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i We Asked and You Said 2 Page from the Past 3 Community Correspondence 6-8 Strike Up the Concert Band Amateur Musician Group is Drawing Rave Reviews by Lorraine Manfredo The Clarington Concert Band has been drumming up plenty of faithful fans since it started up in the fall of '92. The 40 concert musicians continue continue to practise every week at the Orono Town Hall where they fine- tune their marches, show tunes, arias arias and blues numbers. They have brightened up cultural and political events in almost every community across Clarington. Now their summer calendar is filling up fast. Dave Climenhage, a trombone player and the man who founded the band, says he got the ball rolling because because he sensed a real need. He's proud of how far the band has progressed. "We're the only town between Pickering and Cobourg with a concert concert band. The bands in Whitby and Oshawa are brass bands." Brass bands typically leave out woodwinds such as clarinets. "A lot of amateur musicians in the area wanted to play," he explained. explained. "It's an outlet for adult musicians. musicians. We have fun and reach out into the community." Alto sax player Kristen Plummer is a Durham College student. "I joined-because I knew I would miss playing in the school band. I played all through senior public and through high school." Drummer Robert Casey played in the old Orono Band 30 years ago until it folded in 1962. He's thrilled to be back in a band again. It's a real plus having musicians of all ages, band members agree. They all learn from each other. The Clarington Concert Band has entertained at the 1994 Mayor's Levee and they were a major attraction attraction at Orono Park on Canada Day. Their first-ever Christmas Concert Concert was a huge success, except that Kristen Plummer of the Clarington Concert Band is looking forward to performing a solo on her saxophone saxophone at the upcoming spring concert in April. She will play "Strawflower" by Ralph Hermann. It's a piece that will convince listeners that the saxophone is perfect for the blues. the conductor got so carried away by the music that he led his musicians musicians right through the half-time refreshment refreshment break. Conductor Barry Hodgins has vowed never to skip a break again, but he's not likely to rein in his enthusiasm enthusiasm for music. He is the director of music at Henry Street High School in Whitby, Whitby, and has been the director of the Oshawa Civic Band for seven years. He is currently acting president of the Canadian Band Association, Ontario Ontario Chapter. Marches particularly move him. "My philosophy is that if a band can play a march, they can play anything." anything." And he knows more about music than just the notes. As a composer and arranger, he also knows about the process that inspires the creation of music. One of his favorite stories is about how the Colonel Bogey march was conceived. (That's the whistling march made famous in the movie Bridge Over The River Kwai.) According to Hodgins, composer Kenneth J. Alfred, alias Major Ricketts, Ricketts, looked lip from the golf course one day to see a ball sailing through the air. He heard the two-note whistle whistle of warning and the rest of the familiar familiar tune seemed to fall into place. Legend has it that the major got a bogey that day out on the course, i Dave Climenhage still wants to attract more talent. He knows it's out there. He says the band could use more trumpets, clarinets, baritone saxes and french horns On April 7th, the Clarington Concert Band is scheduled to host a Spring Concert at the Orono Town Hall. •V In May, they expect to appear at the Town Hall in Bowmanville. If you are interested in joining, or have booking enquiries call: 983- , 9494. Like most photographers, local resident Normunds Berzins doesn't like being the focus of attention. While you cannot really call him camera-shy, he would rather be behind the camera, not in front of it. Professional Photographer Believes "Life is a School" "I take a disadvantage and turn it into an advantage," Berzins told The Statesman in an interview last week. Techniques and artistic design allow allow a serious photographer to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. And that challenge is important to a serious serious photographer. "The difference between an amateur amateur and a serious photographer is. that, at the end of the day, the serious serious photographer has to produce," he noted. Some of his assignments have by Laura J. Richards If someone looks at one of a local local man's photographs and says "Wow," he feels he has done his job. "To me, that means I've done something that is very good," said Newtonville area resident Normunds Normunds Berzins. . . The sense of a mission accomplished accomplished is important to Berzins who, while he does not consider himself to be a perfectionist, believes in trying trying to create the best possible photograph photograph for a client. by Lorraine Manfredo It's a sure sign that winter is on the way out when birdsong takes on a cheerier note. According to Orono resident Jim Richards, a self-taught naturalist and wildlife photographer, these mild days of February have actually kick- started some birds' hormones. "All it takes is a few nice days after after the cold weather and they'll break into song and start getting that breeding idea." Mr. Richards is the manager of the McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve, Reserve, located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, just behind GM Canada's Canada's corporate headquarters in Oshawa. For years, Richards was considered quite a radical for his resistance resistance to industrial development in the neighboring marshlands. After 27 years, his Friends of Second Marsh group won the battle and now Richards has taken on a new challenge, looking after the GM reserve reserve to the east. From his office window over looking McLaughlin Bay, he watches watches a flock of finches flit around a feeder. y Richards has mixed feelings about the feeder. He generally frowns on artificially artificially feeding wild birds, but the busy feeder outside GM's cafeteria win- There have been documented sightings of 265 bird species over the year. dow does more than just provide workers with lunch-time entertainment. entertainment. The number of species it attracts attracts is a testament to GM's rehabilitation rehabilitation efforts along the shore and a constant reminder to visitors that even corporate property can support tremendous wildlife populations. A survey of this winter's wildlife on the reserve turns up a family of red foxes, whitetail deer, coyotes, and numerous species of shrews, mice, voles and other small mammals. mammals. There have been documented sightings of 265 bird species over the year. Severe cold weather in the Arctic has sent northern-dwellers onto the property. Snow buntings, snowy owls and rough-legged hawks have been spotted. Generally, bird-lovers have little cause to be concerned about their feathered friends who decided, to skip the trip to Florida this season. "As long as they can get food, they can handle the cold," Mr. Richards Richards says. "Generally, my impression impression is that they make out okay. But that's not to say it's not hairri on them," The snow has not been too deep this year, so seed-bearing bushes are not covered. And, as long as they don't get wet, birds are well- protected by nature. .M. ■' v -' '-I . . - .. - ... a \v.» ' "'-'.'