50 years ago: The Windermere District Board of Trade condemned two separate sites on Highway 95 as dangerous to drivers. First, a four-feet deep sandslide on the Athalmer hill had forced two drivers to make emergency maneuvers on what was a busy street, often travelled by school buses. Second, the new intersection of the Athalmer-Invermere road into Highway 95 at the Crossroads was described as a “death trap,” or alternatively, as a “traffic snarl.” The board appealed to the highways department on both accords.
45 years ago: Members of the International Woodworkers of America unanimously rejected settlement terms proposed by a judge in an effort to settle the union’s dispute with interior lumber operators. In the opinion of the negotiating committee, the proposed terms of the settlement would have deprived interior woodworkers of any opportunity to achieve parity with coastal woodworkers.
25 years ago: Invermere council adopted a bylaw that indemnified officers, employees and council members against claims for damages arising out of the performance of duties and, in addition, to pay legal costs incurred in a court proceeding arising from such a claim. After council took legal action to recover money from a former mayor in 1986, “the necessity of an indemnifying by-law becomes very apparent.”
20 years ago: After more than two years of discussions and public meetings, the Beaches Development Corporations’ project in Windermere had been knocked back to square one. The Regional District of East Kootenay turned down their proposal to build a $15 million, 56-home development at the Coldstream Campground in Windermere, along with a waste treatment plant on the 12-acre site. A number of community groups had strongly opposed the development.
5 years ago: Invermere mayor Mark Shmigelsky and RDEK Area F director Lillian Rose attended a Village of Canal Flats council meeting to discuss the idea of amalgamate Area F, Invermere and Canal Flats into one larger municipality. The idea was to give the region more influence when it came to governance, with Shmigelsky calling it “potentially the most democratic system we could come up with.” Canal Flats councillors however were hesitant, with mayor John Tilley citing the designated jurisdiction as the “world’s largest municipality.”