Kimberley Chronicle
Your Biweekly Source for Kimberleys Past, Present & Future June 18, 2012 Volume 8
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www.kimberleychronicle.com
Welcome to our eight edition! We hope everyone survived the wet weather and had a great Fathers Day. In this issue we have the story about how we aquired a yodelling wooden German in a large cuckoo clock. Its more interesting than you would think. As per usual we love hearing from our readers; comments, complaints, corrections, we want to hear it all. To leave comments or request past editions email kimberleychronicle@gmail.com.
Happy Hans - A Tale of Minor Civil Disobedience
It was 40 years ago in 1972 that Kimberleys Bavarian Society decided having the worlds largest cuckoo clock in the downtown area would be a good idea. Bavarianization was to be the citys saving grace if the mine shut down. A German company that made such clocks gave the Society a quote of $80,000, which was out of the question. The Bavarian Society was broke and needed the clock to be cheap. They werent too picky, they just wanted it to be the worlds largest. Luckily for the Society, two local businessmen Bill Spence and Dick Bova were present. When Bill offered to build the mechanism, Dick offered to build the structure. With a $3000 budget, Bill and Dick set about building the clock. After deciding that Happy Hans should emerge from the clock instead of a bird, they contacted Amy Artcraft of Radium to make a four foot Happy Hans for $1000. The clock face and plexiglass cost another $800, leaving $1200 for the rest of the materials. As is usually the case, a tight budget often forces people to be creative. The original clock motor was made from an old record player that was geared down to turn the hands at roughly the right time. The Kimberley Royal Bank later donated a proper clock motor. The mechanism to open the doors and bring Happy out was made out of washing machine parts. Continued on next page.
Continued from Page 1. The sound came from an eight track player and P.A. system. Happy was set to come out on the hour; he would yodel, welcome people in German and English, yodel again and go back into his home. The mechanism was built and the materials were gathered over the winter. By spring the clock was ready to go up, only one piece was missing - the building permit. Bill and Dick were worried that they might not get issued a permit, Kimberley Heritage Museum Happys Home was going to have to be built on the sly. They waited for a long weekend when the mayor and most of the 105 Spokane Street - above the library council were to be out of town. The clock was up and running Monday - Friday 1pm - 4pm by Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon some people were Phone: 250-427-7510 up in arms - too much yodelling. When the mayor and some Email: kdhs@shawbiz.ca alderman told Dick that the clock would have to be moved Entry Fee - By Donation he said that he had nothing to move it with. When the city threatened to move it Dick told them that if they broke it they would owe the Society $80,000. Firewood For Sale accidentally yodel Pine, Unsplit & Delivered For the first few years Happy was known towas a constant dethrough the night, and his volume setting $80/Pickup Load bate. Bill was called several times in the middle of the night to fix the switch that was supposed to stop Happy from yodelling 250-427-5430 after hours. But Happy kept on running, he survived eggs, beer bottles, a kidnapping, being dressed in a kilt, even a petition Happy Hands Tattoo to have him and his home removed. In the eighties Bill gave Happy a new pneumatic mechanism and electronic control centre which reduced breakdowns. Happys home was recently renovated again as he is now a staple of the Platzl. Happys claim of living in the worlds largest cuckoo clock is disputed by some other cuckoo clocks from around the world. But see418 - 304th St 778-481-5000 ing as how the internet is unreliable and we werent able to go and see the other clocks, we will assume that Happys home is still the worlds largest cuckoo clock. Luckily, for Happy as well as the rest of us residents, Bill Spence and Dick Bova were both resourceful and not the types to let the lack of a building kimberleychronicle@gmail.com permit get in their way. Story adapted from Kimberley Heritage Museums Archives.
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1) Where did the term grandfather clock come from? 2) If the sun stopped shining suddenly, how long would it take for humans to notice on Earth? 3) How many seconds are there in a year? 4) What do the opposite sides of a dice add up to? 5) What did the crocodile swallow in Peter Pan? 6) Who was the legendary Benedictine Monk that invented champagne? 7) What are cuckoo birds famous for? 8) What famous cartoon character is a type of cuckoo? England and the American colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar on September 14th, 1752. 11 days disappeared. If you dont have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? John Wooden For disappearing acts, its hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. Doug Larson The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis Time. It flies and heals all wounds, we try to save it, make it, kill it - and theres never enough of it.
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Since we are now publishing biweekly, the weather would be even harder to guess accurately. It looks like it will be between 9oC and 22 oC with a mix of sun and cloud with the odd rainy day. For a more accurate view of the weather, find your nearest computers - networks - communications 250-432-5269 door or window. 101 370 Wallinger Trivia Answers Garage/Yard Sale Season is Here! 1) From a popular If youd like your upcoming garage/yard sale Kimberleys Got Balls 1875 song called My posted in Kimberley Chronicle for FREE (check out our facebook page) email the details to Grandfathers Clock. Pre-Tox Drop-In B-Ball kimberleychronicle@gmail.com Before that they were Thursday 5:30 pm at court called tall case clocks. on Stemwinder (up at ski hill) 2) Eight minutes. 3) 31,557,600 The Kimberley Branch of the OrDetox Sunday Soccer 4) Seven. der of the Eastern Star is collecting Sunday at noon-ish 5) An alarm clock. postage stamps, Campbell Soup at Blarchmont Field 6) Dom Perignon. Labels and Pop Can Tabs for vari7) Laying their eggs in ous charities. These items can be Bike Polo Mondays another birds nest. dropped off at Curves or at 960 Mondays Nights at 6 8) Roadrunner. Rotary Drive. Bring bike, helmet, homemade mallet (loaners available) Wednesday June 20: Free Family Swim from 6-7 pm. Sponsored by Kimberley Felloship Baptist Church. Saturday June 23: Kimberleys Bavarian Barbarians Regular Season Roller Derby Bout, Marysville Arena. www.eastkootenayrollerderby.com Sunday June 24: Round The Mountain: trekking, running and cycling races @ Kimberley Nordic Centre. www.roundthemountain.ca Sunday July 1: Food Bank Duck Race at Civic Centre Parking Lot. BBQ starts at 11:30 am, ducks in water at 12:30. Sunday July 1: Canada Day Celebrations at the Platzl. Free entertainment and cake from 1-3:30 pm. Sponsored by the Kimberley and District Chamber of Commerce and Heritage Canada.
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