50 YEARS AGO:
Jimmy Small, age eight, fell into an old cesspool while riding a horse behind an old house near Camp Two. His father, Glen Small, took him to the doctor in Kamloops. He had been riding with Spencer Mackenzie, age 12. Ted Mackenzie got the horse out with help from a few men and a block-and-tackle.
45 YEARS AGO:
A contract for completion of the Raft River Bridge on Yellowhead Highway 5 was approved.
Dawn Bruce, daughter of Canadian conservationist Grey Owl, was to open a curio shop in the Wells Gray Motor Hotel.
Between 300 and 400 people attended the opening day at Maxwell’s Fabric and Sewing Centre in Brookfield Mall, according to manager E.C. Maxwell. There were even more present than at the opening of Clearwater Pharmacy (his son’s operation) one year earlier.
Eighteen of 22 grandchildren and seven of nine great-grandchildren helped Little Fort pioneer Lydian Latremouille celebrate her 80th birthday.
Clearwater had a second physician after Dr. Bruce Anderson joined Dr. Regehr as a partner in the Clearwater Medical Centre.
Canadian National Railroad presented Blue River Waterworks District with a mobile fire pump and a building to house it.
40 YEARS AGO:
Yellowhead Ecological Association called for a public inquiry into a uranium mine proposed for Birch Island and into mining in B.C. in general.
35 YEARS AGO:
Two RCMP officers suffered whiplash and other injuries after their police car was struck in the rear near Brookfield Shopping Centre. The two policemen pursued the “hit and run” vehicle, colliding with it a second time, and then chasing the driver on foot. A Clearwater man was charged with impaired driving, dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
30 YEARS AGO:
MLA Claude Richmond was to open the new Clearwater community tennis courts, which was built on school district property next to an older court. Over 1800 volunteer hours had been spent on the project, spearheaded by Dave Meehan.
Wells Gray Infocentre manager Vi Mayer reported that 2,767 visitors had passed through the centre in June, up from 880 the previous year.
25 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater RCMP, Barriere RCMP, a Kamloops police service dog and an airplane from Kamloops air division took part in a manhunt for four Alberta youths in Sunshine Valley. Police had stopped the four’s stolen 4x4 with a spike belt and by ramming it with a police cruiser. They were apprehended near Foote Road.
20 YEARS AGO:
Hundreds of tourists in Wells Gray Park and Upper Clearwater residents were trapped when 100 feet of Clearwater Valley Road washed out at First Canyon.
15 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater PeeWee Boys took home bronze medals from the Provincial “C” fastball championships in Prince George. Coaches were Al Vezina and Craig Shook.
The umpire told coaches Wade Elliot and Dean Sjodin that, in 25 years of umping, he had never seen a Squirts game like the last one Dairy Queen Squirt Boys played at their provincial fastball tournament in Langford. The local squad placed fourth in the event, falling to Strawberry Vale in the exciting last game.
New Zealand’s men’s fastball team, the Black Sox, was in Clearwater to play an exhibition game against the North Thompson Rebels. The world champions won the game, but the local squad helped them put on a good show for the crowd at Capostinsky Park.
10 YEARS AGO:
Water laden with chemicals and devoid of oxygen from the depths of Dutch Lake was responsible for the previous year’s fish kill, said a panel of experts working on the lake.
B.C. Parks and the Simpcw First Nations were worried about a number of ancient First Nations archeological sites in the North Thompson Provincial Park that had been illegally excavated. The sites in question were the remains of ancient pit houses used by the Simpcw people as winter homes for thousands of years.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District board approved the first reading of a rezoning bylaw to allow a service station and convenience store to be built on the Yellowhead Highway near the intersection of Clearwater Valley Road.
5 YEARS AGO:
Blue River celebrated its 100th anniversary on Canada Day. A display of photos and memorabilia made the community hall an interesting place to visit.
Linda Zieffle arrived to take the place of Peter Persad as vice-principal of Clearwater Secondary School. A teacher for 23 years, she had been a vice-principal in Mission School District for four.
Custodian Monika Menard used her dog, Ellie, to find a ball python that had been loose in Clearwater Secondary School for several days. “He’s quite a hunter,” said Menard. “He alerted as soon as he went into the room.” Reginald, a non-poisonous, docile snake, had been a fixture in the science lab for several years.
Vavenby sheep rancher Ian Moilliet confirmed that June had been a record-setting wet month, with 112.4 mm of rain, 40 per cent above average. His family had been keeping weather records since 1913.
Members of the Bampton family opened the Bampton Recreation Area next to Dutch Lake Park on Canada Day. “It was an emotional experience to donate the land to the citizens of Clearwater,” said Barry Bampton. The family formerly owned Dutch Lake Motel.
Vavenby’s Cory Graffunder became the first Canadian to win a medal in men’s Enduro X when he took third place during an event in Los Angeles. His ESPN biography described him as “Canada’s best off road racer.”
1 YEAR AGO:
M.P. Cathy McLeod, Mayor John Harwood and other dignitaries cut the ribbon to officially open the new splash park in Clearwater. “This is why we did it, to see all these little kids running around laughing and all these families having fun,” said Roger Mayer, one of the organizers.
Former Clearwater residents Teddy, Bethany, Charlene, Jessica and Mitchell Holtby, with special guest Jesse Cunningham, put on a concert at Dutch Lake Community Centre.
A contractor was mapping Vavenby’s water system for TNRD. The information would help workers find items when covered in snow.
Simpcw First Nation planned a ceremony in Tete Jaune to mark the 100th anniversary of the forced removal of a large group of band members from the area. As many as 60 people had been forced in 1916 to walk hundreds of kilometres to Chu Chua.
