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
“Council refuses switch to water averaging” graced the front of the Oct. 30, 2013 Lake Cowichan Gazette.
“They listened, they discussed, they said no. That was the answer from Lake Cowichan town council to citizens who wanted to see their monthly water allowances averaged over the course of a year, rather than month-to-month. Council agreed to take a look at averaging late last month after a presentation by former mayor Jack Peake.
“‘We did look at it a few weeks ago and decided we would not be averaging, for quite a few reasons,’ said Mayor Ross Forrest. ‘The main reason is the summer months give the hardest hit to our water system,’ he explained. ‘So if everyone were allowed to average, the hit in the summertime would be very detrimental to our system at a time when the lake level is at its lowest (and) the river is at its lowest.’”
Hard to argue with that given what we know today about the state of the water system. From water to dust, there was an update on the dust saga.
“A light emerges from the dust cloud” was the headline.
“Are the days of dusty whiteouts and splattered mud finally over? Youbou residents have been promised a truck wash by the end of December or early January of next year. Even though the CVRD rescinded a $5,000 contribution to help build the truck wash earlier this year, TimberWest along with the other logging companies that use Youbou Road have decided to build one on their own. TimberWest has confirmed construction of a closed-loop truck wash on their land approximately two kilometres west of Youbou. Despite a long battle to get to this point, or perhaps because of it, some are still taking a wait-and-see position.”
25 years ago
“Marijuana industry soars while forestry is in trouble” was the headline on the front page of the Oct. 28, 1998 Lake News.
“‘Preservationists’ — he wouldn’t call them ‘environmentalists’ — are pressuring Home Depot to stop buying B.C. old growth lumber. That could cost “thousands of B.C. jobs,” Darryl Smith IWA Local 2171, said Friday. He spoke at the public meeting on economic development chaired by Reed Elley, M.P., at Centennial Hall. Only a handful of people showed up.
“One speaker, Les Gauthier, charged that: ‘marijuana is the biggest employer in this district. It keeps more people going around here than anything else.’
“Smith, who said he is a logger working in the Mid-Coast area though he lives here, said he was asking all British Columbians to help him fight Greenpeace. Smith made is clear that he believes that great pressure is being exerted behind the scenes with large purchasers and importers of B.C. lumber to stop them buying.”
Another story in the same paper was that construction was to start “this week on seniors new building”.
“Building is to begin this week on the new senior’ apartment building on King George Street opposite Olson Manor. It had been awaiting approval from the Ministry of the Environment, which has just been received, said the president of the organization, Dorothy Clode.”
40 years ago
“Forrest challenges for mayor’s chair” was the top headline on the front of the Lake News of Oct. 26, 1983.
“The mayoralty race is on. Former alderman Ted Forrest has announced he is seeking the job of mayor of the Village of Lake Cowichan, opposing incumbent Ken Douglas, who has already said he will seek a third term.
“Local businessman Frank Smith also has announced that he will try for a two-year stint on Lake Cowichan village council, making it a contest for incumbents Roger Hamilton and Don Gordon.
“Another local businessman, Earle Darling, said Monday that he will try for the one-year remaining on the seat Forrest vacated by his resignation Oct. 7.
“Rik Elves of Lake Cowichan announced Monday that he will oppose Darling for the one-year term. Meanwhile, another four possible civic candidates had taken out papers but had not announced their intentions as of Tuesday afternoon.”
Plenty of interest in those leadership seats, I’d say!
In other news, “Work stoppage skirts region” was a big headline as well, in the same edition of the Lake News.
“Chips were being stockpiled at the B.C. Forest Products Youbou mill Tuesday because they could not be shipped to the company’s Crofton pulp mill due to a lockout of the union there. Local 2 of the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada, which represents the Crofton crew, was off the job this week as part of an industry-wide action against the PPWC by its forest company employers.
“The Youbou mill usually sends its chips to Crofton but could not do so this week. Myron Barge, industrial relations officer… said he did not know how long the mill could continue normal operations and store its output of chips. Meanwhile, no logging operations in the Cowichan Lake area have yet been affected by the PPWC lockout although the union has threatened to extend the work stoppage to all sectors of the forest industry.”