The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 20, 1997 - BS

TERRACE STANDARD..

DAVE TAYLOR

SKEENA ANGLER-
ROB BROWN

a i . |
Fishin’ pup
o our new pup everything is a treat
and a distraction. This creates
_ plenty of problems since everything

. froin plastic pop bottles to buzzing
bees must be mouth-tested. Still, this is the way
dogs learn, so I watch patiently as she gnaws
the tops of flowers hoping that she will have
learned that not everything needs to be mouthed
by the time she meets her first porcupine.

For her first walk I thought I’d take our pooch
for an orderly stroll around the neighbourhood
at the end of a leash, like so many of my neigh-
bours do with their pets. Surely the benign, sub-
divided, highly cultivated surroundings of the
bench would be a goad place for dogpie’s first
outing. I was wrong, First, Pawsome headed in
every direction at once. She cowered at the first
oncoming car then decided the only direction
was east, the way home. I tugged at the lead bul
my efforts were futile. What started as a walk
around the block was becoming a drag. I gave
up. [ took her home.

The woods spill over into my back yard.
Despite all its shades and green mystery, maybe
Paws the Wonderdog would find it less
threatening; maybe she’d prefer the natural
noises to the mechanized whir of the suburb.

‘The close brush and many branches made the
use of the leash impossible, Now the worry was
whether my doglet would be overwhelmed and
confused then turn and bolt. ] saw myself comb-
ing Terrace Mountain in the dark calling pitiful-
ly, wondering if my pup had run afoul of some
creature. much greater than itself’ — ‘which,’
when I thought about it, could ‘be a! lot of crea-'
tures, *: OR a 8 Beg Ted Bom

As domesticated as they are, their keen in-
stincts show that dogs are not all that far
removed from the wild and should, therefore,
easily adjust to it. Besides, since this mutt will
be hanging around with me, it will be spending
considerable time in the woods, The sooner it
gets acclimatized (he better.

Off we went, through the wild roses, through
the alder and up the mountain. Pawsome stayed
close, The steep slope gave her no choice. ] had
to lift her over outcrops knee high or higher. As
soon as we reached the first ridge things
changed. The dog raced ahead. I whistled. She
stopped, sal, cocked her head then gave me a
well-are-you-coming-or-not”? look. The first
moment of tension, and the first test, was suc-
cessfully completed. We continued on for what
seemed like half a mile, She stayed a conserva-
tive distance ahead, dividing her attention
equally between me and the dark distance,
When I stopped to pick a huckleberry or exam-
ine a mushroom, she waited expressing her dis-
pleasure with a soft whining.

When we turned back I leammed how good a
dog's nose can be. Paws put her snout to the
path then shifted into high gear. T strode behind
at a brisk pace, following the white tip of her, .
tail in the distance. It disappeared. I loped dowa
the path looking for my dog and the spot where
we'd met the trail on owr way in. I'found it
when I found her sitting there with as much
patience as she could muster. When [ arrived
she took off again rolling and tumbling over the
moss and through the scrub, stopping just when
I was wondering if F’d last her. Nose close to
the ground she retraced our path until we were
in the yard again.T was pleased, To reward her I
took my pooch out every moming until we left °
for Vancouver and she had to be boarded with
Grandma. ;

When we retumed our puppy had doubled in -'
size. The lifts over minibluffs, once a feature of' *
our morning walks, were no longer necessary.
We took stecper, longer paths. It was time for
the next ficld trial: the river. This was a scrious —
testso 1 took an assistant, my daughter Cait.

We drove to Shames. Pawsome looked per-
plexed at her first sight of a rushing river. She . |
tried to eat some of it. She also tried to eat the
sand on the beach, but soon decided that this
new granular stuff was made for cavorting.

Cait, who {s now well trained, hopped on my
back to be taken across the river. I expected I
would have to return for the dog, but before I
could look back she was swimming beside us
with the agility of a beaver, ‘“Gooood dog,” we
chorused. Once across there were more advei-
tures for dog and spectators, including the dis-
covery of mud, eagles, moose droppings and
bear spoor,

“What will she do when we catch a fish?”' I
asked rhetorically; after all she’d attenipted to
devour every thing else new to her.

