ws osegen INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 e Year abroad helped teen push her limits By JENNIFER LANG CHELSEA Fladhamer’s scarlet wool Ra- tary blazer glitters with flashes of gold and silver. It’s covered with. dozens of buttons and pins that catch the light. They’re tiny but treasured mementos of an experience that broadened -her hori- zons and put her in contact with so many new faces — and offered her a passport to independence. The 19-year-old spent a year in Swit- zerland through the Rotary Youth Ex- change program. She lived with host families in Due- dingen, a tiny village of 7,000 just out- side of Freiburg, where she went to co- lege, an intermediate step between high school and f the post-secondary level, “I met around 90 other students from around the world through Rotary. It was pretty incredible,” Now, thanks to email, she’s able to keep in touch with a core group of friends she made, One even came to Terrace for a visit, Chelsea’s year began in August, 2000, just after she’d graduated from Cale- donia Senior Secondary, Born in November, she was still young enough to two hours a day. But after Chelsea been in Switzerland for a few months, they gently outlawed English at home. “The first three months were very diffi- cult,” she says, referring to the language barrier, “You don’t know what’s polng on!” Her first day at colege that September was (he worst. . She was interviewed by the principal as her host father tried to translate. “Thad no clue. I-didn’t even know what courses I was going into,” she re- calls. “That was scary. To be stuck in a classroom and not knaw what’s going on.” But it gat better. “! knew I was going to be there for a year,” she says. “I tried ta make the best of it. I think [ caught on to the Jan- guage really fast.” By December she was so fluent she was even dream- 4 ing in German. The youth exchange isn’t an easy ride. In addition to living with host families and attending { school, participants are am- bassadors for Canada and are expected to follow the “four Ds” while they’re on the ex- change. That means no drinking, no qualify for the youth ex- change program. Growing up in Terrace, she had met Rotary ex- change students who hailed from places like Australia, New Zealand, France, and Brazil. But it wasn’t until a Rotary Club pre- sentation on the program al her school that she gave the idea serious thought, Chelsea’s mother, who viewed the pro- ~ gram-as a ‘good way to travel- and-make contacts, encouraged her to apply. Chelsea saw it-as a chance to learn German, one of Switzerland’s official languages. She spent three weeks in a German language program in Bern when she first arrived. And her host families spoke English - at first, Her first host mother, a teacher, pati- ently helped her learn German for about . Chelsea Fladhamer independence: driving, no dating and no drugs. There are also financial costs. Chelsea says her par- ents paid about $3,000 up front.. The host families covered her room and board and Rotary gave her a $100 allowance cach month, but she paid for all other ex- penses. But.she earned big dividends in retum ~ a second language and a new sense of “It makes you u complete, indepen- dent person. You get there, and you’re on your own — there’s no more mom and dad to hold your hand.” While she doesn’t get much opportun- ity to speak German now that she’s back home, she’s proud to have reached her or- iginal goal to learn the language. “It’s more than I ever thought I would accomplish, 1 think,” TOUR GUIDES Roy Toomey and Morgan Evans are filled with historical infor- ° mation. They'll show you around Heritage Park Museum. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO Museum opens its doors By JENNIFER LANG WORKING AS a tour guide at Heritage Park Museum just might be the perfect summer job for a history buff who likes people. Take 21-year-old Roy Toomey, a Uni- versity of Northern B.C. prad about. to start his third summer at the museum, opening for the season this Saturday. Each season begins with a stack of reading, he says, adding he’s piven a bin- der packed with reams of information on the buildings, and all.the artifacts inside, from pedal-powered sewing machines to iron wood stoves. Dressed in period costumes, he and the other two guides — also returning for their third summer in a tow - offer tours lasting up to one and a half hours. The museum, a campus of furnished cabins, houses, and even a hotel, is a liv- ing document of Terrace’s earliest days, from around 1900 to 1945, That's ‘current events to a history major like Toomey. ee It’s not that long ago to many visitors; either. Toomey says people. often say things like, ‘I used to have this asa kid - ‘ i must be an antique!” The museum sees plenty of school — kids, too, during tours in May and June. \' Children are fascinated by the butter. making demonstration and enjoy munch- ing on biscuits baked in a wood stove. Tour guides also catalogue new acqui- sitions and perform day-to-day mainte- nance and cleaning — and that means po- lishing table tops and silverware. The museum is operated by the Ter- race Communily Facilities Society, a non-profit group that also operates the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. The society is trying to reach out to tourists — and to people in Terrace. ‘ “I’m sure there’s lots of local people — who have never been to Heritage Park Museum,” ‘says society member Orest Chalupiak, The. hosts a range of special events throughout the summer, including Canada ‘Day. and Riverboat Days. It’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but groups: “Will be able to-book the facility for wed- Sings, parties, or group pictures. