I’ll be bock: In our November 16, 1998 issue, writer Melisa Devost reported on the seasonal release of Vancouver Island Brewery’s Hermannator Ice Bock beer. Devost wrote about how the local brewery made the beer, which involved a three-month-long aging process in subzero temperatures—the cause for the rich flavour and 9.5% alcohol content. The dark and malty beverage has stood the test of time and is still available seasonally in limited quantities.
Five-dollar fraudster: In ‘98 Camosun College’s Interurban campus was hit with a plague of counterfeit money (well, two accounts). Two counterfeit $5 bills found their way into campus cash registers; Carter MacDonald, who was then head of Interurban security and later on the college ombudsman, warned students that even if they had the bills without knowing they were fake, they wouldn’t be reimbursed if the bills were used. This may seem like an unusual concept in today’s climate of debit and credit. Seriously, who has cash anymore? Or, more to the point, what student in Victoria even has money?
Novel honours survivors: On November 4, 1998, the Wilna Thomas Cultural Centre at Lansdowne welcomed Yuen-Fong Woon, who discussed her novel The Excluded Wife with Camosun students. Woon’s fictional book was based on lived experiences of wives who were stuck in China while their husbands worked and resided in North America during the time of the Exclusion Act—a racist act that was intended to keep Chinese people from successfully immigrating to Canada. Wong’s highly rated novel is still available for purchase today.