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                         Issue #10

Letter
Dear Editor,

    I am trying to find out some information about a great-uncle (Albert Chapple) of mine who passed away in Boston Bar December 26, 1950 and is buried down in the Veteran's Plot in Hope Cemetery. Someone would now have to be in their 70's 80's or 90's to have known him. We believe that he never married or at least we have never found information to the contrary which is why I would dearly like to find something about him such as an obituary or some other type of article. The one item on his death certificate that intrigued(s) me the most is that his parents names were filled out 100% correctly with his fathers middle name and his mothers maiden surname. If he were to have died alone what are the chances that a non-family member such as J.H. Richmond, the coroner, would have known that information accurately?  Was there such a thing as a city/town directory listing people in the vicinity of Hope, Boston Bar and Yale for 1950 and prior? Regrettably with me being so far away in Hamilton, Ontario it is not just an afternoon drive to try to find the information out myself and must rely upon the generosity of people such as yourself to steer me in the right direction. Albert also had a nephew named Albert Edward Chapple who went by the name Bert so if there has been any reference to my great uncle in print it may be referring to him as Bert instead of Albert.  
(More info was provided to us, if you think you might be able to help Mr. Chapple, please contact this paper to hear more.)

                                 Sincerely Yours,
                                 Randy Albert Chapple


North Bend Recollections (1926-1938)

No. 2                               The New Home                              W.(Bill) Young

    Once my father had his proposal of marriage accepted by my mother, plans were mad4e for her to make the long journey from her home in the small village of Kelty in Scotland to North Bend, BC.
    Not the least of the challenges now facing  my bachelor father was to arrange  for a place to live once my mother arrived in North Bend,  He decided to build a house and purchased a lot near the school on Government Road.
    Fortunately, his younger brother had also emigrated from Scotland and now lived in Vancouver.  Uncle Andy was a carpenter by trade and arrangements were made for him to come to North Bend to build the house.  So the house was built during the Spring and Summer of 1924 with my Dad helping, as he could, in his non-working hours.
    With the house being built during the Spring and Summer, it was ready for my mother's arrival in North Bend in mid-September.  It was a simple home consisting of a kitchen, a small front room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.  It was heated by a wood and coal furnace in the basement with the heat rising directly up through the metal grating to heat the house.  Cooking and the heating of water was through the wood stove in the kitchen- typical of the day.
    Our  family home on Government Road is still being lived in today and I am pleased to see that it is being well cared for.
    Some years ago, my wife and I took a visiting British cousin and his wife over to North Bend.  We were taking some photos of the family home and I thought it best that I should knock on the door and offer some type of explanation.  The kind lady who answered my knock asked if I would like to come in and have a nostalgic look around, which I readily accepted.
    Over the years, the house had been extended in both the front and the back.  Even though it is still of modest size, the house is considerable larger than it was when our family lived there.  It was then that I realized that my recollection of our house as being spacious and large was simply a myth.  
    Perhaps many of us have such recollections where many things seemed greater and more grandiose than they really were...or are.
Next Recollection, "North Bend Post Offices"

