my very own desk and taxi driving

That's right... I took a photo of my desk that I thought I'd have to sleep under it eventually, plus it's exciting to finally be at home in a news-room office.

Maybe I should explain a news reporter's desk and by far my mine isn't half as messy or completely stocked as it should be, but after all I'm just interning in different towns for now. At least I have my stock of licorice and other snacks.

Having been in a bunch of offices, I do have a number of desk arrangements from old type-writer tables to tiny desks and from being scrunched in the corner to taking over the editor's office while she was on holiday. I'll have to dig up the other photos so more to come on that. Life of intern....

Just to clarify, no, I didn't eat peanut butter by the sporkful. It just happened to be there and my favourite weapon/spork was for the Ichiban noodles.

The peanut butter was to go with the loaf of bread I tore through for snacking and to have with microwaveable meals -- for the record lean cuisine meals are much tastier than I expected and almost home-cooking.

There's not too much extra time to escape for lunch unless it's on the way from a photo assignment or interview so I spent my afternoons editing photos, writing stories and snacking.

The stack of paper behind my laptop was press releases and drafts of articles needing corrections. Getting everything done was was an interesting balancing act of eating loving what I was doing and praying I could get'ter all done somewhere near deadline.


So I followed my editor's lead as we slid on headphones and typed away until we started to see fuzzy and yell back and forth weird and funny at the time comments: about stories we were writing; questions to the cruel editing gods of why photos didn't fit or quotes didn't make sense; really question why we were there instead of sleeping.... good times!

Learning tons as I'm writing and starting to get back into the rhythm of writing and nailing off 4x's as much stuff as I had to do in j-school and loving it.

I'm tired, lonely, and grateful for the opportunity, still writing too late with exhausted fingers and back.... trying to figure out a dozen interviews into stories and still loving it,

Didn't do it for the money nor the honeys nor the sweet salary. Doing it for the people who need their stories told and ain't doing it for free finally. Satisfied in seeing by-lines and people wanting to help in their community so keep assignments coming, I'm loving what I'm doing and where I wanna be living the dream

Did I mention I got to drive around a golf course looking for photos during an amateur golf tournament? And get paid? It's like driving a taxi with no sea sick clientele in the back! I love driving on the clock from interview to photo op and back to office. Keeping on my toes and planning out my own day, good times.

So that was my Saturday morning work assignment, cruising in a golf cart ^_^ Made up for the insane amount of hours writing happy and depressing stuff and editing all sorts of photos. All worth it and all paying my dues to the industry so I can earn my press badge. And no I still refuse to take a normal self-portrait right-side up -- too cool and original for that.

$50 reward for apprehension of losers

Retired citizen Don Maxwell is declaring open season on pesky Friday night partiers who have knocked over and broken antlers off his lawn ornament Dogpatch late at night July 22.


PS that was the actual headline and I was pretty happy to write it.... people can be so stupid. What I didn't write was the elderly guy's more grumpy response that he'd hunt those party animals himself if he wasn't so old and shaky with a gun. And again I love the country-side feisty spirit.

Community help recovering from addictions

Partying in the dog days of summer can have drugs and alcohol as uninvited party crashers.

When the party is over and rock bottom hits, community services and RCMP are there to support people as they recover.

“If you over-indulge and get out of hand, your weekend will be cut short and you'll end up in custody,” said Const. Peter Lavalee of Edson RCMP detachment.

If the holding cell is a familiar place, RCMP and other agencies will be referring people to Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission which deals with alcohol, drugs and gambling addictions.

“Nobody ever expects it will happen to them,” said Heather McFadzen, Edson Wellness Centre addictions counselor.

“People never plan on having an addiction and it often happens before they are aware of where they are headed,” said McFadzen.

“If things have gone badly, people need assistance,” said Lavalee, “and we're there to help them.”

“When there's no safety plan, there will be unplanned, unfortunate circumstances to deal with,” said McFadzen.

“We all learn from our mistakes,” McFadzen said, “but some will have severe results that we don't see until 30 years later in the results of over-indulging.”

Experimenting is socially acceptable but short-sighted. Lavalee pointed out the consquences of dropping out of high-school and not being able to earn a living.

“It's totally unacceptable to take meth and think it's not going to have any affects,” said Lavalee. “It's like skydiving without a parachute.”

When alcohol is easier to find than hard drugs, young people can be swayed by the dark side quickly.

“If someone starts binge drinking at 16 years old,” said Lavalee. “They [donors] won't give you a new liver if you drink for too long.”

It's unfair to paint all the community's youth with the same brush though.

“Folks are struggling with choices, but I think we miss the amazing youth in our community who have assets and strengths,” said McFadzen.

