Wednesday May 8th,2024
The Atlin Whisper
“Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world.”
Margaret Mead
Atlin Trappers Association
This group was started by local trappers to ensure Trappers Rights are not lost and trapping is carried on by future generations. Trappers spend a lot of time in the back country and we feel our observations of all kinds of wildlife would be beneficial in many ways. A group of trappers dedicated to the sustainable harvest of furbearers in the Atlin Area. This fall we are planning trapping information sessions and get togethers. Memberships are available from Brian Hanslit , Tristen Odian or Karen Smallwood
Any questions call Brian Hanslit 250 651 2277.
Here are the Graduates from the Trapper Education course held in Atlin April 26-28, 2024. In the back row from the left: Abi, Cheri, Ove, Hunter, Hailey, Rebecca, Rodger, Michael, David, in the front row Linda, Ray and Alfred.
12 new Trappers in town! Congratulations to you all.
Thank you to Carl Gitscheff for coming up to Atlin to teach the course. Thank you to the Smallwoods for providing our instructor with a cabin. Thank you to the Atlin Rod and Gun club for letting us use the Club house. Thank you to Everybody that helped with setting up and taking down and cleaning up.
- HAVE INSTRUMENT WILL TRAVEL
The Key to International Goodwill by
Paul LucasMusicians are a funny lot. They spend all their time blowing through tubes, sawing and plucking strings, whacking stuff, or singing. You’d think they would want a break every now and then - a little vacation away from instruments. But no ... The first thing most musicians do when they arrive somewhere new is ask, “Are there any players around town?” Much to the chagrin of their mates, I’m guessing. I never go anywhere without my guitar, because no matter where I end up, no matter what language is spoken, what economics reign or what the political climate is, there will always be musicians, and musicians are the best. They don’t give a crap what language you speak, whether you’re rich or poor, or what your political or religious affiliations are. All they care about is whether or not you can play.
If you can play, you are immediately one of the flock. It is without a doubt, the fastest way to get inside a culture. A couple of tunes and the next thing you know, you are having dinner with the family and talking to Grandma, who, as it turns out, used to sing with Ruben Gonzalez in the old days.
“You remember the Gonzalez family don’t you, Alberto? - those kids down the block? Ruben was nice but that younger brother of his used to steal my lunch.”
It’s fantastic - the international goodwill passport.
Just a bare few months before Covid, we were in Havana. After the movie ‘The Buena Vista Social Club,’ (thanks to Ry Cooder), Cuban pre-revolutionary music took a huge leap, and members of the original bands became stars.
The Buena Vista Social Club musicians ended up touring the U.S. I saw them in Phoenix and it was stunning. The piece ‘Chan Chan’ had become the band’s calling card. I remember that instantly recognizable four chord cycle, the unmistakeable voice of an angel coming from backstage, and the strolling entrance from the wings of the man himself - Ibrahim Ferrer, mic in hand. Everybody stood up. Straight up. We were taking part in living history, and every Cuban in the Southwest was there.
One evening in Havana, I was invited to sit in with a local band. I had just taken my seat, when they jumped in with the opening chords to Chan Chan. I started laughing. They all smiled. These were the sons of Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzales et al, and I was getting to play that famous ‘son’ with them in the home of the music. It was a huge privilege.
A few years earlier, I was touring with a Jazz big band in England. We opened at the Wigan Jazz Festival, sharing the bill with the BBC Jazz Orchestra featuring trombone phenomenon, Bill Watrous. I remember several jaws dropping in our brass section.
This was a special trip for me, because I hadn’t been back to the place of my birth for over twenty years. So after the tour, I headed up to Tyneside, my birthplace South Shields, and the city of Newcastle. To a non-Geordie, it’s hard to describe the ecstasy of burying your face in a pint of Newcastle Brown and a newspaper-wrapped package of fish and chips, but there it was - just as I left it - nestled firmly in my DNA.
Now, despite the fact that it produced Eric Burdon (The Animals), Mark Knoppfler (Dire Straits), Sting (The Police) and many more, Newcastle is not, surprise to say, a Jazz town. It does, however have one Jazz club of note in Pink Lane.
Every time I go to Newcastle, I try to sit in with the band there. It’s great fun playing in the place of your birth. Still, in some ways it can be odd. I came to Canada with a full-blown Geordie accent. I can pick a flat Geordie vowel out of a hall full of people anywhere in the world. When I go back to South Shields, I turn into a language schizophrenic for about two weeks. Then, it seems to me, I simply lapse back into my childhood dialect and that’s that. I’m a Geordie again.
