B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 28, 1998 .

‘CHRISTIANA WIENS

‘ -“SKEENA ANGLER |; ROB BROWN

Finlay’s rod

s Friday night. Earlier today, drawn together by the moment when his life became our fond memories, we celebrated Finlay Ferguson’s life. I sat in the chapel next to a display of the things set there to make remembering easier. . His hats were there. There was the tweed model he’d bought in Scotland. This was the sky piece he Kept for special occasions when it was worm with gray slacks and a blue jacket. The brown Tilley that covered his dome when he went fishing was there too, hanging ceremoniously from the wading staff he’d fash- ioned from the aluminum poles of an old canvas tent someone had discarded on the banks of the Copper River.

And, there was the green rod, the one John Baigent, the highly respected labour lawyer and avid steelheader had custom built for Finlay.

As I sat there fighting back tears I recalled how Finlay waited for that pole like a kid wait- ing for a gift from the Sears Christmas catalog, “Jobn’s ordered this rod for me,’’ he said, “He says it’s the best he’s fished.’”

I worried Fin might be disappointed. Lots of extravagant claims are made about rods, and besides, one man’s wheat is another man’s chaff. Anyway, after months it came, and it proved to be everything John said it was, “Winston 10” for six. Finlay.”? was written in white on the deep green graphite just above the gtip. ‘Finlay fished it exclusively from the time he first received it He caught hundreds of trout, hundreds of dotly varden, and fair number of steelhead with it, some of them quite large.

I stood up to do the eulogy. At the'end of it I said: ‘‘Sometime later today I’m going to tie up a Skinny Skunk, tie it on the end of a 10-foot section of 10-pound leader, then attach that to a floating fly line, just the way Fialay did, Then I’m going to drive down to Shames and walk down the path past the railway bridge that was built in 1914, the year he was bom. I’m going to wade the side channel we waded together so many times,’’ '

“T will cross the island through the long grasses, walk the cobble to Ferguson’s Reach, and fish the afiernoon away and drink in the beauty of the place. J’Il catch a fish, I may let it go. 1 may take it home for dinner. Either way Pl dedicate it to my dear friend Finlay. Then Pil thank the river for sharing its riches with us, and for providing a venue for the many wonder- ful moments we shared,”

After the reception at Fin’s daughter Mary’s house, I set out to do just that, On my way out the door Mary stopped me. ‘Take Dad’s rod,’’ she said. I did and a box of his flies. An hour later I was standing at the head of Finlay’s favourite riffle. I tled on a Skinny Skunk. The sinking sun lit up the tops of the trees. The val- ley seemed so much wider now that the water had fallen to winter levels. The highest peaks of the distant mountains had a dusting of snow.

I took off my hat bowed my head and stood there for a silent, calm minute while the river hissed and an eagle called from the distance, In repose like that a minute seems a long time.

Next ] unfastened the back elastics Finlay had fashioned from inner tubes, flexed the green rod. then sent the fly out over the water, The rod drove the skunk 40 feet. I lengthened the line and sent il out to 60, efforllessly. Fin had the reel perfectly balanced to the rod which made casting all the easicr. What a gorgeous rod I thought.

Half way along the riffle a fish took and ran in one motion. I brought it to shore: a dolly varden of about 16 inches. Perfect, I thought. I let the fish go then set out for the car. A man was standing next to the pool above the highway bridge. “‘Any luck??? he asked. I introduced myself and told him what I was up to. The pool before us fooked interesting. “There should be some in here,’’ I said unhooking the fy and casting it out with a single spey. I had a pluck on the third cast and take a few minutes later. The rod bent, ] played the fish for a few minutes then slid it toward the beach, a dolly of, say, two pounds.

With a loud snap the rod exploded and col- lapsed midway between the stripping guide and cork, where rods never break, [ was stunned. 1 looked down at the shattered pole, then down the Jine to the fish. The leader snapped and it swam into the green prisms with Fin’s skinny Skunk in its jaw,

“*Well,’’ said the surprised onlooker trying to console me, ‘at least it caught a fish on its last cast.”

I pulled the spent rod apart at the ferrule. ‘1 guess it had caught all the fish itwas meant to,”’ I said.

TERRACE STANDARD

SPORTS

Local makes. rugby history _

FOR BEING being Cana- da’s record cap winner, Ed- die Evans isn’t exactly a household name in Cana- da's sporting circles,

' But the 238-pound, five- feet-ll-inch player from Terrace made the rugby

.tecord books on Aug. 18

when he made his 48th ap- ‘pearance for Canada in the World Cup qualifiers in Buenos Aires.

Evans eared his first cap against the United States in Tucson in 1986 at the age of 21.

Some of his highlights in 12 years of play for Cana- da’s national team include tough games against France in 1994 and Argentina in 1995, when team Canada lost to a powerful front row 29-26.

“He's a toad in God's pocket,’ said Steve Evans.

Rugby is a life-long hobby for Evans and he seems to have enjoyed every game.

“['m surprised that I’ve reached this milestone I never keep track of cap records, I just like to go out and contribute,”’ he said after winning the record.

He started playing compe- litively in high school. At 17 be played club side for Cowichan -—- which is vir- tually unheard of in the sport.

But at 245 pounds he was big enough and had the

Kennedy

over booked

SHELDON KENNEDY was supposed be in Terrace last week to raise money for a camp for sexually-abused kids,

But he only might have only made it to Prince Rupert because organizers in Calgary double booked his time.

She said trips to our area might be possible at a later date but she wasn’t sure as

Kennedy is also trying to.

get back in the NHL.

