Stories from Tri-City News headlines of decades past will be a recurring feature as the publication approaches its 40th anniversary in 2024.
Readers of a certain age might remember First Night.
The family-oriented New Year's Eve celebration was all the rage in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
While Vancouver often staged its prime First Night event at Granville Island, in the suburbs they were mostly held in shopping malls, guaranteeing a somewhat comfortable event in warm, dry environs.
In 1991, New Years Eve revellers from Coquitlam and Burnaby could welcome 1992 in Lougheed Mall.
The event promised five performance areas with entertainment from 7 p.m. until midnight.
Artists included jugglers, comedy troupes and the North West Opera.
The headliners were ubiquitous local reggae band Soul Survivor, who’d been fixtures at community events around Metro Vancouver since they formed in the mid-1970s.
The seven dollar admission button also allowed partiers to head into Vancouver for its First Night events.
But that was long before SkyTrain arrived at Lougheed Mall, so they would have had to drive or take the bus.
The Tri-City News has covered civic affairs, local crime, festivals, events, personalities, sports and arts in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody since 1983. Bound back issues of the paper are available at the Coquitlam Archives, while digital versions of several past years can be found at issuu.com.
