10 years ago (2003): Joy and Steve Janzen of Invermere were heading to Quebec while a French couple came to stay here, as the couple were about to participate in the Life Network television program, Trading Places.

“The willing participants must take the other person’s jobs, friends, family, joys, and struggles, all in front of a camera crew who will broadcast each surprise and shock across the nation.”

20 years ago (1993): Dismay was communicated towards a staff member of The Echo in a letter printed this week in 1993.

“Though I find several of your newspaper’s articles very amusing and well written, there is one particular reporter who never fails to disappoint me with the lack of tact and technique he employs in his writing.”

“Although (he) seems to have relatively good intentions behind his articles, (he) inevitably ends up lost in a sea of unrelenting and unthinking sarcasm which all but obliterates the message he is attempting to convey.”

30 years ago (1983): The Industrial Park was officially opened, with Senator Jack Austin and MLA Charles Dary on hand to represent the provincial and federal government during a ceremony on site. The province and the federal government split the cost for the Insutrial Park 50/50, summing a total of $659,000.

Mr. Dary said that the community should not seek large, outside interest to fill the space, rather “it should launch an aggressive activity to promote local business.”

History has proven that local business was the best way to develop an area, he claimed.

• A “gypsy-like” scam occured in Golden, and police were warning Invermere residents of the incidents.

“Two women approach the home owner and one keeps him or her busy, usually asking for a glass of water or medical aid. The other enters the house and steals whatever she can,” an RCMP Sergeant from Golden stated in a press release.

40 years ago (1973):

The Echo printed a special feature by Dr. Peterson titled, Most Important Meal is Missed by Too Many. In it, he underscores the importance of eating breakfast.

He said that we have more food options than ever before in history, but that humans often make unhealthy choices despite this.

“We know more about feeding pigs than we do about humans, but we can’t put humans in a laboratory,” he said. “The blame for our woeful eating habits has been placed by some on convenience foods.”

As teachers began to recognize the importance of the first meal of the day, he said, some schools were beginning to introduce breakfast programs “to needy children or to those whose parents don’t fully recognize the need for a good nutritional start to the day.”

50 years ago (1963): Linda Swindell was named Miss Windermere Valley, after taking the crown of office from the hands of Miss Betti Anderson. Both girls made speeches at the Fall Fair last weekend, and there were visits by Edgewater May Queen Susan Penner and Canal Flat May Queen Susan Belcher.

“The group of attractive girls made a pretty picture on the dais at the fair in spite of a backdrop of drizzling rain.”