Eighty Years Ago
July 18, 1935
The outstanding debt on Fort Langley’s community hall was reduced to $40, despite the Depression. Councillor Alex Hope was chairman of the hall’s finance committee.
Native Sons, James McMillan Post 9, was holding a dance to mark the 108th anniversary of the founding of Fort Langley.
The 1935 Fall Fair prize list was off the press and available at the Langley Advance through W.V. Mufford.
The dominion seed inspector rejected only two of 31 local patches of certified seed potatoes.
Seventy Years Ago
July 19, 1945
J.A. Peacock, director of egg supplies for the British Ministry of Food, was guest speaker at a banquet at Cloverdale Athletic Hall.
Trattle Road residents reached an agreement with B.C. Electric to bring power to their street.
John Paton of Glen Valley was one of two judges at the first Western Ayrshire Show at Fairbridge Farm on Vancouver Island.
Overcrowding at Murrayville School forced some student into the basement – literally.
Sixty Years Ago
July 21, 1955
The local school board asked for direction from the provincial Department of Education, to rule on board chairman Annie Medd’s status, after fellow trustee A.J. Dodd claimed Medd was disqualified because she had an interest in Otter Road (248th St.) property that the board had selected as a site for a junior high school.
Two Glen Valley fishermen, John Hassell and Ken Wallace, received a jolt of electricity that wrecked their boats but spared their lives. The high mast of their boat had contacted power lines crossing the Fraser River.
Fifty Years Ago
July 22, 1965
The Department of Transport announced that it was prepared to sell its local airport to Langley. No price was mentioned, but Council expected to have to pay the property’s full value.
A 22-day dryspell ended, but the big surprise came from reports of ground frost.
The 73rd annual Fall Fair was again to be held on the grounds behind Langley Secondary School.
Forty Years Ago
July 17, 1975
Twenty-one units of a 91-car train derailed at the Crush Cres. level crossing of the B.C. Hydro Railway line, disrupting traffic and electrical service in the area. Policing and traffic problems were exacerbated by thousands of spectators who came to view the wreckage. Early estimates put the damage at $750,000 to $1 million.
Foundations were poured for a $200,000 Langley United Church.
Thirty Years Ago
July 17, 1985
A 56-year-old man committed suicide in Langley Provincial Court. He walked in a shot himself in the head. His neighbours said he had been despondent over a serious heart condition.
No end was in sight for a dryspell that had already lasted five weeks. Temperatures were at and over 30ºC.
Judge Eugene Sather decided that the court could not demand “computer-like recall” in police officers’ tesimony in a case in which an Abbotsford man was charged with drinking and driving in Langley – but ruled RCMP had not followed correct police procedure.
Twenty Years Ago
July 19, 1995
Agriculture Canada put Langley on alert: the community’s trees were under attack by gypsy moths. After one moth was found here, traps were set in an effort to reduce their local population back to zero.
As the berry season came to a close, local growers were thanking Mother Nature for one of the most bountiful harvests ever.
The speed limit on much of 200th St. was raised from 60 to 70 km/h.
Fear of an equine disease in the U.S. closed the Aldergrove border crossing to horses, temporarily.