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Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 30, 1992 — Page A3

is fall

TERRACE — Pine mushrooms continue to be in short supply and focal buyers blame the dry sum- mer for the poor crop.

“We nced more rain and we need more time,’’ says mushroom buyer Lionel Scars. ““We’re look- ing at the middle of October for the main crop. It might be first week of October.’’

“Hot August weather has resulted in fewer mushrooms now than this time last year. °

“August baked the whoke arca so the trees are just absorbing everything that falls,”’ Scars said.

“‘Bverybody thinks its rained so much but as far as the bush is concemed it wanted a shower and we gota bricf sprinkle.”’

The prices are also falling, and consequently the rewards for the few mushrooms coming in have decreased,

The price has fallen from a high of around $106 a pound here down to $30.

The price fall has been at- tributed to the arrival of a new Korean crop, Sears said, and the passing of a major Japanese holiday two weekends ago during

Briefs

It’s delayed

A report on northwest health care has been delayed, possibly until later this week or carly next week.

The report by a sever-

member group created by the provincial government was to have been submitted Sept. 21 but delays were experienced in gathering all of the group io- gether to go over the report's. final version. . The report will examine hos- pilal and community. care in Kitimat, Terrace and Prince Rupert to determine what levels, of service exist now, what is. needed and how to save moncy by creating ef- ficiencies and eliminating duplication.

_A planned meeting of north- west hospitals and other health care. officials has been delayed wiitil’ the report is analyzed, says Terrace Regional Health Care Society chief executive office Michael Leisinger.

Young voters

MUSHROOM PICKER Rick Shaw (left), of Terrace, checks out one of the few top-grade mushrooms coming out of the bush right now. Above, a picker from Vancouver sets up his tent in the rain

Eighteen-year-olds could be voting in next year’s local elections if changes proposed by Victoria are adopted. ;

Other changes include estab- lishing a system of voting by mail, requiring voters to live in the municipality in which they vote and ensuring electioons are more accessible to the physically disabled.

Easy riders

RCMP ONCE again wara pet owners that pets should be secure when being carried in vehicles. ‘That’s to prevent the animal from being thrown or falling out.

The most common violation is a dog not being secured in the back of a pick up truck to prevent. the animal from balancing itself on the box rail or tool box.

This offence is covered un- der Section 66 of the Motor Vehicle Act and carries with it

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at Natural Excellence Industries’ picking camp at Cranberry Jct

from front

“Reality hits them,’’ he said. “They had a dream. They built

: “on that dream. And then they ".. get upset when reality isn’t ex-

actly like the dream.”’ “You come to a bush camp.

“What do you want?” he

demanded. “A Ritz-Carlton Hotel???

“We were all as green as grecn could be,’’ said Janice Spate, a 28-year-old Vancouver picker who left the camp to join some other pickers. ;

She answered the ad and paid her $1,000.

“Some people put their last dollar into getting up here,”’ she

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Pickers keep waiting at mushroom camp

said, ‘It was supposed to be luxurious — it was supposed to be like -a regular logging camp.”

She said the company scouts told them the bears were ex- tremely dangerous in the area.

“They scared us so badly saying don’t leave camp at all because the bears are so bad,” she said. ‘We're cily people and we believe these storics.’’

She blamed the problems on poor planning by the company.

“Tf these people knew what they were doing, it could have been OK,” she said. “‘They had a good idea,”’

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which it is customary to give gifts of pine mushrooms.

He said he expects the price ta level off at around $20 or $25 a pound when the main crop here begins to come in.

The arrival of many newcomers picking has put a lot of pressure

__ on the area’s few mushrooms.

“Some of these pickers. arc desperate, they’re starving,”’ he said.

Most of them are drawn by er- roncous reports of excessive prof- its from the business. .

*Mister average picker — he’s happy if he can buy a TY set or a microwave with his carnings on the season,’’ Sears said. ‘There are a few hotshots out there, but they all exaggerate what they make.” -

And in a year like this, he predicts many will not break even after paying food and gas ¢x- penses. 7

'

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