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www.comoxvalleyecho.com Friday August 8, 2014
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Volume 20, No. 63
Head south for a longer life? Eight-year age gap from tip to toe of Vancouver Island
The Stardust screen was still standing in 2000 when Dan Dertien took this photo. The concession building is on the right.
Come back to the drive-in
By Philip Round Echo Staff
Coming-of-age at Stardust and Miracle By Rebecca Michaluk Special to the Echo If you lived in the Comox Valley in the 1970s, you remember the drivein. From Sayward to Union Bay, teenagers old enough to drive and too young for the bar, crammed into cars and made their way to the Stardust in Merville or Miracle Drive-In in Black Creek. “There was more or less a wagon-train of vehicles heading out ... you could always tell who was going to the drive-in ‘cause it was a car full of young people,” says Bill Ostler, who grew up in Campbell River. “It turned out to be a niche in the social fabric of the Comox Valley, for the kids who had no place to go.” Ostler describes a place where kids quickly learned if they were lovers or fighters; a place for rivalry between towns; a place where kids could stay up for all-nighters, away from the prying eyes of parents. A place that really wasn’t about the movies at all. “It was like American Graffiti, but a decade later,” says Ostler. For them, the films were the soundtrack: pivotal ones like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Monthy Python’s The Meaning of Life, Bladerunner, The Exorcist, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke. (Continued on page 2)
Bring Back the Drive-In to Black Creek One Night Only! Double-Feature! Aug 20 at Saratoga Speedway Now Showing: Lego Movie, Godzilla (2014) Tickets at all Gas & Go Locations, $30 Carload 5 p.m Gates & Concession open, monster truck rides 7 p.m. Pre-show and draw prizes 8:15 p.m. Movies start Fundraiser for Black Creek Community Centre Children’s Programs Sponsored by Eagle Radio, Comox Valley Echo, Lisa Jorgensen @ Remax
Bill Ostler with his collection of drive-in movie posters (Rebecca Michaluk photo)
Visit: facebook.com/blackcreekcommunitycentre
What the Miracle Drive-in looked like in the late 1970s (Cameron Jones photo)
Miracle drive-in ticket booth late 70s (Cameron Jones photo)
Where people are on Vancouver Island appears to have a notable impact on how long they might live, according to details revealed by the medical health officer for the North Island, Dr. Charmaine Enns. In a wide-ranging comparative review of health and wellness issues in the Comox Valley, she told a regional district board meeting the average lifespan in the Valley is currently just under 82 years. And from the southern toe of the island to the northern tip, statistics indicated there was an eight-year difference - with people living in the Victoria area living that much longer than people at the top of the Island. The Comox Valley was right in the middle of the Island and the longevity spectrum. There are just under 67,000 people now living in the Valley, and their current average age is 45, she noted. That’s higher than the rest of the north Island, skewed by the higher-than-average number of retirees in the area and lower-than-average people in their 20s and 30s. The local population is expected to go on increasing over the next 25 years, likely rising by about 29 per cent overall. But the number of people aged 75 or over is projected to rise by 90 per cent, with significant implications for health and caring services down the road. Among other statistics Enns highlighted were: * The median family household income in the Valley is now $68,000 annually - but there are wide differences. 30 per cent of families receive income of $80,000 or more, but 8 per cent have less than $20,000 a year. * Lone parent household income in the Valley averages $35,000 a year, whereas across the Island it is $41,000. * 49 per cent of those who rent their homes here have to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs a notably higher figure than elsewhere on Vancouver Island and across BC generally. * People in the Valley buy an average 125 litres of alcohol each year - more than 20 per cent more than the BC average. (Continued on page 2)
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