B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 31, 1999

CHRISTIANA WIENS

_ SKEENA‘A GLE
ROB BROWN

Leading edges —

verylhing is more exciling at the edges.

On the coast, where the edges of oceans

meet the edges of lands, storm driven

seas tear away at beach heads, batter

rock battlements with logs, squeeze into
fissures and pores leaving plumes and spouts and
wash in their wake. On more restrained tides, the
strength of the sea assumes the shape of great
swells that rise up, spread out, spill over onto the
beach, then retreal leaving behind carpets of kelp
on the strands.

The sky is turbulent at these intersections, ap-
pearing as dark curtains or as shimmering shects,
or as avalanches of cloud tumbling down dark
mountainsides, or as all of these wind driven forms
at once.

There is always wind. The wind stirs it all: the
wind that challenges your footing and throws sand
at your cyes; a gusting wind that shoves un-
expeciantly; or, perhaps an insistent, salt-filled
breeze. .

Whaies cruise near these places where sea lions
leap from cliffs and flocks of crying sca birds hang
like tapestry from the skies. These edges are gen-
erators of life. They are the places where clemental
Strength gathers then forms and reforms then
moves off to everywhere; they are engine rooms of
a craft so powerful it makes all other vessels look
drab and puny.

Even on a warm summer evening when the tide
is low and slack, the edge of sea and land is not the
tranquil spot ils facets suggest. A rock freed from
the wet sand sends a crowd of crabs clattcring
noisily over the tracks of a heron, or some other
prowler, to the next slippery refuge. Salmon feed
on bait fish in a marine chowder swirling along the
brackish edge of an estuary, and so it goes as each
link in the chain of life and death plays out and ex-
tends in all directions.

The linkage continues up the freshwater streams
where edges are smaller but just as vital. A lot
happens in the middle of a river, but the leading
edge of activity is'in the shallows. The water of
coastal streams may be cold, but in the shallows,
where there isn’t much depth to penetrate, they are
at their warmesl. Many small, spineless creatures
thrive there, while the ones that have the strength
and endurance to occupy the deeper flows make
their way to the edge before thcy shed their aquatic
armour and make the move from water to air, ©
"A pool is a wide spot in a river or stream. A lake
is a wide spot in a river of streams and rivers
called a watershed. You’d expect its edges to be
important, and you’d be right. The shore of a lake
and the water next to it teems with life, as any for-
mer schoolboy who has felt the ooze between his
toes and shivered with delight while wading
through that whirring, buzzing, slurping, sucking,
splashing environment with a collecting jar and a
dip net in bis hand, will tell you.

In lakes, edges are often edged with hedges.
These gardens of rushes and water weeds filter and
shelter and harbour all kinds of tife. Anglers seek
them out for they are promising places to Moat a
fly over, or trol] a Jure next to. Dragons and dam-
sels flirt overtop these hedges, though not with
each other. The largest species of western mayfly,
commonly known as the Brown Walker spends its
nymphal days burrowing in the mud from which
these hedges sprout, then crawls up the stalks and
pops in the light and-warmth of day. There are
beetles and crustaceans and rearing salmon and
other life forms so numerous they’ve been difficult
to catalog — life is resplendent at this edge, the
place scientists call the littoral zone. -

If we accept variety and abundance as measures

. of health, we need to appreciate where the leading
edges of the environment are. We necd to care for
them by keeping them intact and unpolluted.
Retaining stream side vegetation is one way of
doing this, Not building alongside rivers, streams,
lakes, estuaries, and in some cases, even the ocean,
is another, The necessity of keeping pollutants
away from these cdges whether by discouraging
outboards on smali lakes and tanker traffic on tur-
bulent seas, is obvious.

On March 22, ] was out on the Skeena, cast of
Terrace, looking for Spring. J¢ hadn't arrived. The
wind was cold. Snow was still falling on the
mountains, The river was stone cold and dead low.
Aside from a moose track in the snow and a lonely
eagle perched there was no sign of life. Except for
the sound of traffic along Highway 16 and rattle of
the river over the broad riffle before us, the land
was silent, There was no hint of fish. Not a rise,
not one tug at the end of a hundred casts, As I
neared the end of the beat, I noticed a tiny whir of
activity on the water-beside me, then another and
another. Tiny insects — farge midges or small
mayflies —- were al! over the surface, | kneeled for
a closer look. They were mayllies duns, all right,
floating gently downstream drying their wings in
the pale wintry sun. Their ephemeral, shucks
gathered in eddies along the shore. —

Right near the edge.

By CHRISTIANA WIENS
LOCKED AWAY IN a
well-lit garage in Thornhill,
sits the fastest bomber car of
the 1999 racing season.

At least that’s the way
Dan and Cindy Dollemore
see their 1979 -Mercury
Bobcat — a low-riding,
wide-load of a car with one
of the biggest four-cylinder

eugines out there.
‘Wider cars are more
stable,’ says Dan Dol-

lemore in defence of the car
that has kept hin busy in his
unheated garage throughout
the winter months, ~

Plus, he said, there arc lots
of parts available. That’s
good because in order to
tace in the bomber class all
Dollemore’s parts have to
be authentic,

So how do you change a
beat up old Bobcat into the
local speedway sensalion?

Cindy and Dan began by
stripping it of everything —
upholstery, windows and
extra detailing included,

This made the car faster
by removing extra weight
and safer as some detailing
and trim can be flammable.

