B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 6, 1993

INSIDE |
SCOREBOARD B7

BROWN

Fay and the river
ranasone —

ART OF THE attraction were the

Canada Geese — not smali flocks of

ten or twelve birds, but those great

muscular, dynamic V’s, fifty to a
hundred birds strong, rippling across the darken-
ing sky, moving noisily and precisely, slicing
through the cold, demanding air on thelr way
south.

And there was the landscape, the trees burnt red
and yellow and orange, hues more vivid than
those on the palette of the most imaginative im-

- pressionist; the snow moving ata measured pace
.from the tops of the jagged mountains to the
lowlands and finally down to the valley and the
tops of the cabins.

There were the mountains far away, turing
pink under the oblique rays of the autumn sun,
and the steep slopes near by, sometimes wrapped —
in mist, sometimes backlit by the spikes of North-
ern lights.

There was the smell of Autumn, a musk made
of the fragrances of fires, dying leaves,
decomposing: salmon, mushtoons and the earth
on the forest floor. ~~

Then there were the valley people: ranchers,
fishermen, loggers and natives — friendly,
rugged, self-reliant folk, happy with their sur-
roundings and proud to. bea partof them, ;

f ‘There was Olga's-friendship, the robust meals at

the-ledge-and_the- fine-companionsiip-on-colfee _—

nights,

And there was the river, at times slow and gen--
tle, at times fast and angry; al times stingy and
difficult, at times kind and generous,

All of these things shaped.a deep love affair be-
tween Fay Davis and the Kispiox and kept him
coming back, driving-well over a thousand miles
each season for-twenly seasons.

The first years were exploratory. Fay waded the
waters of the Dundas, probed Four Mile, sought
fish ln the Root Cellar, the Potato Patch, ;

He began fishing when the salmon were still
spawning and fished until ice made the banks
treacherous and choked the runs. He fished hard,
thought a lot, experimented, and, over. the years,
developed an uncanny | knack for catching Kispiox
steelhead,

The wear of the seasons limited his movements
until Fay’s beat consisted of less than a mile of
water.

The Woods Pool, Fay’ 8 Run, the Washing Ma-
chine and the fabled Cottonwoods were all within
comfortable walking distance of his rustic cabin.
perched on the edge of Olga’s camp. He: con-
centrated on them, getting to know every riffle,
depression and bar, noting their changes i and solv-
ing each problem the river set him...”

- Six years ago 1 made the scenic drive to’ the
Kispiox | to spend an afternoon fishing, It was late.
in the season. The water was low and cold. All
but a few hardy fishermen had left the valley, and
none of them were fishing. —

I slipped | into’: my waders, covered the rest of
body in. wool and’slid-in at the head end of the
Collonwoods, T was standing in the tail of the
pool at the end of my ‘second fruliless pass
through it when Fay appeared at its head. ©

He made a few casts where I had a short time
before and hooked a steelhead.

I walked up to watch him play it. It was a big
fish. Fay looked almost. too frail to handle it, but
he did, skilifully.

Afterward we talked..1 asked for’ his secret in
the course of our conversation. He scratched the

grizzled stubble on his chin, then looked at me .

with his washed-out blue eyes.

“They've all gotta pass by here,”” he told me in -
his raspy voice, ‘1 just follow their footsteps.””.

‘The river changes. ‘There are changes alongside
the river. Olga has sold the lodge. Fay did not
make ihe trip for the last two seasons,

F spoke to him a short time ago. He wanted to ~
sell his memoirs and donate the proceeds lo the -
Wild Steelhead: Campaign, to help fight for the
great fish of the river he loved so much.

“How’s your health?’ asked. ©

“y don’t like to talk about It” he said then
quickly shifted topics...

Marylou. ‘phoned this week and told me Fay
passed :: on. Coincidentally, - Va. “Deon Treading
through ‘his memoirs...

“You may yearn and: strive to earn a : place in
the. river's heart,’?. he ‘wrote,:‘Your pulse will

pair with this river so mire, should you wish to be- ,

come a part’?
Fay’s Run ‘is still there, a. few. ‘yards from the
, part of the ri { a8 -he

- TERRACE STANDARD

PORTS —

. SECTION B-
COLM BAXTER ¢ 638-7283

A Sportsman’s sportsman

HE HAD the best looking car in
the division (#6) and his pit crew
picked up the annual award for
their work, but Albert Weber
couldn’t quite complete the
sweep.

Once again Weber had to setile
for. the runner-up spot in. the
Sportsman class, Ernie Perkins
picking up 931 points to success~
fully defend his ’92 title.

However, Weber did walk away
from the Terrace Stock Car asso-
ciation awards night with one
prized trophy, that of Sporisman
of the Year | oe

The tightest point races of the
season was in the C Hobby class
where Dawn Thomas went one
better than last year to-take top
spot with 665 points.

That was just 45 clear of Sharon

Fagan who in turn was 43 points
better than Leslie Lynch.

With the points system used,
those were narrow margins but
not as narrow as the one that
deprived Elizabeth Cloakey of
third spot.

The C Hobby rookie of the year
was a scant seven points shy of
Lynch’s tolal.

Dan Thickett in #97 was anoth-

er to make it two years in a row at’

the top, his 657 tally in B Hobby
comfortably clear of nearest chal-
lenger Blaine Kluss.

Charlie Hilis, having taken the

B Street last year, moved up to A

Street this season with the same
victorious results.