Not according to the locals, though. They say I sound like a ‘bloody Yank,’ both in my speech and my playing. I take the second, at least, as a compliment.
New York, 1983. I looked out of the loft window onto 28th st. My old playing pal, Rick Kilburn, had moved to New York many years before and was now a staple on the scene, playing with the likes of Dave Brubeck and Mose Allison. I was visiting the city for the first time, and I was knocked out.
The jazz energy in New York in the early eighties was palpable. For one reason or another, I hadn’t been able to bring a guitar with me. Guitarist John Schofield was showing up regularly for sessions and Jerry Bergonzi, famed tenor saxophonist, was living upstairs. It was intense, and it was driving me crazy that I didn’t have my instrument. Fortunately, Jerry’s wife had a guitar and she lent it to me for my entire stay. What an angel. I met some of the Brazilian community in a rehearsal loft just down the block. The loft scene in New York was exploding - jam sessions and house concerts were taking place constantly. The Brazilians I played with were some of the kindest, most inclusive people I have ever met. Those traits seem to be baked into the music and musicians alike.
Thing is, once you sit down with these folks, you won’t be getting back up until dawn. They love to play and they surely know how to party. •••
New York, 1983. I met David Amram at ‘Folk on the Rocks’ in Yellowknife NWT. To say he is a musical giant is to barely scratch the surface. He is, in fact, an American icon. Multi-instrumentalist, he straddles both the Classical and Jazz worlds. He was composer in residence for the NY Philharmonic and Lincoln Centre Theatre and the author of several books. (I read one of those books long before I knew him as a composer). He is a member of the Kerouak/Ginsberg crowd, was a pal of Leonard Bernstein, and a bandmate of Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus.
When I met him, he was booked as a solo artist, playing french horn, piano and a collection of various world music instruments. At the time he was just knocking around the country and playing festivals. How Kerouakian! We ended up jamming together, and he said the next time I visited New York, I should look him up. •••
I hit the bell to Amram’s loft in the Village, and he buzzed me in. Under my arm were transcriptions of several songs of the Tlingit and Athapascan First Nations - part of a project funded by the Canada Council. David had recently written a piece called ‘Native American Portraits,’ and he wanted to see what I had been working on. He was leafing through my transcriptions when, about half way through, he stopped dead to look at his watch.
“Damn. I’ve gotta go. Lucas (Lucas Foss) is presenting one of my pieces at the Brooklyn School tonight. Do you want to come?”
“You bet. What are they playing?” “Native American Portraits. “
“You’re shitting me.”
“I shit thee not.”
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
David Amram’s birthday lands one day before my own. I’m pretty sure that’s where the similarity ends (other than the fact he loves a good laugh}. He is, at the time of this writing, 90 years old. I suspect he remains seriously engaged in life. Such a kind man.
Most musicians aren’t in it for the money. They are in it purely for the music and the sense of belonging to a musical community. That’s why its possible to end up jamming on a floating jazz barge in Hamburg’s harbour, in a loft in New York City, on a riverboat from Memphis to New Orleans, or in a jazz club in West Berlin, and always feel at home. It’s a wonderful thing, and something I never take for granted.
“A Guitar Player On The Yukon Border” can be found at local bookstores and on Amazon.com. Paul can be found at paullucasmusic.com
William Robert (Bob) Ewing
Bob went home to be with the LORD on April 22, 2024 after an extensive stroke on March 3, 2024. Bob is the son of the late George Ewing from Motherwell, Scotland and the late Grace Bowie from Miramichi, New Brunswick. Bob is survived by his wife Trudy, son Matthew Ewing (Tisha) from Atlin, daughters Grace Mills (Sam) from Tasmania and Michaela Ewing from Vancouver Island, granddaughters Abigail and Shelby, brother Ron Ewing (Wendy) from Gabriola Island and sister Lorna Donaldson (Don) from Lake Cowichan and many nieces and nephew.
Bob loved his family and friends and was known to always forgive and let all offenses roll by. Bob had a great sense of humour and was known for his “bobisms.” Bob enjoyed reading especially with his dog Tilly by his side.
Bob found great comfort in the following scripture:
“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish-sorrow and mourning- nor grief nor pain anymore; for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.”
