Over 1% ‘million visitors | anes

Kootenay Country Trade S how |

You wouldn't have noticed.,
It was just a U-Haul trailer
behind a half-ton truck. It
carried almost a ton of mat-
erials and was heading 500 to
700 miles from its home base.
At its destination, it would
meet up with another two
tons of cargo. Behind the
wheel sat a careful driver in
her middle years, Beside her,
was her husband and mutual
friend.

Where they were headed
and what they would -be
doing with this heavy load
would have an effect on all of
us who live in the Kootenays.

The truck, the trailer, and
its load are part of a yearly
expedition to various cities in
Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Washington, and British Col-
umbia. The occasion is the
travel shows organized to
promote tourism in this re-
gion. The trailer contains
eight individual modules
mounted with colorful pho-
tographs. In the truck’ are
thousands of copies of the

This Bioup of journalists and p

Kootenay Country magazine,
and brochures on each of the
communities and resorts in

‘the region.

The association was
formed in 1978 as a nonprofit
society serving the commun-
ities in the Kootenay Boun-
dary tourist region. At its in-
ception, 50 different busi-
nesses, restaurants, motels,
hotels, and area attractions
became members. Member-
ship costs $100 per year and
includes a listing in the semi-
annual visitor's guide, plus
the right to buy advertising
in the’ periodical, a mem-
bership window decal, repre-
sentation at. travel. shows,

“One of the difficulties that
we were faced with as re-
sort owners and managers
was trying to promote an at-
traction.on a solo basis when
-much of the information that
the potential visitor needed

-was of a very general nature.
They wanted to know where
in the world we were, how to
travel here, 'and what: ser-
vices and facilities were
available when they got here.
The owners and managers
got together. and started

throwing around ideas,’ and.

that is how the KBVA got
started.”

In the late 70s the east and

and
other services.

“Over 1% million people
have seen Kootenay Country
travel show displays over the
last four years,” says Denny,
Edgar, regional manager of
the KBVA. “Each year the
organization. spends over
$160,000 attracting. visitors
to aur. region.

west .K were com:

bined into one tourist region.”

Because of the immense se
the

la organization for over 250
members.
“Our mandate ‘is to org-
anize, foster, co-ordinate and
‘promote tourism in this re-
gion. In 1980 we had 670,000
visitors to this region. ‘They
‘spent..over $65 million dol-
lars. It is interesting to note
that 38 per cent were Britisih

; Columbians, and 52 per cent

were from other provinces,
Of the out-of-province group,
40 percent were Albertans.”
The Visitors Guide ‘to
Kootenay Country: is a 76-
page handbook about the re-
gion. It details the services,
amenities, and attractions of
every small town and city.
between Midway and Yahk,
from north of Nakusp to
south of Trail. Besides listing

the KBVA and the B.C. Roc-
kes Association decided to
form two. separate regions.
At the time of formal ac-

ceptance by Tourism B.C.,:

membership totaled 50,:To-
day the KBVA is the umbrel-

of the local for each
of the communities, the mag-
azine contains many sugges-
ted activities for the visitor
while in the region. The ar-
ticles and photography are all

try is one

iP fro
California and the British Isles Tied Kootenay Coun.
try in May 1981. Curator, Leo Mills of Grand Forks

sd
the Boundary Country.

Maloney Pontiac Buick GMC

Keeps right on = ng

After approximately two
years of negotiations with
General Motors Gary Mal-
oney was successful in con-
vincing them that Castlegar
and the surrounding com-
munity would be able to
support a Pontiac, Buick,
GMC truck deal

iastic people 3 you could find as ‘was opened at 1700 Columbia
you drove by the first Avenue. The new building
location at 1415 Columbia housed a body shop, service
‘Avenue. But the enthusiasm department, parts depart-
caught on, and soon everyone ment, office, showroom, the
in the Kootenays associated most. up-to-date equipment
Maloney’s with good deals,” and once again the most
fun, a genuine interest in enthusiastic: and most com-

rc and our petent staff in the business.

