The Penticton Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society hosted a very successful seven day Heritage Week event at Cherry Lane Shopping Centre with over 1,600 visits handled by 39 volunteers.
Organizations celebrating Canada 150 with us were Penticton Museum and Archives, Okanagan School of the Arts/ Shatford Centre, SS Sicamous Society, South Okanagan Genealogical Society and Penticton and District Stamp Club.
The exhibit was filled with pictorial displays of the history of Penticton including hospitals, early buildings still in use today, post offices, schools and the history of the Okanagan Historical Society. Members, Dave Morgenstern, Bruce Morgenstern, Herb and Linda Allen had displays of “good stuff” which were very popular with all ages.
As part of our celebration we recognized Berry & Smith Trucking with a Long-time Family Business and Community Service Award. The company is very community oriented, known for its great customer service and the love and loyalty of employees and retirees. Mark Berry kindly allowed us to use photographs of their history and a DVD of their first 60 years was enjoyed by all.
The Penticton Museum and Archives partnered with the Penticton and District Stamp Club to provide a children’s section where kids could pick up a starter stamp album and hinges, provided by Canada Post, then pick stamps to put into their books.
A commemorative cover was produced by the stamp club especially for this event honouring Canada Post in Penticton. Covers were cancelled on the opening day of the show with signatures of artist, Randy Manuel and last postmaster of Penticton, Bob Otway. Sale of this special cover went to the Penticton Hospital Foundation tower fund.
Randy Manuel was on hand working on his drawings and available to talk with visitors. He had a display of his drawings of historical buildings.
Family history drew a lot of interest as well with SOGS members kept busy fielding questions about genealogy.
This would not have been as successful without the generous support of Cherry Lane Shopping Centre for an amazing venue and the Hudson’s Bay in providing all we needed to complete our presentation.
Thank you to the newspapers that provided articles that promoted interest in Heritage Week and our exhibit.
Karen Collins,
President, Penticton Branch
Okanagan Historical Society
