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 donated her albums to the Museum....
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 game became popular in the...
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 Hunter.
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 Jack Frost as one woke up...
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 its challenges are found in...
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 the parcels in the 1930s, when...
As far as I know, only one member of my extended family has ever served in military forces. I’m not proud of that fact – I suspect it’s pure chance that prevented some male members from enlisting. But I am proud of my Uncle Andy. Dr. Andrew Taylor went out to Central India in 1928 as a mission...
Syilx people (Okanagan), traditionally used these tule mat teepees for summertime housing. The mats are constructed of tule mats that could be rolled up for easy and light travel. During the spring, summer, and into the fall, Syilx people would dig, gather, hunt and fish. The reeds will expand...
Occasionally local residents bring scrapbooks containing non-family items of local interest to the Lake Country Museum and Archives and such was the case when Dick Heddle delivered his mother’s collection. Among the papers was a page entitled “Rural Preliminary List of Electors” for Rural Polling...
The first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness. For many years before it was declared a national holiday in 1879, Thanksgiving was celebrated...
from Slates to Blackboards to Computers. A History of Public Schools in the Central Okanagan. Kelowna, BC: The Educational Heritage Committee of the Central Okanagan Retired Teachers’ Association. 1999. Back cover.
A response to last week’s blog post, Write in on the Heart: The sentiment behind this little poem [Fur Traders by Harry Robinson] is that the terms of trade between the fur traders (North West Company or Hudson’s Bay Company) and Indians were manipulated to favour the European traders....