We found a pod of dog salmon in a side chan-
nel, I hooked then beached one. Paws licked it _
as | struggled to remove the hook, It was ap-
propriate, Cait and I decided’ our pooch was.
working oul well. We said good bye to our

chums the dog salmon, and left for home happy.

THE UNDER-14 Girls division of Terrace Youth Soccer is one of the closest, This game
had Rossco Ventures battle Crampton, Brown and Amat.

New par 3 golf club in

TERRACE IS one step closer to having a par 3
golf course,

The potential new course is located along
Highway 16 in New Remo. Ed Dobler bought
the 128 acte parcel three years ago. He wants lo
use about 30 acres of it currently in the Agricul-
tural Land Reserve (ALR) for the project.

But to do that he needed permission of the
regional district.

And on Saturday the RD agreed to forward an
application to the Agricultural Land Commis-
sion, recommending the golf course be allowed
to proceed, ,

Jake De Jong of the Skeena Valley Golf Club
appeared with Dobler at last Friday night's
meeting of the planning committcc.

He said the club fully supported Dobler’s
endeavour, and didn’t see it ss competition to
the exisling club,

‘A par 3 golf course is like a breeding ground
for gollers,’” he said. ‘Sometimes people are

“A par 3 golf course is like a breed-
ing ground for golfers,’’
-Jake De Jong-

intimidated by an 18-hole course. This will give
them a place to start.”’

The district agrologist had recommended the
project not praceed because the proposed course

638-7283,

Post-season play
extended to make
room for lengthy
teams list

THE ACTION is heating up in Terrace Youth
Soccer as the season winds down and playoffs
begin.

It's been a big year for the soccer league —
the biggest ever, in fact, and organizer Bev
Bujtas says she'll likely have to extend the
playoffs by.‘a week to accommodate all the
players and teams.

“Normally playoffs take two weeks,”’ she
says. “‘But we’re going to have to go a bil
longer this year because there are so many
teams.”

The playoffs are set te start on the first day of
school and run until Sept. 23,

It should be a good race too, with many age-
groups sporting some tight compelitions and
strong rivalries.

The U-9 group has Westel and Surveyors run-
ning neck and neck. The U-10 Boys also have
some close battles between Shoppers, Co-Op
and Carlyle Shepherd.

The U-12 Boys, meanwhile, are locking al
some serious competition between Sockeye FC
and Cedarland Tire, with Overwaitea and A&W
not far behind.

Lazelle Mini-Storage is dominaling the U-12
Girls group, while Elan Travel, Dairy Queen
and Roiary battle it out for second,

Northern Drugs is way out ahead in the U-14
Boys division, but Bandstra and Terrace
Builders aren’t out of the picture yet.

The U-14 Girls have the tightest race around,
with three teams batting it out for top spot.
Ikon Office Supplies, Rossco Ventures and
Crampton, Brown and Arndt are all contenders
for division champs.

And the U-16 Boys have a strong rivalry be-
tween McEwan GM and the Coxford Con-
strictors.

The U-19 Girls playdowns are also bound to
be exciting, with All West and Richard’s teams
vying for top spot.

the works

was on some of the best agricultural land in the
Skeena Valley.

But De Jong pointed out that the land was not
being removed from the ALR, just used for a
non-agriculture purpose.

The Jand will still -be there, he’s not building
houses on it,’’ he said. “Two years ago it was
all treed. If anything it’s been improved for ag-
riculture.”’

The proposed project will have a nine-hole,
par 3 golf course, complete with a covered driv-
ing range and a club-house with club rentals.

If the Agricultural Land Commission agrees
to let the golf course proceed, Dobler will still
have to go back to the regional district to get the
property re-zoned.

Nass athletes rock Victoria

Greenville scores two team silvers at Indigenous Games

THE TINY community of Greenville in the
Nass Valley is beaming with pride these days,
after their athletes returned home from the
North American Indigenous Games draped in
medals.