“Edson and District Drug Coalition is developing a youth outreach program,” said McFadzen. “Some of our youth are very involved in community projects and events.”

During the spring, McFadzen and Lavalee spoke to grade eights about the dangers of addictions.

“I talk to youth every day when school is on and they're a pleasure to deal with,” said Lavalee, “full of interesting questions and wanting to dispel urban legends.”

“Everyone's doing it – No in reality not everyone,” said Lavalee. “Kids have a really good grasp on what is an addiction.”

Hard-core drugs aren't the most commonly over-used substances compared to tobacco.

“It's those Monster and Red Bull drinks,” said Lavalee. “You're actually overdosing on caffeine and you know all the unintended problems of coming off that stuff.”

“Our youth are really smart and we need to give them good information, talk about the realities,” said McFadzen.

The saying goes about taking a whole village to raise a child as anyone can be a positive influence from neighbours to community groups.

“Teachers, parents, and police need to be there when kids ask questions that will alter the rest of their lives and learn how much a bad decision will affect them,” said Lavalee.

“Sometimes we have adults who still don't understand,” said Lavalee.

For those still learning to live after kicking the habit, there are many positive outlets in the community.

“It's amazing proactive and supportive,” said McFadzen. “There are strong 12 step AA and NA groups in the community when people are ready to make changes.”

From live theatre and music to clubs and sports year around, there's no point in whining about nothing to do.

“You need to find something in your life that you can get passionate about,” said Lavalee, an avid backpacker and mountaineer.

“If it's training dogs or climbing mountains, you're only limited by your imagination or by the drugs you take,” said Lavalee.

“Figuring out healthy leisure activities and lifestyles can be hard,” said McFadzen. “Substance abuse happens to deal with mental health issues sometimes, so make sure you're taking care if you're struggling with depression and other challenges.”

There are professionals like McFadzen who can make referrals when people can find help. However, the individual needs to make the first step and own up.

“We need to not pretend these problems aren't here,” said McFadzen. “but don't let them detract from all the strengths we do have in the community.

“The best way to raise yourself up is to give someone else a hand-up.”

P.S. got the village to raise a child quote graphic from associatedcontent.com and the epic mountain climbing photo from MEC's blog naturally because they have amazing photos. Thanks! BTW that's not $40 of vodka, I filled an empty with water from the bottle recycling depot and threw some vitamin C pills in the toilet. Too much fun being creative with photos sometimes -- even on serious subjects as these were hard to find images -- unfortunately there wasn't room in the newspaper so here they are! Hope a few people are able to gain courage to go get help from reading these articles.

P.S.S. Anyone having to deal with the RCMP isn't usually a good time. I tell a secret that they do have a soft spot for children it seems. The 20 word or less to the point RCMP officer I talked to gave 15 minutes conversation and it was really cool. They are busy guys so I was so glad Lavalee could give me more than his initial statement, drugs are bad, moderation is good. I'm like okies.... a little bit of elaboration?

Asking him if people might behave during the long weekend, Lavalee chuckled and asked what colour I thought the sky was. Right back at him came the reply, rose coloured glasses because I'd just been photographing the dress rehearsal of Wizard of Oz, but unfortunately I've seen way too much of the man behind the curtain.... he agreed we've seen too much reality that people aren't invincible. So Lavalee got talking and gave some cool advice to pass on in great quotes. So that's the rest of the story....

It's a long weekend, so stay safe and sober up before driving

Drinking and driving makes you a bloody idiot. They will literally be wiping blood off your steering wheel. Too graphic? It's been said thousands of times in thousands of ways, yet it never seems to be enough?

Kudos to RCMP officers who spend weekends at check-stops. Officers don't want to be marking off wrecked vehicle scenes that could have been avoided, or be knocking on doors to tell sad news to people they know in the community.

A MADD report from 2008 states that 1,162 of 2,694 vehicle collisions fatalities were caused by impaired driving and these are conservative estimates. 43 per cent of these could have been avoided by wiser choices. There are 149,028 crashes in 2008, or roughly 408 per day. Inconceivable.

Stats aside, why do friends not take away an impair friend's car keys? It is everyone's responsibility to take care of friends and family if they know they are too impaired to drive.

Thankfully it's becoming cool to be the designated driver, not the designated drinker. Most bartenders will give a DD free non-alcoholic drinks and the ladies love a sober responsible chap looking after his friends.

Responsibility is giving someone else the car keys when the party's getting started, planning to phone a taxi on speed dial or ask the waitress or someone else to dial for you. This is a simple gesture compared to apologizing to a victim's family.

The MADD mothers did fancy math with Ministry of Transportation stats and estimated social costs of death and damage caused by impaired drivers totals a chunk of change worth $21.62 billion in 2008. Why not plan ahead and change those numbers? Walk home or crash on the couch at the party.

