“There are no peaches in a town called Peachland.”
That’s what Kelowna resident Connor Smith said, so he launched a petition asking people to support the planting of a few peach saplings in the area.
Smith, who often goes to or passes by Peachland when he travels around the Okanagan, said it’s about time the fruit came back to the town.
“The aim is to have five to seven saplings planted. It wouldn’t be too much, it would be pretty minimal upkeep,” Smith said.
He added planting peaches in the area will help with the town’s tourism.
“That’s one of their main sources of income. Along with that, we were also hoping to get a small plaque that tells the town’s history from 1909 to the present.”
Smith said there was also a lot of positive feedback when he first put out the petition.
“People from Peachland and the Okanagan called the idea brilliant or just ‘peachy,'” he said.
Smith said he’s still waiting for more signatures on the petition before he takes it to the town’s council.
“We’ve actually achieved our goal of 100 signatures and completely bypassed it. We’re sitting at 165 now.
“We can send it off right now as it is because this is already an overwhelming amount of support towards the idea, but we’re hoping to get as many signatures as we can and once we get there.
“We’ll get it to the council and see where it goes from there.”
He added he’s extremely confident peaches will come back to Peachland.
“I think the town will recognize that a lot of people would love to see the attributes to their namesake.”
“Originally, there were a bunch of peach orchards over there that were mowed down in the ’60s to make way for the housing projects that came in.
“We’re also hoping some of the local greeneries will take interest and donate a sapling.”
If you want to help bring peaches back to Peachland, you can sign the petition here.
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