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
“RCMP remind drivers to ensure good tire tread on vehicle[s],” was the headline over top of a photograph showing a sports car being pulled from a ditch by a tow truck.
Yes, winter had arrived in the Cowichan Lake area this time a decade ago, and that meant the return of super slick roads. According to the Lake Cowichan Gazette of Nov. 7, 2012: “On Tuesday, Oct. 30, at approximately 8:15 p.m. the Lake Cowichan RCMP attended to a single vehicle collision five kilometres east of Lake Cowichan. Cpl. Larry Olson of the Lake Cowichan RCMP says that the Lake Cowichan driver of a 1989 Chevrolet Corvette lost control of her vehicle. The vehicle spun around several times, slid off a steep embankment and came to a stop just short of a large tree.
“’Although there was heavy rain and water on the highway the hydroplaning was likely caused by low tread depth of the summer tires that were on the vehicle. Fortunately, the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries and there was minimal damage to the vehicle,’ said Cpl. Olson.”
The Lake Cowichan RCMP also commented on the town’s Halloween night shenanigans in the same edition, and it wasn’t too bad.
“Lake Cowichan RCMP reported a quiet night on calls for service. Other than the usual calls about fireworks there were no major incidents or problems to report. There were no charges or items seized. The public is reminded that although fireworks are for sale during Halloween, the discharge of fireworks in the CVRD areas of the lake are only allowed with the possession of a permit. The bylaw for the Town of Lake Cowichan says that regulated fireworks are allowed to be discharged — for personal use — on Halloween only.”
25 years ago
“High winds send branch through window” was the top headline on the Nov. 5, 1997 edition of the Lake News though it could just as easily be a headline for this year as well. It still happens with the high winds that are known to come through the region.
In this particular story, though, “Sharon Hewison’s premonition came true Thursday at 3:40 a.m. when a foot-thick branch from a weeping willow tree crashed through the roof of her Park Street house in Honeymoon Bay.
“‘I was always afraid of that tree,’ she said. “Ripped off by roaring winds, the branch smashed the big window in her living room, demolished her chimney and crashed through the roof. It wound up in the crawl space and — luckily — stopped there. Sharon was sleeping in the bedroom next to the living room. Three children, Amber, two, Breezinne, 5, and Sasha, 7, were also asleep in the house. No one was hurt.
“Sharon said she was wakened by the crash, as was as least one neighbour. ‘I saw him come to his door and look out. Then he went back in.’ No one offered to help her, she said. She rented the house two years ago and began fearing almost at once that the weeping willow would come through the roof.”
Also two and a half decades ago, according to the same edition, “Halloween was a good night, police commend local youth” was reported on but it turns out the youth were just behaving on the big night and instead, got up to no good a different night as told by the story “Man assaulted by youths after refusing to give money”.
“A man walking along the rail bed between Hammond and Sahtlam Road was assaulted by two young youths after he refused to give them money. Sgt. Potrais of the Lake Cowichan RCMP said the man was approached by two male youths, between 12-14-years-old. The youths asked the man for money and when the man refused, the youths assaulted him and ran away. The victim received minor injuries.” Police were on the lookout for the pair.
However, in the Halloween night recap, “The responsibility shown by youth in preventing acts of vandalism in the community was greatly appreciated,” Sgt. Potrais said.
40 years ago
Lake Cowichan village council was not in folks’ good books this time four decades ago. They gave themselves a raise, according to the Nov. 3, 1982 Lake News.
“In a year which has featured calls for restraint from all levels of government, Lake Cowichan village council has voted itself a 10 per cent pay increase.
“After they had voted themselves the raise at the Oct. 26 council meeting, councillors rushed to justify it. Mayor Ken Douglas said that it was better to raise it a little, regularly, than to leave it for a long period and then have to ‘catch up.’”
Meanwhile, the same edition also reported that “water, sewer rates upped, 100 houses subsidy killed”.
The move didn’t look good on council.
“Lake Cowichan water and sewer users will be hit with hefty increases next year. The parcel tax for water hookups will rise to $50 annually. It was $25 this year. The monthly user rates for sewer customers will also go up. The increase will be about 35 per cent from 1980 rates. In addition, sewer customers who live in the Hundred Houses section of the village will have to pay the full $96 sewer parcel tax instead of the reduced fee of $32 they have been paying since the sewer was installed. These decisions were made by Lake Cowichan village council at the Oct. 26 council meeting.”
That was the same meeting they’d given themselves a 10 per cent raise.