Stay safe and have a fun summer out in Canada's outdoor playground. Plan ahead to sober up first and don't ruin the weekend because there's no undo button on the steering wheel.

P.S. this was my first real editorial and the publisher helped me a bit to polish it up into something more tactful, believe me, my first draft was pretty passionate and there were more stats of all the stupidity... but the inconceivable! comment I got to leave in because she likes Princess Bride too.

I loved simple effectiveness of these MADD campaign posters, very smart in a brutal way. So ya... a close subject to the heart when one of my soccer buddies was killed while driving his motorcycle by a drunk on the highway, so hence the heated writing.


If one more person changes his/her mind, my job is done, this is what I signed up to do ^_^ make a difference. Cheers to a safe weekend.

$10,000 (blank) cheque for Museum Society

On July 20 Foreman Rod Bailer (left) from Canadian Natural Resources Limited present Edson and District Historical Society VP Shawn Berry (right) with a $10,000 cheque to help finish the new museum.

"We're working hard to get things finished for the grand opening," said Berry.

The public grand opening will be Sept 25. "We're happy to partner with the community to help out," said Bailer.




P.S. So it was a short publicity happy story and extended cutline for a few quotes, but yaaahhh about a blank cheque? I just barely caught the foreman and VP still at the museum -- was finishing up another interview and lost track of time almost.

So I got creative since someone else had already left with the cheque to be deposited.... so hence the blankness of the envelope that cheque had come inside. I really hope nobody noticed from looking at the 3x4 photo in the newspaper but I must confess my guilt here as I was supposed to get a grip & grin -- something in j-school they tell you to avoid unless the editor likes and wants one -- so make it interesting.

Photographers can get away with a lot because there's not a lot of time and imperfect conditions, but I'm pretty proud of this last ditch save with blank envelope.

At least I got the guys to walk to the caboose on display outside -- which doubly made my day just because I LOVE trains that much ^_^ creativity for the win for another day in the life of a newspaper intern.

Barbaric Axmen rugby comeback

By Philip Rushton

The Edson Axmen and the Edmonton Pirates destroyed each other on the battlefield and came to a 22 all tie.

"It was a team effort to the end," said Danny Kuzmic, "anyone can fall over the line to score."

The Axmen came from a slow start behind 22-5 at half-time and stopped the Pirates.

"It was a high emotion game," said Wade Heidler, "There might have been a punch or two, but we leave it on the field."

With ankle, knee and ribs injuries on both sides, the Axmen were without any substitutions.

"Nobody walks away unscathed," said Kuzmic.

The Axmen had 4 tries and 1 conversions and the Pirates had 3 tries, 2 converts and a penalty.

"These guys have a lot of heart and we're still undefeated."


P.S. these guys were 100% heart. When I was finished shooting photos and interviewing, I got an invite to party from true gentleman Danny. The team was hosting dinner and liquid bread for Edmonton team after having to drive so long to get there, so everyone chatted it -- after they'd destroyed each other on the field, all friendly afterwards.

It's just how they do hospitality in small towns, the more the merrier. Nice when I didn't feel like I had much to do on a Saturday evening after living in a hotel for weeks on my own.


P.S.S. I've covered a lot of sports, but I've seen few through a view-finder where I had to look away to keep from incredulous laughing and winching at the same time -- these guys are viciously mauling each other. Train-wrecks are less explosive.


Like EPIC STRUGGLE, short of mauling each other, but apparently that's the proper term for ripping the ball out of the other guy's arms - mauling. Football through a telephoto lens looks painful, but these guys weren't wearing tons of pads.


Good times.... like there were guys just at the bottom of the brutal tackles holding their heads to avoid having ears ripped off by the inch long cheats. Someone was always slow to get up afterwards. When someone was down for the count, the other team kicked the ball out of bounds, even though they had possession.


And only one penalty called? I played soccer for years and we'd get cards for the amount of stuff they got away, jersey grabbing, vicious elbows, knees, straight-arms flying tackles, okay the punches actually got a penalty and there's a lot of loss of possession and scrums if it seems like both teams are destroying each other too much from what I could tell. And they were grinning from ear to ear at the end.

It was incredibly cool to watch and hear the thuds of train-wrecks of guys solidly connecting or deftly avoiding tackles -- a graceful running game. Soccer might be gentleman's game played by ruffians. However, I can see why rugby is the opposite -- gentlemen playing a ruffian's game -- other than amazing amount of swearing, but that's a whole different matter.

Batting 500? THANKS!

Hot off the internets' press. My humble blog has hit 500 pageviews whatever that means. Averaging 100 a month is pretty nifty when I'm hoping people are on repeat visits too.

