Eighty Years Ago
September 19, 1935
• A business shuffle saw T.K. Yardley move to the former Hicks Hardware Store in the Lyttleton Block, while the Red and White Store was sold by Mr. Sheuring to Mr. Barge. Mr. Harris, the tailor operating out of the Overwaitea Store, moved to New Westminster. Langley Theatre closed after having operated out of the Athletic Hall. A new restaurant was built on the west side of Langley Hotel, and a start was made on a row of residences on Yale Road south of the high school.
• Langley spinsters organized a dance. Ladies not wearing calico were required to pay fines.
• Langley cleaned up at the Chilliwack Fair, taking home the Regional Shield.
• The Order of Elks looked considered starting a lodge in Langley.
• Funeral service for school trustee William Lawrence was one of the largest ever held in Langley. Lawrence came to Langley from Ireland in 1885, and died at the age of 74.
Seventy Years Ago
September 20, 1945
• Langley reeve (mayor) Alex Hope was nominated the local Coalition candidate for the upcoming provincial election, defeating Lyall Currie of Surrey, D.W. Poppy of Langley, and Eric Debb of White Rock. Sitting MLA Len Shepherd was unanimously renominated by the CCF.
• Gordon Berry and Ian Paton won the provincial judging championship at the Chilliwack Fair.
• P. Rosner was chosen to lead the Pentecostal Church’s new Young People’s group.
Sixty Years Ago
September 22, 1955
• The school board was deadlocked over a choice of location for a new secondary school. Trustees A.J. Dodd and Trevor Beggs supported a Department of Education recommendation to put the new school in Aldergrove, while Board Chairman Annie Medd and Tr. Jake Pauls were determined it should be at the corner of Otter (248th St.) and Bradshaw (40th Ave.) Roads.
• Aldergrove petitioned for street-lighting.
Fifty Years Ago
September 23, 1965
• Langley and District Recreation and Swimming Pool Society disbanded, after setting out three years earlier to build a recreation centre and swimming pool.
• The number of people on welfare in Langley continued to decline through August, while overall costs continued to rise.
Forty Years Ago
September 18, 1975
• The Agricultural Land Commission called a public hearing into an application to remove the Dumais Farm, one of the last large pieces of farmland in Langley City, from the Agricultural Land Reserve so that it could be carved up for industrial and residential development.
• With his riding about to split in two, MP Robert Wenman had to decide in which half he would contest the next federal election.
• Langley RCMP received its first commissioned commanding officer, Inspector A.C. Wilson.
Thirty Years Ago
September 18, 1985
• Mayor Reg Easingwood’s signature on a provincial-municipal partnership agreement let Langley City offer from 50 to 100 per cent municipal tax breaks for industrial expansion or development. The province, for its part, was to reduce non-residential school taxes by 50 per cent.
• Langley City and Township had difficulty agreeing on the design of a jointly owned $28,000 parade float.
• An ambulance and a Langley Advance van suffered serious damages when they collided in an intersection. There were no injuries. The ambulance was cited for failing to stop at a red light.
• A $10,000 house fire put itself out before anyone realized it had happened. The owners of an Aldergrove home returned from an outing to find their kitchen burned out. One family member had stayed home and had slept through the fire inn a downstairs bedroom.
Twenty Years Ago
September 20, 1995
• The owner of the Blue Star Motel in Abbotsford, just across the Langley border, charged that a fire fatality in his establishmdent might have been averted if Langley Township firefighters had responded to the alarm which had gone out to Abbotsford. The 52-year-old victim had died of smoke inhalation; all other motel occupants got out in time.
• Langley Township’s bylaw outlawing secondary suites came under fire, when the landlord of an illegal suite said his tenant had nowhere else to go, because available accommodations were both substandard and in short supply.
• Langley Arts Council urged all of its members and supporters to pack the next Township council meeting in a show of support for immediate development of a community cultural centre.