45 YEARS AGO:
The three bands of School District 26 held their first-ever concert before a standing-room only crowd.
Band master Sinclair had experienced trouble as instruments had been late arriving. Band was here to stay, said Sinclair.
Bridge problems brought the following letter to Times columnist Art Jeffery:
Dear Art,
Hi! I just want to say sorry to all the Clearwater residents who wanted a new bridge. We couldn’t get the North Pole local of the Brotherhood of Elves and Santa’s Helper to agree to the overtime contract needed to assemble the bridge.
The problem was compounded by an energy crisis we are experiencing here. The reindeer have not been getting the proper amount of hay and would have been too weak to tow it behind the sleigh as some of you suggested.
Perhaps if your Chamber of Commerce promoted a “pioneer” image the old bridge might become a tourist attraction. If peanuts and popcorn were sold during the long lineups at the bridge, you might be able to raise enough money to buy a new one.
Sincerely, Santa Claus.
40 YEARS AGO:
The CID was having trouble with call-outs after regular working hours. Problems often stemmed from inadequate insulation covering the customers’ water systems.
Pete Penner drove Santa Claus to the Sportsman Café in a sled pulled by a snowmobile. More than 250 children sat on Santa’s knee.
35 YEARS AGO:
School District 26 superintendent Bill Jory spoke with North Thompson Teachers’ Association regarding how three days of instruction lost during a strike would be made up.
30 YEARS AGO:
New general manager at Clearwater Timber Products for Slocan Forest Products was Frank Mattus, formerly with International Forest Products. He took over from Peter Barry.
25 YEARS AGO:
There should be a regionally-based fire protection system in B.C. to protect homes, said Regional Fire commissioner Bob Hickey. Birch Island should have a firehall to fill the void between the Clearwater and Vavenby fire departments.
20 YEARS AGO:
About 40 workers from Weyerhaeuser’s Merritt and Lumby operations toured Vavenby. The sawmills in their respective communities were to be cut back or close the following February.
The NDP government had cheated B.C.’s resource communities when it transferred $49 million from the Natural Resource Communities Fund to general revenue, said MLA Kevin Krueger. The fund received 0.5 per cent of all natural resource taxes to help resource communities.
15 YEARS AGO:
Short-term goals established during a community-to-community forum included opening a large, portable Carrier mill at Louis Creek, introduction of an FM radio station to provide tourist information for travellers, establishment of a community forest and developing an official North Thompson Economic Plan.
Blue River heli-ski operator Mike Wiegele attended a Clearwater Ski Club executive meeting to present the group with a $5,000 cheque. In return for the support, Wiegele said he would like to see ski instruction and ski racing programs at the ski hill, particularly for youngsters from Blue River.
10 YEARS AGO:
A household thermometer located near the center of Clearwater showed temperatures approaching -30C.
John Harwood was the new Thompson-Nicola Regional District vice-chair. Harwood beat out two other directors, John Taylor and Ronaye Elliot, for the job.
5 YEARS AGO:
A playground to be named in memory of teachers Courtney and Skye Buck reached the finals of Aviva Insurance’s community fund contest. The courtyard entry from Raft River Elementary School’s PAC was one of 30 projects from across Canada picked for final judging.
1 YEAR AGO:
Winners of the Times Christmas story contest were (Grade 4-7) Reid Muddiman, Owen Thon and Brook Fowler, and (K-Gr 3) Kay McFadyen, Parker Wright and Tia Lingren-Wilson.
School District 73 was looking at moving the Grade 7 students in Clearwater, Barriere and Chase to their respective high schools. North Thompson school trustee Shelley Sim asked that two public consultation meetings be held here.