More than 6,000 athletes from all over the
continent converged in Victoria for the bi-
annual event two weeks ago.

The Nass sent a seven-member track-and-ficld
team and three basketball teams, whose athletes
were largely from Greenville, along with a
sprinkling of other communities,

Two of those teams, representing the pro-
vince, came home with silver medals earned by
defeating teams loaded with taller, more experi-
enced athletes.

The Bantarn Boys team, cruised through most
of their games leading up to the finals.

In fact, they won all but one of their matches

‘Tt was quite emotional for the Boys
being that close to coming out with
gold and falling short.’’

-coach Don Leeson-

in the round robin portion of the tourney, oul-
scoring the competition by a margin of more
than 2-1 over eight games.

A win over Wisconsin in the semi-finals sent
Greenville lo the finals against the only team to
have defeated them — Oregon. .

And that game proved to be a heartbreaker,

Greenville came from behind to get within
three points in the last minute. But two attempts
-, atthrec-pointers in the last 10 seconds failed

, Oregon took gold, 71-69,
“Tt was quite emotional for the boys being
that close to coming out with gold and falling

short,” says coach Don Leeson.

The Bantam Girls also bad an emotional finish
to their run ata medal.

The girls finished the first round of the
tourney comfortably in third place. Maybe too
conifortably.

'T think we sat back and thought we had th
bronze,”’ says coach Alison‘Moare.

The team was also handicapped by having just
seven members, so they tired quickly. Especial-
ly when their first games were against the top
two teams. °

The Greenville squad ended up in fourth
place, losing the bronze medal game to Alberta
by seven points,

Meanwhile, the Juvenile Boys leant were
fighting battles of their own as the group
returned home with a silver,

The boys were practically invincible in the
round robin, cruising past Ontario, Wisconsin,
Iowa, Colorado and Mississippi before finally
losing a game to Montana.
 ‘Fhat put them in a three-way tie for first
place, To decide the structure of the playoffs the
three teams had their points for and against
worked out, and Greenville cnded up second
overall, narrowly missing the top spot,

“We could have easily defeated Ontario ty
another 50 points,’’ notes coach Mitch Stevens.
“But we thought it was unsportsmanlike to to-
tally annihilate and humiliate another team.”

A 70-43 wit over New York in the playoffs:
sent Greenville into the medal round where they
met Minnesota — the favourite to win gold.

“Our guys dug real déep,’’ says - Stevens.
“They went out and gave it everything they bad
and we won 69-59," |

That win sent the squad into ihe gold-medal
round where Montana_beat Greenville for the

second time at the tourney, this lime 94-78.

Still, Stevens says he was really impressed
with the way his team played.

‘We held B.C.’s colours high,’’ he says.
“States like Minnesota bad some 3,000 players
to pick from, They had try-outs and everything.
Many of their players were 6’7’’ or 6°8". My
tallest player was 6’3"”."’

Greenville’s advantage, Stevens says, was
their teamwork. While the American teams
were hand-picked all-stars, Greenville excelled
in team work.

“They had excellent individual alhletes,’”
Stevens notes. '‘Bul this is a team sport,’’

The seven track-and-field athletes also
returned home conquering heroes after snagging
11 medals.

Walter Innes picked up four of hem — gold
in the shotput and bronze in the 100 metre, 200
metre and the 4x100 mete relay.

‘We held B.C.’s colours high. States
like Minnesota had some 3,000 players
to pick from. They had try-outs and
everything. Many of their players were
6’7”" or 6'8’". My tallest player was
6'3”’,”* coach Mitch Stevens-

Alvin Clayton also won brome in the relay,
while Nicole Cross won bronze in the discus
and silver in the 4x100 metre relay.

Marietta McKay also took silver in discus and
javelin and Gary Stevens won bronze in bgfh
the high jump and 100 metre.

The returning athletes received a hero’s whl-
come in Greenville as they were paraded around
town in a fire truck with police escort,