The former Detroit, Cal- gary and Boston player was sexually abused by his jun- ior team coach and just fin- ished a nationwide roller- blading tour.

He was to skate at the arena and speak to the

Chamber of Commerce Fri-

day to raise money for Anaphe Ranch, a centre for victims of sexual abuse near Invermere.

pe | Score Board

Recreational hockey game results Thursday, Oct, 15

Skeena Cable Cdns. All Seasans

~~] aA

Saturday, Oct. 17 White Spot 7 Back Eddy Bullies 5

Tuesday, Oct. 20 Chapter One Acros = 2 Skeena Cable Cdns. = 5

White Spot 2 All Seasons 16 Oldtimers games Saturday, Oct. 17 Subway 5 NM Inn Okles 8

Sunday, Oct, 18 Subway SRD Blues

a

_tion team that hand-picked

’ altogether. after the.. 1999

talent, said his younger brother Steve who lives in Terrace.

He played for the Oak Wanderers in Victoria and — Crimson Tide — a combina-

top players from Vancouver, Victoria and the Lower Mainland — to play in the McKechnie Cup.

He played college ball while receiving a degree from UBC and then moved to a city 40 minutes out of Tokyo in Japan to work and play rugby for IBM.

Steve Evans, who used to play rugby with his brother says that when it comes to tugby his brother was al- ways lucky.

“He's a toad in God's pocket,’ said Steve Evans smiling.

Not only that but he’s a real charmer with the fans,

**He’s kind of a cult figure in rugby,” said his brother. He’s quirky, easy geing, | funny and charming so it’s no wonder the fans love him, says his brother.

But the sport is changing. At 34 he’s a good five years older than the average rugby player on the world cup cir- cuit.

He hurt his back in 1991 and took two months off to recuperate. And, interna- tionally, the game has picked up speed so Eddie Evans recently dropped his weight from 260 pounds to 235 pounds,

And he may very well

drop the Canada Cup

match up, says Steve Evans.

‘He's getting old,”’ said younger brother Steve Evans.

NICE ONEI: Chris Yeast and Jp Emmanuel are in their fourth year of karate with the Terrace Karate Club, Both of them are 12 years old and wear an orange belt.

Hooked on karate

IT’S ALL about balance, posture and making your mind control the movements of your body,

The Terrace Karate Club is heading into it’s twenticth year of teaching school-aged kids about mental and physi- cal conditioning.

Started by Sensei Roland LaGace the club now takes up to 50 kids, aged nine to 13 and the enrollment usually fluc- tuates with the popularity of movies like The Karate Kid.

**Younger kids just don’t have the attention span and dis- cipline,’ said Norm Goodlad an instructor at the Terrace Karate Club, And once the kids reach 14 they join regu- larly scheduled adult classes.

The club teaches the traditional style of Karate called Renshikan where students learn to control their body with their mind through repetitive exercises.

“You can get hooked on making your body work. bet- ter,’ he said,

The instructors try to set up toumaments with neighbour. ing Prince Rupert and Kitimat clubs but their event of the season is sure to be the Northern Winter Games in Prince Rupert this February.

**Most of the kids will compete,'' said Goodla.

638-7283

EDDIE EVANS with his niece Tristana Peluse at the Pacific Rim soccer tourna- ment at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver last spring. The Terrace-born player _ Spends most of his time in Japan playing for an IBM team, but manages to call Vancouver his home away from home.

Women’s soccer season kicks off

By NAOMI THIBODEAU

THE LADIES indoor soccer season started strong with

eight teams this year.

Action on Monday, Oct. 19 pitched the Purple Panthers against Flower Power. Julie Kozier of Flower Power score the first goal early in the match. With five minutes left in the game and Flower Power enjoying a two-goal lead, Michelle Wnerch found the net twice to

make the game a 3-3 draw.

The evening's second game saw Braid Insurance take on Artistically Red. Sonya Dhami scored the only goal of the first half on a break away from centre to give Red the lead. Goaltending by Artistically Red held Braid Insurance at bay despite their solid effort. In the second half it took Liz Smaha with a goal from what Jooked like an impossible angle at the side of the net to

make the end result 2-0.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the night’s first game ended 2-1 in favour of Blessings. Jody Frocklage and Janelle Johnson were the goal scorers for Blessings while Sil-

vana Rigsby netted one for the Back Eddy Bullets.

The second match pitched Oasis Sports Club against Beginners’ Luck, Luck wasn’t with the Beginners on Tuesday night as the game ended 3-0 in favour of Oasis. Sue Alger and Pam Kawinsky (2) scored to give

their team the win.

The Terrace Women’s Soccer League plays at Park- side Elementary School on Mondays and Cassie Hall Elementary on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Games start at

7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Naomi Thibodeau has been playing soccer for 10 years. She moved to Terrace a year ago and plays on

the Flower Power team.

Terrace Women’s Indoor Soccer

Leading goalscorers to Oct. 21

Name Goals Team

LizSmaha - 2 ~~ Artistically Red Julie Kozier 2 ~~ Flower Power Pam Kawinsky 2 Oasis Sports Club Michelle Wuerch 2 Purple Panthers

Team standings

Team Ww iL fT Pts Artistically Red 2 0 QO 6 Fiower Power 1 oO 41 5 Blessings i104 Oasis ; i 1 04 Back Eddy Bullets 1 i Oo 4 Purple Panthers 0 G0 24 Beginners’ Luck 0 i 1°3 Braid Insurance o 2 O 2