A lexan, or bullet-proof,
windshield is installed and
the tires are replaced with
older and faster tires from
the dump (there’s nothing
like recycling!).

For safety reasons, the
car’s gas tank was pulled
and replaced with an ap-
proved fuel cell. and
mounted in the back of the
car away from the driver.

Speedway rules say put-

_ Ung the battery in the back”

of the car is optional but a
four-point rol] cage is ab-
solutely mandatory.

Then, a few details like a
racing seat, five-point safety
harness, a new paint job and
racing window nets will
make the car complete.

It may sound like a lot of
work, but Dan and Cindy
say it’s not.

“It’s really cheap,’’ said
Cindy Dollemore. ‘‘For
$500 you can be competi-
tive.”

DAN DOLLEMORE and his wife Cindy Doilemore sit in the frame of a 1979 Mer-

cury Bobcat they're revamping to race at the Speedway this summer. This picture,
taken in February, shows the car without the roll cage and paint job. By Mother's
Day the car will be on the Speedway track and reving its four-cylinder engine,

Local skis strong in Jasper

MATHIEU LECLERC of
the Shames Mountain Ski
Club won three top-15 fin-
ishes at the Western Cana-
dian = Juvenile — Alpine
Championships.

The Jasper, Alberta race
hosted 156 skiers from Sas-
katchewan west March 18-
20,

Leclerc’s best __ per-
formance was in the giant

slalom.

Here, Leclerc tucked his
way through a tight curve,
got some air time and made
a bee-line to the finish.

By setting himself for ibe
jump, Leclerc won third
place through two runs.

In the super giant slalom,
a one-run race, Leclerc
placed fifth overall,

And on Saturday, Leclerc

a

At 15, Leclerc has just dis-
covered he is too old to ski
the Whistler Cup with other
skiers in his age group.

He will, however, ski the
Merrill Lynch Smithers
Team Champs at Hudson
Bay Mountain April 16-18

competed in the men’s
slalom, which has been his
weakest event this season.
As the forly-second person
to ski the hill, Leclerc faced
a rough track but still
managed to move up to
seventeenth for his second

run. with the rest of his team.
With a better start position The event is the team’s
Leclerc moved up to last race of the season. It

eleventh place overall, takes place April 16-18,

g Pile on the goalie!

HE SAVED THE GAME: The Freeport Mariners
goalie Geoff Gibbons gets crunched by fellow team-

mates after the champlonship game. The. Prince -

Rupert team beat out Houston to win Terrace's Atom
‘tournament Match 14, The 5-3 game was very close

and Gibbons later received the top defensive player
award..in the consolation final Smithers Super Value
beat the Hazelton Bulldogs 5-0. The 12-team touma-

‘ment hosted six local taams and six teams from

across the northwest. a,

r S 630.7283

et your motors running

Sports
Scope

Curling
TERRACE’S Kevin
McDougall rink won the
‘A’ event at the Prince
Rupert Marine Bonspiel
March 12-14.

McDougall is backed by
Duane Melanson, Mitch
Griffith and Blair Pylot.

Check our curling
playoff action at the Curl-
ing Club ail next week as
leagues wrap up their
year, So far, only one
league has complete their
finals with the Carlin
Rilkoff rink winning the :
Junior Championship title.
Stay tuned next week for
results from the Totem
Bonspiel in Terrace.

Hockey
THE CANUCKS wan't be
making it to the playoffs,
but the Prince George
Cougars will be.

At press time the
Cougars were scheduled
to play the Seattle
Thunderbirds in. their
opening round. The first
home games (games three
and four of the series) are
scheduled for Tuesday and
Wednesday, Apr. 3-4 at
7:30 p.m. Tickets are on
sale now. .

Fastball
TERRACE MINOR Fast-
ball need boys in the
Squirt, Peewee | and ©
Bantam divisions.

Some boys have already
registered but not enough
to make a - teaml
Organizers say. if they.
don’t get enough boys,
they may need to drop the
division,

The teams should be’
able to compete once a
week in Kitimat. So what
are you waiting for? Talk
to your friends and consid-
er working a little "ball
into your summer sched-
ule.

Boys bor between 1983
and 1987 can sign up at
the final fastball registra-
tion session at the Skeena
Mall April 9-10, Call Kel-'
ly at 635-7144 for more
information.

Soccer
THE TERRACE YOUTH
soccer association will be
holding a youth soccer
clinic on Saturday, April,
17 from 10 am, to 12
noon.
An afternoon refresher
course for referees will
follow from 2 p.m. to 4
p-m. Both courses take
place on the Christie Park
fields and preregistration
is mot required. Call
George at 635-3719 or
Roger at 635-5811 for
more information.

Skiing
FLUCTUATING weather
conditions have caused
possible icy conditions at
Onion Lake and Hirsch
Creek trails, please be
careful.

Organizers say mid-day
skiing is great as the sun
softens the snow. Use
Universal Klister wax or
waxless skis for spring
conditions,

All trails are re-groomed
and ready at Onion Lake
and Hirsh Creek golf.
course,

To figure out trail
temperatures, call the
Kitimat weather line at
632-7864 and subtract a
degree for Onion Lake,

Beginner, intermediate,
classic and skating Iessons
are also available by call-
ing Stacey at 632-4778,
Moms and tots meet Tues-
days at the fake at 1 p.m.
Call Karen at 635-0135
for more information,