by lakecountry | Jun 19, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
From 1860 a steady settlement of the Valley took place and among the first four cattle men who came in was Thomas Wood. He first had a cattle ranch with Connie (Cornelius) O’Keefe, north of Vernon but soon moved to the Pelmewash lake, now known as Wood Lake,...
by lakecountry | Jun 12, 2015 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
Following an earlier blog post on Spion Kop I received an e-mail from Vancouver resident Douglas Broome1. He sent such an interesting followup to the post about Spion Kop that I asked if I could share it with our readers. It follows below: “My parents [Ernie and...
by lakecountry | May 8, 2015 | Bloggers, Thomson, Carol
70 Years since World War II Liberation Day “In the final months of the Second World War Canadian forces were given the important and deadly task of liberating the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. From September 1944 to April 1945, the First Canadian Army fought...
by lakecountry | May 2, 2015 | Announcements, Bloggers, History of Lake Country, This Day in History, Thomson, Carol
Twenty years ago, on May 2, 1995, the District of Lake Country was incorporated. Local orchardist Bob McCoubrey was installed as the first mayor. McCoubrey served as mayor from 1995 to 1999. He was followed in the mayor’s chair by Rolly Hein (1999 to 2005), who...
by lakecountry | Apr 24, 2015 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
As you might expect from a 100-year-old, Anne Land1 takes the long view on certain things. And one of them is the railway referendum now underway in Lake Country, where she has lived virtually her entire life. The centenarian, who turns 101 next month, is among the 27...
by lakecountry | Feb 15, 2015 | Announcements, Bloggers, This Day in History, Thomson, Carol
A symbol of Canadian identity The official ceremony inaugurating the new Canadian flag was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 15, 1965, with Governor General Georges Vanier, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the members of the Cabinet and thousands of...
by lakecountry | Feb 6, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
Record of a Life — Northcote H. Caesar “The earliest memories that I can remember, at probably 5 or 6 years Whilst sitting on a hassock in front of the nursery fire With a nice clean white pinafore on about half a dozen shot fell in my lap Making long...
by lakecountry | Jan 30, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
Before the coming of the white man, the fertile bottom land of Winfield was dense forest, with occasional oases of small natural meadows, while the present orchard benchlands were covered with pine trees, etc. Large herds of deer roamed the ranges and bunch grass was...
by lakecountry | Jan 23, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
‘Tis hard to believe that it’s been twenty years since the District of Lake Country was incorporated. In 1995 the four communities of Carr’s Landing, Okanagan Centre, Oyama and Winfield incorporated to form the municipality of Lake Country. It is...
by lakecountry | Jan 16, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
In early days it took dedicated community members to provide recreational facilities in the Lake Country area. The following except is from the manuscript, The Autobiography of Harold David Butterworth of Oyama,1 where Butterworth documents the making of an outdoor...
by lakecountry | Dec 26, 2014 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
The first mail service in the Winfield area was that offered by Charles Lawson who used to carry the mail on horseback from Swan Lake to Okanagan Mission around 1872. Apparently he used to shout at the top of his voice as he passed ranches to announce the mail, and...
by lakecountry | Dec 12, 2014 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
Do you need a recipe for some wartime Christmas Cheer? How about trying a “George and Frank Cocktail” or a “Marpole Slug”? Recently, Museum volunteer, Elaine Pybus, discovered this cocktail recipe in a letter written in 1945 and found in the...
