by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 23, 2022 | Uncategorized
lease note: Scott is referring to an amazing glass column soil sample that is located on display at the Museum. Stop by the Museum to view the sample and experience an informative tour on Lake Country’s Wine Culture. The soil in the glass column was collected...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 23, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Pam Laing
Three Grebes In past postings we’ve looked at many of the ducks that can be seen in our valley annually. Today let’s look at another family of diving birds, the grebes. Five species of grebe come to the Okanagan annually, plus one more occasionally, but only three are...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 23, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Pam Laing
Four Owls Winter is undoubtedly the best season in which to see owls. This is partly because many trees are bare, enabling better sightings, if you are lucky. But it’s also because in winter some of the owls that usually breed and hunt in the upper forests come down...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 23, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Nancy Josland Dalsin
In 2018 I was working as a volunteer at Mackie Lake House in Coldstream researching some of the artifacts. One of the artifacts that I was researching and trying to provenance was a beautiful, wall mounted artists jewel case designed by the famous Victorian period...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 8, 2022 | Bloggers, Uncategorized
By: Fred Larsen As I grew up in the Okanagan, in Woodsdale, during the 1950s, I was shaped largely by the examples of my 0.mother and father. My mother’s musical ability and sociability—as well as her love and respect for my dad and her willingness to work hard once...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Natural History, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
Two small falcons – Merlin and American Kestrel Peregrine falcons are probably the best-known of all falcons and we do see them occasionally in our valley. But we are much more likely to see one of the smaller falcons, Merlins and American Kestrels, especially in fall...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
Don Arnold, the younger son of Nelson and May Arnold, and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. John Arnold and Wayne Pretty, the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Pretty, both from Winfield qualified for the 1956 Olympics. Don Arnold along with teammates Walter d’Hondt, Lorne Loomer and...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
More Icterids – Bullock’s Oriole and Western Meadowlark Bullock’s Oriole male In the spring posting we looked at three of the family known as Icterids. Those three were Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Today let’s turn our...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
Joseph Hayton was the third owner of the V Bar V ranch in Oyama. Hayton Creek and Hayton Road are named after him. He was born near Ventnor, Isle of Wight to George Hayton, Rector of Niton, and his wife Ellen Louisa (Chadwick) Hayton. He immigrated to Canada from...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
A Railway Runs Through It: The Okanagan Railways Today (June 30, 2005). By David Madison The locomotive feels like a living thing as it rolls from side to side over the weed-covered rail bed. “That’s just the harmonic roll,” says engineer Dean Taylor who is at...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
William Furniss, a 57-year old English-born farmer from Vernon was the second owner of the V Bar V. He married a widow, Almira McCluskey on 30 November 1898 and acquired an instant family. Almira and her husband William McCluskey had been married in Argenteuil,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, Thomson, Duane
Richard and Arthur Chatterton were part of an aspiring, middle class, English family. Their parents, George Joseph and Jane Edwards Chatterton and family appear in the 1891 UK census in Alvaston, Derbyshire, Herts, England. Their father was a metal tube manufacturer...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird One and perhaps two of today’s birds are probably familiar to you, the other might not be. They are all blackbirds, members of the Icterid family, a group comprising (in our valley) these two, as...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
A new two-room school was built in 1917 and in 1921 a third room was added for the new Oyama High School. The catchment area included Winfield and those students arrived by car or bus. The accompanying photograph was taken of the senior class in about 1926. They are...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
You might suppose that wintertime is not a good time for a bird that spends its life near running water, but in fact this species is able to survive in icy cold water, and manages to feed even under riverside ice. The rather nondescript appearance of the American...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Thomas Wood, cattle rancher and Justice of the Peace from Lake Country, wrote three letters from Vernon to Frederick Hussey, Superintendent of Provincial Police in Victoria requesting his assistance with a rustling case 1 . Hussey replied to these. Some excerpts are...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Animals, Environment, Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
At this time of year, when so many of our colourful summer breeding birds are winging their way southwards for the colder months, it is a pleasure to turn our attention to birds that stay here year round. This time let’s focus on our three species of nuthatch,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Early Days of Okanagan Centre Figure 1:Warf at Okanagan Centre in early Days. Packing house to right. For the first three decades of the twentieth century, Okanagan Centre was the commercial hub of the area. From the late 1800s to the 1930s, Okanagan Centre...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 4, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers
Eyles was born in Bristol, England, in 1925 and joined the Home Guard, the 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry at age 17. In 1943 he joined the Royal Navy where he trained as a radar operator. He served on the ships Wessex, Highflyer, Drake, Valkyrie, Golden Hind,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 13, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized
The life cycle of kokanee is a part of the Okanagan that is visible each year in the fall. When walking down a creek or stream from mid September to mid October, it is hard to miss the bright red fish migrating up. Okanagan Kokanee are unique because one may also see...