#9 – July 22 1999

The unique attraction of the Grand Forks Valley lies not only in its natural beauty but also in the interesting and rich past of the area.
Long before the settlement of the white man, Indians made their home in the Grand Forks Valley and the Christina Lake area. Indian writings and artifacts have been found to prove their occupation. Probably the first white men to visit the valley were fur traders from the Hudson’s Bay Post at Fort Colville.
The first known white settlers in this valley were J. McConnell and J. McCauley in about 1865. Also in 1865, Edgar Dewdney was blazing his famous trail from Hope to Fort Steele.

The population continued to increase and a settlement at the juncture of the Kettle River and North Fork River was known as “La Grand Prairie”. On April 15, 1897 the settlement was incorporated into the City of Grand Forks. Rapid growth took place at this time, when rich strikes of copper were discovered at Phoenix and Deadwood. The Granby Smelter came into being in 1900. It was the largest non-ferrous copper smelter in the British Empire. Discovery of gold and silver in the North Fork Valley contributed to the wealth of the area and the Union Mine came into being. With the Granby Smelter in full operation, the district settled down to twenty years of prosperity. Farming was developing and many orchards were planted.
In 1919 the drop in the copper market made it necessary for the Granby Company to close the Phoenix mines and dismantle the smelter, a shattering blow to the whole district.
There was little growth until new industries such as seed growing, logging and sawmill operations all combined to bring prosperity back to the community.
Now, with the high speed cable and wireless internet service Grand Forks and the Boundary area are ready to move into the New Millenium, totally connected to the world and the future.

Grand Forks takes pride in conserving the older buildings of the Grand Forks district to keep the connection to our past through the architecture and the stories that make these buildings come alive. The citizens of the district have shown their pride in this legacy in many ways. The City of Grand Forks took a bold step toward conserving its heritage in 1979-81 with the restoration of the old post office and its adaptive reuse as City Hall. The restoration and other projects have all contributed to the enhancement of our city.
To find out how you can take a walk through history with a map showing the locations of the 19 buildings on the walking tour, contact the Grand Forks Museum or the Tourist Info. Office at the corner of 5th Street and Central Avenue beside Gyro Park.

Ask the Man
Question to Mayor Brian Taylor:
Is it true that the beach below the slag pile is included in a new zone, and what would happen to future recreational use?
Answer from Brian Taylor: It is true that the beach below the slag pile is now in the new zone, this zone is for value added wood manufacturing. I think it is worthwhile appearing in front of the whole of council at a regular meeting to get the issue on the table. As for my personal opinion, I feel that the block below the road from approx. the slag pile to the dam site should be removed from this zone and made into an undeveloped park. It may be years before we are in a position as a city to develop this river side area, but to allow industrial use of this land could result in the loss to the public of a large area of river access and an historic site at the dam.
Although this issue will likely be sent to the committee for review, I believe it will be useful to start the clock with a delegation to the whole of council.

Hunter’s Boat

The word kayak comes from the Inuit word “qayaq”, which means “hunter’s boat”. Kayaks are decked boats characterized by two features: the paddler is in a seated position and uses a two-bladed paddle. Single-seated kayaks are known as K-1’s; doubles as K-2’s.
Whitewater boats are usually made of either fiberglass and/or kevlar, or more commonly, rotomolded plastics. The latter are not as fast or maneuverable as the lighter, more agile cloth/resin boats, but they are practically indestructible and a lot of fun. An ultra-low-volume kayak is sometimes called a squirt boat; a very short kayak with blunt ends is sometimes called a bat boat (it looks like a suppository with a cockpit). K-1s are the rule in whitewater, and you rarely see K-2 slalom boats.
Speaking of slalom boats, they’re halfway between ordinary river-running craft and squirt boats. They’re 4 meters long (because that’s the minimum allowed length) and have very flat decks (to sneak the ends under the poles). They are built to optimize speed and agility at all costs, including stability.
A relatively recent innovation in kayak construction is the “funyak” or “ducky”; these are essentially one-person self-bailing rafts in the shape of a kayak. What they lack in maneuverability they make up for in stability; they’re an ideal craft for a beginner interested in solo paddling, as they allow folks to get a taste of whitewater without developing skills such as the eskimo roll, eddy turn, etc. They’re used by experienced river runners as well, and can be paddled anywhere a decked kayak can. However, since they can’t be eskimo-rolled, they may not be appropriate for some big-water situations.
Some generalizations: Fiberglass kayaks tend to be lighter, faster, and more costlier. Rotomolded kayaks are heavier, slower, yet cheaper and virtually indestructible. Portable kayaks are heavier, wider, and very expensive but great for travel on planes or if you live in an apartment. Not as low maintenance as fiberglass, though. PVC inflatable kayaks are light, cheap, and easy to transport. Not much storage space and prone to punctures, but easy to fix. Although designed for warm water, they have been successfully paddled on long trips in Alaska. Wooden kayaks are usually kits, and are fairly light and durable, but require more maintenance.
Before you pick a kayak, decide what you’ll be doing with it. Camping, fishing, photography, day trips, expeditions, racing, surfing, etc. Also consider your size in relation to the boat’s size. You should comfortably fit in the boat, not too snug or too loose.