In January. of 1977 General
Motors gave their approval
and just three months later,
after a service

man. There was no looking back
By spring of 1978 it was and Maloney’s kept on grow-
obvious _ that in order to ing toits present staff of over

station into an automobile
dealership, Maloney Pontiac
Buick GMC Ltd. was offic-
ially open for business.

It wasn't hard to miss the
eight new and used vehciles

and nine of the most enthus- -

Kaiser coal _
move defended

VANCOUVER (CP) — The
new marketing boss at B.C.
Coal strongly defends his
company’s takeover of Kaiser
Resources Ltd. in 1980 and
the signing of a contract that
gave Edgar Laiser Jr. a

ly handle the tremen 30 employees, inventory: of
dous volume of ‘business over 125 new and used cars
attained in just one year, and trucks, and reputation of
Maloney Pontiac would have being the soundest auto-
to expand. It took more than ‘mobile business ‘in the Koo-
three months this time, but tenays.

by October of 1978 a modern Everyone at Maloneys is

16,000 square foot facility | proud of their achievements. °

The highest number of Grand
Sales Masters working at any
dealership in their territory,

the President's Triple Crown

in 1980, this year being first
iin B.C.’ to’ complete’ the
-eriteria established by- Gen-
eral Motors for a Select
‘Service Dealership Award,
and the greatest achieve-
ment of all. —thousands of
happy, satisfied customers.

The man, well, he's a
symbol of the feeling one gets

when he becomes associated =

with Gary Maloney. The
feeling of pride, énthusiasm,
and achievement. The feeling

of Maloney Pontiac’ Buick EH

GMC.

of the things that people at
our. travel shows invariably
pick up and take home with
them. If you count a reader-
ship of 8.5 persons per copy,
then 1,400,000 people have
read our book over the last
four years.

“Jam now finding that
people at the travel ‘shows
are asking for our book, and
moet iniportant, they know.
where Kootenay Country is.
We are no longer confused
with. the Okanagan,” re-
marks Edgar.

‘When a Kootenay Country.
travel show goes on the road,
there are many details to be
organized.’ Approximately 40
feet of space has to be rented
from the mall or display hall.
The modules have to: be
transported to the site, as
well as the Kootenay, Coun-
try books. The carpet has to

be laid and the modules and -

tables have to be set up. Just
recently a play-.

pores runs he film

“Here to Share.”

Yet another task of the

KBVA' is to work in con-
Junction, with Tourism B.C. in

Mackio — Ainsworth, Inger
Magas — Nelson, Keith Kes-

\sler —. Slocan Valley, and

Lorraine Simrose — Nakusp.
Mrs, Simrose is the 1982
Peter Adam of Ski

ing of
tourist information centres.

“The Visitors" Associatl

Kootenay Country is also a
director. Each of the. dir-
ecters

has a 10-member board of .
Brian ‘Pritchard

directors.
represents Castlegar, Don
- d, Brian

back unit has been’ added ‘0
the display. The TV usually is
donated by a local shop and

Le! Rose — ' Trail, “Herb
Young — Creston, Beth Lud-
low —. Gray Creek, Norm

from their., communities
about, tourism concerns.

“By working together to
promote the region, as a
whole, we have far more to
gain for everyone,” says Edi

gar.

in the

Kootenay.
~ Boundary
~~ Tourism
Region

seoseoooossenesens

SERRE

Available at Participating Members, Chambers of Connie
or Contact

Res S ODOR

(604)

Box 172
Nelson, B.C. VIL SP9 354-4831

| Kootenay Boundary Visitors Association |

The contract was the sub-
ject of an Ontario Securities =:
Commission investigation $
that later found Kaiser

dn't benefitted preferenti-
ally over Kaiser Resources’
other shareholders during

sss

of that comp a
percentage of coal sales.

Inan interview, Bob Brady
said Kaiser Resources was
well worth the money, even
though no new long-term
contracts have since been
signed, and only a few, small
spot contracts in the 50,000-
to 100,000-toone range have
been signed.

