ONE YEAR AGO
• Red Deer pharmacies were preparing to butt out as of Jan. 1 It was part of a provincial law banning tobacco sales at pharmacies, health facilities, colleges and universities in the new year. The law also affected grocery stores that have a pharmacy inside.
• It took months of infighting and legal intervention, but Joe Anglin finally assumed the helm of the Alberta Greens. After leader George Read and president Sue Stratton resigned, Anglin was able to take control as interim party leader on Monday. He and other Greens had already drafted a new constitution, and Anglin said his next goal was to attract membership from small-c conservatives in the province. The party folded seven months later.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• More than 100 people arrived at the Red Cross office in Red Deer with cheque books in hand to help victims of the earthquake-tsunami catastrophe in South East Asia. The Red Cross raised more than $21,000 in just one day.
• Ranchers celebrated after learning the United States would reopen its border to live cattle under 30 months as early as March 7. Within hours, those celebrations turned to dismay as reports surfaced of another suspected case of mad cow disease in Alberta.
10 YEARS AGO
• New Year’s Eve fell a day early in Red Deer, as First Night festivities were held Dec. 30. The event had been planned months in advance for Dec. 30, after warnings the Y2K Bug might create various disasters at midnight Dec. 31.
• The calendar turned over to 2000 and nothing happened. Despite warnings about the Y2K Bug — the inability of some computers to recognize the year 2000 — and fears that power and water systems would be unable to provide basic services, adequate preparation meant there were no noticeable disruptions.
25 YEARS AGO
• Bingo battles in Red Deer killed two long-time weekly bingos and left others concerned about the coming of huge bingo barns. The barns were run by a number of charities who split the profits, but they competed with smaller charities who were still trying to go it alone. The battle began about 15 months earlier when the Knights of Columbus opened a 400-seat bingo barn downtown.
• Cold muddy water flooded two Village Shopping Centre businesses after a water line froze and broke during a -30 cold snap. “Disaster!” is what Saveco manager Dave Mattheys thought when he saw his store’s aisles submerged in brown water and more water pouring in by the minute. The store could be closed until Jan. 1 and lose about $150,000 in revenue as a result, said Mr. Mattheys.
50 YEARS AGO
• Highlighting the city of Red Deer’s “best-decorated” Christmas, the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday the winner in the annual decorated homes contest. The top, city-wide award of a cash prize went to a familiar home at the corner of 49 Ave. and 53 St., the home of Mrs. Grace Kanngiesser, which year after year had been one of the holiday showplaces. The generous display of lights, the outside decorated trees and the complementing additional decorations placed the large Kanngiesser home at the top of the parade.
• Led by the heaviest construction year in the in the city’s history, a figure that stood at $8,300,000 this week, Red Deer was nearing the end of another highly successful year. General activity passed all early expectations in the fields of commercial and business expansion, institutional building, public works, population and other phases in the advance of this thriving Western Canadian city. The only disappointing feature of the year in this predominately agricultural community was the troubles that beset the harvest when what promised to be a good crop was hit by continued inclement weather throughout August, September and October.
90 YEARS AGO
• Messrs. Jacques and Orme opened undertaking parlors in Red Deer in the former Judge Greene residence. Mr. Jacques had been in business in Vulcan for two years and Mr. Orme had been with A.M. Shaver of Calgary for four years. They proposed to give the people of Red Deer an up to date establishment with modern equipment and surroundings such as a motor ambulance and hearse, private chapel with organ, etc. and believed they could give adequate and satisfactory service in their line to the people of Red Deer and district.
• The flu continued with the number of people affected having slightly increased after continuing for three weeks at about the same level. Mr. and Mrs. Buxton of North Red Deer, mourned the loss of their little one, aged 15 months from the complications following flu. There were four or five cases from the country in the isolation hospital. The citizens need to exercise the greatest of care in suspected cases.
100 YEARS AGO
• Publisher/editor F.W. Galbraith shamelessly used his newspaper, the Advocate, to promote his bid for a seat on council.
In one instance he published a ringing endorsement of his campaign, written by an unidentified colleague at the Lethbridge Herald.
• Movies playing at the Lyric Theatre in Red Deer included Schoolboy’s Revenge, Whale Fishing, A Wooden Leg, and the Hidden Treasure.