Editorial
Be Happy

A book I’ve read on more than one occasion and still pick up every once in a while, has very interesting ways of looking at things. The book is called “Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” written by Richard Bach. The story starts out with this mechanic who discovered he had the ability to heal sicknesses and cure diseases and the rest of the extra things that go along with the Messiah job. As people discovered him, his popularity gave him no more time for his job and he went to the masses. Before long, the inevitable happened “When he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives” he quit, but before he quit he said “If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?
“Of course, Master!” cried the many. “It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!”
“No matter what those tortures nor how difficult the task?”
“Honour to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked,” they said.
“And what would you do, ” the Master said unto the multitude, “if God spoke directly to your face and said, ‘I command that you be happy in the world, as long as you live!’ What would you do then?” And the multitude was silent….
That is the big question! How can one be happy, no matter what? I guess everyone has to answer that one themselves. Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain, says that laughter is our only defense against the onslaught of reality and I would have to agree with him. If we can’t learn to laugh at ourselves and develop our sense of humour, then it will be that much harder to be happy no matter what.

Letters to the editor
“No Shit” in the gutter

I just received the latest issue of your newsletter – #7 June 24, 1999.
It is an understatement to say that I was very disappointed by the article you chose to print on page 3 – Special High Intensity Training. The wording and language leave a lot to be desired. This is not the type of example I would expect from a newsletter that purports to have the community interest at heart.
If I had to pay for a subscription I would cancel it immediately. As it is – a friend has been sending me a copy of each issue and I will request that stop as of now.
Until this issue I had very much enjoyed reading this newsletter. Perhaps you are more “Open Minded” than I am but I do not think the world needs any more of this type of “Gutter Minded” information.
Disappointed,
Lee Kitto

Greenwood City of History
Welcome to Boundary country! Please accept this as an invitation to visit Greenwood, the smallest City in British Columbia. Greenwood became a city in 1897 when rich ore deposits were discovered by prospectors headed north. Greenwood is unique in that we have several original wood-frame buildings dating from the turn of the century. These buildings have been beautifully maintained, including our City Hall, which was the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the County Court for the southern County of Yale from 1902 to 1953. This building is the court room setting for the soon to be released movie based on the best selling novel “Snow Falling on Cedars.” Our history is captured in the displays at the Greenwood Museum right on Highway #3. Take the time and stop in. We look forward to your visit.
Some of the places to see:
TransCanada Trail/ Railway beds · Hike Roderick Dhu & other trails · Boundary Creek / Jewel Lake · Explore our Historic sites & interesting spots · Relax in our rural settings · Info Centre located at Greenwood Museum.
For further information please contact the Greenwood Board of Trade, Box 430, Greenwood B.C. V0H 1J0
Ph: (250) 445-6323 or Fax: (250) 445-6166

