Details make a difference. We got out some old pictures a while ago. Like so many old pictures, the prints had no date, no captions. A picnic table, with a broad river in the background; beyond it, a range of snow-capped peaks. Two young children, so swaddled in their bulky sweaters that it was...
Just south of the old pilings for Carr’s Landing stands a heritage home known as Okanagan House. It was built in 1909 by H. R. Raymer of Kelowna for a young English adventurer Sir Edward Simons Ward and his wife Lois. Edward was educated at Eton and then travelled extensively. An avid...
In these days of modern secondary education it’s almost impossible to visualize a high school with all grades in one room. It’s equally difficult to imagine one teacher instructing about 25 students in every subject in that classroom. Such was the situation in Oyama when a group of...
The Westbury Hotel, built in 1908, was one of two hotels in Okanagan Centre in the early 1900s. On Halloween day in 1947, fire broke out and the hotel burned to the ground. Although no one was injured, the guests and the seasonal packinghouse workers who boarded there lost all their possessions....
Applebox Belles presents the stories of the pioneers, the Summer Girls, and the champion Apple Wrapper Flappers of Lake Country’s early apple packing industry. These determined women quickly became the workforce of the packinghouses, sorting, wrapping, packing, and stamping, and they transformed a...
Long before electric carving knives and boneless pre-stuffed turkeys, carving was an art form. My mother would call us into the dining room. The turkey, golden brown and aromatic, steamed on its platter at the head of the table. We sat at our places, unfolded our napkins, and watched as my father...
Which birds might I see today? Loons There is very little common about the Common Loon! This iconic bird of northern lakes is remarkable, supremely adapted to living on and in water. They are large, fish-eating birds that capture their prey by diving and chasing them underwater. Watching a loon...
If you’re looking for an interesting way to spend an hour in Lake Country try taking the Heritage Driving Tour. The tour features thirteen heritage locations as well as optional stops at wineries and points of interest. The tour can be accessed online at www.historypin.org, followed by a search...
Tom [Carney] was always generous in allowing recreational use of the land. In the past it was used by horseback riders, cross-country skiers and others. Rutland Senior High School’s auto shop classes held auto rallies there and the natural amphitheatre below the gas line was the site of...
At one time, the TC Ranch range land extended from what is now the Pier Mac gravel pit and Highway 97 on the east, to Okanagan College1 on the south, the Tutt Ranch on the west and Dry Valley Road on the north. The land upon which Quail Ridge now stands, was sold to Pier Mac Petroleum in 1984. The...
One of my most memorable and nostalgic games of golf was played last fall1 at Quail Ridge. The land on which the Quail Ridge course has been so carefully and skillfully sculpted was previously owned by my father, Tom Carney. He was a pioneer of the Ellison district, his parents having settled in...
Oft on a clear, fresh summer morn I’ve stood as one deep-rooted to the ground And gazed and gazed upon its loveliness; Taking a deep draught to my thirsty soul. It was the lake of many colors and I thought No man can rob me of this gem – all else may go; Sports, pleasures pastimes – but this will...