Re: Rental dispute spawns wild brawl (News, July 27)
Back in the 1950s and 1960s on payday, loggers would drop in at the local pub, now known as the Castle, to let their hair down after two weeks of hard work.
All it took was someone to say the wrong thing and the brawl was on.
I remember my husband crawling up the stairs on hands and knees with a fat lip and a black eye plus a few extra bumps on his head he didn’t have in the morning.
I asked him why he was fighting, he said he didn’t know, but someone hit him so he hit him back.
They all drove drunk as billy goats in those days. If they ran off the road, you could be sure someone would come along and pull them out – most likely the guy who tried to punch your lights out a minute earlier.
The police never found out about these brawls until much later. Who had time to walk to a payphone, put a dime in, and miss a good fight?
Sooke was no different than any little town up and down the coast. If there was a logging camp and beer, you could count on a brawl once in a while.
It’s been 50 to 65 years since we had a big brawl in Sooke, and let’s hope it’s that long before we have another or better yet, never.
Claire Smith
Sooke