«îÿ *' ' . V. vmv;: j{ • . ■ Jl ' f : . ■ ":i ; , a v. 11': ' . ' ■' I-' ■ ;* . * ^ ■ ■ >■ , . V ? ; ,vl ' w. . z • fA-"' ■, ;.*>♦; WKwâW*' IT:' ,V , . ..a, •<*•,» ... % w . '.hi**'.*;, v U' y "rtf' U.*' »_ * ■' ■ ■< . U'tHimK t xATz.z * •• A generation ago, a flock of Canada Geese scrounging for food in a snow-covered southern Ontario Ontario field would have drawn stares. Successive generations of the birds arc in danger of losing their instinct to migrate because of an abundance of food provided by humans. "The insulating factor of feathers is just phenomenal," he says. Feathers Feathers are hollow and trap body heat. When it's cold they'll fluff up their feathers (which make up roughly two-thirds of their bulk) and tuck a foot underneath for a while. The thick ice might have made things, tough for birds of prey, though. If the mice they depend on for food get trapped in holes under the ice, the birds could go hungry. As long as they don't get wet, birds are well protected by nature. The sustained deep freeze- in Southern Ontario could present mortal mortal danger to frogs and turtles hibernating hibernating underground. If the frost goes too deep, it could be disastrous to their populations. During January's ice storm, Mr. Richards witnessed a group of deer slipping and sliding across the frozen frozen bay aiming for shelter on the opposite opposite shore. He said the deer were probably driven to seek cover more because they felt exposed against the white snow than because they felt too cold. Surviving winter can be tougher for the wildlife if humans intervene. In fact, the seeds of misery arc often unintentionally sown by well- meaning people during the summer. Tossing bread to geese and seagulls seagulls at the shore docs them no favor, favor, Richards insists. It makes for a diet low in nutrients and contributes to the likelihood of avian food poisoning. poisoning. "You wind up with flocks of sick birds where successive generations arc losing their instincts to migrate. Twenty-five years ago, you wouldn't have found any Canada Geese here in the winter." And people who set up backyard bird feeders in the summer should be aware of the huge responsibility it entails. "If you decide to go to Florida, or if the cost of birdseed becomes too much, or if it's just too cold to go out and fill up the feeder, that can be disastrous for the little cluster of birds who have come to depend on your backyard," he says. "These birds have staked-out and defended a territory which is probably probably not an area that would normally normally sustain them." Mr. Richards would prefer to see bird-lovers cultivate wildlife gardens gardens with berry bushes and plants that attract butterflies and insects. A habitat garden relieves you of the burden of feeding the birds artificially, artificially, he says. Richards is currently in the middle middle of a massive re-forestation project project on approximately half of the 200-acre McLaughlin Bay Reserve. The plan is to plant clusters of predominantly predominantly native trees and shrubs in a sea of natural meadowland with wildflowcrs, ferns and berry-bush thickets. A network of walking trails will link Darlington Park with the Second Marsh A couple of years ago, the land was just a tangle of goldcnrod and thistles and still bore traces of a dairy farmer's plow nits. But, tlianks to volunteers from the GM plant, their families, environmental environmental groups and concerned citizens, citizens, planting operations have started started to make a difference. Mr. Richards hopes to have 35,000 trees thriving on the peninsula and bay shore by 1995. Eventually, a network of walking trails will link Darlington Park in the cast with the Second Marsh in the west. And, of course, along the paths there will be signs advising hikers NOT to feed the wildlife. industries throughout the Toronto area including Bata Shoes, the Gardiner Gardiner Museum, the Seagram Museum, Museum, AC Delco, Roots, The Champagne Champagne Bureau, Ridpath's Limited and Loblaws. This week he is facing an assignment assignment from a Whitby company. No matter what he is to take photos photos of, each assignment has its challenge, challenge, said Berzins. Chilly temperatures, nervous animals, animals, and wobbly scaffolding have made many of his photo shoots interesting. interesting. With each problem comes a way to solve a situation. Each problem teaches him something new. "Life is a school," he said in reference reference to his own outlook on life. Berzins spoke about one assignment assignment he worked on with dogs. One of the dogs was so nervous that someone with black gloves had to hold the dog in front of a black background. Many of his' photos these days are not as exciting as previous assignments, assignments, since work is harder to find. More and more companies are doing photographic work "in-house" to save money, said Berzins. However, it doesn't always work out that way and he docs get work from leading companies. Sometimes his contracts are for providing stock pictures of items like those seen in flyers or for photos that are out-of- the-ordinary. One of the photos in his portfolio that is a real eye-catcher is for the Champagne Bureau. It is a simple photo of a cork with the wire basket around the cork. Berzins prefers his photographs not be blatant. "There has to be a hint of mystery," mystery," lie noted. He goes for the understatement rather than the bold and up-front approach approach in his work. However, not everyone who commissions him likes that. He explained by giving an example example of photographing. The way lie secs the photograph being created may not match how the client secs it. "I see it on water, which can be done at low tide. But the client says lie can't afford to send me to Nova Scotia." ' At that point, Berzins says the Continued on Fago 0