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - BI SECTION B JENNIFER LANG 638-7283 PICTURE IT: Yvonne Mcen, Jane Dickson and Aro want ta launch a mural project for buildings in Terra nN Strumecki in front of a mural by Peter Dickson. They ce’s downtown next year, A year to remember By JENNIFER LANG THE DREAM to make Terrace the mural capital of northern B.C. might be closer to reality than you think. The Terrace Art Gallery is spear- heading efforts behind a wall mural project in the downtown core next summer ~ timed to coincide with Terrace’s 75th anniversary celebra- lions taking place in 2003. Imagine a downtown transformed into an outdoor gallery of people and Tepresenting the history of places Terrace. Multicultural! Association member Jane Dickson was in Chemainus, a Vancouver Island town that’s now world famous for its murals, for a conference when inspiration struck. “] thought, ‘This is something we need in Terrace,” she says. “We should try it here.” Dickson hopes it will promote a journey of discovery, as locals and tourists find out what Terrace has to offer, own calls, appear. “It ward Vernon.” He wonders work here, of Terrace.” Aron Strumecki, co- ordinator of the Terrace Art Gallery, says Ver- non, B.C., was comple- tely transformed after the town launched a wall mural project of its “T used to think, ‘Whal an ugly little town,’” Strumecki re- "Then murals began to totally changed my-attitude ‘to- if a change of attitude might “I do care about this place and | want it to succeed,” he says. “It might be the first step in the rebirth City councillor Marylin Davies says Terrace, a town pounded by an econo- mic downturn, is now at the crossroads. Davies chairs the committee in charge of Terrace’s 75th birthday celebrations. We were delighted” to hear of the mural project, she says. Dozens of groups and | agencies have already come: ‘forward ‘with ‘| plans for events during op 2003, aa :/ | “There’s so many ex- Marylin Davies citing ideas that people have ~ I think it’s going to be a great year,” Davies says. ; Events are already starting to take shape, from an old fashioned straw- berry festival to a Terrace reunion. Continued Page B3 Traffic offers more than one challeng By JENNIFER LANG WHY GO the easy route? That seems to be the | overriding philosophy with the Terrace Little Theatre’s season finale, . Traffic. You'd think the cast and crew already had en- ough challenges to deal with. Think about it: for one thing, none of the actors — newcomers Kim Heweill, Michelle Eisner, David Belanger and Kieran Leach — have acted in community theatre before. ' Then there’s the bit i about how the play’s open- ing night took place last week during the Skeena Zone Drama Festival in Kitimat, on the roomy Stage at the Mount Eliza- beth Theatre, an unfami- liar stage in another town, This regional competi- tion for marks and awards determines which produc- tion heads to the provin- cials, Mainstage BC. The audience also picks a fa- vourite, The thing is, no one seems to realize — or care - that they’re battling some long odds. What’s clear is that when Traffic begins its run at the cozy, quaint McColl Playhouse Friday night, cast and crew will have already endured their bapt- ism by fire. The story revolves around two roommates and buddies as their friendship Starts to untavel. The play is an. explora- tion of a group of people in . a: STEAMY KISS: David Belan tempestuous romance in Tra e for novice TLT cast ger and Kim Hewgill play characters involved in a ffic, opening Friday. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO their 20s who find them- selves learning how to deal with adult responsibi- lities — like relationships, rent, and jabs, “It’s stuff everybody’s going through,” director Jason Marshall shrugs. “The play’s got a little bit of immaturity ~ just like so many people who are in their 20s,” He’s proud of how far his novice cast has come. “They’ve become in- credibly strong actors,” Marshall says during an interview in the cigarette- smoke filled green room at the’ MeColl Playhouse two. days before openiig night.: “[’m really impressed with — how... far’ they’ve_ come.” Marshall, Jast seen in the TLT’s dinner theatre production, Drinking Alone, studied drama at the University of Saskat- chewan and has directed before. He describes Traffic as a character-driven dark co- medy that defies easy plot- summaries, It's written by one of his former class- mates al the U of S. ~ Everyone in the cast is under 30. At 21, Kieran- Leach, a lanky blond who plays Aiton, is the youngest, “He describes the play - as'a dark situation come- dy; “It’s like a messed-up’ Friends episode,” explains David Belanger, who plays Anton’s roommate Noel. | Belanger joined the production less than one month hefore opening night, : “I had to do a lot of. catching up,” he grins, adding the other actor spurred him on, “I’ve been doing back- stage stuff for-three years,” says Kim Hewgill, who: plays Noel’s obsessive love interest. “I’ve wanted to get on stage.” “We're nervous,” ad- mits Michelle Eisner, who plays Tess; Traffic rins May 17-18, 24-25, May 31 and June 1° at the McColl Playhouse.