Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Sarah Simpson has been combing through old newspapers with the assistance of the Kaatza Station Museum and Archives so we can jog your memory, give you that nostalgic feeling, or just a chuckle, as we take a look at what was making headlines this week around Cowichan Lake in years gone by.
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This week around the Cowichan Lake area…
10 years ago
"Lake Bloomers bring bee expert to Lake Cowichan" was featured on the front page of the April 8, 2015 Lake Cowichan Gazette.
"The Lake Bloomers Club will be hosting guest speaker Gord Hutchings later this month for a presentation called 'The Coevolution of Flowering Plants and Native Bees,' which focuses on the dwindling native bee population and the dire effects their absence could bring.
"Hutchings, an entomologist at the University of Victoria, has spent the last 25 years studying and educating about bees and dragonflies across western Canada.
"'I started looking into the subject at the request of some members,' Lake Bloomers president Cara Smith said. 'We have members do questionnaires every year about what sort of guests they would like to have come speak to the club, and bees were something that a lot of people wanted to learn more about.'"
In other news of the day, "Two swimmers planning record-breaking feat on Cowichan Lake" was a fun read.
"Susan Simmons and Alex Cape, two of Vancouver Island’s most prolific swimmers, have set their sights on Cowichan Lake, and are looking to locals to provide some inspiration. Simmons, a 50-year-old data services manager, and Cape, a 35-year-old military paramedic, have already made a name for themselves through their aquatic feats, including a 70 km swim on Cowichan Lake last August, which took them from Lakeview Park to Heather Campsite and back. The swim took them 33 hours to complete, and they managed to raise $5,000 for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
"Now the duo is returning to the lake to rise to an even bigger challenge. Their new course will take them from Lakeview Park to Heather Campsite, back to Lakeview Park, to the northeast arm of the lake near Youbou, then back to Lakeview Park. The more than 105-km swim is expected to take 50 hours, and if completed, will replace the current world record for distance swam in flat water."
25 years ago
The Lake Cowichan Gazette of April 12, 2000 featured a pair of headlines. First: "TimberWest concerned about uncertainty" and then "Relay 2000 winds through town on way to Ottawa".
In the TiberWest story: "A meeting that was supposed to quell some of the uncertainty about the sale of the Youbou mill failed to generate any new information. TimberWest CEO Scott Folk, whose company currently owns the mill, said he was close to reaching a deal with the president of JS Jones, Tom Jones, regarding the purchase of the mill and cutting rights to TFL 46.
"'The purchase agreement, if concluded, will help end the uncertainty experienced by the workers and communities during the lengthy process,' says a press release sent out by TimberWest. Folk also says TimberWest has been concerned with the impact of uncertainty on employees, their families and communities.
"The vice-president of IWA Local 1-80, Carmen Rocco, says he wasn't overly impressed with the meeting. 'They didn't tell us anything that hasn't been in the paper for two months,' he says, stressing that any comments on a deal are speculative until a decision is made. Earlier reports have suggested that JS Jones would close the Youbou mill if they reach an agreement with TimberWest.
"'This whole deal can still fall through,' says Rocco, though he admitted the union has plans if the companies offer no options other than shutting down the mill. 'We'll see if TimberWest has the stomach for it,' says Rocco, who didn't want to get into the details of what the union has planned. 'Stay tuned. It's not over until the fat lady sings.'"
In the relay story: "Running a little behind schedule, the Trans-Canada Relay managed to find its way to Lake Cowichan where it made an overnight stop on Monday. A small crowd gathered at the Centennial Hall for the afternoon event. Town Councillor Pat Weaver was the local representative in the relay, carrying a vessel of Pacific Ocean water from King George Street to the hall. She was led into the hall by the sound of bagpipes, and the Legion colour party."
40 years ago
And finally, the April 10, 1985 edition of the Lake News said that a "Floating museum [would be a] 'jewel' in unique tourist attraction".
"A floating heritage village could put Lake Cowichan on the tourist 'must-stop' list. This development would be the province's only fully fledged floating museum and its theme would focus on Lake Cowichan's early days when logging pioneer families actually lived and functioned on homes and buildings which were designed to be on water.
"This proposal envisages the construction over a number of years of a series of museums on water. Development would be in phases and would depend on money available through fund-raising efforts and grants from provincial and federal governments. It would incorporate recent ideas such as the paddle-wheeler and artist's gazebo."
Given this museum hasn't ever floated anywhere on the Lake, it's safe to say this project ended up dead in the water.
