Island Rewind

We dig through the CHEK archives to take a look back at stories from Vancouver Island’s past.

CHEK News at 6 anchor Paul Haysom and the CHEK News Weekends anchor Hannah Lepine are cracking open the news vault for a blast from the past in the weekly series “Island Rewind.”

Watch it live every Monday during the 6 p.m. news and Saturday during the 5 p.m. news, or catch the stories below after they’ve aired.

Island Rewind is brought to you by Arbutus RV. Visit their website here.

2 days Island Rewind: Tickle Me Elmo auction in 1996 In honour of Cyber Monday, we look back on an auction held for the hottest toy of 1996 — the Tickle Me Elmo.

1 week Island Rewind: Rise of tofu Forty years ago, a tofu burger was a bit more of a head-turner. So you can imagine some of the reactions when UVic rolled out some new menu options at its cafeteria in 1983.

2 weeks Island Rewind: Saanich Commonwealth Place opens in 1994 Roughly 30 years ago this month, one of the best swimming pools in the country opened its doors in Saanich.

2 weeks Island Rewind: Ozzy Osbourne superfan After lining up for hours in Victoria for Ozzy Osborne tickets in September of 2010, John Prokop needs a little help from his friends to see his favourite artist.

3 weeks Island Rewind: Students learn importance of poppies In 1993, CHEK reporter Bruce Kirkpatrick went to Burnside Elementary to hear what students had learned about the importance of wearing a poppy.

4 weeks CHEK visits local witch in 1982 for spooky Halloween stories Witches can be found everywhere on Halloween, and in 1982, CHEK heard from a local full-time witch about some spooky history.

1 month Island Rewind: Early Mt. Washington opening in 1982 Mount Washington will open for the season in early December. But 41 years ago, the mountain was welcoming October skiers — including our Bruce Kirk-Patrick in this memorable CHEK report from 1982.

1 month First winter storm of the season slams into south coast, thousands still without power The first winter storm slammed into the south coast Tuesday. At the height of the windstorm, 95-thousand BC Hydro customers lost power. And higher elevations were surprised with a dusting of snow. Mary Griffin reports.

2 months Island Rewind: Charity hosts Thanksgiving dinner in Victoria In this Island Rewind, we're travelling back to 1990 when a charity hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in Victoria.

2 months Royal Victoria Marathon in 1990 Looking back on the 10th anniversary of the Royal Victoria Marathon in 1990 when an Island runner won his third title.

2 months Island Indigenous art makes an international splash in 1995 First Nations art is something we appreciate on Vancouver Island, but we’re not the only ones. Tonight’s Island Rewind shows us an Island masterwork that made its way across the world in 1995.

2 months Soviet satellite returning to Earth in 1983 In 1983, a Soviet satellite was expected to return to Earth and CHEK News unpacked the odds that it could land on Vancouver Island.