Looking Back — Jan. 24, 2023

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Brandon and southwestern Manitoba broke all existing records for electrical power consumption as the province went into its third straight week of sub-zero weather with no signs of relief.

Chief John Sioux, elected leader of the Oak River Indian Reserve council, was presented here yesterday with a certificate transferring to him honorary citizenship in the city of Brandon.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The flag-draped body of Lyndon B. Johnson will be flown today to his “political home” — the Capitol rotunda — where a nation recovering from the great divisions of the Vietnam war will mourn the U.S. president who failed in his quest for the Great Society.

FORTY YEARS AGO

About $70,000 worth of wheat donated by area farmers is on its way to the hungry in India. Volunteers finished bagging the wheat at Boissevain Select Seeds this weekend, ready for shipment as part of the Mennonite Central Committee’s Food Bank program.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony this weekend that officially opened Canada’s first duty-free shop on a land border crossing may also have marked the economic rebirth of Emerson, a quiet town of 800. This is one of four border towns picked to accommodate privately run duty-free shops along the Canada-U.S. border.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

The Kinsmen Village, a seniors complex containing 47 one-bedroom units, was officially opened this weekend. The complex, located at Rosser Avenue and 15th Street, was built for a cost of $3.2 million.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Little River Rockfest is now officially ready to rock. New Rockfest promoter Mo Karrouze announced the final lineup for the event, slated for the August long weekend. Joining the previously announced bands — Glass Tiger, Joan Jett, Peter Frampton, BTO, David Clayton Thomas and Blood, Sweat and Tears, America, Chilliwack and the Headpins — will be Wide Mouth Mason, Helix, Holly Woods and Toronto, Paul Rodgers (of Bad Company) and Molly Hatchet.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Wes Stobbe realizes Avalon won’t be either. But even though he and the other developers of the Avalon retreat have waited nine months and spent more than $2,000 trying to get a spa/bed and breakfast built in the Brandon Hills, Stobbe says he isn’t disheartened that changes to the area’s rural planning bylaw are taking a long time to be approved by the provincial government.

TEN YEARS AGO

As downtown Winnipeg prepares to welcome a new gaming centre this spring, Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said she hopes the province will extend a similar option to the Wheat City. Winnipeg’s new facility will be located on the second floor of Cityplace, near the MTS Centre. The 5,000-square-foot gaming centre will feature 140 slot machines, two poker tables and four blackjack tables.

Thanks to the generosity of the Brandon community, the 2012 United Way Brandon and District fundraising campaign garnered $758,655.47, a seven per cent increase from 2011’s $706,000 total.