“

Castlegar News 1988 Review, March 30, 1988

Publisher's
message

Too often we forget just how many positive
things are taking place, both in our province and in
our region. We tend to focus on negative issues,
perhaps not without some justification because
they represent problems for which solutions must
be found.

But they shouldn't be the sole focus of our at.
tention and our energies. We should also take time
fo recognize our many accomplishments, That's
what this special issue is intended to do.

The West Kootenay Review allows us to shift
our sights from the immediate day-to-day concerns
and instead offers a larger Perspective. We
sometimes take for granted the vibrant, active
} residents who make up this wonderful region
called the West Kootenay, just as we take for gran-
ted our amazing natural surroundings.

But that is where this 1988 edition of The West
Kootenay Review plays a maior role. It lets us take
Stock of the progress we have made — and 1987
saw more progress than we've seen in the last half
dozen years.

We have worked hard to bring you up to date
information about our major industries: among
them Celgar Pulp, Westar Timber’s Southern Wood
Products sawmill, Cominco's Trail lead-zinc
operations, the new international college in
Nelson, and Selkirk College.

This year we also take a special look at the
tourism opportunities offered by our ski resorts.
Downhill and cross-country ski enthusiasts will tind
something to spark their interest.

And we turn our attention on the dozens of
Success stories from our smaller businesses — the
backbone of our region: businesses like Cohoe In-
surance, Dairyland Foods, Avenues Hair Design,
Shaw Cablesystems, and Ainsworth Hot Springs

The best thing about the Review is it helps us
bring all of these individual achievements together
in one appealing package, giving West Kootenay
residents a truer picture of just what has been
going on over the past year.

By taking a look at what we've accomplished in
1987, we are prepared tor what lies ahead, And
what lies ahead is more good things.

In fact, we've found the region is bubbling with
new-found contidence, optimism andenthusiasm
West Kootenay businesses and its residents are
ready to take on the world.

And no wonder with some of the Projects
which lie ahead.

* A $6 million feature-length motion picture
based on the Doukhobors to be filmed in Castlegar,
Grand Forks, the Soviet Union and California.

* Continued work on the $150 million Cominco
lead smelter modernization project. It has not only
meant hundreds of construction jobs (more than
200 have been hired so far), but it will secure the
future for thousands of workers.

BURT CAMPBELL

* Nelson's new Canadian International
College, which opens this spring tor 250 Japanese
students. The students begin arriving within the
next week and the school is set to begin classes in
April

* The $2 million expansion to Castlegar Air-
Port which will allow the airport to better serve the
needs of the region as a whole.

* The possible revival of the $982 million
Keenleyside generating project. Energy Minister
Jack Davis is looking favorably on the project,
which could create 540 jobs during peak construc-
tion.

* The $4.3 million 60-bed long-term care
facility planned for Castlegar and District Hospital.

And there-are things we haven't even touched
on, like Nelson's filmmaking businss, the Husky
World D hill Race at Red M . Castlegar's
burgeoning convention business and the city’s new-
found heritage

Sometimes it takes a publication like the West
Kootenay Review to pick out the Positive things
taking place and pull them together to give us a
clear, coherent picture of where we've come from
and where we're headed.

It shows us we live in an area filled with
aggressive and progressive business people and
individuals. We at the Castlegar News are proud of
the West Kootenay and proud to be part of the West
Kootenay

We hope that pride shows through in these
Pages and that you, too, can take pride in our
communities and in our region.

Pp T Kk Country Tourism staff Kelly Sallis (right) and Diane Renz.

Association co-ordinator Roy Shields is flanked by

Dairyland
at wed

Look for the new Dairyland
Foods logo on Dairymaid Juice,

KCTA set for summer

Charlie Cohoe, president of
the Kootenay Country Tour-
ist Association, says the
KCTA's 1988-1989 marketing
and promotional budget is in
the final stages of approval
by the B.C. Ministry of

Tourism, Recreation and
Culture.

Roy Shields, regional co-
ordinator, adds: “We can now
move ahead and plan all our
summer activities with the
assurance that they will be

consistent with our exi
marketing and media initia.
tives now running.”

