Today, we take a glimpse back a few decades to reminisce about a former Kootenay and Trail tradition known as Gate Night.
Occurring the night before Halloween, Gate Night usually included relatively harmless acts of toilet papering yards or egging houses.
It is apparently an old reference to unlatching gates to let farm animals loose.
But, in 1973, Gate Night took a more sinister turn in Trail, with several neighbourhoods affected by what the paper called a “disgusting display of conduct by the young residents of Trail and area.”
The paper alleged that groups from 10 to up to 200 “mobbed” Trail’s quiet neighbourhoods, particularly Glenmerry, Sunningdale, and Warfield.
Reports of fires, vehicle damage, litter, and downed fences flooded the RCMP.
Staff Sergeant H.G. Hryeiw indicated that those wreaking havoc were around 15 years old and up, but also stated that “practically every child that was out on gate night was involved in some way.”
The RCMP did not lay charges, as he claimed the groups were large and they struggled to identify individuals.
On the cover of the Oct. 31, 1973 edition shows properties along Queen Elizabeth Park in Glenmerry whose fences were toppled. The park slide was also damaged.
The messaging was strong: keep an eye on your kids.
The following year, the village offices of Montrose and Fruitvale went so far as to pay for the following advertisement in the Oct. 30 edition: “Anyone having information that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of persons willfully damaging private or public property within the municipal boundaries of Fruitvale or Montrose, should provide the said information to the local police authorities, or to one of the Municipal Offices without delay.”
The community got the memo.
That year, Gate Night was quiet and many parents even patrolled their own neighbourhoods.
In 1976, the RCMP even sponsored a Gate Night Dance at the Cominco Gym, in collaboration with the JL Crowe Creative Writing Club, to give teens a fun outlet, and perhaps an alibi, on a night they are typically blamed for vandalism and mayhem.
Did you ever participate in Gate Night (we won’t tell)?
