BONNYVILLE - When the Town of Bonnyville was incorporated in 1948, the paper of record was The Bonnyville Tribune. The Provincial Archives of Alberta provided us with some pages from the Bonnyville Tribune from Jan. 30, 1948, and Feb. 6, 1948.
Following are some excerpts gleaned from those editions which provide an insight into what was making headlines as Bonnyville officially became a town. As was the norm of the day, everything and anything was news fodder for the local newspaper with a fair amount of opinion thrown in for good measure.
The wedding of a local couple received front page mention. “On Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 10:30 a.m. the Roman Catholic Church of Bonnyville was the scene of a lovely wedding where Miss Cecile Dargis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Dargis of Bonnyville, became the bride of Mr. Real Rondeau, also of Bonnyville. The bride given in marriage by her father wore a beige tailored coat with matching hat and black accessories…”
Also making front page news under the heading of Local Items of Interest:
“Palmer Reese, now of the Cold Lake District where he is employed in the lumber camps, was in Bonnyville this week looking for able-bodied bushmen.”
“Miss Lucille Spring, hairdresser from the city arrived in Bonnyville during the course of last week with plans to open a Beauty Parlour. Miss Spring apparently found the town a favourable one in which to establish her business…”
“Mr. and Mrs. W. Paquette motored to Edmonton where Mrs. Paquette had to report for a medical checkup while Mr. Paquette attended to some business.”
“A great reunion of approximately 100 friends met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Raoul Lapointe Sunday evening to bid farewell to one of Bonnyville’s leading young men Mr. Armand Ouellette who will leave this town and the Brosseau Store where has been employed for a number of years to take up his duties in the Imperial Hardware Store in St. Paul.”
The second term began for the Bonnyville High School students with a week of tests. “A few of the more fortunate ones got the flu and were kept away; among them were Angeline Beaupre and Robert Prefontaine. For the rest of the students, it meant a long week of tedious work and concentrations.”
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Potnaud of Rife “lost their fourth child last Wednesday when their eldest daughter Elise only 10 years old, passed away to the merciless hand of pulmonary tuberculosis. Elise was predeceased by her two brothers and one sister who all succumbed to the same disease during the past 12 months.”
The paper went so far as to report on a suicide involving a Cold Lake man, a former soldier who had returned from the war with “a serious nervous condition. The RCMP found him in a granary where he had shot himself over the left eye with a 22 calibre rifle.”
On the sports scene, the newspaper took it upon itself to give names to two broomball teams in its sports coverage of a recent game. “The writer finds it difficult to differentiate the two teams, so I am taking the liberty of christening these as follows: The Bouncers, Mrs. L. Bartier captain. The Tomohawks, Mrs. R. Leveiller captain. Any objection may be written or phoned in to the Tribune.” Apparently, there was some opposition, as the following week the newspaper was reporting the following: “The local ladies broomball team that was suggestively christened The Tomahawks made an appeal to their fellow players to decide on a more appropriate name. The one chosen by the team captained by Mrs. Roger Leveiller is The Maple Leafs.”
Advertising prestige
The Bonnyville Tribune was encouraging people to “learn and practice the art of advertising,” proclaiming “displays in your local newspaper do cost you money but for the money spent, you can honestly say that you have invested in prestige and greater sales.”
On the advertising front, the Bonnyville Dairy was urging people to buy pasteurized milk from their dairy proclaiming it to be “The only safe milk.”
Playing at the local Century Theatre Feb. 2 – 3, 1948 was Searching the Wind and later that week - Cloak and Dagger.
The Strand Café “the friendly place to eat with the cheery atmosphere” announced Chinese dishes were now being served upon request.
Bonnyville Radio and Electric was claiming it could “make your old radio play like new.”
A daily bus service between Edmonton and Bonnyville was provided by Sunburst Motor Coaches, with the company proclaiming, “We stop for passengers anywhere along the highway.”
J.M. Hamel Meat Market was promoting “quality meats and prompt courteous service.”
A winter sale at J.N. Vallee Co. Ltd. was offering everything from Lipton’s Noodle Soup for 10 cents and Duff Soft Suds for 29 cents to ladies’ silk dresses for $9.95 and men’s tweed suits for $10. “The big store with small prices.”
According to the Provincial Archives of Alberta, The Bonnyville Tribune was purchased by the Sun Publishing Co. of Edmonton in 1962 and went through a series of changes including amalgamations with the Grande Centre Times and Cold Lake Courier. In 1967, the Bonnyville Nouvelle took on the challenge as the newspaper of record in Bonnyville and has been covering the community’s life and times ever since.