Am so pleased that I've gotten to another milestone in blogging - putting more articles together and trying to push myself for polished pieces and editorially solid work. Even have a bit of fun too, as only writers can do with words. Tons of ideas on the list so I'll try and keep up.

And to have visitors from all over the world? Totally welcome to comment or let me know if there's some aspect of Canadian culture you'd like me to write about as it's hardest to write about your hometown and homeland sometimes. I'd love to hear more if you've got some cool articles from your hometown, can I trade you for some photos too?

So shall continue the writing as I get better at the 9-5 at an actual town newspaper office. Take'r easy and the show shall go on.

-- PLR -- 

Taking care of healthcare workers

By Philip Rushton

There's great people who work mental health who have extraordinary patience and gifts to help people who are incapacitated or unable to cope on their own without assistance. Health care workers spend years in studies and lonely frustrating practicums, working long hours on energy and determination alone with some support from family and friends.

However, that's less mentioned than when something goes wrong like Melissa Ekkelenkamp walking off ward in Edmonton, everyone jumps in to search or points fingers. However, there are everyday patient-centric policies and procedures in place. When internal investigations happen, improvements will be made. Dedicated people have the trust of families who have caring for their relatives with home-care.

Mental health care is one of those hot-button issues to be tip-toed around until things go wrong. One doesn't have to look hard to find health care working.

When working in small but mighty community partnerships with Alberta Health care programs and projects on shoe-string budgets. Miracles despite funding cuts, though social programs are sometimes first to feel over-stretched.

Now I know some compassionate and hard working nurses, social workers and care-aids; even when I'm checking into ER or phoning HealthLink without having a doctor, I can see nurses are trying hard to balance needs.

Others I know who work in mental health would feel guilty if they lost one of their patients. On good days, patients just want to talk about normal subjects and have their worries addressed. On bad days, when depression and delirium hits, nurses and care aids dig down for extra patience and grace to deal with those under their charge.

So for the Ekkelenkamp family worried about their daughter and their sister in Edmonton for nearly two weeks, for people who know first-hand about how vulnerable people with mental barriers can become, our hopes and prayers are with them that she is found okay.

So a thanks to the volunteers who are out there looking for her. Kudos to the strength of healthcare workers who treat it as more than just a job. A thank-you and support from the province when things are running smooth would be good too.



PS: there are no photos of mental health nurses to protect their patients' privacy, so on annoying side-note it's really really hard to find a non-sexy or non-recruiter's website nurse photo.... lots of photos of Nurse Jackie, but she's not exactly a shining example of good nursing profession. More on that later... very deep and divided topic....

Thanks for cute drawing to an artist from S. Korea:
http://windship.deviantart.com/

Also, although a British nurse, meh... caring for babies is pretty universal.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Nursing_baby.jpg

Cops on trail of copper thieves

By Philip Rushton

Late last week, $1,000 of heavy gauge copper wiring was stolen from Open Energy Corporation's job site.

“There's on-going investigation with the operator's group and police,” said Brian Tweedy, Open Energy Corporation Superintendent.

World-wide copper prices have gone up in the past three months, rising to over $4 per pound.

“With a couple of big spools, you have to melt it down or scrap it,” said Marcel Preville, manager at Edson Home Hardware.

Thieves have stolen piping from air conditioning units and leaving electrical and telephone companies sub-stations in dangerous situations and customers without power.

“You have to be pretty ambitious to do all that work,” Preville said. “There has to be a easier way to make a living.”

RCMP have been working together with companies to help prevent theft so selling stolen goods will be harder.

“It's irritating to have to deal with this,” said Tweedy, “but it's not going unnoticed and won't be ignored.”


PS I wish I had copied the link to this brilliant cartoon blogger who had come to the same un-funny punny lame play on words that I tried to work into the headline. Thanks!

Yellowhead county left soggy

By Philip Rushton

While counties downstream were hit worse, Yellowhead County was left only with flooded yards and roads.

“The culverts are all running on maximum and overspilling onto roads,” said Don O'Quinn, “but water is starting to recede.”

As director of infrastructure services, O'Quinn said the county office has taken phone calls from people worried about their yards over-flowing.

Marcel Preville, manager at local Home Hardware, advised that people check or replace sump pumps, eaves-troughs, and other water removal and vapour barrier materials.

In case you're handsome and as not handy, there are solutions other than duct-tape.

“We know lots of reputable contractors who will help,” said Preville.

The flooding resulted in a few gravel roads being washed away, but crews will be out to fix the roads soon as the rain slows down.

“There's not much you can do about it,” said O'Quinn. “It's an act of God so you should check with the insurance company to make sure you're covered.”

If there are any problems or concerns, people should contact the county at 780-723-4800.