“(Edgar) Kaiser put West.
ern Canada coal mining on
the map,” declared Brady.
“He gave coal mining credib-
ility here. He was the first
one to get off his behind and
hustle around selling coal.”

The contract in question
was signed in September,
1980, at the same time B.C.
Resources Investment Corp.
bought a two-thirds interest
in Kaiser Resources for $660
million. It gave Edgar Kaiser
8.5 per cent of the BCRIC
unit's coal sales and will have
earned his firm about $20
million when it is

BCRIC'’s Then a
90-day termination clause
was included in Kaiser's con-
tract with B.C. Coal.

B.C. Coal invoked that
clause at the end of De-
cember when Brady's sp-
pointment as president of
B.C. Coal International Ltd.

S088

seh

= Water Purifiers

LUXURIOUS WARMTH |
DOESN'T HAVE TO COST A BUNDLE :

Woodstoves. & Fireplaces
Fireplace Inserts (u.c. approv.)
Insert Installations
Bionaire Air Purifier lonizers

© Alrtight Ht Conneettons © Downdraft Chimney Caps :
2

was announced.

In a quiet move in mid-
November, B.C. coal chief’ 2
executive Walter Riva 2

tapped Brady. for the job,
luring him from Fording Coal -
Ltd. where he was °vice-
president of ‘marketing.

Brady ji Kaiser's fee
(8.5 per cent of the coal sales). -
on several counts. For one,
he said, coal contracts are
negotiated over months and,
years and it’s necessary. to
keep a smooth relationship
with customers. And he said
it’s standard practice to re-
negotiate prices on a regular
basis, either as called for in

Consultants. .

Ae TOME

the original contract’ or be-
cause of

March 31.

changes in world prices.

iding
e ° Complete Masonry Work and Re-lining.

RUMFORD PLACE —

(Super Sweep Chimney Service. Lid. ).

“1406 Columbia Ave., Castlegar

Phone 365-61 al

Future
looks
bright

By Linda Green

Castlegar Chamber of
Commerce office had a very
active and busy year in 1981,
and the future of the cham-
ber looks bright for 1982.

Last year saw an increase
in its membership of 85 new
members, and the chamber
anticipates 1982 will see an
even larger increase. In the
month of November nine new,
members were signed up for
&2, indicating a good start.
, The chamber is offering its
members the opportunity to
participate in the’ William
Mercer Employees benefit
program, and has found this
benefit worthwhile in attract-.~
ing and retaining new mem-
bers. It now has-a total of 24
companies ‘participating in
the program covering a sum
total of 60 employeés,

Early in the year, the
Castlegar Chamber of Com-
merce whs successful in its
efforts to nominate Bill Wal-
die to receive. the award’
“Fellow of the British Col-

- umbia Chamber of Com-

merce.” This honor is given
to not more than five people
in any one year, for outstand-
ing past or present services
rendered to the Commerce
Movement in British Colum-
bia. Upon notification that he ,
was to be the recipient of this"
honor, Waldie was flown to
Victoria to receive his award
from Premier Bennett. Wel-
die is an honorary life-time
member of the’ Castlegar
Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber provided the
Ministry of Tourism ‘with a
calendar of events for Castie-
gar. These events were pub-
lished in the summer and
winter edition of “Calendar of
Events” produced -by the

-and states.

/ ministry with a cireulation of §
“90,000.

In‘ 1981 the tourist season
saw visitor registration up

‘49.11 per cent from 1980.