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, June 15th at the Atlin Inn from 2:004:00 pm. If any one has any memories or messages that you would like to have read at the celebration, please forward them to bobandtrudyewing@gmail.com
facebook.com/StixTogether
LANDFILL
SPRING/SUMMER HOURS
SATURDAY-MONDAY
CLOSED ON ALL BC STATUTORY HOLIDAYS
Victoria Day - Closed Monday, May 20th ….…. Open May 18, 19, 21
Canada Day - Closed Monday, July 1st …… Open June 29, 30 & July 2
BC Day - Closed Monday, Aug 5th …...…. Open Aug 3, 4, 6
Labour Day - Closed Monday, Sept 2nd ……... Open Aug 31 & Sept 1, 3
National Day for Truth & Reconciliation - Closed Monday Sept 30 … Open Sept 28, 29 & Oct 1
Thanksgiving Day - Closed Monday, Oct 14th ... Open Oct 12, 13, 15
HOURS 11 AM - 4 PM
Operated by the Atlin Community Improvement District
Message from the Atlin community representative on the G2G Forum.
The Taku River Tlingit First Nation-BC Government to Government Forum(G2G Forum) was established through the 2011 Wooshtin Yan too At Land and Resource Management and Shared Decision Making Agreement. The 2011 Agreement and G2G Forum set out the process the Province will follow to consult with TRTFN about proposed provincial decisions within their territory that could impact TRTFN’s constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights. The G2G Forum also provides a strategic venue for dialogue between the two Parties about land and resource management topics, overseeing several Joint Initiatives (which are technical working groups to target shared priorities).
The Joint Initiative (JI) Working Groups address important issues on the land base, including mining and mineral exploration, protected areas, fish and wildlife management, as well as research and monitoring.
If you are interested in the Protected areas around Atlin, you can find the Management plans and/or locations of the Conservancies that were established in the Atlin Taku Land Use plan at these links: https://bcparks.ca/about/management-plans/approved/ and https://bcparks.ca/find-apark/a-z-list/
If you want to read about the news release for the Gaayhllxid • Gíhlagalgang “Rising Tide” Haida Title Lands Agreement this is a helpful resource https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2020-2024/2024PREM0020000560.pdf
As your Atlin Community representative, I would like to hear from you about topics that are important to you so I can be the conduit of Atlin Community interests at the Forum.
The next G2G Forum is in Atlin in July.
Send me your questions or issues relating to the scope of the G2G by emailing
infoatling2g@gmail.com
Åsa Berg
The
Blessed
Sometimes We look not, For fear that we might see.
Sometimes We seek not, For fear that we might find.
Sometimes We think not, For fear that we might know.
Sometimes We feel not, For fear that we might feel.
Sometimes We pray not, For fear that we might be heard.
And Sometimes We praise not, For fear that we might be Blessed.
The
Blessings
Sometimes We love not, For fear we might be loved.
Sometimes We empathize not, For fear we might feel pain
Sometimes We connect not, For fear we might get close
Sometimes We listen not, For fear we might understand.
Sometimes We remember not, For fear we are held to account.
And
Sometimes We glorify not, For fear that He is real.
-stephenbadhwar.substack.com
May 2024
Hello Dear Community!
I am looking for ANTIQUES:
-Oil Lamps
-Flower Pots from big to small sizes
-Wooden chairs
-Victorian Sofa
-Coffee table
-Mirrors
-Camera Collection
-Book Collection
-Coffee Collection
-Paintings
If you have any for sell or donation, please contact me at 250-651-2111.
Thank you so much!
Amélie Remon
GLOBE THEATRE OPEN AGAIN
We want to notify the community ofAtlin that the Globe Theatre is open for Rental from Mid May to Mid September
The cost of Rental is $180 per night.
We are also considering Leasing the building to a person or organization/business for a 5-month season for $1250 plus the utilities.
If you are interested in renting or leasing, please send an email toAHS email: atlinhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
“A Horse Named Thunder”
Our family’s ranch horse named Thunder ran like the wild wind of a hurricane. She would electrify the crowd at a track as she sped like lightning across the sky and thus, given the nickname…Greased Lightning!
However, her early years were not so promising. At first, we named the tiny foal Orchid, as she was delicate like the flower but probably wouldn’t amount to much. And yet, our daughter was touched by this foal who was so frail and wobbly on her legs. She pledged to give this creature her love, proper care and exercise every day to see if she could become a strong steed like the famous horses in her bloodline.
By year four the horse had grown in stature and was able to take our child riding, although on occasions would gallop too fast.
Our young one was too inexperienced to be safe on a horse bent on speed, so we hired an expert trainer.
He put the horse, we now named Thunder, on a routine for racetrack competition.
Six months later, after much discussion, we entered her into a local race.
She could have won but was late out of the gate. The next two races were also disappointing. However, Thunder was learning quickly. The next race was different. She won by a wide margin and continued on winning to become a celebrated championship horse… thanks to the loving care from our daughter who never lost faith in her potential.
Just as we keep faith in the potential of our loved ones.
Jeff Salmon