“We've had our fill of water now so it's too much of a good thing,” said O'Quinn.

Visit alberta.ca/home/336.cfm for more info flood preparations and environment.alberta.ca for flood updates.

thanks for photos from:

http://ontheroadwithdickandmaryann.blogspot.com/

www.theeagle.ca (Edson Radio Station)

Non-selfish seven year old fundraises for Slave Lake RCMP

Philip Rushton

Whitecourt Star Reporter

A grinning Asher Melnychuk answers the door.

In June, he decided to collect donations at his family's door to help children in Slave Lake, without knowing which people needed it.

“If I was someone who lost their home, I wouldn't be happy if nobody helped,” said Asher.

His mother, Stacy Crossland showed him YouTubes of the devastating fires. When she told him RMCP members had lost their houses helping people leave, Asher knew right away where his donations would go.

“The police are really nice and they protect the city from bad guys,” Asher said.

For three weeks, Asher asked everyone he knew and wrote a letter for his teacher to hand out around school.

“He came up with the idea to write a letter,” said his mother showing Asher's neatly hand-printed request. “It was very much all him, I just drove him around.”

Through Crossland's Facebook account, Asher asked his grandparents, uncles and aunts, and friends who all donated generously.

“It was hard when I had to wait for people to decide to give money,” said Asher, “but some friends came to the house.”

Helping his Mom count donations every day, Asher kept asking everyone who visited the house and around the community.

“We're very proud of him,” Crossland said. “He always tries to help when someone is sick.”

When Const. Kurtis Milbrant received the Zip-loc bag full of cash from Asher, he and the other RCMP were completely caught off guard by the gesture.

“I'm impressed someone at such a young age to do such a non-selfish act,” said Milbrandt. “It's amazing.”

After Milbrandt posted a Facebook request for donations, a mutual friend of his reposted the link and Crossland noticed it.

“It's not often that people show appreciation for police officers,” said Milbrandt, “so this came out of nowhere.”

When the fundraiser started on Facebook, RCMP members from across the province gave $2,800 in gift cards, the high school raised $1,400. Asher's contributions alone were $1,300.

“Most of it went to guys who lost homes so they could put clothes in closets,” said Milbrandt. “It was encouraging after seeing on the news around the world with aid for disasters, when this is much closer to home.”

Milbrandt thinks that kind of attitude will help Asher go far in life.

“I hope he keeps that attitude up because he has a bright future ahead,” said Milbrandt.

Asher's eyes lit up when he heard the total of $5,500 had been donated and he said he hopes that people continue to donate.

“Hopefully the city will be built up quick so people can move back in,” said Asher.

With hockey, golf and baseball practices, as well as artwork, at seven years old, Asher keeps busy and already knows what he wants to do.

“I want to work with my dad and be a mechanic,” said Asher, “but my older brother wants to be in the RCMP.”

Asked if he could go the park for a photo, he was out the door immediately. 

Geese of a feather stick together and so should neighbours' block parties

By Philip Rushton

Whitecourt Star Reporter

Driving down to Arizona for the winter in a Greyhound Bus converted into a camper, Canada Geese still painted on the sides, Darlene and her husband Gary Pearce, known by their CB radio call signs, Nana and Poppa Goose, have always been meeting new people.

“I've always been a real people person,” said Darlene Pearce.

When they moved to Whitecourt in 1970, the Pearce couple didn't know anyone on windfall Drive, so they launched a block party the next summer.

“The town dropped off some barricades and we rolled out the barbecue,” said Pearce.

Having planned parties and get-togethers since the couple moved away from their hometown of Sundre Pearce led by example.

“Guess what, I’m your new neighbour and I want to come over for a cup of coffee,” Pearce told people next door.

When they moved in 1961, the couple first came up with the idea of block parties. The neighbourhood made its own barricades out of sawhorses.

When the couple moved to Whitecourt years later, everyone loved the idea as well and more than 50 people gathered on Windfall Drive.

“We even played a baseball game in the street,” said Pearce. “It was close, but none of us were very good so we didn't break windows.”

There was a potluck, and as people chatted around the barbeque, friendship formed.

Someone pulled out a fiddle during the evening and after the children went to bed at 10 p.m., the dancing continued with vinyl records.

Those three years of these block parties built bonds that endure as people were transferred and moved away.

Pearce decided to have a reunion 25 years later and made some phone calls to meet in a local restaurant in the autumn.

“It's really neat at the restaurant because waiters asked if we were all neighbours or what? They said, Really? People don't do that anymore.”

In the 1970s in a small town where everybody knew everybody, stay-at-home moms could watch over each others' goslings running through the backyards.

“We never worried about our children being out,” said Pearce. “It was a lot different world from nowadays, a very special time in our lives.”

