Five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
The Comox Valley Centre for the Arts won a major award from the BC Recreation and Parks Association — the Facility Excellence Award.
It was presented to the City of Courtenay at the BCRPA AGM after being recognized for transforming the old firehall into a multi-use arts facility.
"The facility is a wonderful addition to the downtown core," Mayor Starr Winchester said. "Having a Centre for the Arts in such a prominent location makes downtown Courtenay a destination for locals and visitors alike."
The centre houses an art gallery, craft area and shop on the main floor, meeting rooms, offices and a seminar room up top, and a plaza and courtyard.
Ten years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Stan Hagen blinked back tears as he read a victory speech to assembled faithful at a Liberal post-election bash.
Hagen — the former Social Credit cabinet minister who held posts in education, advanced education and job training, science and technology and state for Vancouver Island — was heading back to Victoria with a healthy majority.
The preliminary ballot count after polls closed gave him 14,588 votes to 5,082 for NDP incumbent Evelyn Gillespie and 4,813 for Pam Munroe of the Green Party.
Hagen had wandered in the political wilderness after disgraced Premier Bill Vander Zalm torpedoed the Social Credit Party in 1991. For nearly a decade he managed a paving company and slowly reassembled his political career.
Fifteen years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
"There's good weather out there somewhere, I hope it finds us sometime over the next two months," an optimistic Sgt. Tony Isaacs said moments before gearing up to cycle 8,000 kilometres across Canada.
He and four other SAR techs took part in the Coast to Coast cyclathon to raise money for missing children. They started at CFB Comox.
The cyclists were showered with encouragement from a crowd that gathered to see them off. Their spirits were not dampened by rain. "Sun, rain, even snow, we just want to get going," said Sgt. Mike Maltais of Nova Scotia.
The SAREX for Missing Children ride was due to end in Newfoundland early-July. The cyclists planned to cover 200 kilometres a day.
Twenty years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
The school board had to roll back teacher wages until the compensation commission ruled on an already negotiated contract, the BC Supreme Court ruled.
Commissioner Ed Lien ordered all boards signing contracts after Jan. 29 to revert to previous pay levels until he had reviewed new collective agreements. But several districts, including the Comox Valley, questioned Lien's right to order the rollback.
School board lawyers argued the Compensation Fairness Act doesn't prohibit boards from continuing to pay teachers under contracts signed before the Act became law in March. But the justice rejected the argument.
Twenty five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
A total of 168 vintage cars honked and purred their way into Comox as the Filberg Estate hosted the biggest-ever antique car show in the Valley.
The autos ranged from mid-'50s Chevs to a 1911 Stanley Steamer, all in running order. For loving workmanship and sheer class, most of them put more recent cars to shame.
"It's a lovely car to ride in," Mrs. Allen of Nelson said as she sat in her husband's 1918 Cadillac, a car that once carried former U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower.
The Upper Island branch of the Vintage Car Club of Canada hosted the annual May tour.