40 YEARS AGO:
Mrs. Lois Moss was signing copies of her book The Hometrail at Evergreen Acres on Oct. 28.
She commented that the book was selling well and for those who missed out on it, a second edition would be ready by Christmas.
Lois Moss was very pleased with the response she received about her collection of early pioneer’s memoirs.
From 3 to 4:30 p.m. Mrs. Moss sat autographing and chatting to the steady flow of people, whom also visited with residents of Evergreen Acres.
35 YEARS AGO:
Great activity at the Legion when thirty-three dart players came to try out their skills. There were eleven teams of three which meant a lot of games and lots of practice!
Competition was keen amongst the players, heard it spoken rather quietly that one team had got “skunked” and their determination and a fierce desire to improve kept them going.
Cheers to that team for their perserverance and good humour while they were taking that nasty trouncing.
There were a few upsets in the results, and Wyn Rothwell had to take a back seat and is right back in the poor people’s league again! (Not sure Rose wants him back.)
30 YEARS AGO:
Money for a mental health officer to serve the Clearwater area is now forthcoming, MLA Bud Smith informed The Times.
Smith said he has been trying to obtain a mental health officer for the area for some time.
Armed with strong support from School District 26 superintendent Don Handfield and from Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital administrator Linda Basran, the MLA successfully placed the proposal in front of the Minster of Health.
The new officer will fulfill an important need in servicing the area, he feels.
25 YEARS AGO:
Apathy aggravated by outright abuse has killed the North Thompson newspaper recycling project.
“I’m going to pull the plug on the newspaper,” said Bill Jordan. “It’s costing more than its making.”
Out-of-pocket collection costs of gas and truck maintenance in addition to the expense of providing the Newspaper Blue Boxes, coupled with the time and effort involved, made the project unfeasible, said Jordan.
“It took me six hours to do newspaper on Monday, by the time I picked out the garbage and the catalogues,” he elaborated, “and I got about one tonne. That’s too much time spent for what I’m getting.”
20 YEARS AGO:
School District 73 trustees have voted down a proposed policy that would have allowed individual school to opt for school uniforms, but North Thompson trustee Bert Walker said that he still supports the concept.
Even with the motion defeated, there is still nothing now that says a school cannot adopt uniforms, he said.
The problem is that there is no policy or procedure to define how it should be done.
“My only concern is at what point would a school have the right to put it in,” said Walker. “Fifty per cent plus one is obviously not good enough. It would have to be an overwhelming majority of the whole school community, but how do you define that?”
15 YEARS AGO:
School board candidates John Harwood and Carl Capps tangled at a Clearwater Secondary School PAC meeting Tuesday evening.
Harwood appeared to come out ahead on debating skill, but Capps scored a few important points, particularly on the need to improve communication between the school board and its employee groups.
About two dozen people attended the meeting to hear the two candidates speak, as well as to discuss regular Parents Advisory Committee business.
Harwood started his presentation by handing out a letter he had written that outlined SD73’s accomplishments since he became a school trustree three years prior.
10 YEARS AGO:
Senior staff members at Canfor are working on a business plan to re-open its Vavenby sawmill, Mayor John Harwood reported to Clearwater council last Tuesday.
“They likely wouldn’t be selling lumber on the open market but by direct sale,” he said, pointing to the example of Mackenzie. Canfor re-opened its sawmill there after signing two-year deals to sell wood from the operation to Home Depot and Lowes.
The mayor pointed out that the price of SPF (spruce-pine-fir) 2x4 lumber was about $180 per thousand board-feet when Canfor shut downn Vavenby in the summer of 2009. As of the week prior it was above $280 per thousand.
5 YEARS AGO:
Two classes from Bert Edwards elementary school in Kamloops plus the primary students from Neqweyqwelsten School in Chu Chua took part in the 20th annual Coho Day put on by Simpcw First Nation at the Dunn Creek hatchery on Oct. 29.
“Our Coho Day is about promoting our facility and its stewardship capabilities within the valley from Kamloops to McBride,” said Tina Donald, one of the organizers.
Stations at Coho Day included the fence site operation on Dunn Creek, where students saw how coho are counted as they go upstream.
The hatchery near Dunn Lake has been in operation since 1983. It started out raising coho and chinook on the south end of Dunn Lake in lake pens.