In 1896 an elderly French cook by the name of Frank “Frenchy” Stevens, who often stayed with Northcote Caesar, was fishing off the Island* when he saw a sea serpent very close to the boat. He described it as being about 20 feet long with a head like a sheep. Caesar wrote “we did...
Lake Country Museum and Archives recently received class photos dating from the 1970s. These are for Winfield Elementary, Wood Lake Elementary and Okanagan Centre schools. While only one of the photos appears here, more are available for examination at the Museum on Okanagan Centre Road West....
“The island [in Okanagan Lake] that many still call Whiskey Island has a colourful history. Legend has it that Interior Salish stored food and supplies on the Island in order to keep it safe from bears. Squaws who were left in charge were sometimes abducted by raiding Shuswap Indians, so it...
Oyama, or Island Lake was originally stocked under the initiative of the Kelowna Rod and Gun Club in about 1931, using fingerlings from the Summerland Fish Hatchery. Jack Trewhitt and Ron Allingham packed in two cream cans full of fry on Allingham’s workhorse, stopping once on the way up to...
World War I, also known as the Great War, started on July 28, 1914 and finally dragged to a conclusion on November 11, 1918. In those four years, more than nine million men and women worldwide were killed, including more than 60,000 Canadians. Canadians, including those living in the Okanagan...
Lake Country Museum and Archives has received a donation of McCarthy family photographs from Donna Day of Winfield. Her late husband, Max Day, found a package of family photographs in the old McCarthy barn, which was an iconic historical building situated on Bottom Wood Lake Road. The photo...
Charlie and Harold Thomson constructed a diving tower in front of the family home on the shore of Kalamalka Lake in the summer of 1933. As can be seen from the photograph of the tower under construction, it was made of poles and boards lashed and nailed together. The first platform was at the...
“For many years the picturesque sterwheeler passenger ships which travelled up and down Okanagan Lake played a large part in the life of their time. They are still fondly remembered for their fine meals and comfortable accommodation. At first the people on the shores of the beautiful lake...
[On May 24, 1918] the “Act to Confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women” was passed in Canada. All of the provinces followed in quick order except for Quebec which did not give women the vote until 1940. Women who are British subjects, 21 years of age, and otherwise meet the...
“Towering over a proud shipyard crew and some family members, the Sicamous is nearly ready for its launching at the Okanagan Landing shipyard on May 19, 1914.” “Okanagan Landing, just five miles (eight km) southwest of Vernon, developed into a bustling community as the...
In 1924 the Dominion of Canada’s Department of Health published a handbook for Canadian mothers, The Canadian Mother’s Book, that provides one with an interesting look at practices of the past. The first page of the book is a quotation from Scripture: “He called a little child to...
Just a word about Mom [Mrs. Hiro Kobayashi]. You know she was the best. She always said, “Don’t brag. Don’t be a smart guy.” She could do anything from juggling three oranges to delivering babies. The story I remember about Mom concerns her blue bonnet. Mr. Irizawa (Ira),...