BRITTLE BONES,
STRONG HEART

Brianne Schwantes was born with more than a dozen broken bones! Even now, as a teenager, her bones are so weak, they can break if she bumps into a table or if she trips. She’s just 4’7″ and weighs only 60-some pounds, but she is one of the strongest people you’ll ever meet.
Brianne has a rare disease named Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as “OI”. All kids with OI have bones that break too easily. They don’t grow as fast as other children and they’re sometimes in a lot of pain.
People tell OI kids to be super careful, to just stay in bed with lots of pillows around their bodies. But Brianne says everybody’s got to have a life. She wants OI kids to do as much as they possibly can. “One of the things that I enjoy doing the most is volunteering,” Brianne says. “My parents taught me that the most important thing a person can do in their life is to help out others in need.”
When she was 13, she saw reports on TV about terrible floods in Iowa, far from her Wisconsin home. It was very scary to see pictures of the water filling up more and more people’s homes. Brianne called the Red Cross to see what people could do to help. They told her people in Iowa would need everything – food, clothing, furniture and new houses to put it all in. But immediately, they needed help cleaning up the damage the flood was causing. There was deep mud covering everything and lots of broken wood, glass and metal. Brianne met some people who said they were going to Iowa to help fight the flood and she told them she was coming too.
She begged her parents to let her go, but they were worried that she could get hurt. Brianne solved the problem by convincing them to come too. The whole family filled up a truck with things the flood victims needed, then drove to Iowa.
When they got there, Brianne filled sandbags and helped clean up the messes the water had made in the stores. She washed things off and put things back on shelves. Even these simple things were risky for her. If she slipped or if something fell on her, she could be very badly hurt. Brianne says she had a wonderful time.
When there were big floods in Georgia two years later, she quickly convinced nine people to go with her and help the people there. These were very big trips for Brianne. She and other kids with OI are sometimes so sick they can’t even go to school.
Brianne was concerned that their lives were lonely, so she decided to start a paper just for kids with OI. It’s called “Little Bones”. In it Brianne writes about living a good life even if you have OI. She writes about the problems OI kids have and she puts in letters, puzzles and riddles. “Little Bones” helps kids with OI know they’re not alone.
Brianne also writes about new treatments for the disease. She’s an expert on this medical news because four times a year she goes to a special hospital in Washington, D.C. There, she tries out new treatments for OI. In “Little Bones”, she calls herself the ‘guinea pig’. “If they’re going to try something new, they try it on me first,” she says. She writes her reports to give other children with OI hope that they’ll get better.
Brianne’s body may be weak, but she has a truly strong heart. When the President of the United States heard about her work in Iowa, he asked to meet her. He was amazed. “This child’s bones may break”, he said. “But her spirit will not”. Brianne is a Giraffe. To learn more about Brianne and other Giraffes or to nominate someone you know for Giraffe honours, visit http://www.giraffe.org
Carl Dortch 442-2491
Director, Lolita’s Legion url:http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/canopy/8126
email: lkitto@wkpowerlink.com

Did you Know?
Why does the hair on your head keep growing while the hair on the rest of your body gets to a certain length and then stops?

Actually, the hair on your head does stop growing eventually. It just takes a lot longer. Here’s what happens. All the hair on your body has times when it’s growing and times when it’s not. When hair isn’t growing, it’s said to be dormant. After hanging around the follicle awhile (the follicle is the socket in your skin that the hair grows out of), the old piece of hair gets shoved out by a new hair pushing up from below. On most of your body, the hair grows only a short time before becoming dormant. As a result, it only gets to be maybe a half inch long. But head hair grows for a much longer time – from 2 to 6 years. If you let it grow all that time, it could get 2 to 3 feet long. Maybe even longer. There’s a woman in Massachusetts whose hair got to be 10 1/2 feet long. (Obviously this is not somebody you want to let get into the bathroom ahead of you in the morning.)
Eventually, though, your head hair is going to stop growing – not all at once, of course, or you’d go bald when the hairs fell out. Each hair stays dormant for about three months, then gets pushed out by a new hair coming in from below. You lose maybe 70 to 100 hairs a day this way. If you’re male, save them. By the time you’re 40 you’ll need all you can get…

Is it true horses sleep standing up?
You’ve probably seen those westerns where the bad guys sneak up on the good guys’ camp at night and steal the horses. The horses are always just standing there, ready at a moment’s notice to be stolen or stampeded or whatever it is the bad guys have in mind.
“What’s the deal?” you ask. “Don’t horses ever lie down?” Actually, they do – sometimes. When they’re sick, for instance. Or when a mare is foaling. But not usually. Horses can go for days and sometimes even weeks without ever leaving their feet. They have the ability to lock their knees into a standing position and sleep at the same time. Some experts say horses are more comfortable and use less energy when standing up. Part of the problem with lying down is that the great weight of the horse’s body can make it difficult to breathe.

Quote
In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime.
Richard Bach – Illusions

Just for laughs…
A man buys a parrot from a pet shop. The parrot is highly intelligent, but all he ever does is swear. Day and night the parrot shouts out obscene words and phrases until one day the man decides to teach him a lesson. He opens his freezer, grabs the bird by its neck, throws him inside and slams the door shut. The bird bangs constantly on the door asking to be let out and promises never to swear again. After about 5 minutes the man agrees to give the bird one more chance and places him back on his shoulder.
After a few minutes the parrot has warmed up again and asks the man meekly, “What did the chicken do?”