11 YEARS AGO (2013): The 100 Mile Free Press profiled Chuck Brager, a local wood artist who lived on Gruff Place in 100 Mile House. Hundreds of logs and branches of different types were leaned on the outside wall of his house which were waiting to be dried and turned into either a cane, a desk, a chair, a shelf, a picture frame, a handrail, a bird feeder, a stool, or even artistic faces. At the time, many of his pieces were on display as part of the show called Home, Heart and Soul, The Folk Art of Chuck Brager, which was on display at Parkside Art Gallery. Brager planned to offer demonstrations on folk art carving.
22 YEARS AGO (2002): Three rail services, the Cariboo Prospector, the Whistler Northwind, and the coastal Dinner Train, were all cancelled, which had denied communities between Lillooet and Prince George scheduled rail service, as well as potentially shrinking tourist numbers. Donna Barnett, then mayor of 100 Mile House and a member of Save Our Passenger Rail Service group, called the move "extremely painful" and stated that they asked the premier and his cabinet to hold off making any decisions relating to BC Rail passenger rail services until the Provincial Transportation Strategy was finished. According to then BC Rail Director of Communications Alan Dever, he stated that the market was affected by the economic climate, particularly blaming the Sept. 11 attacks.
33 YEARS AGO (1991): Annette Fuller, who was at the time a resident and gardener in Lac La Hache, was named the overall aggregate winner of the 100 Mile Fall Fair. Fuller had submitted 20 entries - which were mostly vegetables and flowers, as well as canned salmon, and huckleberry and black currant jellies. Fuller tended to her garden with loving care where she grew everything from peas, carrots, potatoes and beans, to cauliflower, broccoli, corn and beets. Helping were two small greenhouses which had provided the perfect environment for cucumbers and tomatoes.
44 YEARS AGO (1980): Ray Woods, then chairman of the Cariboo Regional District, stated that the Cariboo-Thompson Nicola Library System, which had at the time serviced the area from Kamloops to the north of Quesnel, could have possibly had to cut some lines of service due to limitations on the system imposed by the provincial government. In an interview given at the time with the 100 Mile Free Press, Woods, who was also chair of the provincial Library Advisory Council, stated that libraries never had any priority with the provincial government - and added that BC had the least provincial funding for public libraries for any province in Canada. Woods stated the problems had stretched back to 1977 when funding was cut under the Social Credit government of Bill Bennett. The cuts had continued every year before the date of the article.
