40 YEARS AGO
A farewell celebration was held for long-time Clearwater resident Tony Lummerding at the Elks Hall, which he hekped construct. The event was to mark the end of his 21-year-long residence in the community.
Two Little Fort men gathered a group of young offenders to take on large community projects in Wells Gray Provincial Park. Armed with shovels, picks, axes and saws, the boys, ranging from 14 to 17 years old, comnstructed two bridges, erected three outhouses and gathered numerous bags of garbage from popular hiking areas.
35 YEARS AGO
A new library building for Clearwater would have high priority if the proposed referendum to increase Cariboo Thompson Nicola Library System’s budget is approved. The library director claimed the system’s survival is at stake, that its budget has only increased marginally in the past eight years while the cost of book has tripled and salaries have doubeld, and that decreases in assessments and the loss of taxes on industrial equipment and machinery would drop their revenues below to the point of no return.
Ida DeKelver was chosen Good Citizen of the Year for 1986 at a Chamber of Commerce banquet. She received five letters of nomination from individuals and businesses, all praising her active community work during the 27 years she has resided in the area.
30 YEARS AGO
Slocan Forest Products Vavenby division was tempoorarily phasing down its logging operations. The company expected to have the wood extraction end of its operation completely shut down by the following Friday. The logging closure was set to last for all of November, and into the first or second week of December.
An evactuation of an injured member of the Everest Canada ‘91 expedition may have been the highest ever vertical rescue, according to Clearwater-based mountain climber Ross Cloutier. The expedition climbing leader returned safely home to Clearwater from his attempt on the world’s highest mountain.
Vavenby-based expedition member Hilda Reimer also suffered no injury during the climb. She was to spend five to six weeks travelling before returning home.
25 YEARS AGO
A growing bear population and the fencing of the landfill are most likely the two main contributing factors to what has at leats appeared to the general public to be a bigger than usual problem with bears in Clearwater residential areas.
Over half-a-ton of dynamite was stolen in the Barriere area and the RCMP were on a mission to find it quickly. The theives removed 21 cases of dynamite, eight rolls of detonating cord and two bags of Nilite amex powder from a dynamite magazine.
A proposal to close extra Frontage Road accesses in Blue River led to cries fro mthe community for improvemetn of the existing and remaning roadways at a public meeting held by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways. The plan was to remove three of the six accesses from Highway 5 to the Frontage Road, and improve the quality of the remaining three.
20 YEARS AGO
Weyerhaeuser announced it will reduce lumber production at its Vavenby sawmill by approximately eight million board feet by the end of the year. About 155 Vavenby employees would be impacted for up to three weeks.
The Anglican Diocese of the Cariboo will cease to exist, according to Rev. Ethel English, rector of the Anglican churches in Birch Island and Little Fort. The diocese was forced into closure by a series of lawsuits relating to residential schools the church formerly operated.
Enrolments were declining and budgets tightening, though it was too soon to worry about closures, said a Barriere trustee. The school district projected a $6.3 million decrease in revenues over five years if the district’s enrolment continued to decline.
15 YEARS AGO
Kevin Krueger, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson, met with the Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation at the Community Resource Centre in Clearwater to celebrate the signing of the community forest agreement awarded by the province of B.C.
The Wells Gray Inn won Tourism of the Year and Safety Mart the Retail/Service award of the year, Leslie Groulx was awarded Employee of the Year, Shaelynn Thomas was Youth of the Year and Citizen of the Year went to Ted Richardson. They were all winners in the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce “Of the Year” awards.
10 YEARS AGO
Clearwater’s eco-depot will be delayed, not opening in the fall as originally planned. The proposed facility, located at the former Camp 2 Sawmill site, would replace the Clearwater landfill. The delay was allegedly caused by consultants working for the federal government.
Birch Island residents feared changes by Canada Post to their addresses would lead to more confusion about where Clearwater ends and Birch Island begins. Birch Island residents used Clearwater mailbox numbers since the community’s post office closed in 1986.
5 YEARS AGO
A major era of Clearwater’s history ended with the demolition of the old Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital. The hospital officially opened on Sept. 23, 1972 and was replaced by the new Dr. Helmcken Memorial on Sept. 13, 2002.
A large gathering of family and friends filled the activities room at Evergreen Acres to help Mary Colter celebrate her 90th birthday.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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