212 Saturday, June 6, 1992 @ Nine to FIVE Your business Is our business Jonathan Green 365-7266 NO HELP WANTED Hiring in Canada is expected to be at its lowest level since the 1982 recession this summer, Says a survey by a private employment agency. A quarterly survey of 1,500 companies by Manpower Temporary Services Inc. suggests. fewer employers plan to add staff.in the third quarter - July through September - than in the same period last year. ALL ABOARD High-speed ferry service between Vancouver and Nanaimo will start July 19, Vancouver- based Royal Sealink Express announced Tuesday. RSL has operated two Norwegian-built 303-passenger Flying Cats between downtown Vancouver and Victoria’s Inner Harbor since Feb.3 SUPER MARKET? MacMillan Bloedel's Harmac pulp operation in Nanaimo will be shut down for two weeks starting July 1, says mill general manager Roger Killin. The continued weak state of the world pulp market is causing production curtailments, Killin said of the second shutdown this year. WorkPLACE — — Jonathan Green NEWS REPORTER ‘ In a world where business is already hard enough to get ahead in, Tom Larsen started his off at a disadvantage. The 35-year-old Castlegar man went out on a limb last week when he opened the doors of the Side Pocket pool hall on 2nd Street. The pool hall sits where Wizard’s Palace Funturia did business, a business whose customers had a lot of the neighbors a little unhappy. When Larsen made it known he wanted to change the arcade into a pool hall, he was met with more negative feedback than positive, but that didn’t deter him. “It doesn’t matter what you do,” he said. “If you put your heart and mind to it, you can do at.” and two billiard tables, along with a snack bar. The former owner of Jenny’s Cafe, Larsen said he could sympathize with the kids at Wizard’s and the hassles they faced. “How can you always blame the kids?” he asked. “We used to get into trouble, too “What is it that makes it any different than we were kids?” But, sympathy aside, Larsen said the idea behind renovating the arcade was more business- oriented than humanitarian. “We don’t want to be heroes by changing this place into something else,” he said. “We saw a business opportunity here.The objective was to make a living.” And for the people who said making a living wouldn’t happen, Larsen says he’s out to prove them wrong. jesources “They didn’t do their homework,” he said. “If you don’t do your homework, how can you criticize something?” By going with the pool tables and snack bar and eliminating the video games, Larsen said he’s looking to expand his clientele. “(The video games) would limit your clientele rather than broaden it,” he said. “Your older clientele wouldn’t want to sit in a noisy atmosphere.” And he hopes that older clientele will include moms and dads. “We'd like to have the parents come down and spend some quality time with (the kids),” he said. “It’d be better for the kids if the place was mixed.” Larsen realizes that he has a lot of work to do to change the image people have of what Side Pocket used to be. “It’s going to take time,” he Putting his heart and mind to it, Larsen, wife Marlene and partner Tony da Silva have turned the dark, unfriendly Wizard’s into a comfortable said. “But time heals all wounds.” And those wounds are already starting to heal. place to shoot a game of pool and relax. Gone are the video games, and replacing them are two pool News photo by Jonathan Green Marlene Larsen and Tony da Silva hope people who wanted Wizard's Palace closed come down to Side Pocket and see what they’ve done. “I don’t think we’re going to have much of a problem,” Larsen said. “It’s already starting to come.” Jonathan Green NEWS REPORTER I felt right at home when I strode onto the lot at AM Ford in Trail last week. As a proud owner of a Ford (no, I have not been drinking), I felt like the warrior who had returned to his people. There they were, the Thunderbirds, the Explorers and my personal favorite, the Probes. But salesman Erwin Thompson led me toward one I had second thoughts about climbing into — the Escort. During life in high school, a couple of my buddies had Escorts. To say they had some car problems is an understatement. They did everything but take their vehicles out and shoot them. I know that to be a critic, you have to have an open mind. But with those Escort memories etched in mine, I really wasn’t holding my breath. I don’t know if I have ever been more wrong. Ford has obviously done its homework, as the 1993 Escort is light years ahead of the version produced in the mid-80s. From the second I climbed into the car, I noticed it didn’t give the impression of being a two-door, compact model. The driver is positioned well above the wheel, yet this isn’t done at the cost of reducing headroom or distancing the radio or vent controls. Also, the features on the LX model were surprising for a car in its class. Wanting to alter the position of the driver’s side mirror, I had to wonder if the folks at Ford were fully conscious when it came time’to installing a mirror control, a because this wasn’t a 1979 car. Suffice to say, I was quite shocked to see a power mirror control tucked in beside the steering wheel. As well, both the driver and passenger visors had illuminated vanity mirrors, and the roomy trunk had a light that can be turned off, a feature my Ford sorely lacks. But the average car buyer isn’t looking for a vehicle solely based on its options, an the Escort is more than a small car with big car features. 