FVRD Update- Terry Raymond, Chairman

Not much new, but it seems like I say that every time!  I am still gathering information on the incorporation of our towns (meaning our own Mayor and council). I am compiling information on the tax base, both residential and commercial as it is now and what could happen to those taxes if, say the mill stays closed or other businesses close.  There are municipalities that are struggling now trying to deal with unpaid taxes and having to raise taxes to cover the loss from closed businesses.     We also have to know what is going to happen with Bill C 55 which gave utilities  (railroads included)  a big tax break with the Province covering the difference.  They (BC) may not in the near future cover this, how will we make up the difference?  A group of Mayors and myself have met with the Minister involved and are working on a plan that will be agreeable to all (well almost all) but that is a little ways off yet.
    It appears that the policing issue has been put on hold for awhile. All electoral areas have been paying (in taxes) for both policing and roads all along, however, small municipalities (those fewer than 5000) do not pay towards any policing.
    Provincial parks are still an issue. BC will fund for this year, but not next.   They are looking at Regional Districts or local organisations to take this function over. This would include Nahatlatch, Mahatl and Alexandra Bridge in our area. I have also been meeting with people from BC Heritage sites as the government is looking at closing them unless they can find someone willing to take them on.   The only one in our area would be the Yale church and museum . The applications to operate the sites have to be in soon. If you have any thoughts on these issues please let me know.
    We are still working our way through the red tape on the water system for Boston Bar but we're slowly progressing.   When all the info is available, there will be a public meeting to discuss these items with those affected. I am still waiting for confirmation of a meeting with Joyce Murray
Minister of Water, Lands and Air protection on  North Bend Lands. We have also applied for funding through flood protection as well. I have been working with the Mayor of Hope and Area B Director, Mike Bourcier, on the Hope Courthouse issue. BC has said they will keep a circuit court in Hope if we come up with $130,000(down from the original amount of $460,000).Based on population, that would mean that area A (Boston Bar, North Bend) would have to come up with about $12,053 per year (in taxes).
As I explained we cannot just set up a new service for this and collect taxes. We have to get all the information out to the taxpayers and then it would have to go to referendum, maybe during the fall elections this year. It would then be based on the majority. Please let me know what you think on these issues as they could potentially affect your taxes.
    I have also been working on the Squamish Forest Districts LRMP (Land Resources Management Plan) and on the Port Douglas Forest Service Road Committee. BC is also looking at all secondary roads going to the regional districts. But they are not downloading.
    I was at the Lower Mainland Municipal Association Conference and one of the interesting resolutions put forward from us to the Union of BC Municipalities is the ongoing problem with coal dust from the trains, recommendation is to cover them. I will also be attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Ontario at the end of this month, representing FVRD. I also sit on the board of the Municipal Finance Authority,  we meet mostly in Victoria. We have also called a meeting of the Forestry Committee (I am vice-chair) for next week to meet with companies, forestry and the IWA to discuss what is happening in our region, including the mill in Boston Bar. Yes! some people down the valley actually care.  In between this, the Treaty negotiations at this time, in Yale, are still proceeding.  We meet twice, sometimes three times per month.
    I have met with the Federal Minister of the Environment (David Anderson) on issues in the valley illegal dumps on federal land, gravel removal and flood protection and air quality. I will be meeting with his executive assistant later this week to follow up on these topics. I have meetings next week with companies that are proposing small hydroelectric projects on some of the smaller rivers and creeks in the area. And for those who have not heard I am working  three days a week at  the  Siska Band office managing their  social assistance,  housing  and education   programs.

RCMP REPORT

In the wee hours of May 2nd- The window of the front door of the Boston Bar School was broken. Officer arrived to find a large rock in the entryway.
May 4th - The back door of JB's Drive-in was broken into; it appears nothing was taken.
May 5th- 3 youths, aged 16-17,  were arrested and charged with break, enter and theft of a residence on Old Boston Bar Rd.  They will appear in Chilliwack court on July 5th.
A 17-year-old was charged with assault with a weapon after shooting two other kids with a pellet gun.  He will also appear in Chilliwack Court on July 5th.
Missing Person-  Chris Forbes arrived in our area  on May 6th.  Shortly thereafter his clothing was found at a junction of Spuzzum Creek and the Fraser River.  He is described as 32 years old, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, blue eyes, black wavy hair and a full beard.
Body Recovered from Fraser River- Hope RCMP recovered a body from the Fraser River, subsequent identification confirmed that he was NOT Chris Forbes.
New Officer in Town- Steve Holmes from Hope detachment has been in our community since May 1st, give a wave when you see him around town.
------Police request anyone with information on any of these incidents to call the local RCMP detachment or Crimestoppers