Looking Back — May 16, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2024 (540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Kathleen Greely of Birtle took top honours at graduation exercises for psychiatric nurses of the Brandon Hospital for Mental Diseases by winning the Blanche Eugenie Baragar Medal.

A ban on smoking by visitors to Brandon General Hospital went into effect yesterday.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Flood damage to roads in Curran Park will cost the city almost $4,000. Repairs will be made to several lanes in the park that were washed out by floodwaters from the Assiniboine River this spring.

Brandon University has announced the appointment of George E. McMaster as head of the mathematics department effective July 1.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Brandon’s Jeff Partrick and Diane Ogibowski of Minnedosa will represent Canada internationally in 1984-85, the Canadian Figure Skating Association has announced.

The police department’s two mascot birds, Safety Sal and Cautious Cal, received a plaque this afternoon for their contribution to safety and crime prevention. The mascots, played for the last three years by Susan Pugh and Sharon Askew, have performed with city police Const. Lorne Demchuk for children from kindergarten to Grade 3.

Andy Kaufman, the wacky comic whose antics propelled him from childhood plays and New York coffee houses to the Emmy Award-winning TV series “Taxi,” has died of lung cancer at the age of 36.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien strongly backed stricter gun control, promising a tough new law by this fall.

Brandon-born and -raised Glenn Thordarson, along with his partner, Adam Palmer, were named Police Officers of the Year by the Vancouver Jr. Board of Trade (Jaycees).

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Dave Kattenburg knows some people will be taken aback by the topics he will discuss during his Green party campaign in the upcoming federal election. “Taxes should be shifted. Income taxes should be dropped,” says Kattenburg, who launched his Brandon-Souris riding campaign yesterday at Knox United Church.

Lt.-Cmdr. Stephan King tapped his naval sword’s hilt on the Brandon City Hall front door today. The HMCS Brandon commanding officer introduced himself to Mayor Dave Burgess and requested to exercise his crew’s right to the freedom of the city, while 21 of his Esquimalt, B.C., based crew waited — armed with bayonets and naval swords designed for shipboard fighting — in parade form on Ninth Street. Granting the freedom of the city originated in medieval Europe and is now a traditional means for a municipality to honour a Canadian Forces unit.

TEN YEARS AGO

Two men face manslaughter charges after a death reported last year at a home for the disabled. Police have been investigating the death of Aaron Daniel Jardine since his body was found at the Welcome Inn in late August 2013. Three men had previously been charged with robbery and assault charges in relation to an altercation they’re suspected to have had with the victim. Two of those suspects now also face manslaughter charges. The third remains in custody and may also face further charges.

Now that development plans have been laid out for Brandon’s north end and the southwest corner, the city is setting its sights on the east-end industrial park. Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said the city will be developing a secondary plan for the east end, in an effort to attract new industry to Brandon.