Having celebrated their 50^th anniversary this May, Gary and Darlene Pearce naturally had a huge flock gathering for an entire week.

“People came from B.C. and up from the States where we follow the Canadian geese.”

Throughout the years others have kept up the tradition of block parties in Whitecourt with in the '80s on the Athabasca and in the '90s in a park square.

“It's a great way to meet your neighbours.”

Nana Goose out.

Photograph: Lake County Museum

story behind the story, after the jetboat race pt2

With a whiff of gas fumes and mile long plume of spray, the jet-boaters roared past, some only 10ft from the shore where we were tied up.

It was fabulously loud and exciting.

My heart was racing, my camera zoomed in and tracking, my feet balanced on the bow of the jet-boat which slightly rocked as the racers flew by.

Having waited so long for this, I was having so much fun!

The jet-boats flew by, gunning the throttle at speeds over 100mph and approaching 140mph. Defying gravity with barely a few feet of hull touching the water still, most of the boat wasn't in the water. Skimming the surface and zipping around floating logs, it was a deft display of steel nerves and practiced grace.

Some of them were having troubles because the cross-wind wasn't helping. Some of the boats were reared up like they were popping a wheelie and others were low in the water -- I wouldn't know why, but guessed that they'd sucked up something that wouldn't spit out the back very easily.

After all 30 boats had flown by and then turned around and raced back to the finish, starting staggered one minute apart, we left too.

My camera was starting to die as the batteries hadn't been charged in a while, but I was more than happy.

The boat's skipper stopped to talk to some friends who were parked on the bank watching the race. They had beers for the passengers but I still had to write my article and he still had to steer home.

We were almost home and there was a log jam of boats trying to get up the one boat launch. So the skipper asked if I'd like to see how high the river had gone on the other side of the peninsula.

In retrospect this should have foreshadowed my troubles to fording the car along the road. I was game and off we went, the boat bouncing off some incredibly high peaks and valleys I didn't think were possible outside of ocean waves. Like 4-5ft swells. It was still fun.

We got to the bridge and I'm like can you touch it? He was like sure why not? I asked if he could hold it and he eased the throttle, let go the wheel and stood on tip-toes. Still was 4inches short, but it was supposed to be 4-6ft lower. Incredible amount of rain. This was the photo that appeared on the cover of Whitecourt Star, my first issue of printing.... WOOT.

We got back and parted ways with much thanks. The skipper was more than happy just show off a beautiful way to get around on the hidden water-highway of Alberta.

Got in my car after I had packed up my camera and downloaded my photos. I followed the last trucks and jet-boat trailers back to town.

And then I got to where the road ended and 2ft of water began. The water had crested a few hours before. Good to know now.

There were two 1/4ton trucks and a car stalled and dragged back out on the side of the road. This was a very bad sign of attempting to drive through it.

So I backed out of the way of the trucks and someone gave me a ride back across so I could find someone to tow me across.

The newspaper publisher had told me to call her if I needed any help. This would qualify as help needed. The waters were still rising.

She said not to worry the other reporter almost got trapped out there too the day before in his SUV. It wasn't much in the morning.

The fact that those huge trucks were up to their running boards and past the axles said I was going to be waiting for a while to find someone to drive.

No problem, she'd call and ask her brother. He phoned to say he'd be there in 15 minutes. I'm guessing he'd just got off work. No matter, I needed help and he was happy to lend a hand.

He got there and got to work, pulling out a tow rope. He asked which city I was from. Half-teasingly he pointed out that only a city boy would try to get across that in a little car and not have a truck. Fair point....

After a few tries we got through and I'm happy to report my car-doors are water-tight. Lesson learned that water that is up to my knee is a bad idea to drive through. No doubt, but what I didn't know was that water will over-flow onto roads when it's raining bad enough, hard enough.

Was mightily glad that someone was wiling to come own and help me out on short notice. AMA would have taken hours to send a tow-truck. It was a quiet statement of how neighbours look after each other. I was totally grateful and left a Timmy's card with my publisher as a token of thanks.

It was a wild and wet long day. My car got the under-side washed. I met some very down-to-river people and got a glimpse of how the camaraderie extended to random strangers and friends alike.

Why am I in Whitecourt Alberta? Where is Whitecourt anyway?

Those two questions are still alluding me after living there for a week and then packing my bags for a road-tour of central Alberta. Don't get me wrong, I love getting out and exploring this 1/12th of Canada I'm living in and soaking in all the beauty on occasion.

Still, I like my home-cooking and home-comforts. And in a hotel room I have neither. At least I feel at home in a newspaper office. Didn't expect it so fast.

