Remembering the sounds of days past
A few weeks back, I heard a church bell ring. What a beautiful, soothing sound. It reminded me of the wonderful Sunday morning music of the church bells calling the parishioners to come to their respective services. Bells, whistles and sirens around the world are used as a signal of the good or not so good happenings of the time.
Locally, years back, on Sunday morning, the bells of the Catholic, Anglican, United Churches and others called their congregation to the services. You knew when the bell went, and you were a few blocks away, you had to get a move on to be on time for the service.
There was no Sunday shopping in those days. It was a day for the family and a day of “rest.” Stores in Kelowna closed Wednesday afternoon, Vernon closed Thursday afternoons.
Another unique holiday in the Okanagan was “Little Boxing Day.” This was the day after New Year’s Day — Jan. 2.
Sorry, I’ve digressed from my reverie of wonderful sounds of days gone by. The Catholic Church bell rang at noon, and 6 p.m. daily. The 6 p.m. bell had several short single rings (can’t remember how many) then the regular bell would ring. For the Catholics this was the signal to say the “Angeles,” which were certain prayers of which I cannot remember (amazing how one does forget things). I for one would love to hear the bells being rung in Kelowna for any occasion that they deemed appropriate — Sunday, weddings, funerals, or to signal the time of day.
The sawmill whistle went at noon to signal the lunch break. It could be heard throughout the Kelowna area and the workers in the fields and orchards welcomed the sound as it signalled, not only to the sawmill crews but also to the other workers, it was the noon hour lunch break.
The local fire hall on Water Street would sound the fire siren. It had a certain sound — one long siren (wail) — up and down, which also signalled 6 p.m.
When there was a fire, it just kept on sounding the alarm. As the fireman were basically all volunteers, they had to either leave their employer (if they were close by) and get to the fire hall, or, if they were further away from the fire hall, they would receive a call from the hall as to where the fire was located. There were several people in town who would follow the fire trucks, but were not volunteers — just interested in what was happening and where. Via the grapevine, a certain person saw the smoke at the Aquatic in 1969 and arrived before the firetrucks and was taking pictures of the fire. That person was kidded for several years about beating the fireman to the fire.
When the Sicamous or the other paddle wheelers were plying the waters of Okanagan Lake the captains had certain whistles to signify their arrival at the dock. On occasion they had a specific signal to let the local people know that a new bride was on board. Everyone of course hurried down to the wharf to see and greet the new bride. Store owners would generally not lock their doors but would walk down to the wharf. If you, as a customer, needed something you would take the item and leave the cash on the counter. In those days, people had respect for others property and effects.
Another whistle that comes to mind is the Kettle Valley railway whistle. That steam engine whistle would sound as it was crossing the trestles and the logging roads on its way to stop at Myra, Ruth, Lorna and Chute Lake. What a wonderful sound as it floated out over the valley and you knew the location of each of the stops as the train travelled across the south slopes up from Kelowna on its way to Penticton. We can still hear the diesel train whistle at road crossings as it comes and goes in our fair city. The whistle from the steam engines was quite a different sound than the diesel engines of today.
While watching the Rutland May Day parade, it brought to mind the many ball games in the Kelowna and Rutland Parks. At these games, people would drive their car in and park it around the oval (in Rutland you can still do this). You would then be able to sit in your car if you wished and watch the game. If your team had a good play or a home run, you could then show your happiness by honking your horn. I can still recall the sound, on many a Sunday afternoon, of the bat hitting the balls and the horns honking at the Kelowna oval.
Another sound was the flying of the model airplanes in the oval. There was a young fellow who would go to the park to fly his planes and when the neighbourhood kids heard that all too familiar sound, they would run over to watch these fascinating planes. Sometimes there was an unfortunate landing — planes would need to be repaired and this also fascinated the young and old alike.
In the summer one could always hear the loudspeakers, and the music from the crescent (midway today) show while Regatta was on or any other event at the Aquatic.
Of course, today, with the modern cellphones, beepers, alarm watches, radios in and around everywhere, these are the sounds of the day.
Alice de Pfyffer, Lundy was born and raised in Kelowna. She was a member of the first kindergarten class of the Immaculate Catholic Church. She attended elementary and high school in Kelowna and graduated from (KHS) Kelowna High School in 1953. She has been instrumental in organizing their six school reunions, lunches and annual picnics. She was on the committee that published Kelowna Street Names and their origins. She is a life member of both the Okanagan Historical Society and the Kelowna Branch. This article is part of a series, submitted by the Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Historical Society. Additional information would be welcome at P.O. Box 22105, Capri P.O., Kelowna, B.C., V1Y 9N9.