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Volume 58 No. 17
Sentinel
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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Actors get high praise for play It was, ahem, perhaps the hottest show at the drama zones festival in Terrace in late February. The performance, called Conflagration (which means an all-consuming fire, or one that may burn within you), is performed by two Mount Elizabeth Middle Secondary School (MEMSS) students. Mackenzie Mathews plays Julia, the play’s storyteller who recounts her tale of guilt following a devastating house fire that she may have caused. Playing her friend is Chelsea Vossence, who helps her deal with her feelings. “I play everything that she’s talking about,” said Chelsea. One of the most notable aspects of the pair’s performances is that the entire play is choreographed in such a way that both Mackenzie and Chelsea mirror each other’s motions throughout the play. “We have these long strings of movements we’ve both memorized,” said Mackenzie. “We have to be in rhythm for the entire show.” Their work paid off in dividends. The performance netted both performers an outstanding performance in a lead role award from the Zones. The performance also took an outstanding backstage ensemble award. To top it off, they won a “fun” award for Greatest Gizmos, which was to honour the single black cape that was used interchangeably to represent various costume items. The show will hit the road for the Sears BC Drama Provincials on May 3, to be held in New Westminster. The challenge was huge to put on this performance in Terrace. The pair were hot off the heels of the Into the Woods production the school put on, and overestimated how much prep time they’d have. In fact, they had ended up having 12 days to read, rehearse, and get their performance down pat. “We had not memorized our lines,” said Chelsea. That meant for 12 days straight the pair rehearsed and prepared, sacrificing their free time and even meals to get the show going. “The dedication I’ve seen from these two, I’ve never seen,” said Rick Jones, the school drama teacher. “The amount of hours they’ve put in to make this thing what it is is really, really commendable.” That being the case, he’s intentionally forced them to take a little break from the performance after their win. “We purposely haven’t let them rehearse at all since we finished zones,” he said. Continued on page 2
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
1.30 INCLUDES TAX
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Mackenzie Mathews, at left, with Chelsea Vossence, performing Conflagration, their award winning play at zone competitions in Terrace. Submitted
Wading for a solution for pools Cameron Orr A process has started to determine the future of Kitimat’s wading pools. At a public meeting held on April 17, people gathered in a meeting room at the Tamitik sports complex to hear possibilities for the pools’ fate, and to suggest a wish list for improvements. At the very least, there seemed to be very little, if any, interest in closing them down entirely, but the public which attended the meeting were quite aware of the need to balance a community feature and benefit with it’s monetary values and overall use. Deputy leisure services director Shaun O’Neill provided an overview of the pools’ costs and use over the past several years. The pools had a late start in 2012, and were only open for seven days over
the two-month season they operate in. Over those seven days, 204 people used the pools. It’s a far cry from it’s five-year high of 1,347 kids over 28 days of use in 2007. In 2012, the pool cost $5,243 in wages and maintenance, while in 2007 it cost $6,223 for the year. The District of Kitimat was in touch with a company called RecTec to provide some possible options for the wading pools and costs, and the company returned with two main options. One was to maintain the pools as they are, and just renovate them back to the condition they were when they were first opened decades ago. That work, which would include the building of shade walls, and would provide for about 30 years free of major maintenance, was estimated to cost
$144,641 for both pools. The alternate plan would be to convert the two pools into spray parks which, as initially proposed, would include water spouts built into a newly flatted pool surface. The system would be touch controlled so it could be activated when desired by the public. The need for pool supervisors would not be required in this scenario. The estimated cost for that work is $286,737. O’Neill said that there wasn’t a firm handle on how long a spray park would need before maintenance but said he would expect it to be comparable to the 30 years for the renovation option. From this discussion, the wading pool debate will head for more talk with the town’s recreation advisory committee, before an eventual debate with the town council.
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