Jon and Ruth Roders were honoured this year to be chosen as Captain and Queen for Riverboat Days, a title that honours them for long-term contributions to the Terrace community.
Jon is a local photographer and hairdresser, now operating “Penny Lane” in the Park Ave. Medical building, and Ruth has been a CFTK radio announcer and teacher, now at Ecole Mountainview and Uplands Primary School in Terrace. Ruth said she felt quite honoured when they were asked to be Riverboat captain and queen, but Jon admits he was a bit reluctant.
“Ruth was into it right away,” Jon said. “Myself, it took a little bit of convincing. I’m not a limelight person, not like my wife,” he joked.
Ruth laughed. “I just saw a potential for fun,” she said, “and getting to know Terrace a little bit better through Riverboat Days. They have a lot of different things going on and venues that really talk about the history and people here, so it was kind of an opportunity.”
The Riverboat Days captain and queen are suggested by community members as people who’ve been long-term contributers to the community. Joyce Gibson and Sandy Glendenning were among the committee who elected Jon and Ruth. They said the couple has volunteered and served in Terrace in a variety of ways.
Jon has shot pictures for BC Games, cut hair for charities, and now pays visits to the hospital to cut hair for patients there. Ruth has been involved with dozens of kids over the years, volunteered in the schools, and sang in local events.
“If you need anything, you phone Jon and Ruth,” said Gibson.
“And they’re not flamboyant in what they do. They just do it,” added Glendenning. “I didn’t even know until recently that Jon went down to the hospital to cut hair for patients there.”
Jon and Ruth said they plan to attend lots of events over the Riverboat Days week, they said. “We are going to try to make it to as many things as we can,” Ruth said, “just to kind of feel the ambiance of Riverboat Days.”