Two summer students, who

Travel - Counsellors Tech-
niques course held in Nelson,
were employed for the sum-
mer months, It was inter-
esting to note that: 40.39 per
cont of our visitors were from"

|

gt te MNES

“B.C; 26.47 per cent fom MOVING AHEAD... progress continues to: go well at the new Castlegar courthouse

Alberta; 7.26) per cent from’ on.Columbia Ave. Started late last year, new courthouse is expected to’be com-

Ontario; 6.06. per cent, from
Washington; and 8.18 per audio-visual presentation is”
cent from Overseas. The now available from the Min-

remaining 16.64 percent isty of Industry and. Small

were from other provinces Business for use by the local
chamber to present to ser-
Most tourists commented vice clubs, high . schools,

on the ‘beautiful scenery: in colleges and the general _

this area, and many who had public.
travelled both in the United The chamber held monthly
States) and: Canada: were . general meetings bringing in
extremely: pleased ‘with the guest speakers who: would
number of tourist informa- inform its. membership. of
tion centres that: were avail- items pertaining to the busi-
able to the/tourists in the ness community. Such
province of B.C. speakers as representatives
The Castlegar Chamber from B.C. Hydro to speak on
also operated the Business the Murphy Creek Project,
Information Centre on a Consumer & . Corporate.
year-round basis. The centre. Affairs representatives and
is a first point of access for the Regional Assistant Man-
those who are in business or ager of Kootensy- Boundary
thinking. of starting ” a Visitors’ Association were
business, and require guid- some of the resource people
ance as to what government invited to attend.
assistance programs are Office manager Linda
available to them. , Green says she is pleased
A'performance survey was with the number of members
done on all chambers in, who attend the luncheon
British Columbia: who ‘oper- meetings; nearly 50 per cent
atea Business Information ‘of the membership is attend

Columbia in attendance. The
theme ‘of the workshop was
dollar power and the purpose
was to share good ideas. She
found ‘this workshop to be

- very, beneficial’ and worth-

while, and feels she learned a
great deal from attending. A
Chamber of C Man-

Legion a Las Vegas night
that ran for 27 hours non-stop
in order to. raise money for
SunFest.

‘@ 1981 saw a new City Map
and a SunFest Brochure for
Castlegar. These publications
were made possible through
the chamber, Multi

agers, Association _ was

“formed atthe hop and

Castlegar News ‘and local
The

 slalod sometime this summer or early fall,  eotldieg is yet another addition to .

tejuvenated downtown area.

of the annual SunFest, and
featured a great many out-of-
town floats from as far as
Cranbrook and Kelowna. The
chamber was instrumental in
P.M. Magazine to | request
that they film the SunFest
events.

© Hosted a coffee party. for
the Minister of Tourism, the
Pat Jordan. The

Green is the representative

for the: ‘Kootenay Boundary’

region.

The chamber in 1981 ans-
wered hundreds of letters
and. phone calls from future
investors, people thinking of
relocating to this area, and
from’ visitors. planning a
holiday’ to..the Kootenay
region. The local office sup-
plied information packets to
various convention groups
visiting our city. ~

Some of the other 1981
accomplishments of the
chamber were as follows:

@ Took out half-page ad in
the Kootenay Boundary Visi-
tors’ A ‘

Centre. Out of 28 chambers. ing, and it is
in Castlegar’s population see so many out.

1 ion, Castl In b Green
ranked one of the highest, attended an office. managers
plating fourth out of 28. workshop. in’ Penticton for

In order to increase public four days, with $8 managers
awareness of the centre, an from’ throughout "British

* tion to assist in the promo-

tion of Castlegar. This publi-
cation has a circulation of
76,000. :

* e@ Co-sponsored with the
Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis and

were sent out to over 60
cities’ in’ British Columbia,
Alberta and the | United
States.

e Administrated SunFest
81 with nine days of activities
for both young and old alike.
Banana split-eating contests,
children’s activities such’ as
music, painting and drawing,
wrist. wrestling champion-
ships, senior citizens picnic,
penny carnival, teen dance,
sunflower run, beer gardens,
frog jumping competitions
and the R.C.M.P. Musical
Ride were just some of the
activities enjoyed by all. The
SunFest Parade was recor-
ded as the largest in the
history of the annual Sun-
Fest, and featured a great
many out-of-town floats from
as far as Cranbrook and
Kelowna. ‘The chamber was

in

chamber presented Jordan
with a seven-point _brief
outlining problems the prov-
incial government can re-
solve to improve tourism in
the area, 4

‘e Appealed.. directly. ‘to
Premier Bill: Bennett to use
his influence to push for a
highway linking Castlegar to
Fauquier, along the Lower
Arrow Lake.The chamber
presented. Bennett with a
brief -and letters of support
received from the City of
Castlegar and various cham--
bers in the area.