3 Powered by a somewhat noisy 1.9L, TestDRIVE SOHC engine, the Escort moved equally well in both city and highway traffic. The steering was tight, and the braking was strong. The interior is roomy and comfortable, and the ride was smooth. I wasn’t keen on the amount of effort needed to shift the vehicle out of park, nor did I enjoy’ a car whose horn was reminiscent of one I had on a bike about 15 years ago. Those two criticisms aside, this Escort was nothing similar to one that is probably sporting a couple of bullet holes in a junkyard in North Winnipeg. @ Saturday, June 6, 1992 LocadSPORTS FastLANE Goodbye Castlegar and thank you. Ed Mills GOLF The 31st Sunflower Open men’s golf tournament is set for Saturday and Sunday at the Castlegar Golf Course. The championship flight tees off about 12:30 pm.m Sunday. SLO-PITCH The sixth annual Castlegar Slo- pitch League Tournament goes this. weekend at diamonds across the city. B-BALL UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team coach Bruce Enns is the featured instructor ata basketball camp Sunday at Lucerne Secondary. School in new Denver. The business of sport @ Funding cutbacks to sports organizations in B.C. have province-wide impact on the games we play. The Peace Arch News Sports, recreational or com- petitive, are the perfect tonic for our bodies — and our economy. The. economic benefits of recreation in B.C., including the direct and/or indirect spending associated with participation, has been estimated at more than $5 billion annually. : Although that lofty figure brings smiles to the faces of provincial politicians and. their accountants, lobbying agencies and advocates for government funding of sports are feeling the fiscal pinch. Sport B.C., the province’s main sports advocacy body with a total membership of 730,000, continues to watch its share of the lottery funding pie cut=.. Sport B.C.’s total revenues for the fiscal year of 1990-91 totalled $2.9 million, of which the provincial government kicked in a total of $815,000. The govern- ment’s contribution amounts to approximately 28 per cent — not nearly enough, according to Sport B.C, executive director John Mills. “We have 80 sports organi- zations in our membership thr- oughout the province with average annual budgets of approx- imately $200,000,” said Mills. “Over the past four years, their funding has been cut back by $800,000, allocated around $75,000 to each group. I don’t think it’s possible or fair to balance the budget on the province’s sports system.” A prime example of the drop in government funding for B.C. sports groups lies in the books of ' Football B.C. In 1991, the association’s budget topped the $200,000 mark, of which $34,000 (17 per cent) came from govern- ment coffers. In 1990, Football B.C.’s operating budget rolled in in B.C. Grants to Sport B.C. and members at $230,000, of which the government pitched in with a total of $63,000 (27 per cent). The 10 per cent drop in Football BC ee se ‘00 .C. offici i illegal procedure. siaed “We’re looking at an increase of 4,430 players and that’s not including the high schools (another 2,500).” said Football B.C. executive assistant Patty Flanagan. “We know have more than 6,000 kids playing minor football across the province between the ages of eight and 18. They (Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Housing) told us there was a drop in funds available, and since we were a high-profile sport, they couldn’t please see PRICE, page 15 The Peace Arch News and make the government take notice, says B.C. Amateur Athletics Association’s provincial develop- ment coordinator. “I would like to see the sports community go on strike,” said Brian McCalder, an 18-year veteran of sport’s diplomacy. The BCAAA is one of the highest funded groups in the province, responsible for track and field, road running and cross country. It covers the beginner to elite athlete, from club to international. - Over the past two years, the association has watched govern- ment funding slashed by 30 per cent. In the 1990-91 period, the athletic association received $349,000 in core funding. Recent government decisions to cap support funding has meant BCAAA”s core grant will be Athletes being urged to make a stand government’s ministries mailing service. It’s time for B.C. athletes to stand up To the BCAAA, it means approximately $15,000 in added costs per year. ., _ lottery pe is spent To gov't. of terms of what we can do.” An example — two years ago, the association covered travel costs for athletes competing in provincial championships. Now, it can no longer afford to do so. é “The government is forcing us into putting more financial burden on the athlete and local clubs,” McCalder said. The next shoe dropped recently when the provincial government decided to no longer allow community associations to reap the benefits of break-open lottery tickets. That puts another straw on the financial back of local sporting groups, who are reaching their breaking points over the break- open tickets torpedo. . Canada 17¢ Sport B.C. and provincial sports organizations 1.2¢ “(They) are drying up the funding for community-based clubs,” McCalder said. “The more and more (the reduced by five per cent each year to bring it in line with the new $300,000 limit Also, 18 months ago, sport groups in B.C. lost their ability to use the provincial “The membership has stayed constant but the cost of supporting the athlete has gone up,” McCalder said. “In the past year-and-a-half we have seen $65,000 in less revenue. We’ve had to cut back in government) sees how much money can be generated from lotteries the more they are taking it over. They are taking away what all the programs were created for (in the first place) — sport and Need amortgage? We'll make it happen. culture.” ‘KS b Kootenay Savings a