55 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater residents Bob and Hettie Miller, their son Pete, Herb Green and Ray Serediak floated four miles down the Clearwater River from the Horseshoe in Wells Gray Park on a 12′ x 24 ‘ raft. They were dressed in appropriate costume to portray Overlanders. They were being filmed as part of a documentary entitled The Three Rivers.
Dave Pease of Vavenby bagged a 145 lb. cougar which measured six feet 11 inches from nose to tail tip. The cat, believed the biggest taken in the area, was shot in the vicinity of Cameron Lake. Pease was returning from a fishing trip with his bride of two weeks and his mother. He spotted the cat and shot it with his mother’s 30-30, which she called “Old Meat in the Pot.”
50 YEARS AGO:
After months of promises, there was grave doubt that a hospital would be built in Clearwater. Thompson-Nicola Regional District was bypassing the North Thompson in a referendum so as to not hold up hospital needs elsewhere in the TNRD, for example, in Ashcroft. John Harwood, president of the North Thompson Hospital Committee, called a public meeting to decide on what action the hospital committee should take.
A fire of unknown origin completely destroyed a curling rink and artificial ice plant in Clearwater. Mr. Walker, the owner, was talking of rebuilding. Value of the loss was put at $68,000.
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45 YEARS AGO:
Two channels of television were back on the air as a result of efforts by the Clearwater Business Association. BCTV was coming in clearly, but CFJC was not coming in as well.
An article outlined the history of Moose Camp, located 22 miles up Road 2 from Clearwater. It was originally a trap-line headquarters built by Ed Rioux. The oldest building was built in approximately 1916. Dave and June Jones took it over in 1971 from Glen and Carol McNeil.
Bob Crellin had arranged to exchange his teaching post in Clearwater with one in Australia. The trade was to be made in January.
40 YEARS AGO:
Dr. Bob Woollard of Clearwater, chairman of B.C. Medical Association’s environmental health committee, expressed concern about the recently released report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into uranium mining in B.C. “It is the government follow-up to the report which is the important factor,” Woollard pointed out.
35 YEARS AGO:
More than 30 persons took part in Clearwater’s first Terry Fox Run to benefit cancer research.
Clearwater Search and Rescue had three call-outs in one week. The first was for two American fishermen who were reported lost in Wells Gray Park when in fact they weren’t. The second was for a bear hunter out overnight west of Little Fort. He found his own way back. The third was for a missing woman, but the call was canceled within a few minutes.
30 YEARS AGO:
Fish and Wildlife staff were capturing mountain goats with a four-barreled net gun fired from a helicopter. They were transferring a small group from Wells Gray Park to Dunn Peak.
Native runners from the Alliance of Tribal Councils passed through the North Thompson as part of a run from Tete Jaune to Vancouver to raise publicity and funds for their legal struggle to stop sections of CNR’s double tracking program. They believed the program threatened salmon spawning and rearing areas. The basic question, said North Thompson Indian Band chief Nathan Matthew, was how the province and CNR came to have rights that superseded aboriginal rights.
25 YEARS AGO:
TNRD Area A Television, Parks and Cemeteries Committee wanted to know if local residents wanted to keep Knowledge Network on the air. Apparently it was conflicting with programming in Little Fort, and there were no other channels to go to.
A draft memorandum of agreement for the future operation of the Clearwater Hatchery by North Thompson Indian Band had been drawn up. The agreement’s author, chairman of the Common Ground Fisheries Forum, was waiting for a response from NTIB spokesperson Fred Fortier.
Water users on the extension to Sunshine Valley were to pay about $6,000 to connect to the Clearwater water system, nearly $1,000 less than the amount they agreed to pay when the project had been approved the previous spring.
20 YEARS AGO:
There were 91 participants in the Wilderness Gateway Relay. The seven members of the North Thompson Eagles, led by Greg Yeomans, ran and cycled the 115 km from Clearwater Lake to Clearwater in 5:58:29.
Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing was seeking new Crown Land tenures that would allow helicopter access for fishing, hiking, rock climbing, iced climbing, mountaineering, guide and snow-study training, and summer racing camps. Nearly six dozen new jobs could be created, said MWHS chief financial officer Peter Greenway.
15 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater Improvement District issued a boil water advisory, the first in its history, as a result of a single high coliform reading. “We were very happy with their response,” said a spokesperson for Interior health, which had called for the advisory.
A number of local businesspeople complained that a new toilet facility planned for Spahats Park would divert tourists and resources from the Wells Gray Infocenter. The improvements at Spahats were part of a series of projects along the corridor from Clearwater to Clearwater Lake, said B.C. Parks spokesperson Ron Routledge.
10 YEARS AGO:
A helicopter landed on Highway 5 to evacuate a seriously injured young woman following a crash near Jenkins Road. The collision sent both vehicles into the ditch. Using the jaws-of-life and a winch, highway rescue, fire department, ambulance, and RCMP personnel worked together to free the injured female.
Clearwater is the most at-risk community in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic, according to a presentation by the Southern Interior Beetle Action Committee. The local logging industry for other species had been all but shut down because stumpage rates for beetle damaged wood have been set so low, commented Mayor John Harwood.
5 YEARS AGO:
A grand opening was held for the new Dutch Lake Community Centre. The renovated former school contained the municipal offices, several YCS programs, TRU campus, and other organizations.
Students were back in school after a dispute between the government and BCTF was concluded.
1 YEAR AGO:
The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC) announced its members and donors successfully raised the money needed to buy and protect the 10 acres of Wildlife Corridor in the Upper Clearwater River Valley. The transfer was set to close by the end of the year and TLC would own 113 acres of adjacent lands for its ongoing protection and use for research and educational programming.
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