERMAN |

ROB BROWN

Change

he frame is uneven and white. Blood

red fish with dark heads are bounded

by it. They swim through copper

water under stained glass, between

and through the reflection of twisted
dead arms that cradle five eagles.

There is a house with a trailer core at the top
of the road. No smoke rises from its chimney.
The sky is gray and low. It’s noon, but in the flat
light it could be mistaken for late in the day.

A man on skis follows the snow covered
roadway. There are three dogs in front of him.
One dog is targe and the colour of rust. The
others are degrees of border collie, black with
white tipped tails and white streaks on their
necks, The big dog plods. The others dart and
leap and roll through the snow like fish through
white waves. When the smaller dogs have run
ahead. The man whistles, calling them back
over their tracks so that he can use the newly
broken trail,

When he reaches the place where the red
water spills out of the pond and mns over the
rusty rocks and gravel below, the man bends
over to remove his skis so he can make his way
over the snow-covered beaver dam that bridges
the creek. The dogs splash through the water.
The picture changes: two eagles spread and
spring from their roosts in the cottonwood; the
red salmon disappear into black water.

The trail is longer than the year before. After
half an hour the man. is standing beside the
river. An hour after that he nears the run called

the Fire Pot. There is the swish of skis against °
“snow: ° “The: ‘dogs set, off
‘There ‘are -river’ sounds: There, ‘ar
“Sounds ” saa t wile “A Bath RA ANY

he aa BE

To reach the 1 river the man is forced to shed
his skis and wade through a hundied yards of
brush. He sinks to his thighs in snow with each
step. He is sweating when he breaks free of the
woods. Another man is sitting on a log by a fire,
his rod resting on a forked stick. At the sound of
the dogs the other man stands slowly and and
turns stiffly. He is ald.

“How’s fishing?” the younger man asks as he °

approaches, He says this awkwardly. The older
man tosses a branch on the fire. “It’s been
better,” he says, resuming his seat on the log.

“I didn’t see your vehicle or your tracks,” re-
marks the man with the dogs.

“Il came a different way, says the old man.
It’s the way I’ve been coming for over fifty
years now.” The older man's speech is slow and
deep, soft and resonant. The younger man no-
tices:that the dogs appear to be calmed by it.

“Do you mind if I fish here too, below you?”
The younger man motions downstream. The ald
man shakes his head no.

“J guess you’ve seen some changes to the

valley in the last fifty years,” says the younger
man as he assembles his gear.

“I’ve seen nothing but change,” the old fish-
erman says. “Used to think some of it was good
and some of ii was bad, but I’m not sure any-
more. My wife passed away last year. That was
change ~ good because she’s stopped hurting,
but bad because I miss her, All I know for sure
now is that it’s change. Change is the only thing

_T believe in and the only thing I know for certain

these days.”

The old man looks out over the river then
continues. “I can't remember things for Jong
anymore,” he says, “that’s another changé.”

_ “That's too bad,” says the younger man be-
cause he doesn't know what else ta say.

“No, just nature’s way of dimming the
lights, w says the older man. “My kids put me in
a home. Afraid 1 couldn't take cate of things
anymore. That’s been a big change. a’ real big

‘change. Still remembered my way in here

though, Just like I have on every Christmas Day
for half a century now.”

The two men sit and talk. It’s the kind of
conversation that hurries time. They talk of dogs
and bears, of fish and fishing, of rivers, of the
sea and of storms. The talk moves with a gentle
insistent motion. It washes in and aut like waves

“against a smooth beach leaving images behind

like grains of sand. The young man realizes
there is fess than an hour of light left and that
it’s getting colder. “We'd better be going,” he
says as he prepares to leave.

“I’m going to fish until dark,” says the old

man...
The youngér man understands. For a while he

‘stands ‘still, feeling stiff and awkward, not
‘knowing what to. do or say. Then he realizes
nothing needs doing.

“T hope you fish past dark,” he says at last.

“Me too,” says the older man. “Have a
Merry Christmas."

