Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Lexi Bainas has been combing through oldnewspaperswiththeassistance 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 weekaround Cowichan Lake in years gone by.
This week around the Cowichan Lake area…
10 years ago:
The late Doug Marner, then editor of the Lake Cowichan Gazette, offered a few Christmas wishes in his editorial on Dec. 26, 2007.
“We hope we never see another pineapple express like the one three weeks ago, when two feet of snow, or more at the west end of the lake, melted in less than 24 hours. With global warming, though, we won’t bet on it. We hope that money becomes available to deal with the long term flooding problems on Sutton Creek and Ashburnham Creek, which flow through Honeymoon Bay. This should also include a serious look at logging practices in the watershed above, which many believe is a major part of the problem.
“We hope that everyone uses common sense when celebrating the festive season and doesn’t drink and drive. We hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!”
And I do, too.
25 years ago:
Part of the fun of Christmas for The Lake News was the “Christmas Is for Kids” edition that included stories and pictures from many students around the area.
Carly Nelson and Sanjit Bhalru, of A.B. Greenwell School, joined forces for this one:
“Once upon a time there was a girl and she wanted trolls. She went to bed and Santa Claus came. He gave her five trolls. The next day in the morning she woke up and opened her presents. She saw Santa Claus and woke her mom and Dad.
‘I saw Santa Claus,’ said Emily. ‘I saw Santa Claus!’
“‘Oh, you didn’t,’ said mom and dad. Then she wished on the wish troll for all the boys and girls to have a very Happy Christmas. She went to bed. It had been a great Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Myles Palliser of Stanley Gordon School used the letters from Rudolph for his story.
“R is for rack up that Santa avoids. U is for umbrella that could be a Christmas gift. D is for danger. Watch out for those telephone poles, Santa! O is for order that you send to Santa. L is for loud when you sing a Christmas carol. P is for polite, which you need to be when you get presents, and H is for holly, and a holly, jolly day,” he wrote.
40 years ago:
The headline “Silver screen could lose home: slated for apartment conversion” in The Lake News of Dec 21, 1977 was predicting the truth.
The old movie theatre on North Shore Road has long been an apartment building.
“The silver screen could be just a memory for Lake Cowichan’s theatre if a local businessman is successful in his plans to convert the structure to an apartment building,” the story said. “Lachman Sanghera appeared at last Tuesday’s council meeting with a plan to convert the theatre to an apartment building with 13 units.”
Council pointed out that Sanghera’s zoning, site coverage and off-street parking do not conform to the village’s zoning bylaw. Council recommended that he re-draft the plans to reduce the density to 12 units and make adjustments to the parking area before resubmitting the plan. “Council will have the regional planner review the plans and draft a development permit to allow the project to go ahead under the village’s zoning bylaw. The land is now zoned for commercial use. A public hearing must be held prior to issuance of a development permit.”