The Citizen, 1995-01-04, Page 5Arthur Black
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1995. PAGE 5.
Bunnock a
serious sport
in Macklin
On the off chance that you might one day
find yourself tooling down Highway 71
along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border
south of Lloydminster, a word of caution in
your ear. Pretty soon you're going to hit the
town of Macklin.
Now, you may miss the welcoming sign to
Macklin but you'll know you're there alright,
because• suddenly right through your
windshield you will behold a ghostly
massive apparition looming up against the
Prairie sky. It looks sort of like a grain
elevator that's hit puberty. Specifically, it
looks quite a bit like a voluptuous female
torso.
Except that it's 30 feet high.
And its not supposed to represent a female
torso. It's supposed to represent a bunnock.
(Pronounced bun-NUCK). The giant
structure is Macklin's way of letting
travellers know they've entered serous
Bunnock Country.
What's bunnock? A bunnock is a horse's
ankle bone. They aren't 31 feet tall.
Bunnocks are roughly hourglass-shaped
bones about the size of a beer can. _
As near as anyone can figure, the game of
Bunnock is a Russian import. The story goes
Team Canada —
About time
Without a doubt the recent visit to the Far
East by Prime Minister Chretien followed by
a gaggle of provincial premiers and a couple
of hundred businessmen was the biggest
ever mounted by this country. Four
countries, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and
Vietnam, were visited with Taiwan
pointedly being ignored but more about that
later.
The piece de resistance was, of course,
China, where close to $10 billion worth of
business was concluded. The other three
countries, however, came in for their share
of accomplishments and, as he cavorts back
in Ottawa, the prime minister has every right
to be pleased with his accomplishments.
However, as is usually the case with such
junkets, things are never quite what they
appear to be.
Canadians have to keep in mind that,
without the businessmen who had already
conducted months of hard work in
negotiations, there would have been very
little sign when the prime minister arrived in
any of the four countries. About the most
that can be said for the politicians is that
their arrival probably speeded up matters to
a degree.
There will undoubtedly be thousands of
jobs created by all the business but any
politician, in this province or any other, who
claims to have done the creation, should be
put in his or her place. It needs to be
remembered that politicians create very few
jobs; the best thing they can do is assist in
making the economic situation as conducive
as possible to job creation.
Nor, in some cases, can it be said that the
negotiations have been fully completed.
that back in the early 1800s Russian soldiers
posted to the desolate tundra of Siberia
desperately needed something to while away
the hours. They didn't have snowmobiles.
They didn't have hockey skates. They didn't
have curling brooms.
What they did have is an awful lot of
horse bones lying around. (Siberia was at
least as tough on horses as it was on men.)
The soldiers discovered that horse ankle
bones could be stood on their ends and
then...
You could use other horse ankle bones to
try and knock them down!
Stupid? You bet. But this was Siberia and
the men were bored out of their minds.
Besides, have you ever checked out the rules
of cricket?
Stupid? You bet. But this was Siberia and
the men were bored out of their minds.
Besides, have you ever checked out the rules
of cricket?
Soon the Russian equivalent of the NHL
Board of Governors homed in and what had
been a mindless peasant pastime became the
Official Game of Bunnock. It was decreed
that 52 bones must be used. That some bones
would be throwers and some bones would be
guards and some bones would be 'soldiers'
and that the bones would stand in two
parallel rows exactly 32 feet, six inches
apart. And that two teams would then lob
their bunnocks at each other's row until one
team's row was utterly creamed and the
game was over.
The Russians passed the game on to the
Germans and German settlers brought it
across the Atlantic when they came to settle
By Raymond Canon
They will continue long after the politicians
have gone home and for some of them, the
end will result in failure. It is, perhaps, too
much to hope for that any government will
keep score for fear that the end result might
embarrass them.
As for Taiwan, the island off the coast of
China which is the home of descendents of
the Chinese Nationalist government of Gen.
Chiand Kai-shek which fled the Communists
in 1948, any attempt by Ottawa to include
this country in its itinerary would have
resulted in an immediate rebuff by Beijing
"You can either come to us or to Taiwan but
not both," would have been the Message
from the Communist capital.
This is a bit strange since Taiwan and
China do billions of dollars of business each
year but so touchy is the political situation
*that all this business must be done through a
third party such as Hong Kong. The fact is
that both governments consider themselves
to be the true government of China.
While there has been some thawing, it has
not yet reached the point where trade can
take place directly between the two
countries. Thanks to the Chinese, Taiwan is
not even allowed to apply for membership in
the U.S. and any country, including Canada,
that makes a show of good relations with
Taiwan is sure to bring down the wrath of
Beijing.
Hence my earlier comment that Chretien
and entourage never flew any nearer Taiwan
than was absolutely necessary.
One irony of the whole trip was the fact
that the Liberals, when they were in
opposition, were not exactly enthusiastic
about doing any free trade agreement with
the Americans; Chretien even muttered
about tearing it up if he ever got in power.
All that is water under the bride now; trade
is currently the brightest star in our
the fertile West.
You wouldn't think such a deceptively
simple premise would capture the hearts and
minds of Prairie communities, but then you
probably haven't put in a Prairie winter
either. Truth is, Prairie communities around
Macklin took to Bunnock like ducks to a
slough.
