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Then and Now

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These historical photos and personal stories of past people, places, and events are made possible through the continued support of Lougheed Funeral Homes as part of our Community Leaders Program.

Then & Now: Mike Solski, last of Mine Mill Local 598 faithful

Then & Now: Mike Solski, last of Mine Mill Local 598 faithful

Two weeks ago, Vicki Gilhula shared the tale of the time Mike Solski was shot during a town council meeting. In Part Two this week, she tells the other part of the Solski saga, that of his time as head and one of the last holdouts, of Local 598, once the country’s most powerful labour union
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Then & Now: The attempted assassination of Nickel Centre’s mayor

Then & Now: The attempted assassination of Nickel Centre’s mayor

In 1978, a man fixated on a supposed conspiracy against him entered the council chambers for the Town of Nickel Centre and shot Mayor Mike Solski with a .45-calibre handgun
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Then & Now: Looking back on 50 years of Northern Lights Festival

Then & Now: Looking back on 50 years of Northern Lights Festival

NLFB is as much a part of Sudbury as the Big Nickel, porketta bingo and the Superstack. Vicki Gilhula looks back on 50 years of celebrating the best in folk, world, grassroots, Francophone and Indigenous music
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Then & Now: This is the story of Sudbury’s last execution

Then & Now: This is the story of Sudbury’s last execution

On June 15, 1956, Robert Bruce Ducsharm was hanged for the murder of his romantic partner, Steve Klapouskchak, but it took two trials to do it
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Then & Now: Sudbury or Chinookville? Ask Jack Douglas

Then & Now: Sudbury or Chinookville? Ask Jack Douglas

Sudbury appears as Chinookville in the 1970 book, 'Shut Up and Eat Your Snowshoes!' by comedian, author, actor and TV personality Jack Douglas
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Then and Now: Lumber, politics, extortion and Fred Laberge

Then and Now: Lumber, politics, extortion and Fred Laberge

The first mayor to be born in the city, J.A. Laberge was a lumber baron and politician whose political career was derailed by an extortion attempt
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Then & Now: How a business boy wonder from Sudbury became Canadian Tire CEO at age 33

Then & Now: How a business boy wonder from Sudbury became Canadian Tire CEO at age 33

Dean Muncaster credited for modernizing — and some might say revolutionizing — the retail chain
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Then & Now: New book laments loss of heritage buildings including Sudbury's landmark post office

Then & Now: New book laments loss of heritage buildings including Sudbury's landmark post office

Cochrane Block, the old post office and the Nickel Range Hotel are gone now sadly, a lamentable fate the happens to far too many heritage buildings in Canada, history writer Vicki Gilhula says
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Then & Now: Strangely, many local place names honour men who never set foot in Sudbury

Then & Now: Strangely, many local place names honour men who never set foot in Sudbury

The men who lent their names to Capreol, Garson, Creighton, Rayside, Falconbridge and Blezard Valley never actually visited the communities that bear their names
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Then & Now: Deadly rail accidents near Sudbury some of worst in Canadian history

Then & Now: Deadly rail accidents near Sudbury some of worst in Canadian history

A 1906 train crash in Azilda killed 12 people; a 1910 derailment in Nairn Township killed 63
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