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:
“200 hampers get delivered at Lake” was the headline in the Lake Cowichan Gazette of Dec. 17, 2008.
Here’s the scoop.
More than 200 families in the Cowichan Lake area are receiving Christmas hampers from Cowichan Lake Community Services, after another impressive wave of giving from people.
Glynis Eve, this year’s coordinator, said it’s been wonderful how generous people have been.
Eve said that the Lake Cowichan Fire Department alone raised $1,841 in cash donations, as well as plenty of toys and bags of food.
The fire department set up a booth in front of Lake Cowichan Country Grocer on Friday night and most of Saturday, with Country Grocer donating hot dogs for a barbecue.
“Kudos to them for their great effort,” she said Monday. “There are so many people and organizations that have helped.”
Whether it was Curves’ donation of 100 gifts through the Christmas Angels campaign, a similar effort from Palsson Elementary School and Lake Cowichan Secondary School or Lake Cowichan Chiropractic donating a day’s fees to the cause, Eve said it’s always amazing how people come through to help others.
25 years ago:
“Don’t play bugle at midnight!” warned The Lake News of Dec. 22, 1993.
Council passed a noise bylaw last week limiting the hours during which noisy construction and other work can be done in the village.
Work creating noise may be carried out only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.
Covered is excavation, construction, renovation, alteration, demolition or repair of any building or structure, street, highway, or lane in such a manner as to disturbe the peace.
It will be unlawful to play a radio, phonograph, or any musical instrument between 9 a.m. and 8 a.m. in such volume as to disturb the peace.
Similarly, you can’t keep an animal, bird, or fowl that disturbs the peace or use any vehicle that creates loud and unnecessary noise.
Now you know.
40 years ago:
As the area was creeping towards Christmas, the Dec. 20, 1978 issue of The Lake News had plenty of Christmas stuff on the front page, but it also included one other item of special interest.
The story, which includes a lot of used-to-be, was “Franklin family wins $100,000 in Western Lottery”.
Do you remember the Western Lottery? If you can remember back that far, you can remember that $100,000 was a whole pile of money.
“Christmas came early for Ed and Jeanette Nepinak and their four children. Last week the Nepinaks, who live at Franklin River, learned their Western Lottery ticket had been drawn for a $100,000 prize,” says the story.
Do you remember when M&B had a camp at Franklin? Let’s read more.
Nepinak, a chaser on a yarder for MacMillan Bloedel’s Franklin River Division, traveled to Winnipeg to collect the prize money. Neither the 36-year-old logger nor his wife were available for their reaction to the win but friends say they were shocked when they learned of their good fortune.
Fred Sawyer, acting personnel manager at Franklin River, said the big win couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
“He’s just a super guy,” said Sawyer.
He said Nepinak took a week off work when he learned of his good fortune but was back to work this week, after collecting the prize. Sawyer quoted Nepinak as saying, “It’s not quite enough to retire on but we’ll enjoy it.”
Nepinak and his wife live in a mobile home in the logging camp. The personnel manager said it was especially fitting that the couple should win the prize because Nepinak had spent nearly a year off work last year due to illness.