“Merry Christmas,” says the younger ‘man.
He makes his way back slowly. He thinks of the
older man, and how the trail looks different now.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - B3

_ 638-7283

Ladies rink takes on B.C.

Kim MacDougall, Sylvia
Griffith, Jacquie Eves and Joan
Kucharyshen will be represent-
ing Terrace at the provincial

curling championships Jan. 22-_

37, in Poct Alberni.

MacDougall’s rink has been
doing exceptionally well in re-
gional play and ail of the mem-
bers are eager to get lo the com-
petition.

Kucharyshen and MacDougall
have been playing together for
46 years.

“We won our first Bonspicl
back in 1986,” said Kuchary-
shen.

Last year the two women
picked up Jacquie Eves and Sy!-
via Griffith and the team has
been coming together nicely
since then.

In this, their second year
playing together, the team has
the level of commitment they
need to have a winning team.

This is just one of the reasons
MacDougall says they are doing
so weil this season.

“Last year we didn’t get a lot
of practice. But this year, we’ve
really gelled together as a team,
we communicate better and we
know eachother betler,” she
said.

Knowing eachother off the
rink is just as important as com-
ing together on the rink says
MacDougall.

“The main thing is getting
along off the icc as well as on
the ice. We all kmew eachother

KIM MACDOUGALL comes out of the hack during a practice session last week. The
team faces serious competition at the 8.C. provincial finals in Port Alberni Jan, 22 - 27.

before, but it’s different when
you travel together, spend a lot
of time together and sleep in the
same room,” she said about the
many road trips the team has
made this season.

If their showing at the De-
cember zone playdowns in Kiti-
mat is an indication of what this
team is capable of, they could
have a very respectable showing
in Port Alberni.

“T think things will go weil,”
says MacDougall, “our plan is to
win.”

The MacDougall rink tends ta
play more apressively than a lot
of other women’s teams in the

northwest.

“We play more of take-out
game, whereas a lot of women
play more of a draw game,” said
MacDougall.

However, MacDougall is well
aware of the kind of competition
to expect at provincials.

Teams who are more central-
ly located have much more op-
portunity for competitive play,
she said. And they can be very
good.

MacDougall and Kucharyshen
played in the 1996 provincials
where they encountered several
teams who were equally aggres-
sive.

The ‘96 championship went to
Fort St. John, a team with a si-
milar predicament as the ladies
here.
It is almost unheardof said
MacDougall, that teams from
such small communities win the
provincials.

The biggest problem is the
expense and lime involved to
play other teams. It costs a lot of
money in the northwest to travel
to other towns to compete, said
MacDougall,

The ladies are up to the chal-
lenge of provincial play.

“We are really pumped,”
said MacDougall.

sporadic: t fig maps. oo rn
TO: other

Sports
Scope

New runs

named

SHAMES Mauntain
has named the four
new ski and snow-
boarder areas deve-
loped this fall. The ski
out from the bottom
of the t-bar to the bot-
tom of Panhandler is
called Boundary
Road.

The gladed ski and
snowboard terrain is
called Greg’s Glades
in memory of former
Shames director Greg
Hanson who died in
37999, :
The natural 1/4
pipe is called Gully
Jumper. And the new
run at the bottom of
Rainbow Ridge is
named Miilenium,

Soccer
coaches
sought

THE TERRACE
youth soccer associa-
tion is looking for
qualified Provincial B
level Select coaches
for the 2001 season,

Anyone interested
in becoming a head
coach, assistant coach
or team manager is
asked to submit their
applications before
February 4.

For application in-
formation contact
George Bujtas at 635-
3719,

Learn
about

avalanches

SATURDAY, Jan.
13, Shames Mountain
is hosting an ava-
anche awareness day.
Participants - will
learn about avalanche.
hazards and the skills
to ensure safely while
travelling in ava-
lanche terrain.
Meet at ithe day :
" lodge at noon.

