July 2000: 18 years ago
– One hundred members of Chawathil First Nation and other Sto:lo nations set up a temporary human blockade along Highway 7 July 4, temporarily stopping vehicles heading in both directions to hand them leaflets with information on treaty rights and title. “If we don’t get anybody’s attention, we’re going to accelerate our actions,” said Chief Ron John, seated on a chair in the middle of the road. “It might be the freeway next time…or the railway.” The action was meant to spur drivers to call their local MLAs and MPs to “get treaty negotiations back on track.”
– A large search effort for John Norquay, 33, and Martin Bobb, 28, two fishermen from Spuzzum, ended June 9, as hopes of finding them alive dwindled. On Saturday afternoon their boat capsized as they were checking their nets near Spuzzum Creek. What followed was a day-long search involving vessels from Kent-Harrison and Hope search and rescue teams joined by other boats, an RCMP Air One helicopter and Valley Helicopters and a ground search by volunteers, friends and family.
– The beleaguered Hope Cinema found a new rescuer in its former owner Jeff Larson, who told the Hope Standard he had plans to renovate it. Larson said he had been dubbed “the brave fellow who bought the movie theatre.” He had already finished a roof renovation, badly needed, and was moving on to a “ceiling to floor’ refit,” including all new seats.
July 1990: 28 years ago
– An enhancement to 911 services deemed “life-saving” had plans to come to Hope by 1992, after the Fraser-Cheam regional district, together with municipalities, approved the project without a public referendum. The $1.8 million upgrade, which made it possible for a caller’s name, address and telephone number to automatically appear on a dispatcher’s computer, could “save lives if the caller is incoherent or doesn’t know where he or she is.”
– Twice as many kindergarten children in Hope needed urgent dental care compared to the provincial average. The dental health of children in Grades 1 through 7 was also the worst in the entire upper Fraser Valley. The cause was difficult to pinpoint, said one dental hygienist, but financial problems appeared to be part of the issue.
– Hope officials were worried the town would become known as a place where drivers got ripped off, as complaints streamed in mainly centred around the towing company Coquihalla Towing. The company was allegedly telling people there was no BCAA affiliate in Hope and telling motorists they would be reimbursed for the full cost of towing – neither of which was correct. Towing companies not contracted by BCAA could only get partial reimbursements.
“Visitors leave here with bad feelings and unhappy memories, not just of the towing companies, but they attach it to the whole community,” said Chamber of Commerce president Inge Wilson.
July 1970: 48 years ago
– In early July, five brave, or foolhardy, souls traveled down the Fraser River in a rubber raft and two rubber dinghies. The group included three men and two boys. Two in the party, Vincent Loveys from Victoria and his 10-year-old son, encountered what Loveys described as “the worst rapids I’ve been in.”
“I’m still shaking from the experience,” he told the Standard upon landing on the banks at Katz. “The waves were six or seven feet high and I thought we’d had it. I’ve canoed on rivers all over Vancouver Island but these rapids are the worst I’ve been in.”
After this excitement, the group arrived in Mission after originally planning to end their journey in Port Mann as the current was too slow and “the exciting part is over anyway,” said Mike Hamilton.
– No swimming and certainly no skinny dipping at night was allowed at Hope’s Centennial Pool, after council gave third reading to a bylaw prohibiting swimming at the pool when the swimming pool is closed or no lifeguard is around. The bylaw change was passed after complaints about people scaling the fence and swimming at night. A town solicitor even suggested adding barbed wire to keep trespassers out.
Hope in History is a monthly dive into the archives of the Hope Standard. Is there a historical moment you want to relive? Email news@hopestandard.com with your requests.