The KCTA is the regional
tourism association whose
primary mandate is to design
marketing strategies for the

Cohoe Insurance has
best possible service

Since 1972 Cohoe Insur.
ance has provided Castlegar
and area with the best pos-
sible insurance and service,
and even after 16 successful
years the firm still finds it
important to upgrade its
knowledge and skills.

This year Charles Cohoe
and Lori Brown, of Cohoe
Insurance were two out of
only 100 graduates of the
Canadian Accredited Insur-
ance Brokers Program. The
program, provided by the In-
surance Brokers Association
of Canada and the Insurance
Agents Association of British
Columbia, provides formal
insurance knowledge, devel-
opment of specialized skills,
and ensures clients receive
expertise in all aspects of
insurance.

With all its intricate de
tails, property insurance is
an area which requires a
great amount of expertise to
ensure that people get the

CHARLES COHOE

best possible advice from
their insurance agent (or
broker, by which they are
now becoming known). This
commitment to providing the
best possible insurance cov-
erage and advice, combined
with the convenient hours of
operation (six days a week)

LORI BROWN

and easily affordable monthly
payment plans for property
insurance, will ensure Cohoe
Insurance of the continued
growth it has experienced
over the last 16 years,
Charles and Lori are Castle.
gar's only Canadian Accred.
ited Insurance Brokers.

Ce TTT TTC nnn nn th

private sector, including
communities interested in
developing and increasing
tourism visits to their re-
spective areas.

Shields says an example of
this would be the Castlegar
Sunfest. The KCTA could
assist the Castlegar Festivals
Society in designing mar.
keting initiatives for out of
region advertising.

“We take the event and
complement it with other
major vertical attractions in
the local area, such as golf
courses, ski areas, etc.”

The objective is to create a
larger lure for the potential
visitor.

“We then invite the ac.
commodators, restaurants
and ancillary merchants to
participate to ensure that
someone coming to the event
will get a clear message as to
what the event is all about,
other attractions they may
wish to experience at the
same time, and _ specific
phone numbers as a ‘call to
action’ for places to stay and

says Shields.

“What we create for the
potential visitor is a complete
package with enough sizzle to
get them into our commun-
ities.”

Once the private sector
and community dollars are in
place, the KCTA can then
double that amount through
the provincial partner's in
tourism program. The only
cost to the participants is a
five per cent administration
fee based on the gross
amount of the advertising
cost.

The regional tourism as-

Castlegar News 1988 Review, March 30, 1968

Castlegar Airport gets facelift

be:
© a fully enclosed baggage claims area;

© relocation of the holding room and administration

offices to a new area;
© a customs offic
© expansion of the waiting area;
© @ new restaurant.

As well, the parking area, which is already paved,

has been enlarged from 115 stalls to 160 stalls.

Vie Van Isle, a Revelstoke-based construction

company, is in charge of the work.
Th

* $468,000 for a new electrical system;
© $565,000 for a new water system

The airport should serve the region's needs well past

the year 2000, according to federal officials.

eulendel 2) 2) Fi)

4M SS ag
7 ee a

AIRPORT
Cc

{sin Kootenay West
MP Bob Brisco breaks
ground at an August
ceremony; view of
airport expansion as of
mid-March; electrical
contractor installs
wiring:

new waiting area.

not BR. te

Department Store

Castlegar 1915 — To the lett of the C.P.R. Station is Farmer's
General Store and Post Office, the upstairs portion of which was
used as the Community Hall. The small building in the center
background is the first Castlegar School house, which was built in
1909. The building at upper right is the old Castlegar Hotel

Castlegar’s Oldest Business — West's Department

Store — was originated in 1903 by W.J. Farmer

quarters, moving along with the post office to an

NEW!

Short term policies
(From 6 months)

Replacement
policies on new
vehicles (Up to
Original Invoice

Price)

Nature’s Treat Yogurt, Fraser
Valley Butter, Pacific Milk, Super

't was housed in a two-storey building located
in a wooded area where the Masonic Lodge's Twin
Rivers building is now located. now located.

