Stories were originally printed in The Highway News-Review, on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 1967.
If you looked at a map of the municipalities dotted along the south of Vancouver Island in 1967, you’d notice a few were missing.
On Nov. 18, 1967 a crowd of people, so large the meeting had to be relocated, gathered for a meeting to weigh in on whether or not the land west of the intersection of Grant Road and Highway 14 — what we now call Sooke — should be incorporated as a village. For the 1,800 or so residents living on the 1,900 acres being discussed, the meeting was a big event. A representative from the province warned taxes could increase if the village wanted to expand the services it offered.
At some gas stations it got a little heated with long lines of people waiting for limited gas supply, but not as heated as it got at the Shell Service Centre at Colwood Corners, which was lit up in an intense fire earlier in November. The station’s owner, Bob Schwabe, said he was set to get started on repairs. Schwabe added that the 21-year-old mechanic Eric Kitchen, who had been working in the shop at the time of the fire, was recovering well in hospital.
Cooler heads prevailed at a meeting in Metchosin, where voters elected to uphold a ban on using firearms between Latoria and Wootton roads. The issue had angered some residents, but people were calmed when they were reassured they would still be able to get permits to shoot cougars and other wildlife that might be attacking livestock. Metchosin’s representative on the regional board — what would become the Capital Regional District — said the meeting was a “splendid exercise in democracy.”
And in the advertisements, it was good news for people looking to get an early start on Christmas shopping, electric toasters — “the perfect gift for mothers,” the advert claims — were on sale for $15.99 at Walters Lumber.
READ MORE: Back in the Day: School turmoil, $1.67 pies and homes for under $90,000
@moreton_bailey
bailey.moreton@goldstreamgazette.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.