Looking back - 1986: Canine sleuth helps RCMP catch thief

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Sept. 14

Photo courtesy of Cecil Pittman. Airman’s Canteen at 26 EFTS Airport Neepawa; Alison Milne and Mrs. Churchill with two English airmen.

 
By Cecil Pittman

The Neepawa Press

80 years ago,  Friday, Sept. 11, 1936:  Loryn Guy was taken to the hospital this week for a few days confinement, following an accident at Murray’s Garage when he fell down the pit and broke a few ribs and sprained a wrist.

70 years ago, Thursday, Sept. 12, 1946: Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Curtis, after 58 years of residence in Neepawa and district, are about to leave Neepawa to make their future home at the Pacific Coast. Mr. Curtis was born in England on the south coast in the county of Dorset, where his ancestors have been farmers for generations. He was one of the pioneers of the North Glendale district, starting from scratch with a $10 house and a yolk of oxen and farmed there, highly successfully, for many years. When leaving the farm, he was with the soldier settlement board for 12 years as a land appraiser and supervisor. He was a member of the Neepawa town council for some time and has been associated with the park board for many years and is even the present chairman

60 years ago, Thursday, Sept. 13, 1956:

Residents of the Prairie provinces were this week alerted by the Audubon Society of Canada for the dramatic fall migration of the world’s last flock of whooping cranes. In sending out its annual appeal for safe guidance of Canada’s rarest birds to their wintering grounds in Texas, the society warned that fall is the whoopers’ most critical period. Five feet tall, with a seven-foot wingspread, the whooping cranes have long been fetching targets for careless shooters. Through eastern Alberta, Saskatchewan, western Manitoba, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, in coming weeks the birds will face their sternest test.

50 years ago, Friday, Sept. 9, 1966: Neepawa Lions are sponsoring a special PARKO to raise funds which will be donated to East View Lodge, Neepawa’s 75-bed home for the elderly which is now under construction, and should be completed by late November. Net proceeds from the special PARKO, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 22, will be donated to East View Lodge. The money will be used to provide furnishing for the home.

40 years ago, Thursday, Sept. 8, 1976: The 1976 census figures for the Town of Neepawa have been released by Statistics Canada. The federal government’s June census puts the town’s population at 3,422, an increase of 207 over the 1971 census.

30 years ago, Thursday, Sept. 11, 1986: A would-be gasoline thief discovered recently that a dog is not always man’s best friend. An Alberta man made this discovery in the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 5. During the normal course of their duties, a Neepawa RCMP patrol observed the individual stealing gasoline from a car. The man fled before the RCMP could make an arrest. Then man’s so called “best friend” was called in to assist. The police tracking dog brought over from Brandon found the RCMP’s suspect hiding in some bushes. As a result of the dog’s expert tracking, an adult male has been charged with the theft of gasoline. According to Sergeant Dave Miller of the Neepawa RCMP detachment, the arrest probably couldn’t have been so quick without the dog’s assistance. After completing his assignment, the canine sleuth was returned to Brandon.

20 years ago, Monday, Sept. 10, 1996: Krista Pedersen, a 16-year-old Neepawa resident, was hospitalized with minor injuries last Tuesday following a single-vehicle accident. Pederson was traveling on a gravel road three miles south and one mile east of Neepawa when her vehicle entered a ditch and rolled over.

10 years ago, Monday, Sept. 11, 2006: If she wins the municipal election in October, Barb Harris will make history in Neepawa as the first female mayor the town has ever had. Harris could also be joined by a couple of first time female counselors, Wendy Menzies and Amanda Naughton-Gale. And even though there is a Canada-wide drive to get more female candidates on the election rosters this fall, one long-time councillor said, “Ability, not gender, should matter in who voters choose on Oct. 25.”

“I don’t think it makes any difference what sex a candidate is as long as you have good candidates,” said Bill Stilwell, who is seeking his fourth term.

No women ran during the last three municipal elections in Neepawa.