The store was heated by a pot belly stove and Nine years later an apartment was added to
until electricity came to Castlegar, was lighted by the top.
lanterns and candlelight. The old building was used as a warehouse by

entirely new building where the present store is

People Have Been Stopping at
Cohoe Insurance for all Their Insurance Services.

sociations, through the pro-
vineial Ministry of Tourism,
are responsible for the mar.
keting, co-ordination, and
application of the partner's

Socco, Armstrong Cheese, and
many other fine products.

By
It’s your assuran

ce of quality from

B.C:s 100% farmer-owned dairy.

FBDB SERVICES
HELP SMALL BUSINESS
PROSPER

Small business is the backbone of this country’s
economy. It accounts for one third of our Gross National
Product and three million Canadian jobs. So if you run a
small or medium-sized business, or if you're about to start
one, we'd like to help you succeed.

For information on our wide range of Financial
Services (loans, loan and fi ial planni
Venture Capital and Management Services such as
counselling, training and information, please call:

426-7241 Cranbrook

La Banque offre ses services
dans les deux langues officielles.

BACKING INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

Federal Business Banque fédérale
@ hs Bank de d

Canad

Program. It is designed to
allow all the private sector to
participate in tiered pro-
motional initiatives.

“We take our vertical
markets such as golf courses,
hot springs, resorts, and ski
areas, community events and
activities, ete. and use them
as the umbrella for the other
community facilities to ad.
vertise themselves under,”
says Shields.

“This strategy is working
well all over the province. It's
offered the private sector
and communities an associa-
tion to co-ordinate all its
advertising and promotional
activity in order to maximize
our ‘collective clout.’

“With a budget of approx
imately $500,000 we feel we
are effective in the market-
Place with a minimal cost to
our members,”

For further information on
the program, call the KCTA
or your local chamber of
commerce.

Planning a
Wedding?
We Seil Distinctive
Invitations, Napkins etc.
See Us At

The top storey was a hall utilized for church,
Sunday school, meetings and Christmas concerts

Growth began with the excavating of a
basement to this store to handle meat and

groceries while clothing and hardware remained

on the main floor.

11 also housed the first switch board used to

telephone long distance.

West's Department Store was established in

April 1 of 1930 when Ralph West took over the

business from W.J. Farmer with stock valued at

$670. The store also contained the post office.

The business experienced a slow but steady
growth until 1936 when the Castlegar Water Co.
was formed and then it expanded rapidly with the
building boom that followed the water company’s

formation.

During the area's growth, the first policeman

and now a resident of Castlegar, George

MacAndrew, had an apartment above the original
store when the hall was changed to give him living

quarters and an office.
In 1940 the business expanded to its larger

Mr. West for the next eight years. With its sale to
the Twin Rivers Holding Co., this building was
demolished to make way for the present Twin
Rivers building into which the post office was
transferred in 1950.

Throughout this period steady growth
necessitated periodic additions and remodelling of
the store's premises.

The building continued to serve the growth of
the community. When a new post office building was
put up by the government, the space was then used
to house the Bank of Commerce. West's
Department Store was purchased in 1969 by
Wallace Horning, Peter Vatkin and Lee Friesen.
When Mrs. Friesen retired in 1987, her shares were
purchased by Vi Stoushnow.

West's expanded in 1974 from 6,000 sq.ft. to
15,000 sq.ft. Then later purchased the former Bank
of Montreal building for further expansion to
17,500 sq.ft. of retail space.

West's carries housewares, Sporting goods,
hardware, toys, yard Foose: ladies’ wear and has a
travel agency. West's has 37 employees.

West's Department Store — March 1988

Open 6 Days a Week

safe

Charlie, Sheryl, Lori, Sarah

One thing that has not changed is our
helpful, friendly, courteous service.
For all your Autoplan inquiries see

SHORT TERM the qualified staft at:

HALF NOW, Ch ‘as’ r’s On
HALF LATER |) gh nf hn
POLIC

Insurance Broker

COHOE INSURANCE

1127-4th St., Castlegar © 365-3301
=