However, he was hard pressed
by top Street rookie Fraser
Sutherland whose 586 6 points was

only 43 shy of Ellis.
B Street this time went to

_ Dennis Bailey with Kevin Preece

edging out Shane Meier for sec-
ond. ,
Brent McCarron’s domination

of A Hobby translated to a 771.

point total, the third highest of
any division, and allowed him to
knock off '92 champ Jules
LaFrance by more than 140
points. ©

Shelley Reinhardt had to settle
for the runner-up spot again in C

. Street, Jennifer Darby taking the

crown with a solid 738 point tal-
ly.
Reinhardt did prove unbeatable
in one area though, taking home
the Roll’ Over trophy for the most
impressive mishap of the season.
Other rookie awards went to

Cori Lemky in the Sportsman
class while Gord Klassen took it
for Hobby.

The fastest laps recorded this
season were by Perkins (17.14 in
Sportsman); Darby (21.04 in C
Strect); Ellis (20.84 overall
Street); Fagan and Tomas (19.48
in C Hobby); and LaFrance and
McCarron (18.99 overall Hobby).

Best Looking car awards went.

lo #66 in Hobby while #226 and
#650 shared the honours in Street,

Mike Lemky got the Hard Luck
trophy, Helene Harris was named
member of the year and Guy
Lynch received the President's
Plaque.

* Memorial race winners for 93

were Weber (Sportsman), Wes
Patterson (Hobby) and Meier
(treet).

-Vandermuellen makes it two

E On target

CHIPPING TO within five teat of the pin on the final hole, Mike Vandermuellen sets up @ par putt
and victory in this year's Skeena Valley Junior club championship, his second d tourney. win in ‘93.

Cedarland tire of

CEDARLAND TIRE were in a
class of their own in this season’s
Youth Saccer playoff.

That’s because they were the

only team in any league able to |

‘turn the tables on the regular sea-

. son champs.

Having opened their Under-12s
playoff run with crushing vic-

‘tories in which they outscored the |
- opposition 26-5, Cedarland: then °
dropped league champs Co-op 8-
‘Sto earn the ‘A’ side berth in the
final.

Co-op promptly overpowered

- Bandstra 6-2 to take the *B’ side
and set up a rematch.

It was a much tighter affair this
time, but, Cedartand were not to

be denied, squeezing oul a 3-2

‘victory for the playoff title,
. Close games were also the or-

der of the day for Terrace ©
Builders, at least until they. got t to
* the Under-15 Boys final:*

- After eking out one goal wins
over Carpenlers and Overwaitea

to get to-the final, the league

Bo “champion: ‘Builders: .
‘Chances “in that. game, doubling
oe _, the Carp

took no

~“Qverwaitea had’ the ¢ frsining,

runner-up’s role

experience of losing out in both
the ‘A’ and ‘B’ side semis.

Also pulling off the league-
playoff double was Manuels ‘in
Under-19 Boys action, knocking
off Northern Drugs for the latter
title.

' Under-13s Girls team
Wilkinson Canons survived a 1-0
scare at the. hands of Terrace

* Shell in their playoff opener, ‘but

put it together from there.
After a-4-0 shut out took them
to the final, the Canons made sure

of thelr double ‘with a 3-1 win

over Braids.
‘Defence was the secret to suc-

" cess-in the Under-19 Girls final,

Tide Lake blanking Pizza Hut 2-0
to add the playoffs to their league
triumph.

Hard luck story of this division
belonged to Terrace Travel. Win-

hing: their opener only after a
“shoot-out, the: team was: ushered

out of the tournament ‘through

, Under-10s.doub

successive one goal losses, the
Jast another shoot-out. -
Copperside: sewed

up ~ the
tha 5-1. win.

MIKE VANDERMUELLEN col-
lected his second golf title of the
season Sept. 26, completing the
36-hole Skeena Valley Junior
club championship tourney in
157,

But this time he decided to
avoid the dramatics of his Open
win earlicr in the season.

On that occasion {t took a late
charge of successive birdies and
an extra hole to take top spot.

This time around he came to the
last nursing a comfortable lead
over Shane DeJong.

His second having dropped just
short of the green, Vandermuel-.
len chipped to within five feet.
then drained the pult for par and a
five stroke victory.

DeJong|s’strong performance =
he’s :a; nine handicap.to-:
Vandermuellen’s seven -- earned

a q eee .

aed

him overall low net honours with °

a144,

On the Girls side, Kara DeJong
won low gross while Tanya
McNee took ihe low net.

Tyler Gibson, the only other
golfer to keep within striking dis-
tance of Vandermuellen and
Shane DeJong, came away with
the low gtoss title in the

Championship flight, Craig Lewis —

winning the division’s low net.

In A Flight, Wes Kinney edged
out Kevin McNee for top’ spot
while Craig Johanson kept Scott
Rigler at bay by just two strokes
in the net batile.

Bret Downle’ 212 was enough .

for low gross in the B Flight
where Travis Tait took the ‘net
side.

Scores generally were’ higher |

than in the July Open event, a

refiection of the wetter condition

of the course and less time spent
on the links with school back i in
session.

a “Careful aim

NO DIDDLING AROUND for serious dart players like Annetta -

Hiren. One of the local aces, she and her pariner made the
playoffs in mixed doubles at the Terrace Dart Open Friday
night, but did not make it Into the money. The arrows con-

_ tinued to fly all weekend as compatitors chased a share of the
prize money. and a chance to ‘get’ thelr’ names engraved 0 on an
:.. the: event i trophy: Full results next week, 9: