B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 6, 2002 - 3 : TERRACE STANDARD 638-7283 -SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN Trout Delicacies enny MacDonald had survived the Psychedelic Age with all its psycho- tic distractions: its gaudily clad false prophets with their scantily clad fe- male acolytes, its mind-blowing drugs, its ear numbing music, its costly free love, its pop psychologists, and its rootless phi- losophy. One day, after a light bulb moment, triggered ironically by a slippery acidic substance, Kenny walked away from a “be in” in Stanley Park, on denim covered legs and sandalled feet. In so doing, he renounced the psychotrapic, distinctly unhealthy, habitat of inner city for the rivers and woods to which he’d been introduced as a strip- ling by his dad. [It was like moving from Calcutta to a small! village in a Tibet. Ken began driving away from the city in his lurid, gas guzzling, tattooed Ford Van, the length of his first trips limited by his UI cheques. He drove the Lougheed Highway to the sloughs on the Fraser near Mission. He made the Alouette and Harrison, catching sea run cutthroat trout with Tom Thumbs and a dis- tinctive minnow made in the same way that Tom Murray used to roli his muddled minnows, but cast in copper instead of silver. These trips were fine, but Ken knew that far- ther was sure to be finer. He yearned for the lakes of the interior with their legendary rain- bows; he needed to find out if Thompson River steelhead were as strong, as fast, and as nerve jarring as those who had been there, and con- tacted them, said they were. More money was ‘needed. Ken ‘got a job welding, ‘a trade" he’d learned young, before he’d turned on, tuned in, and dropped out. His dad started speaking to him again after years where their sole form of communication had been through his his mom. The job was in a boat works. Ken liked it a little. He liked his pay cheques a lot. He also | liked his boss Abbott, whom, he discovered, ~ was hip long before there were hippies. Abbott was in his early sixties, Ken guessed, , He was one of those men who was going some- where even when he was standing still. Abbott ‘knew what it was like to pursue an obsession, His was made of canvas, wood, or possibly _. Steel. It was a dream encrusted in sea salt. _ Abbott’s Boat Works was doing well, Even so, Ken could knew that despite his bess’ unfor- . tunate inheritance, the siren call of the sea on the old man was powerful. Ken knew that there . was a very real chance he would show up to work one day and find that his boss, in spite of - his weak heart, had succumbed to the memories of old trips burnished by time, and gone sailing, The two of them talked long and frequently, often at the expense of production. Kenny, with his visor flipped back, coffee in one hand, weld- ing torch in the other, of the intricacies inherent in fooling trout, of casts and drifts, of reading river runes; Abbott of divining meaning frorn the marinescape: the art of analyzing the movement of everything from star to seagull to find the correct way to ride the sea. In the course of these dual monologues, they hit on similarities, seizing on them as if they were precious jewels and holding them up to the light - a light that illuminated the discourse and showed it was, in fact, a dialogue. The fruit of their talks was an intimate under- standing that granted Kenny time off, with pay, whenever he wanted it, for Abbott came to ap- preciate that money invested in a dreamy pur- suit like Kenny’s was an investment in a Zen like, abstract enterprise. It was money spent on a strong, young heart that would repay tangible, noble dividends some time in the future. Kenny translated this serendipitous job find into a heavily used, but mechanically sound, Chev pickup with four-wheel drive, and an an- cient, dishevelled camper, quickly transformed into a decent apartment by him and his dad. “Its elegance is in its practicality,” said Ab- _bott when he saw the camper sitting on the truck. Kenny loaded his new mobile, base camp, with fishing gear, canned goods, flytying para- phernalia, and clothes, He strapped a tin boat to the sookum roof racks fabricated by his proud dad, strapped an outboard motor to the back, and realized that he now had the opportunity to _become a formidable presence in the angular world of angling. Moreover, he had backers. His dad, ecstatic that his son had a direction, a job, a mission, one that was related to his own pa- ternal ministrations, was an enthusiastic backer, And Abbott, well, Abbott was so supportive, so agreeable, to Kenny’s pursuit of trout and truth, that Kenny felt not a trace element of guilt for being absent from his job as he crulsed down the highway headed for the back roads, for lakes and streams and rivers of great repute, To be continued... THREE YEARS of dedica- ’ Lead Matt Gyarfi, Second - Kore Melanson, Third Carl * Winter Games next year in ‘ New Brunswick, Teen dream t team By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN tion and determination is finally paying off for Ter- race’s hotlest teen curling rink with its gold medal performance at last week’s B.C Winter Games. That's the second slraight winter games vic- tory for the Michael Dahms rink. It wen gold at the last games two years ago. The win means the foursome — made up of Haugland and Skip Mi- chael Dahms — represents our province at the Canada The rink went into the games as the favourite to vis B.C.’s best win — having won the gold previously. But it had a lot THE DAHMS rink came through with the biggest win of their young curling careers when they nailed Feb. 29-24, Teammates Matt Gyorfi, Kore Melan- son, Garl Haugland and Michael Dahms are thrilled’ on its plate as it faced heavily stacked lower mainland rinks. There was also the extra pressure of facing a must win situation in order to defend their title and earn a spot at the Cana- dian contest. “We just knew we had to go out and win,” says Dahms. Just to add a little more weight to the challenge, the boys entered the games with next to no competition at the juvenile level, While lower mainland teams have more regular juvenile tournaments there . are few teen-aged teams in Terrace for the Dahms rink top spot at the B.C. Winter Games in Williams Lake with the win. