Shorter days. Longer nights. The unmistakable nip in the air. As we head towards winter, our look back at Cochrane history brings us to 2001 – the year it snowed on July 1st.
Library archivist Ardis Proulx-Chedore dug out the issue of the Cochrane Times-Post that reported about Canada Day festivities – including the truck drag up the Sixth Ave. hill – being cancelled amid safety concerns due to the snow and slush.
Here she is with a quote from Ralph Girard from the organizing Richelieu Club.
“We couldn’t race. We tried it but the roads were too slick. The transports were going sideways all over the track. They couldn’t stop at the top of Sixth Ave.”
In an attempt to salvage the day, the Richelieu Club staged a music show and barbecue at its hall.
As Proulx-Chedore also reads from the Times-Post, the situation attracted national media attention.
“Bonnie Allen, a reporter for MCTV News was in town to cover the truck and other festivities, only to shoot video of the falling snow.”
That video made the six o’clock local news, CTV Newsnet (now CTV News Channel) and the eleven o’clock national news.
Gems like this can be found in the archives at the Cochrane Public Library.