INSIDE -
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

Around Town

He wants mail
AN ENGLISHMAN who’s spent three years
collecting picture postcards from around the
world says he doesn’t have any from our re-
gion.

Collector Brian James of Bournemouth,
England, is a fan of any type of post card of-
fering a general view of its subject, but he’s
particularly drawn to postcards of maps, light-
houses, bridges and flags.

He’s hoping a kind reader in the Terrace
area will send him a local postcard — mailed
inside in an envelope.

His address is: Brian James, P.O.Box 1492,
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH? 6YB, England.

Email him at
posteardquest@ bigfoot.com

DOES THIS look like Alaska? It’s a set
built last year outside of Stewart, B.C.

Dissed by Mork!

MANIC FUNNYMAN Robin Williams appears
to have mislead TV viewers about the filming
location of his latest movie, the thriller Jnsom-
nia,

When he appeared last week on the Tonight
Show. the comic actor told host Jay Leno Jn-
sonia was shot in Alaska,

Williams, who plays a demented killer in
the movie, tald Leno about, Hyder, Alaska and

 spake-about thé drinking” ‘rhual-of getting “Hy="-

derized — a rite of passage that involves down-
ing-aneye-walering shot of Everclear. Wil-

liams also joked about ‘thé Jarge bears that fre”

quent the Hyder area.

Curiously, he made no mention of the
movie’s true filming locations,

The big budget thriller also stars Oscar win-
ners Al Pacino and Hilary Swank. ft was actu-
ally filmed in Squamish, Port Alberni, Indian
Arm near Vancouver and, of course, just out-
side of Stewart. which is near Hyder and is
where the movie's final scenes were shot.

Stewart residents pulled out all the stops
last year to én-
sure the gigantic
Hollywood
movie crew and
its stars found
comfortable ac-
commodations
during the four-
day shoot al the
stunning Bear
Glacier along
Highway 37a.

While Amer-
icans are notor-
ious. for their
poor mastery of
geography, one
explanation for |
Williams’ cur-
ious comments
could be that the United States film industry is
increasingly under pressure to stay at home.

There's growing concern about the number
of “runaway productions” being shat in Cana-
da. It’s thought action superstar Arnold
Schwarzenegger convinced the makers of Ter-
minator iH to halt plans.to film in Vancouver,
B.C. and shoot in the U.S. instead to avoid stir-
ring up. controversy. Pundits speculate the
muscular star plans to run for political office.

Rockfest grows again

THE LIST of contemporary Canadian bands
joining the bill at a music festival in Vander-
hoof early next month continues lo grow.

Rockfest 2002 organizers have just an-
nounced the addition of Vancouver-based
acoustic rock band Stabilo Bass.

Although the emphasis at Rockfest over the
past five years has definitely been on classic
tock, this year’s lineup is increasingly show-
casing much newer bands.

So far the Aug. 3 lineup includes Juno no-
minee Marcel Gagnon, Coquillam's own Mat-
thew Good, post punkers the Headstones, and
now Stabilo Boss.

That’s in addition to Canadian rock legends
Tom Cochrane, Doucette, Trooper, Glass Tiger
with Alan Frew, Doug and the Slugs, and the
Stampeders,

Organizers say regional bands will also per-
form at Rackfest.

Robin Williams

the following address”

Y

Tickets are available by calling 1-877. |

ROC-FEST.
Trooper will be appearitg it “Terrace Aug. 5
during Riverboat Days. - :

4

The Terrace Standard, Wecnesday, July 17, 2002 - BI

SECTION B

TY-2
It’s show time

Terracites are urged to do their part for the Communities | in Bloom contest _

By JENNIFER LANG
IT'S TIME to trim those hedges,
mow that lawn, pull those weeds,
especially the leggy ones, and
weed whack right to the curb.

You might want to grab a
broom and sweep your stoop, par-
ticularly if you’re a downtown bu-
siness.

We've only gol a few days to
go before the judges in a national
competition arrive,

Steve Scott, Communities in
Bloom Chairman, says everyone's
got a role to play in making Ter-
race look its blooming, bright
best.

The City of Terrace and the
Greater Terrace Beautification
Sceciety have teamed up for this
year’s Communities in Bloom na-
tional competition.

Terrace is up against 12 other
towns of its size in Canada in the
10,001-20,000 population cate-
gory.

Those towns include Fort St.
John, B.C., Wetaskawin, Alberta
and Summerside PEL.

Judges put Terrace under the
botanical microscope July 27,’ so
efforts to make the town look its
best are kicking into high gear.

The judges will rate Terrace on
a range of things, from the amount
cof public greenspace to. the
amount of community involve-
ment residents show in keeping
their homes and businesses lidy
and attractive.

“It's an environmental move-
ment as well as a beautification
movement,” he says, pointing out
the city is moving. ahead .with
plans to Temove- weeds -‘mechanic="~
ally rather than with pesticides
because it's more environmentally
friendly.

LET'S KICK some serious bud. Get your gardens ready and sweep the walk. Our civic pride will be
on the jine July 27 when Terrace is judged as part of the Communities in Bloom competition.

with the judges, who will tour the
town for four to six hours.

We'll be rated between one to
five blooms. Winners are an-
nounced al a later date. The na-
tional symposium and awards are
held in Kelowna this October.

“I'm confident that we're doing

the. right things and. that. we're.

going to’ puron 'p"good: show?"
This is the second year Terrace

has. been. involved in the. Commu-..

nities. in Bloom program: List
year we earned four blooms for

our 80 per cent rating.

But it’s the first time Terrace
has been entered in the national
competition portion.

Letters have been sent to busi-
nesses in the. downlown core ask-
ing them to take. steps to ensure
their premises look attractive.

