100 years ago - December 28, 1918

A successful and large peace celebration was held in Cowes.

Hundreds of Islanders headed to Thetis Road where a giant aviation works formed a large concert hall, filled with musicians and choristers.

The crowd rejoiced at the hymns and songs performed and a girl guides collection raised £66.

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The County Press reported that, at last, some important concessions were made on food rationing.

More meat was to be allowed from the new year and some goods were lowered in price.

The price of pork was reduced to two shillings per pound and no coupons were now required for poultry and sausages.

75 years ago - December 18, 1943

Two young Shanklin boys appeared in court for stealing £46 6s and 2d from a high street shop.

One of the workers at the shop came to work one morning to find the office in disorder, the safe open and the money short.

One of the boys was sent to an approved school while the other was placed on probation.

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IW children arranged a very enjoyable Christmas party for the children of Channel Islands residents.

A group of more than 50 partied the night away in the company of the mayor while the Rev Ewbank mystified the children with conjurings.

All enjoyed a tea party and an exchange of gifts.

50 years ago - December 28, 1968

Exceptionally high tides in The Solent caused the worst flooding in Cowes for many years.

In the low-lying shopping centres on both sides of the river, trades people lost Christmas stock.

Areas in York Avenue were flooded up to two feet and one butcher in West Cowes even used a rowing boat.

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IW business, Plessey Radar, received more orders from the US for the revolutionary Plessey MR-12 marine radar.

The new orders pushed the overall US spend to more than $2million at the Cowes-based factory.

25 years ago - December 23, 1993

Angry Seaview residents were in for a bitter Christmas when their homes were flooded.

Many lost thousands of pounds worth of belongings and furniture in the flood.

The owners of Springvale Hotel also lost their Christmas trade when they had to turn away guests two days before the festive period.

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Fifty jobs were saved and at least 50 were set to be created, when Avon Limited merged with Island Plastics Limited.

A five-year supply contract was negotiated between the firms after fears emerged many Avon staff could be out of work.

Mr Hamilton-Grey, of Island Plastics, said he anticipated this would bring lots of work to the IW.

10 years ago - December 26, 2008

The son of Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman was hoping for a ten out of ten performance when he starred in Shanklin Theatre’s Christmas pantomime.

James Goodman starred as Prince Charming in Cinderella.

The actor, who used to be a member of Stage by Stage when he lived on the IW, returned to the Shanklin stage as part of an extended IW break.

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The Island had the second highest number of U18s admitted to hospital for alcohol abuse in the country.

Second to Copeland, in Cumbria, figures showed the IW had 217 youths per 100,000 population admitted between 2004 and 2007 because of the amount of alcohol they had drunk.

An alcohol specialist nurse was placed in A&E.