ONE YEAR AGO
• The goose might lay the golden egg, but Red Deer’s most famous bird of prey lays them in lipstick pink. The pregnant peregrine falcon nested atop the Telus radio tower had received thousands of views since going online on April 24, and on Friday she laid her first egg.
• Phil Neufeld had put up a lot of homes, but it was his role in building a better community that was recognized Friday evening. The charity champion and president of True-Line Contracting was honoured as Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Clubs of Red Deer at a spring gala at the Memorial Centre.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• A hiker discovered the bodies of Garry and Maria Korell on Red Deer’s eastern outskirts, half a kilometre northeast of Canyon Ski Hill. The Korells had lived for many years in a tiny mobile home park behind the former Royal Gas station on the north edge of Red Deer. RCMP suspected the deaths were either a murder-suicide or double suicide.
• More than 20 volunteers turned out at the Bowden Friendship Centre for the Peace and Comfort program’s first quilting bee. The program produced quilts for injured soldiers and families of fallen soldiers in the Afghanistan campaign.
10 YEARS AGO
• The Red Deer Rebels defeated the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in overtime to win the Western Hockey League championship final in five games. The victory earned them a berth in the Memorial Cup in Regina, where they would win their first national championship.
• The community mourned the loss of Keith Mann, Red Deer College instructor and longtime director of the Red Deer Royals. Mann was killed in a traffic accident while riding his motorcycle.
25 YEARS AGO
• The Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union illustrated the fatal consequences of nuclear advancement, said concerned Central Alberta peace groups. “I hope it will make people more conscious of the insecurity of production,” Rev. Shelagh Parsons, a member of the Ponoka CAPP (Changing Attitudes to Promote Peace) Gang, said. “I hope people don’t panic, but nuclear projects are not fail safe. It takes only one accident to show that. I’d hoped to never see this kind of tragedy happen.” Miss Parsons said disarmament groups had tried in vain to point out the perils of nuclear development.
• The Kinex arena would be first in line for cash from a new provincial grant program if the city recreation and parks board had its way. The board decided to put the run-down Kinex at the top of its priority list for the city to consider when it carved up Red Deer’s share of a 500-million provincial grant program recently announced. “The Kinex is an embarrassment for us and it’s certainly an embarrassment for out-of-town teams which have to play in it,” recreation superintendent Lowell Hodgson told the board.
50 YEARS AGO
• Red Deer and District attended the Red Deer Minor Hockey Association’s fourth annual Sportsmen’s Dinner at the Holiday Inn. The program went over so well that the dinner would likely be a “must” each year to those who attend. It was probably the city’s main “stag” social attraction or the year. Jackie Parker was a surprise guest. He was invited to attend that afternoon on about the seventh hole of the Red Deer Golf and Country Club.
• Red Deer was greatly in need of a junior College, according to Composite High School Teacher Charles Campbell. He said that 46 per cent of Red Deer graduates went on to university — a higher percentage than any other Alberta city. “It seems just about everyone in Red Deer wants to go to university,” he said. “This is a natural place to set up a junior college.”
90 YEARS AGO
• The Scriptures tell us that Cleanliness is next to Godliness, so many of us who cannot well qualify under the latter head, will have an opportunity of evening up a bit by doing something along the line of Cleanliness. The basis for Efficiency in the world is Health, and the basis of Health is Cleanliness, Fresh Air and Exercise. These are all provided by Clean-Up Day. Red Deer is one of the most attractive looking towns in the West, but, as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so constant attention to cleanliness is the price of town attractiveness. Premises with a “Queen Anne front and a Mary Anne back,” — with apologies to Mary Anne — as the old jibe used to run, are not in keeping with a good city standard. Don’t be indifferent – don’t forget – help along a good work — do your part. Next Wednesday, May 4th, is the day, and the Mayor has proclaimed a half-holiday to relieve us somewhat from the cares of business. If you have time left after the clean-up, put in some garden. Even if you are a little stiff the next day, you can congratulate yourself that you have done your duty as a citizen. Clean up next Wednesday.
• Rev. W. G. Brown arrives home tomorrow after several weeks work on Presbyterian Home Mission and Prohibition referendum engagements in Ontario. His congregation have quite a nice surprise ready for him in a new Ford car with garage, which will be highly appreciated by such an energetic pastor and Home Mission man as Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown has been over eleven years with the Red Deer congregation and this handsome gift is most creditable to the congregation and Mr. Brown.