55 years ago (1960):
About 400 Lions Club members and their families attended a huge Lions Club picnic at Fairmont Hot Springs. The event was held for Lions Club members throught the ogranization’s Zone E.
45 years ago (1970):
Invermere resident Allen Tegart proudly showed off the enormous 55-pound (24-kilogram) pumpkin he had grown over the summer. Mr. Tegart issued a challenge to all local farmers to see if anybody could grow a bigger one next year, before confessing he had no idea what he would actually do with his giant pumpkin. More than 40 years later Arrowhead Brewery owner Shawn Tegart would incorporate organic pumpkins into a seasonal craft beer.
40 years ago (1975):
Regional District of East Kooteany (RDEK) planning technicians were looking to create more regional parks in the East Kootenay and several sites in the Upper Columbia Valley were under consideration, including the beach near Athalmer (now James Chabot Provincial Park); the beach near Windermere; the space that has since become the ball diamonds near the Lions Club; the Baillie-Grohman canal site near Canal Flats; and the Lussier and Ram hot springs (both near Whiteswan Lake).
30 years ago (1985):
An earthquake in Mexico made its presence known in the Upper Columbia Valley by muddying the Radium Hot Springs pools. At 7:45 a.m., just 28 minutes after the quake, pools supervisor Jim Jackson began to notice an increasing amount of silt appearing in the pool. By 2:30 p.m. so much silt had built up that it was no longer possible to see the bottom of the pools.
20 years ago (1995):
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) announced that it would start allowing annual automobile insurance to be paid for by 12 monthly installments. The news was well-received by valley residents, with many of them saying they found the new system much more convenient than paying a lump sum annually, bi-annually or in quarters, which were previously on the only options.
15 years ago (2000):
Then-Kootenay Columbia MP Jim Abbott was in Invermere to discuss the possibility of the TransCanada Trail running through the Upper Columbia Valley. The cross-Canada trail was first proposed in 1992 and currently the only official sections of it in the East Kootenay run from Kimberley to Wardner.
10 years ago (2005):
Radium Hot Springs hosted another successful Show and Shine classic car show. The event drew 609 vintage car owners, one of them even coming from as far away as California.