5 years ago (2008): Greyhound bus services were no longer offered at the Petro Canada in Invermere. A Greyhound spokesman said the company hopes to continue serving the area, but it must seek a new outfit to take on the contract.
10 years ago (2003): Trans-Canada highway traffic was rerouted through Radium for five days during the Yoho Bridge replacement.
20 years ago (1993): A warm winter thawed parts of Lake Windermere and reduced the number of entrances available to ice fishers.
“Of the 12 years I’ve been here, there wasn’t one year you couldn’t drive on the lake,” a red-faced Mayor Ron Halvorson said at council. A barricade was set up at Kinsmen Beach to stop late-night parties on the lake, but a high volume of complaints from ice fishers saw the barricade removed the next day.
25 years ago (1988): Premier Vander Zalm announced that the idea of designated gambling resorts in the province will not come to fruition. Representatives from resorts throughout the province had expressed interest in the loosening of gambling laws, including members of the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort.
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An Invermere man attended the Provincial Emergency Program meeting in town and shared his concerns with the crowd; a nuclear exchange between the US and USSR is inevitable and because Seattle is such an ideal target for the Soviets, the Columbia Valley will receive a fallout, he warned.
35 years ago (1978): To eradicate superstitions involving bread, the Kitchen Talk column reminded readers that it is not bad luck to cut a load of bread at both ends, nor is it unlucky to hold a loaf of bread while someone else is cutting it. “But there are still some beliefs that linger on.” If you leave a loaf of bread lying on its side, the breadwinner of the house will become sick, the myth goes. Also, if a spinster (a childless woman) takes the last slice of bread, it is believed that she will never get married.
45 years ago (1968): “Another Unidentified Flying Object has been sighted in the valley,” The Echo reported. The observer wished to remain anonymous, but said he was at the K2 Ranch during the early hours of February 5, when a bright star appeared in the cloudless sky, and light began emanating from it, flashing on and off. Upon viewing with binoculars, the man said, “It looked like a badminton bird with the feathers pointing up.” The UFO gradually moved southwest until it was out of sight.
50 years ago (1963): Because the Invermere detachment of the RCMP was operating with only two police officers, Columbia MLA R. O. Newton had spoken with Attorney General Robert Bonner, asking for another officer to be posted in the district. “The detachment has consisted of only two men for some time. At times when one officer was off and the other on patrol, the district was without protection for emergencies.” A response from the Attorney General said a new officer would be available well in advance of the tourist season.