by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 14, 2026
Join us for an exciting and educational summer camp series! Each week, we will be exploring different themes; ranging from local history to the nature around us. Campers will make new friends while learning with fun, hands-on activities, crafts, games, and themed...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Feb 21, 2026 | D. Scott Forfar, History of Lake Country, Lake country family history
In 1948, Percy and Winnifred “Winnie” Wilsdon from Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, purchased an 80-acre dairy farm in Winfield from Wilton R. Powley. Wilton had owned the farm, named Three Brook Ranch, since 1912. It was recognized as one of the most...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jan 24, 2026 | Animals, Guest Bloggers, Natural History, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing, Uncategorized
You will know both the birds I’m writing about today. Both are very common, especially around human habitation and are here year-round. They are heard often too, though you may not at first realise what species you are hearing. Yet neither of these species is native...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 4, 2025 | Bloggers, D. Scott Forfar, History of Lake Country
John William Stephen, from Oyama, served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during World War II. His service is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, a striking 15-meter-high Travertine marble column topped with a resplendent golden eagle, located just...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 29, 2025 | Backward Glances, Gibbons, Richard, Uncategorized
Lake Country is not only all about our beautiful lakes, orchards and vineyards, but also that craggy promontory that overlooks us called Spion Kop. Don’t take issue with this spelling as officially this name didn’t even exist until recently. This may come as a bit of...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 14, 2025 | Animals, Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
As are all too well aware, summer in the Okanagan is fire season. In recent years major fires have destroyed not only homes and other buildings but much of our natural landscape. Fire, like flood or wind, can alter the landscape in dramatic fashion. But the changes...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
Fall is here again, and fall migration well under way in the bird world. Some birds left us as early as late July or early August, and the last won’t really be gone until there is lingering snow and the temperatures fall dramatically. One of the most dramatic of fall...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 11, 2024 | Animals, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
By Pam Laing American Crow and Common Raven, two familiar Corvids American Crow, winter This winter started off unusually mild and snowless. You may have noticed, as I did, that many more crows than usual were lingering here instead of moving further south. Why? As...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 11, 2024 | Lake country family history, Thomson, Duane
I recently came across an unidentified photograph in my files, likely of an Oyama family. The only clue was five parts of names on the back left margin of the photo, indistinct and in pencil. The names appear to be Dorothy, ?alter, ?ura, ?lice, and ?on. I checked the...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 11, 2024 | History of Lake Country, Lake country family history
The Norman Davies’ niece, Rosemary Darville, fondly relates the story of her own family’s time in Oyama: For their honeymoon the Davies set off on a long journey by ship around the world, search-ing for a place to settle. When they reached Oyama after having visited...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 11, 2024 | Animals, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
Which Bird might I see today? – FALL – Fall migration, an overview Many birds migrate, as you know. In our valley, spring migration unfolds gradually, some birds arriving to breed here as early as February, others not until June. And in the fall...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Mar 11, 2024 | History of Lake Country, Lake country family history
By: Scott Forfar In the last blog post, I introduced the story of Wong Bing’s life as a cook at Rainbow Ranche in Okanagan Centre. The Rainbow Ranche was a prosperous 525-acre farm with the first large acreage of fruit planted in Lake Country.[1] Wong Bing was 39...