Basketball teams play
in international tourney

THE CALENDONIA senior
boys’ and’ girls basketball
teams were in Sitka, Alas-
ka Dec, 27-31,

The tournament is a
yearly opportunity for the
local basketball teams to
get valuable international
playing experience.

The boys played West
Anchorage in their first
game of the tourney.

With a final score of
§3-49 for West Anchorage
the Kermades were just
five points away from the
win.

The Kermodes took
twenty foul shots in this
game and sunk only nine.
A poor foul shot percent-
age has been plaguing the
Kermode boys so far this
season,

Their loss to Prince Ru-
pert in the final game of
this year’s Kermode Clas-
sic was also due to a sub
50 per cent foul shot per-
centage.

The Kermodes met the
Rainmakers again in Sitka.
As per usual, the game
was very close.

Jason Alsop made a 3
paint shot with 30 seconds
remaining in the fourth
quarter, but was fouled on
the play, said coach Mac-
Kay.

A four point swing for
the Rainmakers won the
game, MacKay said.

In more tournament
play the Kermodes took on
the home team but came
out on the losing end of 4
66-50 score.

However; the Sitka
team was a force to be
reckoned with as they
swept all three of the
games they played.

West Anchorage’s
coach was reported to
have said, “even Duke
would struggle to win in
Sitka.”

it was the same story
for the Caledonia girls
team.

In their game against
Sitka, the girls came out
on the losing end of a 48-
30 score.

They also lost to Ho-
guiam from Washiagton

State, 52-36.

And in their final game -

“versus West Anchorage
- the girls fought hard but

lost 44-32,

PAM GAVRONSKY, Rob Haugland and kelly
Haugland were recognized for their offensive and
defensive skill at the Sitka basketball tournament.

Jason Klein (not shawn) also took top honours.

KERMODE captain Kelly Haugland takes a shot

against Kitimat’s Mount Elizabath Senior Sec-
onday, Dec. 14. Terrace defeated Kitimat 70-21.

Team captain, Keily
Haugland was selected
best defensive player and
Pam Gavronsky was selec-
ted best offensive. player,

Kermode boys’ forward
Rob Haugland was named
best offensive player. scor-,
ing 18 points against both

West Anchorage and Sitka.
and. getting 16. points.

against Prince Rupert. .-

Jason Klein was named
defensive player for the
tournament.

The boys play in Pen-
ticton Jan. 10 and in the
Kelowna Classic, Jan. 11-
13.

The girls team will be
travelling ta Prince George
Jan.'12.and 13 for a tour-
nament-at Kelly Road Se-
-tior Secondary, ©

Sports
menu

To get your game, event
or meeling added fo the
Terrace Standard Sports
Menu or Sports Scope,
fax us at 638-8432, or
you can @-mall us at
standard@kermade.net

Jan. 10

Man's Day at Shames.
Evary Wednesday is
men’s day, bring a friend
and they get their lift
ticket for half price.

Jan. 11

Ladies’ Day at Shames.
Lessons, lift tickets,
lunch and vino with your
ski pro. Gall 635-3773
for details.

Jan. 21
MTerrace Bluebacks
Swim Club hosi a deve-
lopmental meet in the
morning from 8:30 to
41:30.

Jan. 26-26

m@ Terrace Legion Open
Bonspiel takes piace at
the Terrace Curling Rink.

Jan, 26-27

@ Caledonia Kermodes
host Prince Rupert for a
doubla haadar. Games
6:15 p.m. Friday and
10:30 a.m. Saturday,

dan. 27

mTerrace Bluebacks
host a regional Invita-
tional swim meet at the
Tarrace Aquatic Centra.

dan. 28

@ Snow Vallay Nardic
Ski Club hosts Men’s
Day. A full day of sktli
bullding, food and fun
with the guys at Onion
Lakes. Register at All
Seasons Source for
Sparis,

Fab, 2-3

m Caledonia Kermodas
boys basketball team
host White Rock
Christlan. Games 7:30
p.m. Friday and noon
Sat,