INSIDE
COMMUNITY

EVENTS B2

HERE BY CHOICE |
FAE COLLINS MOONEY

Land of the
Big Back Yard

T SEEMS I’ve been here be-
fore.

I’ve looked out this window
before.

And the view —

I’ve seen this back yard before, too,

I’ve seen the sunshine play with shadows
beneath the trees. I’ve watched the emerg-
ing green of Spring defeat the drab brown
of a season that has already become just a
Memory.

_ [ve enjoyed. And more,

Tn another time, in another place.
From my spot here at the window, the im-

- ages that play before my mind, and the

sounds that echo from once upon a time,
transport me back,
Sitting at my sewing machine like this,

"and glancing out the window — suddenly, I

am someplace else.

The scene before me transforms into a
similar view from another sewing room
window...

My sons were very young then. And our
home was small. But we had a wonderful
big back yard that was perfect for little boys
to’play in.

' My sewing machine was set up in front of
the window, just as it is here,

Looking outside, where the graceful
weeping birch stands — there, not far from
the window — was an old apple tree that
produced huge, juicy Northern Spies, And
its boughs often had little bodies clinging to
them.

Over there, to the left, near the garage and
back fence, where an ornamental cedar
graces our lawn, a Bartlett pear tree grew.
The arms and legs of little bodies frequent-
ly clamoured about in that old tree as well.

And the lawn. In those days you couldn’t
describe our back yard jJawn as
“‘manicured.’? Tt was playground turf, lit-
tered with balls and toys and various sets of
wheels: tricycles, wagons, the racing car
Grandpa made...

We had other lawn adomments then, too.

Attached to the side of the old garage was
“The Club House.’? Crudely put together
with scraps of wood, and who-knows-what-
else, the boys had constructed that most im-
portant of buildings themselves,

At its entrance was the mandatory sign
warming, “NO GIRLZ ALOWD — ECEP
MY MOM,.”*

Near this, between the greenhouse and the

~ plum tree, was the well-used sand box, con-
stantly under re-construction.

How many times did Digger Dan con-
struct networks of highways, bridges,

-Viaducls, and tunnels? How many cities

were planned, and buildings constructed out

of the most amazing materials?

And how many great sea battles were won

and lost aboard the good ship Picnic Table.

How many Strange New Worlds explored?

How many football tackles, hockey scares,

and wrestling matches, all refereed by The
Pooch?
How many — there in the Land of the Big

Back Yard, From my sewing room window
_ I could hear their happy, industrious play

and watch their quiet moments: one

'|.. sprawled in the wheel barrow reading com-

ic books; the other, a saddle tramp, swing-
ing on the tire swing suspended from that
massive, ancient cherry tree. Where here,
now, a giant feathery cedar offers shade.

And yet, how brief was that time when
litte dimpled hands gathered the first
sunshine yellow dandelions of Spring for
me to place in a vase on the window ledge.
They grew so fast,

Years and miles now separate me from:

those nostalgic days of motherly fulfill-
ment. But they live again in this view from
my sewing room window. In my mind it

becomes transformed, and I hear the echoes: .

of happy chatter and laughter,

Once again, in Springtime, my boys ate: oe

young adventurers back i in ithe Land of th
Big Back. Yard. eaters Fi

“tI DON’T KNOW hy
people started bring-

ing me birds,” says

Roy Stoner, looking
around his outdoor
aviary. In one corner
a peacock patrols the
fence, in another a
duck and pigeon
argue over a nesting
site. Outside, a
feather-footed —
bantam chicken |

keeps watch.

There are a few hundred birds
in the sprawling collection of
cages. Stoner doesn’t even know
how many he has.

He has built quite a complex for
his diverse ~—collection = of
pheasants, pigeons, finches, and
other birds, outside his home on
Kalum Lake Drive.

A web of netting interconnects
the cages, with a common middle
area, It’s just tall enough to stand
up straight — if you’re under
5’8”’, Inside a chicken struts back
and forth, and a multi-coloured
pheasant dashes madly about on
urgent errands.

Stoner started this collection
with just one bird -- an abused
peacock he traded for a flat of
beer a few years ago. He built a
pen for him, then received a

white female peacock as a fa-—

ther’s day present.

Since then the birds keep com-
ing: pigeons hit by cars, budgies
whose owners are afraid of being
bitten, abandoned baby wood-
peckers, and once, a “radiator

. bird.

“This litde girl phoned me up
and asked if I was the man with
the ‘i-vory’. She said she had a
radiator bird...It was a bird that
had become stuck in ber mom’s

TERRACE. STANDARD

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 17, 1995 - B1

SECTION B
CRIS LEYKAUF

638-7283

A TRUSTING COCKATIEL comes closer * for 4 visit. Roy Stoner tamed this and other cockatiels In
his aviary, to show people how friendly the birds can be, He sells these handtamed birds, and oc-
casionally trades a mean bird for a friendly one.

car in the sadiator,”’ says Stoner.
“She couldn’t have been more
than five orsix years old,”’

Stoner took in the radiator bird,
and almost every bird since then.

“T don’t turn away birds,’ he
says, —

He = spends ~~ approximately
$1,400 a year on bird feed. Added
to this are electricity bills to keep
the budgies and cockatiels warn
in the winter, and the costs of
lumber, mesh and netting for the
cages.

