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
What an accomplishment for Susan! We can read all about it on the front page of the Lake Cowichan Gazette of July 24, 2013.
“Susan Simmons said swimming the length of Cowichan Lake in one day was one of the most difficult things she’s ever done. But talking to her the day after, she leaves the impression it’s also one of the best things she has done.
“’It was epic,’ the Victoria resident said of her 34-kilometre swim, which took place Saturday, July 20. ‘It was an incredible swim. It was a tough swim, probably the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.’
“Simmons, 48, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) close to 20 years ago. She’s been swimming for eight years. Two years ago, she swam with an all-women’s relay team across the Strait of Georgia, and last year, she did a solo 10-kilometre swim in Vancouver Open Water Swim’s Bay Challenge. On July 20, Simmons did her Cowichan Lake swim with Alex Cape, a fellow member of the Victoria Masters Swim Club. Cape, 34, has been swimming since 1991. A Canadian Army medic, she played water polo at the University of Victoria, where she was first introduced to Masters swimming. Simmons and Cape did their swim to raise money for the MS Society and inspire people with MS to be active.”
Wow.
In less inspiring news of the day, “Mom heartbroken after commemorative sign for her late son disappears from the forested stretch that was so precious to him” was a story that also tugged at the heart strings but in a different way.
“Helen Evans said she first noticed the sign’s absence from a forested stretch of Meade Creek Road three weeks ago while out walking with a friend. The sign, a wooden paddle carved with raised letters reading ‘David’s Tunnel’ had vanished from its usual spot ‘up on a tree so high that even a very tall person couldn’t reach it. Whoever took it down had to have a ladder or something because it was just up too high,’ Evans said. ‘And it was put up there in that way so you could see it, but you couldn’t touch it. So somebody made the effort to take it down and I’m thinking it might be somebody new who had no idea of the significance of (the sign) to the family and to the neighbourhood’. Hamilton passed away in 2006 at the age of 44, Evans said, but he lived the life of ‘an eternal child’ as a result of Down syndrome.”
25 years ago
“New building one step closer with sod turning ceremony” was the top story on the front of the Lake News of July 22, 1998.
“After years of effort and planning, Cowichan Lake’s unstoppable seniors have broken ground for their $2.3 million affordable housing building. The ceremony took place Saturday afternoon.
“The two-story building, with a hoped for completion date by the end of the year, will offer apartments for 30 seniors, as well as a respite unit and a day-care unit.
“Prior to the sod-turning there was a ceremony in the Senior Centre. (MP Reed) Elley told the crowd of nearly 100 that the new building will be a good example of the tenet: ‘If you want some thing done, do it yourself,’ which has replaced the idea that governments can do everything.”
In 0ther news of the day, the “Canadian Coast Guard along with Lake Cowichan RCMP handed out 26 small vessel regulation notices this past weekend during marine patrols of Cowichan Lake. Sgt. Gerry Poitras said as part of the Coast Guard’s mandate, it is conducting sporadic patrols of the inland lakes to carry out safety checks on small vessels. Items such as sound signalling devices, life saving equipment, bailers, paddles, running lights, boat registration, and approved life jackets were identified as lacking on several boats.”
40 years ago
A warning from the school board chairman was directed at parents of schoolchildren on this day four decades ago, according to the July 27, 1983 edition of the Lake News.
“‘Get involved in schools or lose control’-Brown” was the headline.
“Cowichan Lake district residents should be preparing themselves to do battle to save their school district — if they think it’s worth saving, according to the local school board chairman. Jean Brown said in an interview Monday that a complacent attitude here may speed the process that would see School District 66 joined with its neighbour, School District 65 — Cowichan.
“‘If people are not aware of the urgency of the situation, (the independence of this district) will easily be lost to us,’ she said. School District 66 trustees have been living with the threat of amalgamation hanging over their heads for years, so they are better prepared than most to anticipate arguments that may be raised for it. Brown said she expected the provincial education ministry to look further at amalgamation this fall.”
And finally police had a warning, too.
“Pellet gun warning issued,” was the headline in the same paper.
“Youngsters who use pellet or BB guns while not under the supervision of an adult are breaking the law, Lake Cowichan RCMP warned this week. ‘Both BB guns and pellet guns are considered to be firearms. You may not carry a firearm if you are under 19 years.’”