Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Sarah Simpson has been combing through old newspapers with the assistance of the Kaatza Station Museum and Archives so we can jog your memory, give you that nostalgic feeling, or just a chuckle, as we take a look at what was making headlines this week around Cowichan Lake in years gone by.
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This week around the Cowichan Lake area…
10 years ago
"Museum marks anniversaries of two Lake icons" was the big headline on the front of the May 13, 2015 Lake Cowichan Gazette.
"Lake Cowichan’s Lady of the Lake Society is celebrating the 70th year of the program, and the Kaatza Station Museum will be marking the occasion this weekend.
"The annual Heritage Days celebrations, set to take place on May 15, 16 and 17, will see the museum set up a variety of displays exploring the many events, people and icons of the Cowichan Lake communities, including Lady of the Lake and the Kaatza Station Museum itself.
"The Lady of the Lake display will go back to 1945, all the way to the first competition. In its formative years, high school students would select a girl from each lake community — Youbou and Caycuse, Honeymoon Bay and Mesachie Lake, and Lake Cowichan — to vie for the title of Lady of the Lake. The girls would go out to the community and sell tickets — with the crown being granted to whichever girl managed to sell the most.
"Another anniversary being celebrated by Kaatza this year is that of the Riverside Inn. Despite being burned down and rebuilt twice, the building is now entering its 130th year."
A cool story on Page 2 of the same edition was "CICV FM expanding broadcast area with new antennae" and it was about the local radio station.
"The board and volunteers of CICV, Lake Cowichan’s local community radio station, were pleased to hear last week that their request for a new broadcast antenna was finally approved by Industry Canada.
"The new antenna will provide the station with a major increase in power, taking their broadcast strength from five to 50 watts. The added power will allow CICV’s signal to be carried further. Currently, only listeners in Lake Cowichan can tune into 98.7 FM, but as upgrades are completed, the station should be listenable as far as Crofton, Cobble Hill and possibly Shawnigan Lake."
25 years ago
"Live & Local at Zone Fest 2000" was a headline that must have made more sense back in 2000. It was on the front of the Lake Cowichan Gazette of May 10, 2000 and the story went like this:
"Get ready for an invasion of thespians. Lake Cowichan is all set to host the prestigious South Island Zone Fest from May 15 to 20. The event features performances every night of the week at Centennial Hall. There are also activities throughout the day for people interested in theatre. The former president of the Kaatza Lakeside Players, Garry McPhee gave up his position to chair the South Island Zone Festival committee.
"The South Island Zone Fest, which began in 1933, is one of the oldest competitions of its kind in Canada. Local theatre groups have had success at the Zone competition before. Back in the late 1950s, a troupe from Cowichan Lake went on to the National Drama Festival. Lake Cowichan has also hosted the South Island ZoneFest, though it was done on the spur of the moment after a Victoria venue wasn't available."
In the same edition of the Gazette, "IWA ready to protest mill closure" was a story.
"With hope fading fast that the Youbou mill will stay open past this June, the union representing the facility's workers is asking the public for support. A huge rally was planned for Tuesday night's Town Council Meeting — prompting the town to switch venues from the Mildred Child Annex to the high school theatre.
"The IWA held a meeting with the crew at the Youbou Mill last Saturday. In a show of hands, the crew unanimously voted to reject the position of the mill's owner, TimberWest, and the potential buyer, JS Jones. IWA Local 1-80 president Bill Routley says the position wanted workers to agree to a closure of the Youbou mill, allowing some of the crew to go to work at the CIPA sawmill in Nanaimo. "It's totally unacceptable to our union and we now want to communicate with the community and ask them to support our planned 'fight back' program," says Routley.
40 years ago
"Furnace Oil Spill No Threat to Lake" was a big headline on the front of the Lake News of May 15, 1985.
"Furnace oil which slowly seeped from a tank outside a Meade Creek road home, appeared to have found its way into Cowichan Lake late last week. The oil formed a yellowish scum on the water near the shoreline and was first noticed by Gordon Dods of 8960 Meade Creek Road Thursday, May 9. The slick could he seen both on his lake frontage and that of his neighbour, Peter Leckie of Duncan. Leckie discovered Saturday, when he visited his Lake Cowichan property, that the oil tank located outside the house had slowly and unobtrusively emptied onto the ground.
"'The problem has been that our oil tank has had a leak and we didn't know about it,' he said explaining that there was no large oil patch near the tank. 'It was obviously a slow leak under the tank,' he said. Leckie said he thought the oil must have leached into the ground and down to the lake.
And finally, "Steal From Day Care" was a somewhat incomplete headline in the same paper.
"Thieves broke into the Lake Cowichan United Church Sunday night or Monday morning and stole $120 from the Kaatza Day Care Centre there. This was the second time that a break-in had occurred at the church."
