by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 24, 2020 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Tiana Langedyk
Before Lake Country, there was Okanagan Centre. 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 was one of the main points for the Central...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 24, 2020 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Tiana Langedyk
Settlers began planting fruit trees in the Okanagan in the 1860s. Thought at this time planting fruit was considered a risk because the fruit was perishable and the only means of transportation could take up to two weeks to get the fruit to a major center. Most...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 10, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Two Gibbons brothers, Harry from Ellison and Clare from Okanagan Centre went into partnership to establish OK Sawmills sometime shortly after 1940. The brothers operated their sawmill at a number of locations on the extensive forested slope south and east of Kelowna,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 3, 2020 | Bloggers, Hayes, Bob, History of Lake Country
From the collection of Bob Hayes Note the “sunflowers’ – official name being “arrow-leaf root balsam” – in the foreground of this postcard and the classic Okanagan sky. Black Knight Mountain (now known as Black Mountain) is partially visible in the background. These...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 27, 2020 | Bloggers, Gibbons, Richard
Today the Central Okanagan enjoys a level of economic diversity unimaginable to earlier generations. In the first half of the twentieth century, our local economy was based primarily on the natural resources of the valley. A long growing season and access to water and...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 20, 2020 | Hayes, Bob, History of Lake Country
Lake Country is aptly named. Its four wards – Winfield, Okanagan Centre, Carr’s Landing and Oyama – have access to three major Lakes: Okanagan, Kalamalka, and Wood. The latter lake was named for pioneers Thomas (1841 – 1931) and Ellen Florence (nee Whelan) Wood (1861...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 3, 2020 | Pam Laing, Uncategorized
Last summer I introduced you to our largest flycatchers, the kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird and Western Kingbird. This year let’s look at other flycatchers that also come here in summer to breed and raise their young on abundant insect food during the warmer months. Some...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jun 22, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Following upon previous blogs on logging in the region in the 1920s, I have more recent and personal remembrances to relate. My father, Harold, and grandfather, Harry, operated a portable bush mill on the Commonage in the 1950s, supported by horse logging. The...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jun 16, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Eliza Jane Swalwell’s bungalow was located near the entrance to Swalwell Park, toward Middle Vernon Creek. The Swalwell barn also faced Bottom Wood Lake Road a little further east. Jane’s nephew, Pete Simpson, who is now ninety-two years of age, remembers visiting his...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jun 10, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Our blog on the Munson Simpson sawmill that operated in Winfield from 1927 to 1929 appeared earlier. Another blog, “Log chutes in Lake Country” discussed the log chute that over a decade earlier had transported logs from Fir Valley to the Oyama bench land and hence to...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jun 5, 2020 | Thomson, Duane
The adult Thomson children visited their Kalamalka home on occasions for family picnics, to go hunting or to roar around Kalamalka Lake on a hydroplane. Three photos capture some of the spirit of the times. The first is a family picnic with some of the siblings having...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 29, 2020 | Thomson, Duane
The Thomson family moved from their east bench orchard to their new home on Kalamalka Lake in 1929. By this time the children were either teenagers or young adults. The location on the lake was ideal for boating, swimming and diving. In 1932 the boys built a diving...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 20, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
This is the third in a series of blogs exploring the logging history of Lake Country, this one focussing on transporting logs to the Munson and Simpson mill in Winfield in the 1927-9 period. Large logs were preferred because the end-use was to make knot-free Applebox...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 14, 2020 | Hayes, Bob, Medical Topics
Author’s note: This article is dedicated to the victims of the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. It contains words and attitudes which, while formerly in common use, are now recognized as racist and demeaning. The November 14, 1918 (page one) issue of “The Kelowna...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 7, 2020 | Hayes, Bob, Medical Topics
Last week’s article provided some history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic which decimated the world’s population, claiming millions of lives, making it arguably the twentieth century’s most lethal pandemic. As the summer of 1918 rolled into fall, the Spanish flu...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 2, 2020 | Hayes, Bob, Medical Topics
Today’s article – the first of a three-part series – examines the worldwide implications of the Spanish influenza. Next week’s article focuses on how this 1918 pandemic affected Central Okanagan residents. This article is not intended to cause fear or upset, by...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Apr 23, 2020 | History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
The donation of historic photographs by Pete Simpson to the Lake Country Museum has led me to examine the circumstances behind the building of a sawmill in Winfield in 1927. These photographs were of the Munson and Simpson mill located on the Beaver Lake Road. For...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Apr 15, 2020 | Carmen Klassen, Guest Bloggers, Medical Topics
We’ve got problems right now. Big problems. But in 1893 they had some pretty wild problems! Thanks to a copy of a letter from the BC Archives, the Lake Country Museum has a unique glimpse into what life was like in Vernon in 1893. The letter’s written by Judge Spinks...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Apr 4, 2020 | Natural History, Pam Laing
When life is challenging it can be helpful to read the signs nature gives us of rebirth and renewal. Trees, flowers, and shrubs put on new growth and in the bird world, spring brings us the annual miracle of migration to brighten our days and bring promise of new...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 21, 2020 | Bloggers, Thomson, Duane
This is the first of a series of blogs relating to on my family’s settlement in Oyama. On July 10, 1919 the Vernon News noted the following event. “Mr. H. B. Thomson of Indian Head, Saskatchewan, with his family, arrived at Oyama last Friday, having motored the entire...
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