Settlers began planting fruit trees in the Okanagan in the 1860s. Thought at this time planting fruit was considered a risk because the fruit was perishable and the only means of transportation could take up to two weeks to get... [Continue Reading]
Join us for an engaging evening of community and learning! Presenter Tracey Aresenault will present a view into Oyama’s past. Discover a bit of Oyama’s history. See the magnificent displays about Oyama and engage with the new exhibit. This event... [Continue Reading]
Following upon previous blogs on logging in the region in the 1920s, I have more recent and personal remembrances to relate. My father, Harold, and grandfather, Harry, operated a portable bush mill on the Commonage in the 1950s, supported by... [Continue Reading]
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... [Continue Reading]
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... [Continue Reading]
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... [Continue Reading]
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... [Continue Reading]
In the near future our Lake Country Museum & Archives will be rolling out new marker panels celebrating our area’s short but rich history. These will be welcome additions to a number of panels put in place a few years... [Continue Reading]
John (Jack) Trewhitt was born in Sunderland, England, in 1890 and at the age of 16 he immigrated to Canada. He worked in Manitoba and later bought a homestead in Alberta. In 1914 Trewhitt joined the Army and went overseas.... [Continue Reading]
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... [Continue Reading]