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO. wt to play. The rink won an auto- matic berth to the games because there were no other teams in our zone to meet in playdowns. Coaches Keith and Duane Melanson (Keith is Duane’s father and Second Kore Melanson’s grandfa- ther) did their best to find some tough competition for the boys. They entered the team in men’s league games and bonspiels and it seems playing with the big boys has paid off. ’ °“T almost think we had the advantage because we had to play against the men,” says Dahms about Boing into last week's tournament. That training combined with the team’s past ex- knew most of the people there.” That includes the rink the Terrace foursome met in the finals at Williams Lake. “All the work we've done over the past three years is finally paying off.” perience playing at the games helped the Terrace tink have the confidence they needed to succeed. “We pretty much knew... says, Third Carl Haugland. “We: what to expect,” The gold medal game saw them face off against Langley'’s very capable Miller rink. The boys met this team before, in the semi ; finals,.at_ the 2000;" B.C. Winter Games. The Terrace crew was prepared for the challenge and the Miller rink just couldn’t keep up with them. The Miller rink shook hands in in the last end, forfeiting the points for that end and leaving the score at 6-4 for Ter- race. “All the work we've done over the past three years is finally paying off,” says Michael Dahms. But the work is not over. The boys have a long road ahead of them as they prepare for the next,.big . step..c.the Canada sWinterg! Games. Kermodes face hoop championship challenge By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THIS WEEK Caledonia’s girls basketball team takes on its toughest tournament of the season. The Kermodes have an auto- matic berth at B.C.’s AAA high school basketball championships at Capilano College in Vancouver today through Friday. Facing powerhouse lower mainland teams, the Terrace crew has an uphill battle. The girls head into the contest sitting at the bottom of the 16 teams in the tournament. That means they'll likely face Mission’s seemingly unstoppable Heritage Park Senior Secondary, currently seeded number one in the province. “They haven’t lost a game to a Canadian school in three years,” says Cal’s coach Bill Gook about Mission’s hoop squad. To up the ante just a little more, Heritage Park’s star player, Kim Smith, not only plays high school ball but was selected to “They haven't lost a game to a Canadian school in three years.” the Canadian national women’s team last fall. She plays alongside Terrace’s Michelle Hendry. It’s a tongh match for the girls but Gook says the team is better prepared going into the tourna- ment this season than last. The 2001 championships were a first for the Caledonia squad and he hopes the team can build on last year’s experience to better prepare for this week’s contest. Last year the Kermodes didn’t win a single game at the cham- pionships and that’s something they’re looking to change. “We want to try and improve on our showing last year,” says coach Gook. This season’s squad has played solid, consistent ball throughout what was left of the regular sea- son in light of the teachers’ job action. It has more players this year over last which should also help their quest to improve on last year’s performance, That’s where returning players Leah Malo, Lexine Atril, Gillian Gook, Laura Seaton and Allison Smith will play important roles on and off the court. Last year the Terrace squad had a case of nerves which affec- ted how they played and Gook's hoping the older players will help ease that. “We have five of the girls who were there last year who hopefully won’t be as nervous,” says Gook,. STACEY BLAKE and five ‘pr spring break week. That Local Skiers $ gunning for gold other young skiers from Terrace are gearing up for the biggest ski race ever hosted at Shames Moun- tain. Blake is the leading local prospect who will blast out of the gates and tear down the slopes here March 21-24 in the K2 Al- pine Provincial Champion- ships. The Grade 9 student at . Skeena Jr. Secondary leads this zone in points for female skiers. Also aiming for top times in the race are local skiers Brittanny Green- wood, Ryan Monsees, Ron | Mackenzie, Meagan Orser and Britnee Thomson. It’s the first time Shames has ever hosted the provincials. “This is a fairly major coup for us,” race chair- man Dale Greenwood said. He said up to 150 skiers aged 13 and 14 from around the province could show up here to race. They're coming be- cause the provincials are the essential qualifier to advance to international level competition. “The top 20 qualifiers go to the Whistler Cup down in Whistler,” Green- wood said. “They'll ski STACEY BLAKE powers through a gate at the Giant Slalom races in Prince George Feb. 1-2. She's one of six local racers taking part in the upcoming K2 Alpine Provincial Championships at Shames Mountain Mar. 21-24. against the best in the world there.” “You're talking future Olympians for 2010 in Whistler.” But racers can’t go to Whistler unless they come to Terrace for the provin- cials and qualify, Greenwood noted Blake, a product of the Alean/Nancy Greene pro- gram, made the Whistler Cup last year and is aim- ing to repeat this time. Terrace skiers are tough competitors in the zone, which extends from the coast to Prince George, taking in the hub city, and running down Hwy 97 to 100 Mile House. Girls from Prince George hold down the sec- ond and third points spots behind Blake. But Terrace’s two boys racing are second and third in the zone. The skiers race in three different events -— slalom, giant slalom and super G. ’ Slalom feature gates that are closest together, requiring the most fre- quent, tight turas. Super G is the fastest event, with gates furthest apart. The top 20 times in each event advance to’ Whistler. The race falls on the means there will probably be plenty of young specta- tors cheering the Terrace six on, giving them the home crowd boost. Greenwood said the es- sential organization and technical staff are in place. But more volunteers are needed for various duties, and those volunteers don’t need to know how to ski. “We can transport them up the hill,” he said, add- ing people are needed for office duties, security and other labour. Anyone wan- ting to help out can con- tact Greenwood at 638- 8165. Having the provincials here will leave future ra- cers with competitive level equipment to prac- tice with. Specialized breakaway gates and a new timing system with a display: board are expected to be part of the K2 provincial legacy here, Greenwood said, “We're going to have stuff that’s gong to last us for the next 10 years,” he said. Last year the K2 pro- vincials took place on Mount Washington on Vancouver Island.