Some months after Dorothea Scott-Coward wed Robert Allison1 she wrote to her sister, Mib (Milborough Mackay), about being a newlywed in a lonely new country. In the letter she tells of the wedding itself (on the doorstep of the church because she was marrying a non-Catholic) and of the days...
In June 2013 a blog was posted about a letter from Okanagan Centre written by pioneer Dorothea Scott-Coward. That post, and the letter it contained, initiated a number of interesting responses — one from a relative in the UK. Now, a collection of these letters has been added to the Lake...
At the turn of the century Johnston & Carswell operated a sawmill at the north end of Long (Kalamalka) Lake. When the canal was completed in 1908 the Winfield Flats were logged and the logs hauled to the shore of Wood Lake along what became Bottom Wood Lake Road. The logs were piled on to the...
During some particularly cold winters Kalamalka Lake freezes over. Harold Thomson, who was raised in Oyama, said that in his experience Kalamalka Lake froze once every ten years and the adjoining Wood Lake froze nine out of ten years. Hauling freight on the lake was not very common. However, the...
In response to last week’s blog post about colourful Tom Carney I have received e-mails from two nieces and a nephew of Tom Carney. These descendants of John Joseph Carney (1859 – 1943) have supplied more interesting information about the Carney family. In his e-mail nephew Jim added...
Tom Carney was a colourful character. He was born on the Simpson Ranch in Rutland and in 1900 his family moved to the Carney Ranch on Highway 97 just north of the University of British Columbia Okanagan. The capital letters TC are still found on the side of a roadside building. My father (Harold...
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....
Which birds might I see today? Bald Eagles In our valley, winter is one of the best times to see Bald Eagles but did you know that the Kelowna landfill is one of the best places to see them? Every January members of the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club conduct a survey of numbers of both eagles...
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...
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...
Transportation historians like to highlight the big CPR sternwheelers, and the role they played in the development of the Kootenays and Okanagan during the influx of settler populations in the years leading up to the First World War. The smaller CPR freight boats, less glamorous, often get left...
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...