Board of trade pushing city’s tourism potential

MARCH 30, 1993 – “At both lakes are long crescent-shaped beaches of clean sand, shelving gradually into the water, affording ideal bathing places, which are an unending source of joy to young and old.”

The writing may sound a bit dated and it is. The above excerpt was taken from a 48-page Penticton Board of Trade 1911 publication promoting Penticton as a place to live and visit.

“We all need relaxation – we must get away from the grid of business and even the attractive charm of the tempting red apple and the luscious peach must not be permitted to chain us to the orchard always,” continues the text.

A similar publication from 1912 informs people that: “If you want to live in the California of Canada, come to Penticton in the

1993

Juno Award for Single of the Year: Beauty and the Beast, Celine Dion

Prime Minister of Canada: Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Jean Chretien

Stanley Cup champions: Montreal Canadiens

Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year: Kim Campbell

Local News: George H.W. Bush comes to Penticton Okanagan Valley a live town that brings the smile that won’t come off.”

Publications of that sort, complete with photographs, indicate great foresight from the movers and shakers of that era.

“These guys certainly knew the potential of the district and they were already seeing tourism as an industry,” says Penticton Museum Curator Randy Manuel.

According to Manuel, Penticton founder Tom Ellis realized the potential of tourism as early as 1890 and he asked the Canadian Pacific Railway to build a hotel overlooking the steamship landing on Okanagan Lake.

When that request fell flat, Ellis built his own hotel — the Penticton Hotel — in 1892 in the middle of what is now Vancouver Avenue.

The Penticton Hotel offered running water and acetylene lighting, along with open verandas presenting wonderful views of the lake and surrounding hills.

Ship passengers walked up the boardwalk from the wharf, while their baggage was carried by horse-drawn buggy.

A 1912 board of trade pamphlet stated that tourists could travel from Vancouver to Penticton via rail and ship in 27 hours. to the date of the next municipal election in 2018. We need to have council members that will fight for equality for all groups of taxpayers. Ted Wiltse Penticton