Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter James Goldie has been combing through old newspapers with the assistance 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 week around Cowichan Lake in years gone by.
This week around the Cowichan Lake…
10 years ago:
Honeymoon Bay hosted the largest truck show on Vancouver Island as part of Honeymoon Bay Days.
The inaugural Hayes Over The Bay truck show featured vintage highway and off-road trucks. There were wide-bodied off-highway trucks on display, which are a rarity at truck shows.
There was also a tractor drag, trade booths, truck judging and a truck light-up on Saturday.
The truck show event’s main sponsor was Hayes Forest Services Limited.
The largest truck show in Western Canada is held annually in Mission, B.C., which poses a challenge to truckers and truck enthusiasts on Vancouver Island.
“Unfortunately the ferry costs hinder participation for many Island drivers, so we decided to organize one locally,” said organizer and Hayes truck driver Dennis Ruttan.
25 years ago:
Nine people arrested while interfering with road-building operations in the Walbran forest will appear in B.C. Supreme Court this week. Lake Cowichan RCMP detachment sergeant Ron Merchant visited the demonstration site where between 20 and 40 protestors were actively preventing loggers from falling trees in order to create a road. Merchant said the demonstrators were non-violent and have done no damage but still may face criminal charges depending on the court’s decision.
This has been a tense summer as environmentalists and logging proponents clash over the forest’s future.
Chief Jack Thompson of the Nitinat First Nation said that aboriginal protestors could speak for themselves but none is authorized to speak on behalf of the Nitinat.
40 years ago:
The CB radio boom is still going strong in the Cowichan Valley. Local sales are booming according to Madeline Niebergall of Metronomes’s Music. She told the Lake News that all types of CB equipment are selling well and that some factories are having trouble filling orders.
“There’s more on the street every day,” she said. “They’ve sold faster than the [Department of Communication in Victoria] was prepared for.”
According to the DOC there are more than 9,000 sets operating on Vancouver Island, with no sign of the trend abating.
The Lakeview CB Club drew 25 people to its first meeting in January and now has more than 60 paid members. The club’s purpose is largely social, bringing radio enthusiasts together to share stories and information, but will also work together to help with communications in the event of an emergency.
Club vice president Michael Bedard said misuse of CB radios will be dealt with by the DOC.
“CB is not a toy,” he said. “It should be treated as a machine of importance.”
Compiled by James Goldie, Gazette
