Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Lexi Bainas has been combing through oldnewspaperswiththeassistance of the Kaatza Station Museum and Archives so we can jog yourmemory, giveyouthat nostalgicfeeling, or just a chuckle, as we take a look at what was makingheadlines thisweekaround Cowichan Lake in years gone by.
This week around the Cowichan Lake area…
10 years ago:
The Lake Cowichan Gazette of Sept. 5, 2007 trumpeted the happy news: “1/2 Cutz beat Oak to win Appollos
tournament”.
What was so special about that? They were the first local winners of the long-running tournament since 1991, when Youbou Rec won it.
The Gazette’s Doug Marner was on hand.
“A hot first inning was all the Home Hardware 1/2 Cutz needed to knock of the defending champion Oak & Carriage and win this year’s Appollos Slo-pitch Tournament. On a wet Monday afternoon it started with a lead-off triple by Scott Sanders, who then scored on a fly ball. It ended with a couple of home runs by Mike Frost, including a two-run shot in the first inning, for a 5-1 win over the Duncan team,” he wrote.
25 years ago:
“Police harvest $225,000” was the eye-catching lead story on the front page of The Lake News on Sept. 2, 1992.
“RCMP hit the jackpot when they located and destroyed several plots of marijuana in the district. Removed to the police barracks where the haul was exhibited to the newspaper by Const. Bruce Rud, are more than 500 plants, estimated to be worth between $200K and $250K on the street.”
Police declined to say exactly where the seizure had been made but told the paper that sweeps had been made in extremely dense brush.
“The drug growers would have harvested their crops in about another month,” Rud estimated. “Police beat them to it and will be continuing to search the area. The plants, some of them up to eight feet tall will be burned in the incinerator.”
40 years ago:
A sign at the Cowichan Lake incincerator that says ‘No scrounging’ will be replaced.
Instead, a sign advising people to “Check with operator before entering” will be put up so incinerator operators can keep better control at the site.
“The sign change was a concession made at a meeting last Wednesday between members of the regional district’s incinerator committee, a representative of the public works department, incinerator operator Andy Borzak, and Ald. Hazel Elves, speaking on behalf of an ad hoc committee of recyclers…There had been some bad feelings between the incinerator operators and some people who visit the yard to salvage used auto parts, building materials, metals, and other discards.
“Members of the recyclers committee had earlier stated that recyclers found the word ‘scrounging’ offensive. Some had stated that people were being discouraged from entering the dumping site to recycle material.”
However, according to the story, Borzak told the meeting that no one had been denied access but that a problem sometimes arises when people are still salvaging when employees wanted to close up and go home. Everyone hoped a compromise could be reached.