50 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater Lions members were gearing up for the charter night of the Blue River Lions Club which they were sponsoring.
Small’s Shell Service was selling Ski-Doos for $745, or a used model for $600.
45 YEARS AGO:
A volunteer was wanted to take over as TNRD Area A (Clearwater-Vavenby) director. The post was vacant since former director John Harwood had completed his term.
40 YEARS AGO:
A petition was being distributed in Clearwater and Vavenby for a referendum to gauge support for Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area A to purchase land on Dutch Lake for a park.
35 YEARS AGO:
TNRD supported restoration of VIA Rail passenger service along the Edmonton-Jasper-Vancouver route. A delegation was to meet Transport Minister Lloyd Axworthy.
Brookfield Plaza became a sea of ice chunks several inches deep in front of Mrs. Bas Cafe and Boots Drug Store following a sudden thaw. Clearwater Fire Department spent several hours pumping the water out.
30 YEARS AGO:
Parks Minister Terry Huberts announced plans to celebrate Wells Gray Park’s 50th anniversary. The focal point of the celebrations would be during the first weekend in August, and were to include an old-timers’ reunion, a nature hike, a native dancing display, a sing-a-long, and a campfire.
The Parks Minister also announced that Trophy Mountains Recreation Area and Flowermills Recreation Area were open to mineral exploration and claim staking for a period of 10 years. At the time there were 25 mineral claims totaling 484 hectares in 530,000 hectare Wells Gray Park.
25 YEARS AGO:
Hundreds of letters were turned in to the Times in opposition to a move to take the full-time ambulance unit chief position out of Clearwater.
A local 19-year-old was alive after flipping his car into the Clearwater River. Police reported he had fallen asleep and his vehicle went off the road to the left of the bridge on Old Highway 5 and landed on its roof about 120 feet out. Emergency crews were called out just before 3 a.m. before it was determined that the young man was alone in the car.
20 YEARS AGO:
Over 60 Blackpool residents came out to a public meeting to ask questions about a proposed re-zoning that would allow a mobile home park at the corner of Highway 5 and Jenkins Road. Chief concern appeared to be the possible effect of the park on shallow wells in the area.
Loggers were salvaging about 160,000 cubic meters of wood from an area infested with spruce bark beetle in the southwest corner of TFL 18, said Slocan forester Dave Poole. This compared with 120,000 cubic meters of wood being salvaged by Weyerhaeuser from the Elevator Fire north of Avola.
15 YEAR AGO:
The entire Vavenby Improvement District board of trustees resigned. VID chair Carol Schaffer gave three reasons: the trustees did not appear to have the support of the community, the trustees did not want to receive more verbal abuse, and they resented the implication that they had been fiscally irresponsible.
10 YEARS AGO:
TNRD directors voted to contribute $7,500 towards the rural health symposium scheduled to take place March 26-28 in Clearwater. Representatives from communities across the B.C. Interior were expected to attend as well as members of the provincial government.
TNRD directors passed a bylaw to set up a Joint Services Committee for Clearwater and Wells Gray Country. The committee would look after services that are used and paid for by residents of both the District of Clearwater and Wells Gray Country, such as the Sportsplex, transit service and television re-broadcasting.
It was undecided yet as to whether the Grade 4 and Grade 7 students in School District 73 would write the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) exam. The previous year, members of BCTF voted 85 per cent against preparing for, administering or marking the FSA. The teachers want the FSA results for individual students and schools kept confidential.
5 YEARS AGO:
More than 80 people registered for the 16th annual Wells Gray Birchleg at the Candle Creek cross-country ski trails. Many wore Viking or traditional Scandinavian costumes. The event included a Norwegian-style lunch.
A learn-to-skate program put on by the Raft River Elementary School PAC at the Sportsplex was “amazingly successful,” according to Christie Dobi, one of the organizers. Most classes had gotten two lesson times during the six-week program, while some had gotten three. Community programs were also allowing students at the school to learn how to downhill and cross-country ski.
A meeting held at the newly renovated Vavenby Community Hall discussed what to do with Vavenby’s share of tax money collected by District of Clearwater on industrial property in Vavenby that was included in the municipality during incorporation. In 2009 the residents had voted to hold the funds for five years and then re-visit the issue. Those present were now looking at what to do with $46,000.
1 YEAR AGO:
A Fire Service Review carried out on 11 of the fire departments within the Thompson-Nicola Regional District including fire departments in Vavenby, Clearwater, Blackpool, Little Fort and McLure recommended TNRD should take over the fire departments run by societies.
It did not include Blue River or Barriere, which opted out of the process.
The departments in Vavenby and Blackpool are operated by the TNRD while those in Little Fort and McLure are run by their own societies.
Clearwater’s fire department is run by District of Clearwater.