@ Spearheaded the con-
cept of restoring the Douk-
hobor suspension bridge.
Letters of protest were writ-
ten urging the Highways
Ministry to call a local public
meeting before any dismantl-
ing was to take place.

ec with the

Castlegar Savings Credit Union

—CatNewsPholo.

City of Castlegar aCommun- Committee. i

ity Crime Prevention Forum. e Encouraged all merch-
This event saw over 60. ants :to honor the fair ex-
people in the community turn - change policy to our United
up to. express their concerns "States . visitors, by news -
about vandalism and crime in releases and urging merch-,
Castlegar. The chamber ants to. call the chamber
arranged for a 10-person’ office for the current rate of
panel: representing a. croas- exchange and to pick up USA
section of the community te oxehne decals.

address the

d-.with: the

their views as to what’ the
community's involvement
should be with regard: to
preventing crime.

e Appointed a Community
Crime F

regional ‘district a ‘Tourism
Seminar. ,City, ‘chamber and
tourist’ representatives”
attended from’ throughout
ths Central Kootenay. and

to ‘work with ‘the local“
RCMP.

© Met with Chris D'Arcy
from time to time to express
concerns about various issues
concerning Castlegar and
area.

e Donated a cash contri-
bution to the Miss Castlegar

Boundary Region.
ve Aatisaly assisted Wel-
come Wagon in their efforts
to make the newcomer feel
welcome ‘and involved.

e@ Sponsored an all-candi-
dates forum for the city
elections, and worked: with
CKQR Radio to present an
open line show.

Chamber executive

The Castlegar Chamber
of Commerce executive
this year includes: presi-
dent Mike O'Connor; sec-

‘ond vice-president Rene
Porter; first vice-president

Joe Streloff; bast presi-
dent Larry Bosse; direc-
tors Lorne Hadikin, Nick
Chernoff, Charlie Cohoe,
Richie Geranazzo, Murray
Young and Tom Oglow.

A history of over 30 years of steady growth

Castlegar Savings - has
strived to be a ‘people-
oriented’ financial institution
since the first

In 1971 planning meetings reach $20 million. Our pres-
were held under the direction. ent assets stand at slightly in
of Frank Dawson, who was excess of $22 million.

meeting was held in Ivy Hill's
home in early 1949,

That was the desire of the
11 Castlegar Credit Union
pioneers, as they‘met to ex-
plore the necessary steps to
be. taken in founding their
own financial institution. At-
tending that organizational
meeting were Ralph Flet-
cher, Alex Cummings, Carl
Loeblich, Esther, Loeblich, Al

Read, Edwin Johnson,
George -Worobey, Loyd
Groutage and Ivy Hill. ~~

As a result of that: mile-
stone meeting,

Savings -boasted. of $46 in’
share capital and $9 in initi- -

ation fees. -
Loyd ‘Groutage*'was.: ap-

pointed president and-Esther

Locblich, - treasurer. ". Mrs,

Loeblich operated the office | that:
from within the premises: of -

the Castlegar Paint Shop,
rent-free, ‘through the cour-
tesy of the proprietor. Mrs.
Loeblich , graciously donated
her time for a whole year and
served as treasurer-manager

for four years. |
From ‘its early days of
meeting in paint shops and
‘ion buses,

the building We have gone through a

0 chair-
, man throughout the project. unique evolution in our book-

An architect was hired and keeping system since the

the project. gained’ momen- days that Esther Loeblich .

tum. Construction was and Doris Reith carried out
started in 1972 with comple- hand-posted entries on mem-
tion and official. opening in bers’ share or.loan cards. ‘All
March, 1! interest calculations. were
A new. dimension to our done (on mechanical! adding
outreach was in

