Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Sarah Simpson has been combing through old newspapers with the assistance of the Kaatza Station Museum and Archives so we can jog your memory, give you that nostalgic feeling, or just a chuckle, as we take a look at what was making headlines this week around Cowichan Lake in years gone by.<\/p>\n
This week around the Cowichan Lake area<\/p>\n
10 years ago<\/p>\n
\u201cStars sizzle at Sunfest\u201d and a giant photograph of Carrie Underwood caught the attention of readers looking at the Aug. 3, 2016 Lake Cowichan Gazette.<\/p>\n
The story went like this: \u201cIt was a lot of work but all worth it in the end say Sunfest organizers following the festival\u2019s very first season at its new location.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Right now we all feel this was a huge success,\u2019 said Emmalee Brunt, Sunfest\u2019s public relations and marketing manager. \u2018January 17 we got the permits for this [site], and within seven months it turned into this. I think for all of us it was very mind-blowing.\u2019<\/p>\n
The weekend saw a steady increase in attendance with approximately 13,500 on Thursday; 15,000 on Friday; 17,500 on Saturday for Carrie Underwood; and slightly more for Dierks Bentley on Sunday. Brunt cited Bentley\u2019s \u2018massive following,\u2019 and also said that Autumn Hill, which opened for him, was a huge draw too.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Underwood took to the stage Saturday night, Sunfest announced its 2017 festival headliner: Toby Keith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHorse rescue mission turns into growing family\u201d was another headline in the same paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cA person doesn\u2019t impulsively buy a horse online or wake up one morning to find a brand new one standing in the back yard. And yet for Lake Cowichan resident Patti Thomson, both those scenarios came to pass this year as her family of horses more than doubled in less than 10 months.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018We went from two horses to five horses,\u2019 said Thomson. \u2018I did not see this coming!\u2019<\/p>\n
25 years ago<\/p>\n
\u201cTown could be part of corridor trailhead\u201d graced the right-hand side of the front of the Lake News of Aug. 1, 2001.<\/p>\n
\u201cLake Cowichan could become a station for the Vancouver Island Recreation Corridor, which is proposed to stretch from Sooke to Cape Scott on the northwest tip of Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cJerry Reid, a consultant working on the project, told town council last week that if it wants to be part of what he describes as a permanent, flexible, multi-use recreation corridor that would run the length of Vancouver Island, \u2018You\u2019ve got it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the suggested route would go from Sooke to the west side of Shawnigan Lake and then northwest to Lake Cowichan, then run along Cowichan Lake and over to Port Alberni along the old rail beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike most trails, noted Reid, the corridor would be open to five types of use: hiking, horseback riding, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018We have enough room for all these uses.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPark golf in Saywell Park\u201d was another story. \u201cFore. Park golf balls will soon be flying in Saywell Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cTown council last week has acted on Coun. Garth Sims\u2019 suggestion that park golf be tried, on a temporary basis, in Lake Cowichan.<\/p>\n
Park golf, an easier and much cheaper variation of regular golf, has been introduced to Lake Cowichan through its sister city Ohtaki, Japan. During exchange visits to Ohtaki over the last 14 years, local residents regularly play the game, which includes a larger plastic ball, bigger clubs and bigger holes.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018You don\u2019t have to be a golfer to play and enjoy park golf,\u2019 says Sims. \u2018A lot of people drive by Saywell Park and they\u2019re going to see people playing park golf and wonder what it is. They\u2019ll want to try it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
40 years ago<\/p>\n
The July 30, 1987 edition of the Lake News featured \u201cTAL opens RV park\u201d on the front page.<\/p>\n
\u201cTAL Developments Ltd. held its official opening of a recreational vehicle park at Honeymoon Bay Saturday with little fanfare. The TAL development was the first example of the implementation of new strict bylaws.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of the 60 plus RV sites has a sewer, water and electrical hook-up and there are separate washrooms for vehicles not equipped for the hookups.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach site has been landscaped with sod and birch and fir trees.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018If we can get a few more campsites with this high standard 1 feel sure we\u2019ll start attracting a lot more American tourists,\u2019 said [Area F director Frank] Walker.\u201d<\/p>\n
And finally, \u201cSeek $84,950 for park\u201d wasn\u2019t how we\u2019d write a headline today but it seems to have passed back then.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most ambitious developments attempted in Lake Cowichan in recent years has been quietly going ahead in Saywell Park. It could be completed in a year, depending on funding. The plan would create an artificial extension to Beaver Creek winding through the park and spanned by two ornamental bridges leading to an island.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe creek would be stocked with salmon and could become a focal point for village revitalization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan was unveiled in its entirety at a recent Council meeting. Ald. Jean Brown, who had proposed the idea of getting a grant of $84,950 from the Expo 86 Legacy Fund, hopes to arrange a meeting with provincial officials as soon as the Socred leadership race is over.<\/p>\n
\u201cAld. Brown and Ald. Barry Budden presented the plan to Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cA watercolor sketch shows Park Place and the Kaatza Museum already installed and the site for the Bell Tower school, which has yet to be moved, behind them. Beaver Creek is not in view, but lies beyond trees and shrubbery at the rear. The artificial extension winds past the museum buildings, turns sharply to the river and empties there, creating a small island.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018The area of the island floods in spring anyway,\u2019 said Ald. Brown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to Lake Flashback. Reporter Sarah Simpson has been combing through old newspapers with the assistance of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-841021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}