If you want to know just how popular
Bunnock is, arrange to spend your summer
holidays around Macklin this year. Make
especially sure you're in town the first
weekend in August.
If you can find a motel room to rent, that
is. That's the weekend of the Bunnock
Challenge. So far, 128 teams have registered
for a shot at the Bunnock Championship
title.
And the $10,000 in prize money that goes
with it.
Bunnock is serious sport around Macklin -
and when you think of it, why not?
Bunnock isn't lethal like boxing, or
dangerous to your front teeth, like hockey.
You don't have to lay out money for
expensive gear the way you do for football
and baseball.
How much can a horse's ankle bone cost?
Bunnock's got a lot going for it. Either sex
can play it, and it doesn't matter if you're in
kindergarten or the old folk's home. It's non-
contact, doesn't need American imports and
it's unlikely to attract steroid junkies.
As a matter of fact, with baseball dead, the
football Season over and hockey in limbo,
Bunnock is just about...perfect.
Bunnock: Canada's New National Game.
Pass it on.
firmament. While in Indonesia, Chretien had
a hand in pushing a free trade agreement of
his own, that of the Asian nations.
That is going to be a while coming and,
even though there is a lot to be said for such
a deal, it is remarkable what a year or so in
office will do to your outlook.
Having gained so much attention while in
Asia, Mr. Chretien would be well advised to
continue a good thing. May I suggest that
next year he schedule a similar junket to
South America.
The countries in that continent, especially
Chile, are wasting no time in telling anybody
who will listen that free trade is the way to
go, and we could certainly do far better than
we have to date in the level of trade with that
part of the world. We already have a foot in
the Mexican door; let's strike while the iron
is hot.
Since I am so free my advice, let me
propose yet another trip for the prime
minister,' this time to Eastern Europe. The
Czechs have already got their economy in
shape, in a couple of years things should be
much better all over that part of Europe.
There are many Canadians whose parents
or grandparents came from one of the
countries in eastern Europe; let's build on
that and double our trade in that area.
That's about all the advice from me that I
think Mr. Chretien can handle at one time.
Let me conclude by commending the prime
minister on his effort to promote trade in the
fasting growing area in the world. He has got
the right idea and he has one successful trip
behind him.
Let's not forget that it is going to take a lot
of effort to reduce our trade with the U.S.
from 75 to 50 per cent of our exports. We
won't mind him leaving the country now and
again, if only to have Sheila Copps remind
us how much we like Mr. Chretien:
The
Short
of it
By Bonnie Gropp
365 presents in 1
Well, just like that the party hats and
noisemakers served their purpose and have
been packed away for another year, which
will, like this one did, roll 'round faster than
the one before.
Every year, just before I begin another
warble of Auld Lang Syne I am struck by
how brief a time it seems has passed since I
last sang about forgetting old acquaintances.
Then with each strain the taste in my mouth
becomes more bittersweet as I look back on
another year of life gone by.
I have rang out a few old years in my time
and though I consider mine a full and happy
life, I normally can't escape a tiny bit of
melancholia in the early seconds of each
new year. It's not overwhelming, it's not
prolonged, but it's a symptom I have
experienced forever.
Now, my family will tell you that I can not
let a feeling pass without trying to analyze it,
and this is no exception. As I prepared for
this year's festivities I found myself
wondering why, for those few brief moments
every year, I am pensive and gloomy. Is it
the acknowledgement of life's too quick
passage or the feeling that another 365 days
have gone without any significant
contribution being made to this world by me
that vaguely troubles me?
Or is it concern for the future and what it
holds for my loved ones?
Perhaps, I asked myself, it is just the
effects of the anti-climactic end to a month
of frenzy, celebration and socializing.
After an hour's introspection I was no
closer to the answer, but whatever the reason
it was clear that it is a symptom I have
annually and one, I reminded myself, that I
do not have alone. Conversations with
friends and family have led me to believe
that others experience this wistful sadness at
the stroke of midnight each Dec. 31 as well.
Anyway, though none the wiser, I left for
our annual gathering of friends anticipating
the sense of longing, for something I did not
recognize and which may not exist, that I
knew would hit.
Thus imagine my surprise when it never
did. Making the transition into 1995 was as
uneventful as waking up from a good night's
sleep ready to face the day ahead. It felt
great and I was prepared to meet it head on.
But now I had something new to analyze.
In retrospect I see this party was different.
For the past two decades we have enjoyed
the company of the same group of friends on
this special occasion. It is familiar though
not without its share of fun.
However, as we shared reminiscences and
laughed over stories of our trials and
tribulations, real and imagined, the evening
became less a milestone marking the passage
of time, than a normal social gathering.
Before we knew it we were opening the
champagne and counting down to 1995.
There had been no dissecting of the past
year, no issues raised, no time to voice
concern over their implications. For the first
time since I was an innocent, the new year
was greeted if not with optimism then at
least with an open mind. There were no
predictions of doom, no pronouncements of
how things had better change. Perhaps with
our transition to mid-life we had come to
realize that each year has brought its own
share of troubles, certainly, but also its own
successes.
A year in our life is like a big present with
365 smaller gifts hidden inside. Moving on
to a new 9ne should never cause even a
moment's sadness.
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