Looking Back — July 25, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2023 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Dairy Queen at 18th Street and Park Avenue is holding a one-day sale. Enjoy a parfait sundae for 29 cents. Regular price is 50 cents.

Brandon General Hospital’s new administrator met department heads at a reception. Outgoing administrator A.K. McTaggart introduced his successor, C.W. Grierson.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Belmont residents woke to the news that the arena had been destroyed in the town’s fourth fire since April.

Louis Stephen St. Laurent, Canada’s 12th prime minister, died today at age 91. Tributes poured in with a simple sincerity reminiscent of the man himself.

U.S. President Richard Nixon has refused to release Watergate-related tape recordings and documents and was served with subpoenas.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Two people were injured when a light aircraft crash-landed just short of a runway in the Boissevain area.

The Western Summer Games got underway this week in Calgary. Making the trip from the Brandon area are: Brent Mitchell of Brandon (boxing), Terry Fowler of Brandon (boxing coach), Diana-Lee Will of Carroll (equestrian), Carla-Jean Adams Seater of Rivers (equestrian), Mac McQuaker of Virden (equestrian), Leroy Ramsay of Crystal City (trapshoot), Roger Anton of Wawanesa (handgun), William Romanyszyn of Brandon (handgun) and Terrance Fehr of Gladstone (track and field).

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Rising water levels in Clear Lake have created problems at Riding Mountain National Park. White nylon sandbags have become a familiar site along lakeshore walks to halt the continual erosion of the popular path. The lake’s water level has increased more than five inches since the beginning of June, wreaking havoc with the shoreline.

Priscilla Reimer has joined the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba staff for a year as curator-in-residence.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Laurie Bell is appealing her manslaughter conviction and 10-year prison term she received for her role in the killing of RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill. While co-accused Robert Sand has decided not to fight his first-degree murder conviction, Bell, 21, will argue several legal mistakes led the judge and jury to a wrong conclusion.

Manitoba will have to slaughter 500,000 head of cattle if international borders don’t soon open to Canadian beef. Keith Robertson, executive director of the Manitoba Cattle Producers’ Association, said the mass destruction of 40 per cent of the province’s cattle is almost inevitable.

TEN YEARS AGO

It looks like a long winter may have helped to put the chill on crime in Brandon. The city’s police chief says a long winter and proactive police work are a couple of possible explanations for a drop in reported crime for the first half of this year.

The latest counts in Brandon show there are far fewer mosquitoes this week compared to last — but there are still enough to trigger potential fogging with malathion. The average mosquito trap nabbed 272 of the blood-sucking skeeters on Sunday and just a hair more, 275, the following day. The worst trap in the city, at the cemetery, caught 426 mosquitoes on Sunday.