February

February

Remember When? (February 29)

A look back at what's happened in the Columbia Valley over the last 50 years.

50 years ago: David Thompson Secondary School junior girls’ basketball players reached the finals of the East Kootenay playoffs. Despite a successful run the team would eventually lose to Cranbrook in the finals by a score of 21-11.

35 years ago: Communities operating tourist information centres were looking forward to increased financial support through the Kootenay Boundary Chamber of Commerce. Under new policies, centres were required to be evaluated on the quality and appearance of staff, as well as provided facilities and hours of operation.

22 years ago: Two local men were recognized for bravery by the RCMP after rescuing a man from Lake Windermere. While working on a cable television system the two men heard a cry for help from the lake. After rowing out onto the lake with the help of a nearby cabin owner, they found the man nearly incoherent tied to an overturned rubber raft.

20 years ago: A company that had promised scheduled flight service to the Fairmont Airport disconnected phone service to their head office. CAIR Western Airlines had set up a May of 1991 start date for flights, but B.C. Ministry of Finance officials said the company had not submitted an annual report in over two years.

15 years ago: A seven-month old puppy was put down by a member of the RCMP. The puppy, which had got free from its owners, followed a Grade 2 student home, where it was cornered by the student’s mother. After police arrived, an officer drove around with the dog for about a half an hour looking for the owner, before taking the dog to the landfill and shooting it. “I didn’t have any alternative,” the RCMP officer was quoted as saying.

10 years ago: About 500 people showed up for a Save Our Community Rally at Cenotaph Park. According to a rally organizer, the purpose of the rally was to “get the word out about all the different cuts” that had happened in the valley.

5 years ago: MLAs Norm Macdonald and Bill Bennett returned the Jumbo Resort issue to the floor of the Legislature. Macdonald reminded the provincial government of its past promise that local government would be allowed to make a decision on the resort without provincial interference.