by lakecountry | Apr 29, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
A while back when I was “staffing” the Lake Country Museum & Archives one Saturday afternoon, a very pleasant couple entered the Museum. Upon greeting them I discovered that the lady had once taught school in this building when it was the Okanagan...
by lakecountry | Apr 22, 2016 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Natural History, Pam Laing
Birds of a Feather Which birds might I see today? Shorebirds, also known as Waders You might think that a valley with a large lake like ours would host a horde of breeding shorebirds. In fact most shorebirds breed further north than the Okanagan, and touch down here...
by lakecountry | Apr 15, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
The hills and valleys are covered with gold, A sight to see on the winding road. The Sunflower, gay and yellow, Seems to say “Cheer up, old fellow,” I send you a message of hope and cheer, By “Shooting Star” who dwells quite near. Then when I am gone, others are born,...
by lakecountry | Apr 1, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
One can see the progress — the Okanagan Rail Trail is happening! https://lakecountrymuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_6040.m4v After removing the tracks1 in January 2016, the Canadian National Railway (CNR) has now picked up the other metal — the...
by lakecountry | Mar 25, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Laura Neame
Here are two pictures taken in Okanagan Centre Hall, probably early spring of 1947 or 1948. According to Eleanor (Brixton) Geen, who supplied the photos, there was a tradition of spring shows at the hall, with local ladies acting as models. The items they are wearing...
by lakecountry | Mar 18, 2016 | Announcements, Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
The mayor of Lake Country says it’s something he was hoping for right from the start of the acquisition of the former CN Rail corridor. James Baker says it was a good news announcement from the Okanagan Indian Band that they are joining the inter-jurisdictional...
by lakecountry | Mar 9, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, This Day in History, Thomson, Carol
Some months after Dorothea Scott-Coward wed Robert Allison1 she wrote to her sister, Mib (Milborough Mackay), about being a newlywed in a lonely new country. In the letter she tells of the wedding itself (on the doorstep of the church because she was marrying a...
by lakecountry | Mar 4, 2016 | Announcements, Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
In June 2013 a blog was posted about a letter from Okanagan Centre written by pioneer Dorothea Scott-Coward. That post, and the letter it contained, initiated a number of interesting responses — one from a relative in the UK. Now, a collection of these...
by lakecountry | Feb 26, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
At the turn of the century Johnston & Carswell operated a sawmill at the north end of Long (Kalamalka) Lake. When the canal was completed in 1908 the Winfield Flats were logged and the logs hauled to the shore of Wood Lake along what became Bottom Wood Lake Road....
by lakecountry | Feb 12, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, This Day in History, Thomson, Duane
During some particularly cold winters Kalamalka Lake freezes over. Harold Thomson, who was raised in Oyama, said that in his experience Kalamalka Lake froze once every ten years and the adjoining Wood Lake froze nine out of ten years. Hauling freight on the lake was...
by lakecountry | Feb 5, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
In response to last week’s blog post about colourful Tom Carney I have received e-mails from two nieces and a nephew of Tom Carney. These descendants of John Joseph Carney (1859 – 1943) have supplied more interesting information about the Carney family. In...
by lakecountry | Jan 29, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Tom Carney was a colourful character. He was born on the Simpson Ranch in Rutland and in 1900 his family moved to the Carney Ranch on Highway 97 just north of the University of British Columbia Okanagan. The capital letters TC are still found on the side of a roadside...
by lakecountry | Jan 15, 2016 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Laura Neame
Winfield in the 1930’s and early forties, had an elementary school, but for high school, students had to travel to Oyama. Mary White, whose parents had their home and orchard on Highway 97 near Berry Road, took many photos of life in the 30s and 40s, and has...
by lakecountry | Jan 8, 2016 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Natural History, Pam Laing
Which birds might I see today? Bald Eagles In our valley, winter is one of the best times to see Bald Eagles but did you know that the Kelowna landfill is one of the best places to see them? Every January members of the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club conduct a...
by lakecountry | Jan 2, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Curling became popular in Eastern Canada in the early nineteenth century and as the West opened up, the game found a natural home – long cold winters and idle time for prairie farmers. Clubs were formed in Winnipeg, Calgary and other western cites in the 1880s. The...
by lakecountry | Dec 25, 2015 | Bloggers, Thomson, Carol
Merry Christmas from the Staff, Directors and Volunteers of the Lake Country Museum and Archives This greeting card was designed by Donna Hunter of Campbell River, BC. Donna is the wife of Don Hunter who lived in Oyama with his parents Roma (Thomson) and Elwood...
by lakecountry | Dec 18, 2015 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
Memories of the Okanagan – one invariably thinks of sunshine, the lake, fruit – in one word, summer. As a child growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, the winter season also had its charm and delights which remain etched in my memory. The first sign of winter was a visit...
by lakecountry | Nov 27, 2015 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Ian Pooley
Transportation historians like to highlight the big CPR sternwheelers, and the role they played in the development of the Kootenays and Okanagan during the influx of settler populations in the years leading up to the First World War. The smaller CPR freight boats,...
by lakecountry | Nov 20, 2015 | Bloggers, Hayes, Bob, History of Lake Country
Recently, I was going through some of my papers when I came across my late mother’s autograph book. The first poem in this small leather-bound book, was written by Annie Stolz, on January 22, 1935. Numerous other short poems and thoughts and reflections about life and...
by lakecountry | Nov 13, 2015 | Announcements, Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Natural History, Thomson, Carol
Ducks Unlimited: A longtime Okanagan family has donated two parcels of marshland to Ducks Unlimited Canada, ensuring the wetlands will be maintained for wildlife in perpetuity. The Young and Lloyd families, which settled in Oyama more than a century ago, were granted...