1978, as we were asked to Esarertiiy a.large posting
assist a small credit union. in machine was. purchased.and

“the Slocan Valley. We were this proved tobe. a: great
Richards, Bill Johnson, Al-

pleased to be able to offer our _ improvement.

knowledge and personnel, as In 1970 we entered the
we-feel-the principle. of 2’ world of electronic, banking
people-oriented "institution, as we contracted with Data
‘also includes helping sister Processing Systems of Spo-
credit unions. kane to process our loans and

After lengthy negoti- share accounts. ‘This was

ations, we: acquired the $5 big step forward for us, as it
million assets of Slocan Val- prepared us for a -aove onto

‘ley’ Credit Union. and their our computer. system at B.C.
660 members became part of Central Credit;Union and

Castlegar Savings. ogy then into the era of. online
stands ai banking.

1,800 with assets of sa We have en-
‘million. joyed our community in-_

A new-building. was erec- volvement over the years.
ted at Slocan Park in the fall For several years we spon-
‘of 1978, and with the opening ' sored ‘a new. car show that
of larger premises, we were saw dealers from Nelson and
in-a position to offer greatly’ Trail bringing their products
expanded services to valley to our city. The car show
residents, For example, ours proved so shecessful that we
was the ist ‘deposit boxes, - conceived the idea of holding

Co-op

the ilirectors made a wise
decision to ‘purchase prop-
erty on: Columbia Avenue
that was the former Fergu-
son’s Hardware. .This build-
ing was later remodeled and
served the Credit Union for
over 20 years.

Doris ‘Reith became the
second manager and- she
served faithfully in that
position for 15 years. George
Terhune and Archie’ McLeod
served short terms and Har-
old Webber became manager
in 1970. '-

It ‘became evident in the
early 1970's that CSCU was
outgrowing its premises. on

Columbia ,Avenue, and with’
that in ‘mind the directors:
had earlier shown great fore-*

sight in.purchasing a parcel

of prime land adjacent to the -

Castleaird Plaza.

U.S. . a boat, bike and trailer show
funds and “tree chequing. in the spring, with the car

‘We were also able to be- show taking place in the fall.
come an ICBC motor vehicle; These events were well
agent, which has proven to received by the public, as

be.a real asset to the local -several thousand people par-"

population. We can now fore- ticipated in the one-day event
see the day when our office during those years. We like
will have tobe expanded to to think that these shows
accommodate the, present were-the forerunner of the

and future business we anti- recent Lion's Trade Fair.
cipate. . Our credit union has al-
In looking. at the growth ways believed that we should
we have. erpesionted at both — support our young people in
to. the area As

.and commerce

ig at several guidance
classes at
Stanley Humphries. .
Another outreach for our
young people has been our -
sponsorship of four teenagers
to attend the Coop Youth
Seminar held for one. week
each year in the Okanagan.
The emphasis during the
week is on leadership train-
ing. and sharing. We have
seen some real positive re-

sults in the lives of those who area.

have attended.

In other areas of com:
munity outreach we have.
embarked upon home safety
programs | by. making fire

A novel approach. to the
local economic environment:
was undertaken in January.
1982, A public economic
forum was sponsored. by
CSCU to gather ideas and
suggestions from the: public

at large. The newly-formed .
Castlegar Economic Devel-

opment Committee: evolved
from this. forum and) is
looking to ‘become a highly
successful motivator in our
‘The committee is com-
prised of Gary Maloney,
Audrey Moore, Larry Brown,
Stefan Later, Sean. Rooney,
Harold Webber and Richard

at
nominal cost; prepared pan-
cake breakfasts at various
times at Slocan City; spon-
sored various minor. hockey
teams. and girls’ | softball
teams; donated electronic

In looking back over the
years we have come to ap-
preciate that it is the people

data purich equipment to the &

Selkirk ‘College electronics
department; sponsor an Arts
pire column in the

legar News; make space

win vthe Rbk lobby of both offices for

local artists to display their
talents; held family portrait

~ days, and the list’ goes on.

