45 YEARS AGO:
A spectacular fire destroyed the building which housed Oram’s General Store and three other businesses. Also lost were the family’s household effects in the living quarters situated above the store.
The blaze, which occured at 2:30 p.m., quickly enveloped the interior and almost completely demolished the structure in a very short time.
Walls of the store were later pulled down due to the dangerous condition.
Cause of the fire, according to Clearwater RCMP, was said to be a young boy playing with a lighter behind the store near the propane tanks.
40 YEARS AGO:
The first Clearwater High School Rodeo is to be held in the Sportsplex this weekend and will feature all the familiar rodeo and novelty events.
According to organizer Frank Richter, the corrals are new completed and the dirt is in the arena and all preparations will be concluded by Friday evening.
For the boys there are 30 bull riders and 20 bareback, as well as seven saddle bronc hopefuls. There are also a number of calf ropers, steer wrestlers and team ropers.
Twenty girls are competing as barrel racers and 12 pole benders. Goat tying has attracted 13 contestants and 11 girls hope to ride the cows.
35 YEARS AGO:
The Terry Fox run drew a good sized crowd of local residents who did their thing to raise funds for the continuation of cancer research.
Total amount of pledges was not available by presstime.
The event was organized again this year by Luc Paradis with support from Pauline Gregory, local representative for the Cancer Fund.
30 YEARS AGO:
Sometime during Wednesday morning, the “Soft Ice Cream” sandwich boards were removed from the grounds of the Caboose Restaurant, taken across the highway and draped over the back of Jerry the Moose at the Info Centre.
According to sign owner Mrs. St. John, the sign was on her lawn when she left the restaurant after midnight Tuesday. They were returned by two husky Parks employees later in the morning.
Jerry the Moose and the Info Centre are becoming regular targets for senseless vandalism.
A more serious vandalism act occurred about two weeks ago, when, Mrs. Mayer said, the ornamental iron railing located outside the upstairs door of the Info Centre building was ripped out of the concrete sidewalk.
25 YEARS AGO:
Traffic snarls involving big trucks in the Wells Gray Hotel intersection should become pretty much a thing of the past with the completion of a new Forest Service Road that will link Road 2 to Highway 5 at the Clearwater River bridge.
When complete, the new road will cross the Clearwater River on the new concrete and steel bridge being constructed by Slocan Forest Products to replace the old wooden structure over the river at Brookfield Creek. With the completion of the bridge, the new road will also link old Highway 5 to the new highway.
20 YEARS AGO:
Local loggers and contractors are donating their time and equipment to clear the site for Clearwater’s proposed new multi-level care health center.
“This community is wonderful,” was the comment by Linda Comazzetto, Doctor Helmcken Memorial Hospital executive director about the effort.
Initial estimates were that the operation would yield eight truckloads of logs, worth between $20,000 and $25,000 for the hospital.
15 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater’s Chris Meehan helped Canada place 10th in volleyball at the World University Games held in Turkey.
“Canada had at least four players who were eligible to go to the Games, but Canada had them in the senior team,” said Meehan. “Considering that, as much as I’m disappointed in the result, it was a good step for Canadian volleyball.”
10 YEARS AGO:
The District hosted a delegation from a Korean company that is looking for a place for a small specialty sawmill. The mill would be used to cut Douglas fir that would be used to build hanoks, which are traditional Korean houses.
Possibly they would get into prefabricating houses here, then shipping to Korea and China.
Some of the workforce would come from Korea while the remainder would be hired and trained here.
Clearwater was just one of several communities in the southern interior the delegation visited.
5 YEARS AGO:
Members of Terry Fox’s family and friends of the clan climbed his namesake mountain early September — but not before Terry’s brother, Darrel, set out from Kamloops on a 350-kilometre bike trip to the peak.
The family gathered at the monument at Mount Terry Fox in Valemount. It was the first time they gathered there since the 8,500-foot mountain was named for Terry on Sept. 22, 1981.
