Looking Back — Sept. 11, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/09/2023 (1110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Pat Pateman was honoured on his retirement after 31 years with MTS in a celebration held recently at his home in Hamiota.

Jack Forrest was installed president of the Kinsmen Club of Virden by deputy-governor William Graham of Brandon.

The Brandon branch of the Children’s Aid Society started September with 1,241 active cases.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

A large “boom” was heard over Brandon last night, shaking houses and rattling windows. The weather office said it looked like an air exercise of the North American Air Defense Command was going on over Brandon and that a plane had broken the sound barrier.

A dispute involving parents and the Turtle River School Board has reached an impasse and the parents intend to continue operating a makeshift classroom for Grade 9 students rather than have them bused to Amaranth, 16 miles away, or even further to McCreary.

FORTY YEARS AGO

CTV London bureau chief Clark Todd has died of wounds suffered during fighting in Lebanon, the network announced today.

For the third consecutive year, Regina firefighters proved they are better at hauling water and rescuing dummies than any other fire department in Western Canada. The four-man team captured the trophy at the seventh annual Firefighter’s Rodeo held in Virden over the weekend.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Cool, wet weather has delayed harvesting operations in Manitoba, but much of the crop is now safe from an early frost. Close to half the wheat and barley and 85 per cent of Manitoba canola fields have been swathed.

Prairie farm groups were claiming a major victory after a court overturned the federal cabinet’s decision to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its authority over barley.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Two sets of neighbours — set apart not by gun turrets and barbed wire but by hills, trees and flowers — came to the heart of their shared homeland, the International Peace Garden, to celebrate their friendship and mourn those who died two years ago in the worst attack on North American soil. A pile of rusted steel girders from the World Trade Center rest as a reminder of the attacks on New York and Washington two years ago that left more than 3,000 dead.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps came to Brandon yesterday to talk with local leaders, discuss projects looking for federal support and meet with Liberal supporters before they vote Sunday on who will represent the Brandon-Souris riding at the November leadership convention. Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum members and volunteers met with Copps to discuss ways to access more government funding programs to improve the museum.

TEN YEARS AGO

Two passengers are being treated for minor injuries after a privately owned vintage war plane crashed shortly after takeoff at the Brandon Municipal Airport. City officials confirmed a small biplane, otherwise known as a Boeing Stearman, crashed shortly after takeoff at McGill Airfield early Tuesday afternoon. The crash shut down the airport’s runway, re-routing an incoming WestJet Encore flight from Calgary bound for Brandon to Winnipeg’s James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. The closure also delayed passengers bound for Calgary on the incoming flight for nearly three hours.