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 the Johnston and Carswell...
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 brought the wives or friends...
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 tower at the end of their dock....
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 shook. These large logs were...
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 Record” informed its readers of...
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 carved a deadly swath across the...
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 linking or comparing 1918...
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 background, I consulted Sharron...
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 way, coming through the...
Economic activity in Oyama really increased with the opening of the navigation canal across the isthmus in Oyama in 1908. The first steamer, theCity of Vernon, passed through the canal on September 3, 1908, creating a water link to the north end of Kalamalka Lake. By 1909 the Wood Lake...
I have recently been in correspondence with Alan Aldred, a gentleman who was raised in Oyama and whose family history he is writing. The two photographs below are of stores run by his grandfather, Frederick Harry Aldred. The first photograph comes from Alan’s collection and the second from that of...
In 1922 seven young, tanned orchardists from Oyama visited the Summerland Experimental Station, presumably to learn some of the science behind growing apples. All were from England, some having arrived very recently. Thank you to Diane Eyles Turner for the photograph and identifications. They are,...