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.
This week around the Cowichan Lake area…
10 years ago
“Wednesday, April 4 was quite an exciting day because that was the day that Lake Cowichan Secondary School found out that they won $25,000 for a new computer lab!” said the front page of the April 11, 2012 edition of the Lake Cowichan Gazette. “All because of Lake Cowichan’s very own Lauren Frost. Frost is a 15-year-old LCSS student. She entered an essay contest — the Staples Canada Recycle for Education Computer Lab Contest — without thinking she would actually win. The contest was a Canada-wide essay contest sponsored by Staples Canada Inc. Only 20 schools throughout Canada won the $25,000 worth of technology for their schools, and LCSS is one of them.”
How cool is that?
In the same edition was “Kaatza Museum acquires new old equipment”.
“The Kaatza Station Museum recently acquired two pieces of historic forest industry equipment. A Skagit yarder — used in moving logs in the bush and dating back possibly to the 1940s — was donated by Jim Dalman, who acquired it many years ago. Built in Sedro Wooley, Washington, it is now located on the front lawn at the right-hand side of the main museum building.
Also donated was a headsaw winch believed to have been used at the WFI sawmill in Honeymoon Bay which closed in 1981. The headsaw was donated by Ed Pawlik. This piece is located on a former car bridge cement slab just past the museum. Further information is being collected on these machines. Both pieces of equipment were hauled by Cowichan Valley Concrete/Johel Brothers.”
25 years ago
A young girl was being hailed as a hero on the front page of the April 16, 1997 Lake News.
“If anyone was home, young girl would have saved lives” was the headline and the story went like this:
“A young girl discovered Friday night that she has heroic characteristics after displaying her courage when she discovered smoke billowing out of a home on Neva Road.
“Joanne Haraldon, 18 years old ordered her boyfriend, Steven Hill to stop the truck he was driving when she spotted the smoke while driving past 220 Neva Rd. ‘I ran to the front door and I spotted a shovel. I began banging on the door, screaming and yelling — afraid that someone might be sleeping inside,’ the girl said. After getting no response, Haraldson ran to the back door and began the same routine — banging with the shovel on the door, screaming and yelling.
“No one was at the home, and despite the fact that firefighters were on the scene within minutes putting the fire out — the home was gutted.”
Also 25 years ago, it was announced in the April 16 edition that there’d be a battle of the newspapers during Lake Days.
“Those who work for the Lake News are challenging those working for the Gazette to a tug-of-war competition for Lake Days. ‘It’s all in good fun, and I think it will spark some interest in an event which has lost a bit of popularity over the years,’ Susan Lowe, co-publisher of the Lake News said.”
Lowe was pretty convinced her side would prevail, though I imagine the folks at the Gazette would have disagreed.
40 years ago
“More layoffs hit Youbou sawmill” was a top headline in the April 14, 1982 edition of the Lake News.
More layoffs will hit the B.C. Forest Products Youbou sawmill April 19 as 43 ‘B’ mill workers will be sent home until May 28.
The blow will be softened slightly, however, since the veneer plant — down since March 5 — is scheduled to go back into operation the same day, putting about 69 workers back on the job. The new layoffs were announced in a statement released April 9.
In other forestry news, “CVRD Chairman Gerry Giles wants Western Forest Industries company negotiators to get cracking on the stalled talks which will determine the fate of Honeymoon Bay.
“Expressing frustration at the lack of progress in the months-long discussions, the head of the Cowichan Valley Regional District board said Monday that ‘the (CVRD) committee is ever hopeful that WFI will continue the talks in good faith, but sometimes I get the feeling that things aren’t progressing as fast as they could be.’
“Giles and a committee of regional directors have been trying to get talks started on such subjects as the waterworks, sewer system and fire protection in Honeymoon Bay.”