ONE YEAR AGO
• Placing patients in tub and shower rooms at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre sparked safety and privacy concerns among nursing staff and students. Brenda Sheppard, a hospital staff nurse and Red Deer College nursing instructor, said this has happened regularly for about 10 weeks on Unit 22, a 36-bed medical unit where the instructor works and her students train.
• The founder of the Guardian Angels met with people training to become part of a Red Deer chapter. Curtis Silwa, as well as Guardian Angels from Edmonton and Calgary, took Red Deer recruits on a training patrol starting outside the office building at 5913 Gaetz Avenue.
FIVE YEARS AGO
• Rocky Mountain House councillors voted 7-0 for an anti-bullying bylaw. The town became only the second Canadian municipality to have such a bylaw. Under the bylaw, bullies face fines up to $1,000. Individuals who cheer on bullies face fines of up to $250.
• Stettler Regional Water Services Group proposed removing 2.9 million cubic metres of water from the Red Deer River annually for a regional pipeline. The water would service the county, the villages of Donalda and Big Valley and the summer villages of Rochon Sands and White Sands.
10 YEARS AGO
• A hush fell over Red Deer classrooms as students heard the news that 15 Colorado students were dead following the Columbine High School massacre. Two students in the Denver suburb of Littleton walked into their school with guns and home-made bombs, murdering and injuring people before committing suicide.
• The City of Red Deer announced a contest for people to name the proposed new sports facility. The winning name was eventually combined with the name of a major donor to become the Collicutt Centre, Your Community Common.
25 YEARS AGO
• The Red Deer chamber of Commerce, which set a record for membership, took part in the national activities which accompanied “Chamber of Commerce Week” in Canada. President R. Choquette and his board of directors emphasized the participation in community affairs that is spear-headed by the chamber.
• RCMP in Red Deer informed the general public that a night patrol for routine checks on all motorists had been instituted. These checks were made after midnight and consisted of a driver’s license and identification request. The forbearance of the traveling public was requested as it would take only a few minutes to check legitimate licenses.
50 YEARS AGO
• It would be a few years yet before Red Deer could start construction on a new city call, finance committee chairman Ald. Arthur Allen told city council. Although he could see the disadvantages and inconveniences in having to remodel and maintain the existing quarters and even rent or buy temporary offices apart from the main hall, Allen said the budget just did not allow for consideration of a new building at this time.
• The directors of the Canadian Press accepted the application of the Advocate for membership as an evening daily newspaper, to begin publishing in the fall. Other preparations were going ahead steadily, and it was expected that plans for a new building would be announced in May.
• An enthusiastic crowd of hockey supporters turned out to welcome the victorious Red Deer Rustlers back from Fort Frances, Ont., where they won the Intermediate title of Western Canada.
90 YEARS AGO
• Mr. P. Baker, Ponoka, provincial first vice-president of the UFA, and H.B. Higinbotham, Calgary, provincial secretary-treasurer of the UFA, received threatening letters, denouncing them for their attitude in certain matters as betraying the interests of the farmers. Michael Halwa was arrested on a charge of threatening to kill. He was brought before Mr. Turner, J.P. at Ponoka, and pleaded guilty, and was committed to trial.
• An editorial questioned whether anything was going to be done in the way of cultivating the beautifully situated park adjoining the railway depot. “It’s a great pity to let such an asset to the city remain idle. What a grand impression it would give to the stranger arriving in Red Deer. The “city beautiful” is not only an esthetic idea, but a real practical one from a business point of view,” it stated.
100 YEARS AGO
• A local cricket club was organized. “The members look forward to a lively season,” the Advocate reported.
• The Western General Electric Co. offered to provide Red Deer with a gong fire alarm system for $105, plus $75 in yearly maintenance charges.