From the pages of the Nelson Daily News in July, 1967
July 3, 1967
Centennial celebrations were given a kick-off in Nelson by the city’s teenagers Saturday. They packed crowds into Lakeside Park for a singing, swinging evening. Young students at South Nelson School set the pace with the nation’s catchy Centennial song “Canada.”
After the young voices came the mellow tones of the winners of the Centennial old time fiddling contest. Seventy-three-year-old fiddler James Clarkson and Peter Podovinikoff of Slocan Park set feet tapping with their lively music.
Ken and Shawn Lamb led the large audience in a singalong and the evening was capped by the beard growing contest. Nelson will officially celebrate Canada’s 100th birthday from August 13 to 20.
July 3, 1967
A critical and alarming housing shortage could well displace Nelson as the Queen City of the Kootenays. Government, education, hospital and planning officials, as well as real estate agents, agree that Nelson is currently undergoing the worst housing crisis in a decade — and one that could not only cost her many valuable citizens but her reputation.
Motels and hotels have become “permanent” homes for the homeless, professional people have come and then gone because they couldn’t find accommodations, retired people are stuck with their old overlarge residences, and indications are that next September’s teacher population may be hard pressed to stay.
Nelson is desperately short of housing with none of the six real estate companies in town having any listings.
The solutions are harder to come by as land is not readily available for expansion. There were two housing subdivisions undertaken here in 1955 but they were nearly the last.
Unless something is done, or so at least all the signs point, the “Queen City” could just become another vaguely homely princess.
July 18, 1967
A great Canadian statesman spent a flurried four hours in the Queen City Monday and looked for all the world like the leader, not the long shot, in the Conservative Party stakes.
Charming, witty, energetic and even acrobatic, John Diefenbaker arrived out of a brilliant blue sky and to the welcome of a military band and the acclaim of a sparse but clearly enthusiastic Nelson crowd.
Mr. Diefenbaker, who faces a Conservative Party leadership convention in the fall, paraded city streets, signed the city hall guest book, twice reviewed Canadian Army militia units, attended a tea party and dinner and took in a cross-lake boat ride in his afternoon in Nelson.
Mr. Diefenbaker arrived at 3:55 p.m. in a twin engine Piper Apache from Fairmont Hotsprings where he and Mrs. Diefenbaker are holidaying.
He was prevailed upon to interrupt his holiday by Mayor Louis Maglio and local Conservative Association President Walter Davis who flew there Friday to invite him to Nelson.
His last words as he left Nelson at 7:45 p.m. were: “I will be back again very soon. Everyone has been delightful. I have enjoyed myself very much.”
July 27, 1967
Nelson Public Works employees were roused from bed early Wednesday morning to battle a broken water main and serious flooding in three Baker Street basements. Water damage to merchandise stock, floors, walls and furnaces inundated after a six-inch main burst about 2 a.m. is estimated at well over $10,000 (2017- $72,500).
Stores affected were Sally Shops. Ltd., HIS Men’s Wear, and Simpson’s Sears, all neighbours in the 500 block. Water completely filled the Sally Shop’s basement, and reached a level of about four feet in the other two businesses.
Damage to walls and materials was extensive and the basement floors were covered in mud. One of the basements had earth walls and the other two stone walls.
Workers began pumping water from the flooded basements about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. A crew of five men had the break fixed early Wednesday.
July 27, 1967
People in the Trail-Rossland area make a lot of money or are terrible liars, according to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
A table of average incomes in Canadian cities and towns based on personal income tax payers just released put Trail-Rossland fourth from the top with an amount of $5,610 (2017-$40,673). In a list of 88 names long it is topped only by Oshawa, first with $5,820, Sarnia and Alberni.
Nelson doesn’t appear on the list. Of the country’s large cities Vancouver is first, and 10th in ranking, with $5,354. Toronto is 12th and Montreal 17th.