Suggestianswinglude.sweeping

“gr preesure ” washing, sidewalks, ~

cleaning store..Windows,- -placing.

a flqwer: baskets Al, stare. fronts, and .. .

- picking up any. garbage or debris.
that's lingering about.

Homeowners, renters and
apartment and condo dwellers can
also do their bit.

But what about those neigh-
bours who refuse to cut their
lawns or care for their gardens?

Scott says not to worry,

“T think the judges recognize
that you're going to get that.

They're” not: going t tO- ingpect’ ‘indi- me

vidual properties.”

to areas within the city’s boundar-
ies. .

‘Note: thecontest. only. applies ‘

That type of thing scores paints

We’re UFO central

Researcher Brian Vike says Terrace is a B.C. hot spot for unusual sightings

By JENNIFER LANG
IT ALL STARTED at
around 9 p.m. on a dark
winter's eve in February.

Three women from
Houston, B.C., were driv-
ing home from Smithers
after a day of shopping
when they noticed some-
thing unusual in the sky.

A bright, shining object
was visible high in the
clouds above them, They
thought it was the moon.

Then it did something
Strange. [t moved.

Without warning = it
swept through the cloud
bank, dropped down to-
wards the dark forest next
to the highway, flew over
their vehicle and vanished
out of sight.

Enter Brian Vike, an in-
dependent field researcher
who's been a full-time in-
vesligator into strange oc-
currences across

around a kitchen table as
they told their story, were
visibly nervous. On Feb. |
they’d seen a huge, boo-
merang-shaped object with
seven rectangular lights
across the bottom. ;

“These people here are
credible. They’re not a
bunch of hooligans.” he
says. They're church-goers
who are married with
children. .

And they‘re definitely
not the only “normal
folks” in northern B.C,
who've seen a UFO lately,

After the Telkwa Sight-
ing. other reports from

people along the Highway ©

16 route began to trickle
into Vike's investigative
headquarters, HBCC-UFO
Research.

He wondered if the
sightings were connected,
so he issued a call all
along Highway

northern B.C, for
the past four
years.

“They're just
normal folks,"
Vike says. “But
what they seen
scared the heck
out of them. One
of them didn’t
even go to work
and had to have
someone = stay
with cher for
about a-week,”

A mutual friend put -

them in touch with Vike, a

former forest. industry
worker who lives .in
Houston B.C,

Vike, 50, is a friendly-
sounding guy with a plain
way of talking. He likes to
interview people face to

“face. That way he‘can see-

if they're telling the truth.
The women, seated

Brian Vike

16, asking anyone
who had seen
anything unusual
in the sky to con-
tact him.

He was inundated

phone, email and
through the post
as Vike’s request
appeared in
newspapers from
Prince George to
itimat.

But he wasn't prepared
for the sheer number - a
whopping 66. unexplained
sightings from communi-
tles- along, and north: of,
the highway - making
UFO history,

Terrace, Vike says, is
the undisputed hot spot of

the region, with 17 sight:

ings from here alone. ©

He received three sighi-.-

ings from Kitimat,” two

with reports by .

from Cranberry Junction.
eight in Kitwanga, four in
Old Hazelton and one in
New Hazelton,

That’s not counting the
sightings that have come
in from further east.

“That's. a lot. of
sightings," Vike says, add-
ing most of the reports
came in during February
and March.

They share some simi-
larities; but mostly the re-
ports are different.

Some UFOs looked like
meteors. or stars that
changed direction all of a
sudden.

“Meteors don't do that

‘ahd stars, of course, stay

Stationary.”

Oner report involved a
group of older. men who
were camping south of
Burns Lake when they saw
an object they thought was
an airplane at first.

It stopped in the dis-
tance above a field.

“He described it as,
‘The light was sweeping
something.’ Then it was
gone faster than it even ar-

rived. So what was that?” .

A group driving into
Terrace watched a.cube-
shaped cloud hover above
the peak of .a mountain
near Usk and then vanish,

Vike, who used to. vo-
lunteer at the H.R. Mac-

Vancouver and was also a
member. of the
Astronomical
may.be a scientist at heart.

“What I'm trying to do»

is look into [the report] and

come up with possibilities

that might fit.”
Vents, also. known as:

ALIEN AIRCRAFT or a blimp? No one knows
what this Bremerton, Wa, sighting is.

A CLOSE up of the Bremerton, Wa, sighting.

Royal
Society.

has tricked a few people
who should know better,
including astronauts and
pilots.

Other UFOs are found

- to be aircraft, meteors, sa-

tellites.

stars or even
blimps.

°° Still, most of the north-

west sightings remained

“unexplained — for now.
Millan Planetarium in‘

“Is: there: an attraction
to. Alcan?’ There's a blg

_ Power. source there.” - b

So far he's ruled out se-
cret ‘military “exercises,
above. tegional | ‘airports.
but -there’s. more work, to
be done.’

- He: still: has to contact .
- observatories. and aviation:
~ the Evening Star, has-been “-ager
responsible for countless
VEO! feports.: The Planet

through astronomy pros

grams to see if a sighting.
can be correlated with a
known object.

“T can tell you right

now, a Jot of them are not

going to have answers,” he
says.

Meanwhile, Vike, the
Telkwa Sighting and the
Terrace: reports: are. slated
to be the focus of an. Alp:
coming episode of a new

Discovery. Channel. show,

“Our. town is excited,”
he says. “I'm invited. to: the
next. council... meeting: ~
whenever that: is

Contact ‘HBCC- UFO

‘Research by -plioné. or fax

at 1-250-845-2189, Eriail

eshte cise eee The: .

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