Should have been more specific when I was carelessly wishing for more excitement and road-tripping this summer. There was even a road-trip mapped out in the Alberta Motor Association magazine in the spring and I was like oh that looks gorgeous for a weekend! A 14hour round trip didn't sound as cool when I got to hour five and I was dying.

That was until after a week and a bit of talking to the publisher and working out details, other than the fact to whether I was hired or not. When I got there for the second interview to meet the editor it was very much on the spot, welcome aboard, when can you start?

Wrote up my job resignation letter just like that a month ago now which seems like it flew by so fast. Started thinking about packing my bags, boxes and life up into a U-Haul and driving out on my lonesome to some town I had never heard of until now.

Nothing new about that part, I'm used to learning some random name of some random town or village in the prairies. I'll be talking to someone and they will rave it is their gorgeous hometown but they're glad they left that drunken dump.

Oh. Change of topic.

And suddenly I was faced with the prospect of not knowing what kind of adventure I was signing up for as an internship reporter. With a steady paycheque, good room-mates and friends, and lots of contacts and projects to do in Calgary, I wasn't exactly excited about pulling up roots initially.

Not just for the super huge amount of nesting I'd done, filling up the entire living room in the town-house I was renting in when all the boxes were packed. Also I'd miss the house's cats and my friends too.

At the same time, as the Marine in WWI famously said, 'Com'mon men, you wanna live forever?' I trained for this moment of 'going over the top.' I wasn't going to hide in the trenches and not get on the front-lines of newspaper. I felt like I really was going to jump out of a perfectly good airplane in my comfy little life in the city. There is no Good Earth Cafe in Whitecourt AB. No so sure I wanted to leave my favourite writing spot behind. Part of me wanted to wait it out hiding with a mug-full of good coffee and good atmosphere.

With all those thoughts of dam, I'm actually going to be shooting and writing and publishing people's stories, talk about living the dream.

It almost has sunk in as I'm into my second week of reporting, that by-line is in a real non-college newspaper and I'm getting paid to do it? Kinda cool feeling that I dreamt about since... since high-school when I decided I naively wanted to be a National Geographic reporter.

My ten year reunion came and went a few months ago and I was like screw this? It had hit that I had a one-year badge from Home Depot.... where's the ejection seat button? Not that I didn't like it there, it just wasn't what I signed up for after college finished.

Found out about the internship and wasn't sure what to think. Talking to friends, some said to pray about it, some said to get my crap together and some just were happy I was still working and volunteering at my church. Very well and good, but I felt like I was spinning my wheels in the mud, gunning the engine but not getting anywhere.

My beautiful Sharon is half done her degree in Nursing and I needed to get somewhere with my j-school certificate that says I can write, time to earn my keep. My honey was very supportive even if it meant I'd still be far off in the distance three hours drive away. At least it wasn't in another province. My parents were just as happy even though they had no idea where I was going either. So that gave me a bit of courage, especially when Sharon was like I told you so and she was thrilled.

So as I mauled over the offer over the weekend and snapped at it. Very first and only interview and offer and off I went. I had heard of the neighbouring small town of Mayerthorpe unfortunately as the Slain Four Mounties were on that stake-out in the farming community.

As I traced the google map up to Edmonton and northwest towards Grande Prairie on 43 hwy, six hours was starting to seem like a lot. I had rented a moving van, but now I was actually packing up my bags into it with help from a few good friends. It was surreal.

Having found most of my friends for coffee or a drink to celebrate moving to the boondocks to hang out with red-necks and farmers and write small-town newspaper, was I ready to go? I've only been there for not even two weeks and every stereotype has been refuted already. Everyone's been so welcoming but more of that soon enough.

Yes it's sunk in and I'll try to write more soon because the 7 hour drive alone was wild. It was definitely into God's country without barely a sign of civilization other than road signs and long haul truckers at rest stops. More on that tomorrow.

Seeing how I have to be up and pulling together layout for copy proofing, must post and pass out, living the dream and I'm glad the coffee wore off.

Even so, I think I might miss the cats more than they miss me as long as someone will give them a belly-rub, but how could I not miss those goofy fluffy rascals a bit? My other room-mates were happy for me too.
Goodnight and good-luck. More on Edward R. Murrow later....

Story behind the jet-boat story - part 1

The story behind the jet-boat article that appeared in both Whitecourt and Grand Prairie was that my car nearly served as a boat. If I had tried to ford the river that used to be a road, I would have sucked water into my engine.

It would have worked if I was in a jet-boat but not so good for a car.

First things first. I got to the boat launch at 8a.m. caught the last support boat going out. It was over-cast and the river was full of size-able logs and choppy waves.

Wasn't too worrisome except for the owner of the 20ft boat swearing about the amount of debris he was sucking into his jet intake as we stalled three or four times. We drifted backwards on the 20km/hr river current as another guy kicked at the propulsion grate to clear debris.

