Every week we feature Valley history taken from our back issues.
Five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Alex Lamoureux said he plays the fiddle, not the violin.
“The difference,” he explained, “is fiddles have beer stains.” Lamoureux, who moved to Comox with his family last fall, has spent most of his weekends this summer travelling to different parts of the country, touring and participating in fiddling competitions, many of which he wins.
“I see all my friends working in McDonald’s,” he said. “I think if I can make money like this [by fiddling], I should. I’m going to try and transform the instrument. I want to make my own style of it.”
Ten years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Georges P. Vanier School graduate Brad Ramshaw received the Governor-General’s Award after receiving the highest scores on his provincial exams in his 500-strong class. He scored 99 per cent in biology, 99 per cent in chemistry, 97 per cent in English, 96 per cent in physics, and 95 per cent in math, leaving him with a 96.5 average.
He also earned a number of scholarships and bursaries totalling $13,400 for his university fund (he will attend UBC).
Fifteen years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Courtenay RCMP were warning the public to be aware of the latest phone scam to hit the Valley. Last week, police heard from a lady who said someone claiming to represent the International Service of the Kiwanis out of Quebec told her she’d won $250,000. The caller told her to send them a cheque for about $7,000 before the long weekend. The winner’s cheque would then be delivered on Sept. 5.
Twenty years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
The rollout of Canada’s national debit card network will begin this fall in the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.
The Interac Direct Payment network will be officially launched at a news conference in Vancouver on Sept. 16. Payment by debit card provides for the automatic transfer of funds from the account of a consumer to the account of merchant, at the time of purchase.
Twenty-five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Gambling in BC should be the private preserve of charitable organizations, without the drain of private enterprise competitions, said Ald. Harry Stevens of Comox. He was responding to a BC Gaming Commission letter that asked council’s opinion on gambling.
If private organizations get “involved in what has been used for non-profit organizations,” said Stevens, charitable organizations “will have to come to the government for funds.”
