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Who’d have thought that COVID would bring with it, besides world-wide contagion, illness, death, financial devastation and workplace upheaval, the—return of the drive-in movie.
There was a time, way back in the 1950s, when drive-ins were the rage not just for what was showing on the screen but for what went on in the cars around you when the lights were turned down.
First on today’s front page was Duncan City Council. W.B. Young and James Duncan, representing the Duncan branch of the Retail Merchants’ Assoc., appeared to ask City fathers to reconsider their proposed bylaw on the sale of beverages containing hops. Vendors of such drinks would need to purchase a license for $200 annually.
Council did agree to send ‘Beverages Bylaw No. 1’ back to committee for further consideration even though the license fee applied only to drinks consumed on the premises; a smaller fee would apply to vendors of bottled spirits.
For almost a century, hundreds of witnesses have claimed to have seen B.C.’s fabled sea serpent, Cadborosaurus, better known as “Caddy,” frolicking in southern Vancouver Island waters.
Their sightings have inspired legends, jokes and, thanks to Victoria’s enterprising Chamber of Commerce, world-wide publicity.
Newspaper practices have changed over the years. Instead of being the lead news story, the report of a fatal automobile accident was the fifth item on that Thursday’s front page. At least the headline attracted the eye: FALLS FROM CAR. Victoria Lady Succumbs After Accident on the Lake Cowichan Road.
Mrs. Arthur Hemingway (women were seldom identified by their first names in those days) was travelling west towards Lake Cowichan with her husband, well-known Victoria auctioneer Arthur Hemingway, driving. Their son was in the front passenger seat, she and their two daughters in the back seat of what must have been an open touring car.
Under the headline “Laugh At Rain,” an account of the Cowichan chapter of the IODE who’d gamely held held their annual fete at the Grange, the baronial home of their regent, Mrs. Tisdall. Indoors, of course, but anyone who’s visited the Grange on Drinkwater Road knows there’s plenty of room for guests. Tea, bakery stalls and a fortune teller kept everyone’s mind off the weather outside.
Read MoreThis is the third and final instalment of an unidentified pioneer’s recollections of Cowichan Valley pioneers, most of whom he’d known personally, and of the dramatic changes he’d witnessed over his own lifetime.
To maintain its original flavour, I’ve kept editing to an almost non-existent minimum. To correct the misspellings and grammatical errors would take away much of its charm. Hence I’ve only interceded when I felt absolutely compelled to do so to maintain clarity.
Logging has always been a dangerous job, more so in the old days than now.
But the accident that claimed the life of blacksmith David Cunningham, June 9, 1920, was a freak of freaks—he was asleep in his bunk at the Charter Lumber Co. when tragedy struck.
Logging has always been a dangerous job, more so in the old days than now.
But the accident that claimed the life of blacksmith David Cunningham, June 9, 1920, was a freak of freaks—he was asleep in his bunk at the Charter Lumber Co. when tragedy struck.
This is the second instalment of an unidentified pioneer’s recollections of Cowichan Valley pioneers, most of whom he’d known personally, and of the dramatic changes he’d witnessed over his own lifetime.
To maintain its original flavour, I’ve kept editing to an almost non-existent minimum. To correct the misspellings and grammatical errors would take away much of its charm. Hence I’ve only interceded when I felt absolutely compelled to do so to maintain clarity.
North Cowichan Municipality reversed an earlier decision not to hire an engineer as roads superintendent after dissenting Councillor Hilton changed his mind on the idea. Council was unanimous that existing conditions of Municipal roads were unsatisfactory even after the expense of $10,000 with “little to show for it” in the words of Clr. Paitson. He wasn’t even sure where the money had gone.
Read MoreI’ve long joked that I shuffle more paper in a working day than a civil servant.
That no longer really applies (to civil servants, I mean) since the arrival of the computer.
But nothing has really changed for me. Yes, I’ve computerized too, but I still work with paper—17 file cabinets’ worth. Which is the way I prefer to work and to archive the thousands of files I’ve been building over most of a lifetime.
The big news story of the day, “Jersey Breeders to Convene,” is yet another sign of changing times and tastes. Back in 1920, people wanted butterfat in their milk and Jersey cows were the preferred breed. Today it’s Holsteins with their almost-skim milk and little cream.
Read MoreI’ve never been able to quite believe in UFOs (flying saucers). Or Sasquatch. Or ghosts.
Mind you, I’ve wavered a few times, if only briefly; sometimes from reading or hearing particularly credible news reports or solid firsthand accounts of alleged sightings. Mostly, my skepticism has come closest to losing its resolve after
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