Looking Back — June 26, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2023 (1175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A pair of two-and-a-half-year-old boys, Dan Hildebrand and Victor Engbrecht, are alive and well today after falling through a well covering and plunging 18 feet down the well into three feet of water. One of the fathers, Harold Hildebrand, leaped into the well and held the two out of the water while Mr. Engbrecht made a rope out of his garden hose and together the men extracted the boys from the well.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Brandon school board last night approved the official name Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School for the regional school under construction at First Street and Maryland Avenue.

Following the examples of Melita and Cypress River, the town of Rapid City has converted its school to a museum and culture centre. At the official ceremony, a plaque to novelist Frederick Philip Grove was unveiled in front of the school where he once taught.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Leona Louise Boles, a 23-year-old from Douglas, has been chosen one of 12 finalists in the Miss Manitoba Pageant.

The president of McKenzie Steele Briggs Seeds Co. Ltd. and two other senior employees accused of conflict of interest have been given leaves of absence from the Crown-owned firm.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Six new directors were elected to the Brandon General Hospital board. Reg Boughen, Betty Coleman, Ian Hamberg, Don Mitchell and Wes Norosky were all elected to a three-year terms, while Bob Cornell was elected for a one-year term.

A fire claimed the lives of 16 horses and swept through a training stable in Winnipeg.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Ken Waddell is banking on Dauphin-Swan River voters to remember the party when they vote in the next federal election. The newspaper publisher and former mayor of Neepawa announced he will seek the nomination for the Canadian Alliance as their candidate in Dauphin-Swan River for the next election, which is expected to be next year.

The Keystone Centre will ante up $4,000 to help its own cause. The centre’s board decided last night to provide funding to Brandon First, a group of people which includes Keystone Centre general manager Patty Griffith trying to bring more group business to the city.

TEN YEARS AGO

Twenty agricultural research jobs will be relocated to the Brandon Research Centre early next year. Research scientists as well as technical support positions will move to Brandon as a result of the impending closure of Winnipeg’s Cereal Research Centre.

The Pas and surrounding communities have declared a local state of emergency as they deal with the weekend’s heavy rainfall and prepare for floodwaters coming from Alberta. The Pas, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey and Opaskwayak Cree Nation declared the emergency due to potential flooding along the Saskatchewan and Carrot rivers.

Brandon’s Israel Idonije has found a new home in the NFL after the Vincent Massey high school graduate signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions on Tuesday. Idonije, who got his start playing high school football here with the Vikings before moving on to play for the University of Manitoba Bisons, first cracked the NFL when the Cleveland Browns signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 2003. Last season, the six-foot-six, 275-pound defensive end had 7.5 sacks, 48 tackles and one forced fumble in 16 games with the Chicago Bears.