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
Big news in the Lake Cowichan Gazette around this time 10 years ago: “New physicians to arrive at the Lake”!
The March 5, 2014 edition said that two new physicians would be entering Brookside Medical Clinic in Lake Cowichan that summer.
“Dr. Clara Iturra and Dr. Pedro Jara Villarroel will team [for work at] Dr. Gary Toth’s medicine practice at the clinic, giving Cowichan Lake families better access to family physician services. ‘We are thrilled that these physicians have chosen our community as the place they want to work and call home, and we know that residents will make them feel very welcome,’ said Councillor Bob Day, co-chair of the Choose Cowichan Lake committee, in a press release.
“Day and company at Choose Cowichan Lake have been instrumental in bringing more health care professionals to Lake Cowichan in recent times including Toth and nurse practitioner Valerie Jefford. ‘We are overjoyed with the prospect of continuing our professional careers in Lake Cowichan,’ said Dr. Iturra.”
In the same edition, a story about community awards was on the front page.
“Gerald Thom receives Citizen of the Year Award and Wilma Rowbottom picks up Nichole Stock Award for community service,” it said.
“Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce announced the winners of its prestigious community awards this past Thursday night, with two Lake stalwarts picking up the main two for the year 2013. Gerald Thom, president of the Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society, won the 2013 Citizen of the Year Award and Wilma Rowbottom, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 210 in Lake Cowichan, won the 2013 Nichole Stock Community Service Award.”
25 years ago
Big news for the Cowichan River this time in 1999 according to the Lake News of March 3, 1999.
“20 years study completed of Cowichan River watershed” was the front page headline.
“The first-ever co-ordinated plan for fish in the Cowichan River watershed has been completed after 20 years’ work by Ted Burns, biologist. It comes at an auspicious time when the provincial government has set up Fisheries Renewal B.C. Burns figures they’ll need a plan like his and he’s going to Victoria to offer it to them. ‘If they did it now it could cost $200,000 and it would never be ready in time,’ he said. The Burns plan covers the Cowichan Valley Regional District area from Ladysmith to the Malahat and envisions 17 Operational Management Units — that is, areas that can be treated as units. He has detailed large-scale maps with markers showing where the OMUs are.”
Also in the same March 3, 1999 edition, garbage disposal was once again the topic of the day at Lake Cowichan council meeting.
“Rob Hutchins, mayor of Ladysmith and chair of the Cowichan Valley Regional District board, came to Council last week to explain why he doesn’t want incineration as a way of getting rid of garbage. It was, he said, a matter of cost. There has been a difference of opinion between Lake Cowichan Council and CVRD on the matter. Lake Cowichan wants to build an incinerator to replace the one shut down at the end of last year.”
40 years ago
“Hiker found dead near highway” was a sad headline on the front of the Lake News of Feb. 29, 1984. The body of a missing Katimavik hiker was found Tuesday morning, about 100 yards from smouldering outdoor fires at the Meade Creek incinerator and only about 300 yards from the busy Youbou highway.
“Timothy Livingston, one of a group of Katimavik youths who were participating in an overnight survival exercise, had been missing since Saturday evening. Livingston, 18, of Vancouver, as a member of the Katimavik program, lived at the Kiwanis Camp on the south shore of Cowichan Lake. Lake Cowichan Search and Rescue teams combed the rugged area around Meade Creek after RCMP were notified Sunday evening that Livingston had failed to arrive as a rendezvous point with a Katimavik companion.
And finally “Subdivision gets go-ahead”.
“Marble Bay Ventures — a Victoria-based company that is attempting to develop a 154-acre site at Marble Bay into a 31-lot subdivision, has been told by the Cowichan Valley Regional District that it can go ahead, with one change. The developer has been asked to change the location of a park so that it will be situated along the North Arm rather than in the two areas originally planned. It must also be at least the same size as the park shown in the company’s most recent plan and must be provided with a ‘reasonable access.’ These recommendations were made by a committee made up of Area ‘I’ regional directors John Ward, Area ‘F’ director Frank Walker and regional planner Derek Pratt. The exact size and shape of the new park are not yet known because the developer has to present a re-drawn plan.”