“TT used to scavenge 2x4’s from
the dump (he lives just across the
street from the dump road) but no
one’s allowed to do that
anymore,’’ he says. “I’m not sure
how I'll be able to afford ta do
anymore building.”

Stoner can’t work full time be-
cause af severe arthritis prob-
lems. His wife Cheryl works as a

special services assistant for the
school board. .

She helped him tum the aviary
into a business, partially justify-
ing the cost ofits upkeep.

“We breed and sell some birds
now. The pheasants and fantail
pigeons pay for their feed. People
like them a lot.”

The cockatiels and budgies are
the most expensive to keep, and
Stoner is given many by owners
who are afraid the birds - “might
bite them.

“A lot of times I?ll trade ‘a
mean budgie for a tame one,” he

‘says. He also trades the cock-

atiels, and occasionally sells
hand-tamed ones to local pet
stores,

“They're very good natured,”
he says as he puts a finger out for
a friendly cockatiel. It hops to his
shoulder, soon to be joined by an-

other.

“Some days I feel pretty bad... °
and they make you feel so good,”’ ante |

he says.

His aviary has become a.

favourite with school children.

He. gives schools, such as KT. a -
Kenney, eggs: to incubate. Affer 0-0 2,
the chicks are hatched, the school =

brings them back to Stoner; and
the students come to visit the
babies they've raised...

“The kids help make it all
worthwhile,’* he says. “Its a
really big day for them."’

Stoner hopes to expand his -

aviary this summer, but' doesn’t:

have enough 2x4’s or plywoad.If
you" 1e -taking any good scrip —

pieces of wood to the dump, he'd
appreciate if you left them at his

driveway. It’s the last driveway —
on the right, with a gate across |
the entrance, before the dump. oa

oa

THE TERRACE Com.

munity Band is going for
gold:this week at Music-
Festin Calgary. The band
has won bronze and sil-
ver in its division during
past trips to MusicFest.
Over forty band members
are going this year, and
they hope thelr hard work

Picture Py Photowark Studio

and perseverance will
Pay 0 oft fiJn role

Spt RG

Local musicians at MusicFest

_ THB STREETS of Terrace may

seen a bit quiet this week: school
‘hallways appear deserted. Over

~ 200 Terrace musicians have left

town to perform this week at the
23rd annual MusicFest in Cal-

gary,

MousicFest Canada is a national
music festival, showcasing -out-

standing talent from across the
-~ country,

Terrace musicians will perform

~in front. of a national audience,

and will allend workshops con-
ducting by outstanding musicians
and educators, ©

“It’s one of the largest groups
‘from Tertace ever to attend the

event, comprised of six bands and

a singing group.

{With such a large number of

- musicians: coming from a small
- town, people will know that Ter-
“2 Nace -has got things happening,”
‘says Caledonia band instructor
Geoff Parr. “‘It-also says some-
“thing about the quality of music =
“here in Tertace,’ "

Caledonia Senior Secondary is
sending 45 students from its con-
cert and jazz bands, They left car-
ly Monday marning, and played a

number of schools on their way to

Calgary,- including Hazelton,
Bums Lake, and Fort St. James.
The bands also gave a concert in
the park in Jasper, -

Skeena Junior Secondary is
sending a large contingent of 72
students from its concert and jazz
bands,

“It’s definitely the largest
group we've. ever sent,’ says
band instructor Colleen Bruce,

“Our band has grown a lot this

year”?

Skeena’s concert band will be
playing three Canadian composi-
tions, she says. The jazz band will
be playing blues, ‘ballad and
swing pieces,

In addition to performances at
MusicFest, the Skeens bands will

‘also’ be. playing at Calgary

schools; -.

. Thornhill Junlor Secondary will

Another group making its first
trip to MusicFest Camada is the
Northwest Singers.

Conductor Merilyn Brodie will
be leading the group in two
madrigals, a folk song, a German
art song and a Latin moiet,

The Northwest Singers have at-
tracted many fans with their per-
formances in the Northwest and
be making its first trip to Muisic-
Feat this year. Their concert band
has received three invitations, but
this is the first time they have
beei able to attend.

But the band hasn't been
restricted to playing in front of
home audiences.

“This is our third tip to Al-
berta,”’ says band leader Mike

Wen. “It seems to be 4 popular

stop for us."
After long months of fuid rais-

ing, including bottle drives, —

chocolate sales and 2 telethon, the

. band -will be taking 40 sludents
> onthe road.
Musical. .. ‘excellence . - dan't

*

restricted to local schools.” s
This year marks the eighth con:

secutive year that the Terrace...
Community Band has “been in: *" *
vited to attend MusicFest Canada, 72:
Forty-one members of the'com- .” °*"

munity band, their largest proup

ever, will be performing. In Cale a :

gary.
B600 level, which inchides uni-

versity and ‘college concert bands”. pa
and = upper level conimynlty: ees

bands,

Their performance pieces Int! 0

clude selections from A: :Sul-
divan’s ‘‘Pineappte Poll,”"” Ji

Texidor’ s “Amparito Roca, Y ‘and i: a
“Children? ge

P,- » Grainger’s
March.,”*

Past performances have ‘netted oo
the '. band bronze” and” silver err

medals.

‘We're hoping: our: hard work’
and perseverance - will -tum: intc’
gold for '95,”’ says Carol Loma
band member, ae

They'll be competing — at. ‘nee? ee