Terror attacks in France. A major earthquake in Mexico City. Trudeau occupying the office of Canada’s Prime Minister. While these may seem like some of today’s top news-making items, they are actually ripped from headlines printed in 1982.
It was a year of change and debuts in Parksville Qualicum Beach and beyond. The Canada Act allowed the government, for the first time, to amend its constitution without the approval of the Queen and established our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A fresh-faced young pop diva emerged on the scene, performing under the name Madonna. A group of volunteers started a new event on the beach in Parksville that they hoped would be popular enough to return for a second year as the Parksville Beach Festival.
And the Parksville Qualicum Beach News published its first edition.
In today’s paper, we mark 35 years of bringing the news to the greater Parksville Qualicum Beach region. Check out our special section inside to see just a few highlights of stories and photos of the news and newsmakers, community events, personalities and, yes, even the tragedy, that have marked the region in that time.
A reflection on these three-and-a-half decades shows that some news seems perpetual. Then, as now, municipal councils in 1982 wrestled with thorny issues of taxes, water supply, development, healthcare, transportation and more.
But the changes have been notable, as well. The rail service that once brought passengers into and through our communites lies dormant since 2011, but the Oceanside Health Centre opened in 2013 to provide services to those who previously had to drive to Nanaimo, Comox or Port Alberni.
The business of newspapers has changed, as well. In 1982, papers were assembled with X-acto knives and contact cement. We now write, design and print complete pages entirely by computer. And the days of waiting for your local carrier to deliver those pages of print has been usurped by a 24-hour news cycle pushing info to personal portable devices and cell phones that were in their infancy in 1982.
Other newspapers have fallen by the wayside in the last 35 years, but the Parksville Qualcium Beach News had added a vibrant network of sister papers across the Island to bring instant news with a regional impact. As with municipal mayors and councils, the faces in our newsroom and sales staff have changed since 1982.
But our mission will be to continue to cover local news, events and personalities. Hopefully, for another 35 years.
— Parksville Qualicum Beach News
