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…
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10 years ago
"Lake Cowichan teachers conduct rally" could be found in big, bold print on the Lake Cowichan Gazette of Sept. 10, 2014.
Members of the Lake Cowichan Teachers’ Association conducted a rally this past Friday as the teachers strike rolled on. But president Chris Rolls continues to maintain a clear message — teachers at the lake want to go back to work as soon as possible.
"The teachers were positioned at the bridge on South Shore Road and were joined by numerous parents and children as they waved to passing vehicles. The rally came in the afternoon whilst earlier that morning the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation announced that a vote to go back to work would be conducted by teachers throughout the province once the provincial government accept a binding arbitration proposal and remove clause E80.
“'BCTF has now said through Jim Iker and our executive that we will take a vote to go back to work if they agree to binding arbitration and take clause E80 off the table, which relates to the contract,' said Rolls. 'Clause E80 is the court’s decision. Let's have binding arbitration on everything else and as soon as they make that decision, we can be back. It’s up to Christy Clark.'”
"Overgrown shrubs still an issue" was another headline.
"The topic of overgrown shrubs still remains present at the Lake Cowichan council table. The topic was once again on the agenda at last Tuesday’s Public Works Committee meeting at the town hall. The problem is that the overgrown shrubs, as well as landscaping, are blocking pedestrian walkways at some areas across town. Nevertheless it is seemingly a problem that council is aware of and will continue to address and rectify."
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25 years ago
"Memorial service for Nichole today at Community Hall" topped the Lake News of Sept. 15, 1999.
"A memorial service for 17-year-old Nichole Stock will he held today, at 2 p.m. at the Upper Community Hall and is open to anyone who would like to attend, said Ken Stock, Nicole's father. A tea will be held following the service in the lower hall. Nichole passed away last Wednesday, Sept. 8, after complications following heart surgery at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Nichole had been born as, what the medical profession termed a 'blue baby', and subsequently had undergone many heart surgeries at B.C. Children's Hospital.
"As a result of the care she received, she decided when she was only 10-years-old that she wanted to give something back to 'B.C.'s special kids'. The community came to know Nichole when she began her `penny crew' in 1991 and raised money for the Variety Club, raising a total of $22,000."
Meanwhile in the same edition, "Councillor Jack Peake joins Mayoralty race" was also on the front page.
"Jack Peake, Town Councillor who has just announced he will run against Richard Walton in the Mayoralty race in the upcoming November election, says he'd like to get rid of the CVRD.
"This will be Peake's second time running for Mayor. He ran against Earle Darling but was beaten out he says, by 100 votes against Darling. "'If I knew then what I know now, I would never have run at that time. I think the experience being a councillor first is very, important,' Peake said Friday."
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40 years ago
"482 loggers go back to work at 3 area camps" was a promising headline on the front of the Sept. 12, 1984 Lake News.
"Logging camps in the Cowichan Lake district are hives of activity again this week as crews returned to their jobs at B.C. Forest Products and Pacific Products operations. A total of 482 loggers have returned to the woods. Most of them started work Sept. 4. BCFP's Renfrew division has started up with the same number of workers as before the layoff — 212 — but fewer loggers have returned to BCFP Caycuse.
"Caycuse industrial relations officer Brian Berkey said Tuesday that 155 workers have been called back, down about 15 from before the layoff."
And finally, Meade Creek Industrial Park getting 'serious' was another front-page headline.
"Prospective clients for the Meade Creek industrial park will soon be able to 'seriously' discuss purchase of specific lots with the park committee. Frank Raimondo, administrator of the Cowichan Valley Regional District, who has been coordinating the efforts of regional directors concerned with the park and expert advisors, said Friday that a survey team was surveying the site.
"The work is being done in order to get a subdivision proposal to the ministry of highways for approval, he said. The CVRD is the body preparing the industrial park but the highways ministry is still expecting its usual requirements, he said. 'They're putting us through the same hoops they'd use for an ordinary developer,' he said."