The credit union did ven-
ture from its normal financial

practices in 1976 when it
formed a subsidiary com-
pany,. purchased property
and developed a 28-lot sub-
division. Our purposes in this
move were to 1) provide
housing for our members, 2)

provide an.income base for -auuas

the credit union, 3) provide
reasonably-priced lots for our
members, 4) encourage
mortgage activity in the
credit: union, §) provide a
community service, 6) im-
prove local employment con-
ditions. 2
me)

note ‘that e have bad. over such,
18,000. accounts , opened at avarda: at. Stanley ‘Mamph:
Castlegar since f ies Senior
and 8,600 at our  Slocan Seatinl Senior prokip
Valley branch... W.E. Graham Junior Second-
The growth in assets has ary and Selkirk College. We
been interesting. to watch have also been pleased to
since we started off with the present awards at the Twin
initial $45. It took 27 yearsto Rivers public speaking con-
reach our first $10. million : test. As well, our manager
and only three years more to has had the privilege of

we annually” give ject

on the pro-
started in the spring of
1978, with lots going on sale
in August: We were able to
sell 11 lots during the re-
mainder -of 1978: and the

‘other 17 sold in 1979. We felt

the project was beneficial for
both. our members and our
officers. The members were
able ‘to acquire reasonably
priced lots.

involvement that has made
oor credit union ‘a sound
The

time in attending numerous
meetings and other regional

many hours freely volun-
teered by our board of dir-
ectors, the credit committee
and in years past the super-
visory committee, have all
given stability and purpose
to the goals of this local fi-
nancial facility. ‘
The many hours spent in
past years, setting out policy
that gave our staff the guide-
lines to follow in granting
loans, creating new deposit
accounts and the general
operation of the office, still
bear. fruit today. Our current
directors and credit. commit-
tee maintain the same “peo-
ple helping people” philos-
ophy, as they volunteer their

i
iergenrentiataas

during the year.

Credit unions maintain the
uniqueness of being owned
by the members they serve.
The member has a say in our
operation, they always have
‘the attention of a staff mem-
ber and they can attend the
annual'meeting, and let their
opinions, criticisms, or.
praises be made known. It is
the people involvement that.
makes a credit union truly
unique in the financial com-
munity.

We salute our credit union
pioneers, those who gath-
ered together in that Co-op
bus and had the foresight to
envision a truly local family
financial centre in Castlegar,

that would serve their needs
and the needs of generations
to follow.

It would not be possible to
mention by name ali those
who did serve our credit
union, however, we would
like to name the board chair-
men and the years in which
they served:

1949 to 1951 — Loyd

Groutage, 1952 — Gordon
Reith, 1954 — Steve Cham-

bers, 1955 — Carl Loeblich,

1966 — Sam Kinakin, Grant

, Tindale and Al Read, 1957 to

1958 — Fred Hostetter, 1959
to 1964 — James Leamy,.
1966 to 1968 — Norris
Churches, 1969 to 1972 —
Andre Lamarche and 1973 to
date — Russell Leamy.

FIRST MEETING of the Castlegar Savings Credit Union
was held in February of 1950 at which time this photo
was taken by Carl Loeblich. Front row, leftito right,
Rev. Johnson, Floyd Boetignt, Loyd Groutage, Bill
Smith, Bill Johnson and Barry Bate. Centre row, left to
right, Helen Richardson, Holl ally Fh Fle -, Miggi Walker,

Esther.Loeblich, Dories Dergouseff, Helen Streliett,
Agnes Groutage and Lou Cumming. Bock row, left to
right, Alex Cumming, George Burns (gov't. inspector

.U.), Al Read, Ron Gemmill, Otto Walker, Sr.,
Ralph Fletcher, ‘Stanley Dams, Steve Chambers, John
Strelietf, Ivan Dergousoff and Ace Bailay.