Noticing my white knuckle grip on the rail, the cap't asked if it was my first time on a jet-boat. I've been on destroyers, submarines (moored to the dock), schooners and ferries in rougher weather. Not a river jet-boat though.

That was something different. It was only going 40mph but felt like so much more. Especially with the logs whipping past and the waves buffeting up at the prow.

Could have sworn the skipper was having almost fun dodging around drifting logs and the other guy and I were holding on for dear life in the back.

He radio'd we'd arrived and that the photographer from the newspaper might need new boxers as he had brown-shorts. I protested it wasn't too bad to amiable laughter. We were in position along the race-course to assist in case a boat got into trouble. Biggest thing was to raise a yellow or red flag to warn other racers to slow down or to stop and wait until the troubled boat had been dragged off the course.

The cap't and his navigator sat up on the bow and got ready to clock times of boats passing and keep watch. We waited for 45 minutes to find out the race was delayed until the weather got better and the debris stopped coming so rapidly. One boat had sunk in those conditions the day before, skidding out of control and hitting the river bank.

Did a few interviews with the race marshal and some of the race leaders and got them talking about their boats and crew supports. It was really neat talking to true gentlemen sailors who graciously answered my beginner questions and calmly explained about spinning out at 100mph.

Slammed back some yummy deep fried chicken nuggets, fries and gravy from the concession and got back to the jet-boat. Had to help push the boat out because I was wearing boots and hopped aboard.

My second ride was a bit smoother as they had re-mapped the race for the other river that was less wild and debris-free. We sat and waited for the race to start.

We heard jet-boats engines might roar before we saw them.

To be continued...

Canadian Jet-boaters sweep the International Competition on home rivers

By Philip Rushton

Whitecourt Reporter

Stick a T58 helicopter engine with 1350 horse-power in an sleek aluminum hulled boat and this isn't grandfather's fishing row-boat.

Grande Prairie racer, Gord Humphrey keeps his 23ft long jet-boat named Un-natural Disaster under control and hit speeds of over 130mph.

"It's a lot safer that you think," said Humphrey, World Champion in the unlimited class. "It's very solid in the water."

Jet-boat racers are part mechanic, part pilot, part pure lucky.

"Mentally, lots of seat time and multiple races will help keep sharp because it's easy to lose an edge.

With all that power, safety is still number one priority in the sport.

"It's a fine line between in control and out of control, depending on conditions," said Jim Greber, winner of the CX class.

With canard wings on the prow, an pair of electrically controlled short wings which act like airplane ailerons to give the jet-boat slight lift or downward force.

With a stock 525 HP GMC aluminum block, Greber can throttle his jet-boat up to 100mph in seconds.

"Once you giv'er, you're flying and you can feel quite a bit of G-force on a corner," said Greber who comes from Fort St. John.

“In the turns, it can go from 90 to 0 in seconds,” Greber said, “it bothers the heck out of me when it happened yesterday, then you're at the mercy of the river.”

At speed there are a lot of maintenance of gearbox, pumps, mounts and engine blocks or turbines.

"What happens to the boat is fairly violent so the most reliable part is the turbine," Humphrey said.

Though there are only a driver and navigator on board, Greber pointed out that he couldn't race without a dedicated support crew which launches and retrieves, repairs, and takes care of everything else that goes on behind the scenes.

“There was a lot of preparation and lot of luck at the end of day and it was on our side today,” said Humphrey. 

With cresting river conditions and debris from the storms during the last week, the course changes hourly according to Humphrey.

With only 13 boats dropping out in a field of 49, it was a marathon effort of 500 miles from Fort Assiniboine to Whitecourt. Nobody was injured so it was a good race.

In the overall standings, Canadians Gord Humphrey at 4:15:53, Dale Whiteside at 4:21:05, and Darren Weaver 4:43:25 won the competition hands down.

Humphrey won in the Unlimited class, Darren Weaver won in the A class, Colby Davis won in the B class, and Tim Greber won in the CX class.

“It's exhilarating and being able to race with friends, it's definitely worth it,” said Greber.

With competitors from all over North America and New Zealand, where Lord William Hamilton invented the water-jet for a river-boat, a sense of camaraderie develops during the race season.

“It was a good event, despite all the issues with weather and high water levels,” said Richard Grant, Whitecourt River-boat Club president and co-coordinator of the event.

“The whole race is volunteer run with donated time, service and sponsorship,” said Grant.

There were less in the crowds watching but still 1,500 were estimated to be watching from river bluffs and campsites along the route, but all had a good time.

“It's one of those things in life if you ever get the chance to ride in those boats, the acceleration is second to none,” said Humphrey. 

Next year's international championship race will be in Idaho.