Eighty Years Ago
May 26, 1938
• An airplane that landed in Councillor Logan’s field touched down without incident, but upon takeoff, it took out a few hundred yards of fence.
• Lavern Sailes was crowned May Queen at Athjletic Park during Langley’s 16th annual Empire Day celebrations.
Seventy Years Ago
May 27, 1948
• Bleachers for 6,000 were to be installed at Athletic Park. It was hoped they would be in place in time for the July 1 Sports Carnival.
• Membership in the Langley Amateur Athletic Association had increased to 150 from 130 the previous year.
Sixty Years Ago
May 29, 1958
• Sunday afternoon heat was blamed for a spectacular rupture in Old Yale Road just west of Murrayville. Two concrete slabs jackknifed 18 inches into the air.
Fifty Years Ago
May 30, 1968
• A barn, four head of cattle, and 500 tons of 1967 hay were destroyed by fire on the J.J. McLellan farm immediately west of the historic fort in Fort Langley. The McLellan home and several sheds were saved by volunteer firefighters.
• Norm Sherritt became principal of Aldergrove Secondary, replacing Don Hanson who was moving to Abbotsford.
• More teachers were looking for jobs in Langley, but fewer children were expected to enrol in Grade 1 in September.
Forty Years Ago
May 31, 1978
• About 500 students celebrated their graduations from Langley and Aldergove Secondaries.
Langley City Council instituted a three-nights-per-week bus schedule to serve City, Brookswood, Fort Langley, West Langley, and Aldergrove at 50¢ per ride.
• A 50-room hotel was proposed for the corner of 200th Street and 86th Avenue.
• First sod was turned to mark the start of construction on a multi-million-dollar shopping mall (Willowbrook) and housing development (Langley Meadows) at the northwest corner of Fraser Highway and the Langley Bypass.
Thirty Years Ago
May 25, 1988
• Langley City Council gave unanimous support to a proposed $7.6 million community cultural centre, costs to be shared by the City and Township, during a special meeting.
Twenty Years Ago
May 29, 1998
• The left-wing Regional Electors of Aldergrove and Langley (REAL) joined forces with the Langley Citizens Coalition (LCC) to mount an effort to oust the currently dominant Langley Leadership Team (LLT) from Township Council and the school board. Commenting on the merger, REAL vice-president Kim Richter noted, “This is not about right or left; it’s about community.”
• The LLT used its majority on the school board to cut its schedule of public board meetings by a quarter.
• Langley RCMP were accepting guns – “no questions asked” – that anyone wished to turn in during a province-wide gun amnesty.
• A new shopping mall was being considered for Murrayville.
