On November 26, 1966, joy came to Saskatchewan, as the Roughriders won their first Grey Cup in the team’s history.
The Roughies, as they were referred to at the time, triumphed over Ottawa’s own, inferior Rough Riders 29-14. This was the first time the team was even in the Grey Cup final since 1951, and were considered the underdogs in the contest, held in Vancouver.
The victory was a rush for the entire province, and warranted a front page mention in the November 30, 1966 edition of the Yorkton Enterprise.
Victory celebrations in Vancouver, however, quickly got out of hand. “A wild mob of 5,000 tore through downtown Vancouver smashing windows, looting store fronts and blocking traffic,” reported the Enterprise, with nearly 200 people arrested during the “riot conditions.” Dozens were also injured by flying bottles and debris.
The Roughriders would not win the cup again until 1989, and would win again in 2007 and 2013. Some would argue that they should have won in 2009 as well if not for a bad mistake at a critical moment, but let’s leave that sleeping dog lie.
This was not the only sporting triumph in Yorkton. The Terriers were still in the regular season, but they “thrashed” the Regina Caps in a weekend game. Jerry Walker was the star of the show, scoring four goals in the game, but the entire team did well, scoring twelve to Regina’s two. The previous games in the week, against the Moose Jaw Pla-Mors, were similarly lopsided, but not necessarily in Yorkton’s favor - while they won 10-3 on Wednesday, they lost 11-2 the following Friday.
While sports were on everybody’s mind in Yorkton, crime was a problem in neighboring communities. Two Melville youth were charged with robberies in Theodore. The manager of the Allied Hardware Store in Yorkton, Harvey Fredrickson, was awakened by his wife who heard noises from the nearby store. Seeing a car on the street, he assumed the owner was breaking in and punctured the car’s tires. He heard three shots, which he assumed were shooting off the lock at the liquor store. When RCMP arrived, there was a brief exchange of gunfire before the youth were arrested. Two rifles, 12 wristwatches, two tape recorders and two hair dryers were stolen. A psychiatric evaluation was ordered for the youth.
In retail, as people got ready for Christmas, they might have to clean their clothes. They could get a new Inglis washer-dryer pair for $744.90 at Eaton’s, provided they traded in their old washer and dryer. They had not one, not two, but three washing speeds, a washing innovation that surely broke the mold in terms of clothes cleanliness. And yet, that’s more expensive than a modern washer and dryer pair this writer found, which was a mere $699.98, though naturally that’s not cutting edge like the Inglis pair was 51 years ago, and the majority on the market cost more.
