55 YEARS AGO:
Many homes in the Upper Clearwater Valley had been wired in preparation for the coming of power. The power line had been strung from Candle Creek to Clearwater Forest Camp and holes had been dug as far as L. Reupel’s.
50 YEARS AGO:
Pete Braun came home from Camp Two at 3 a.m. On arriving he went out to get an armful of wood for the fire, in the back of the house. As he started up the steps a cougar came from the side and landed between him and the door. He looked at the cougar and the cougar looked at him.
Pete started toward the door but the cougar twisted its lips as if to say, “no.” Pete dropped the wood (and this evidently startled the big cat to the side) so that Pete could get by for his gun.
As he did so his little white bulldog chased after the cougar across the road.
Then Pete went up to get Cecil Carter and dogs to search for the animal. They decided not to track it and gave Pete the warden’s phone number in Barriere. The warden got up to Pete’s about daylight with five cougar dogs and the search was on. They tracked the cougar up into the highest part of the mountains where they came upon five cougars altogether.
By late morning they captured all five animals and Pete didn’t get any sleep for his next mill shift.
45 YEARS AGO:
The Clearwater Rangers played host to the area rangers “Deepfreeze” weekend. Seventeen rangers and cadets from Kamloops, Savona and Chase enjoyed a weekend of curling, snowshoeing, tobogganing and other winter activities.
40 YEARS AGO:
Premier Bennett issued a seven-year moratorium on Uranium mining and exploration within the province. In his statement, the Premier claimed the fears were too real to ignore. He said there is no need to develop the Uranium resources which apparently do not play a major role in B.C. energy requirements.
35 YEARS AGO:
Murray Stockton, chairman of the TNRD T.V., Parks and Cemetery committee said he had met with members of the Chamber of Commerce television committee to establish a basis for transferring broadcasting licenses to the TPCC from the chamber. C. of C. members Art Mayer, Bill Mattenley and Ed Flegel asked for guarantees that channels 2 and 10 remain on the air. Mr. Stockton told his group that he could not give a guarantee but he was willing to try.
30 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater’s swimming pool committee had come up with what had been described as a realistic alternative by TNRD rep Pail Caissie. Caissie, who gave up support in principle made the comment while stating he favoured the new plans over the previous $1 million standalone project. The proposed pool would be set up in the North Thompson Sportsplex each spring and removed in the fall.
25 YEARS AGO:
A frightening situation ended without incident when two young Clearwater girls were found safe and sound. “The two 10-year-olds wandered off into a wooded area behind Raft River Elementary School during the noon hour,” said Cst. Mike Savage. Their absence was noted at the 12:50 p.m. attendance count. Clearwater RCMP was called to the school and sent for a police service dog and handler from Kamloops. Clearwater Search and Rescue were also called out. However, a ground search organized by the family located the missing children before the formal search was started. Both were okay, said Savage.
20 YEARS AGO:
Salary increases for themselves approved by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District directors at their most recent meeting were justified, according to TNRD Area A director Bert Walker. “Now we’re at the bottom of the list,” he said, comparing the TNRD to other regional districts of comparable size and range of services. Walker was one of the strongest proponents of the increases and made or seconded most of the motions to that effect made by the regional district executive committee.
15 YEARS AGO:
The North Thompson Indian Band was no longer the North Thompson Indian Band. The official name was changed to Simpcw First Nation, said band manager John Sargent. The word Simpcw is the traditional name for the Secwepemc (Shuswap) people living in the North Thompson Valley, he said. The NTIB was one of the few remaining bands in the province to still retain the words “Indian Band” In its official name.
10 YEARS AGO:
Work on upgrades to Clearwater’s Rotary sports Park continued, according to project manager Bert Walker. Tenders closed for a field house. The engineer was looking over the bids to check they made the requirements. The building would be used as a washroom during soccer and other events on the Clearwater Secondary School field, as well as for storage.
5 YEARS AGO:
The District of Clearwater was to receive $390,000 for community benefits, municipal infrastructure, recreation and education through a memorandum of understanding with Trans Mountain Pipeline. “This agreement with Trans Mountain will allow us to further a number of works in our community that we have identified as priorities,” said John Harwood, mayor of Clearwater. “Overall, there will be impacts to the district should this project move ahead and this agreement would be one of the positive impacts to our community.”
1 YEARS AGO:
The Turcotte Compound Snowarama Drag Race and Freestyle was going into its second year and organizers had stretched the event two days to offer twice the action from its inaugural run. The event was hosted by local X Games gold medalist Brett Turcotte as a fundraiser for Easter Seals.
