Looking Back — Jan. 24, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/01/2024 (604 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A $4,000 renovations program was started this week at the old Imperial dance hall at 10th Street and Princess Avenue to turn it into a seven-room trade school to complement Brandon’s vocational centre.

A fire of unknown origin destroyed a barn and 70 animals on the farm of Harry Dubyts, six and a half miles south of Belmont.

Brandon’s oldest resident, Arthur Sykes, celebrates his 101st birthday today. Sykes, who still drives a car, recently celebrated his 65th wedding anniversary. Both he and his wife are still quite active.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The Hartney Hospital board announced that Dr. T. Ajayi of St. Albans, Herts, England, will be arriving in Winnipeg in the near future and practising in Hartney. After his arrival, the hospital will reopen. Hartney has been without a resident doctor since Oct. 1, and the hospital has been closed since Dec. 1.

Mrs. Robert Toews has been elected president of the Virden Chamber of Commerce for the coming year. She succeeds Dave Reid.

FORTY YEARS AGO

A park area adjacent to First Street North and the Assiniboine River has been named after the Dinsdale family. The park area will be known as Dinsdale Park.

Maestro Kazumro Koizumi conducted the Winnipeg Orchestra at Brandon’s Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium yesterday afternoon. The orchestra and violin soloist Dmitry Sitkovetsky played to a full house.

Via Rail service between Winnipeg and Saskatoon, abandoned in November 1981, will resume June 3 with about 75 coach seats and 25 berths.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Angela Chalmers, a graduate of Neelin High School now living in Victoria, won the women’s elite mile at the Miami Mile race this weekend. Chalmers, a bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, won the race in four minutes, 33.9 seconds.

Brandon Grade 9 students will soon be attending high school. Beginning this fall, Grade 9 students will attend Crocus Plains and Neelin high schools. Vincent Massey, a grades 7 to 12 school, already has Grade 9 students.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Denis Savoie was busy this week sculpting a beaver from a three-metre block of snow near 34th Street and Victoria Avenue. The icy bit of Canadiana publicizes the upcoming Lieutenant Governor’s Westman Regional Winter Festival.

Roy Arnott calls this year’s Manitoba Ag Days “another success,” after 28,000 visitors attended the annual, three-day event at Brandon’s Keystone Centre. “The attendance figures from this year are average, or above average,” says the Ag Days chairperson.

TEN YEARS AGO

Despite not reaching an ambitious $777,777.77 goal, United Way of Brandon and District’s 2013 campaign chair is “proud” of the community’s efforts. United Way of Brandon’s 2013 campaign brought in a hefty $714,000, leaving the organization $63,777.77 shy of the goal announced in September. In 2012, the local United Way raised more than $758,000.

Brandon Transit ridership was strong in 2013, with more than a million passengers using the bus service. It was the first full year using automated fare boxes, which allowed the transportation department to compile accurate numbers. Total ridership was 1,175,703, not quite meeting the goal of nearly 1.3 million.