Album

A truck loaded with iceburg lettuce in British Columbia’s Joe Rich Valley.

This photo was taken circa 1945 in the Joe Rich Valley approximately twenty-five kilometres east of Kelowna, B.C. The truck is loaded with iceberg lettuce that was grown on the Weddell farm. The lettuce was next taken to Kelowna, loaded onto rail cars packed with ice, and sent eastward.

At the time this photo was taken, the Joe Rich Valley was a small farming community at the end of a gravel road. Now Highway 33 goes from Kelowna east through Joe Rich and continues south to Rock Creek close to the United States border. Joe Rich was named after the man said to be the first settler in the valley, an American alleged horse thief seeking refuge from justice.

Pictured are the Weddells’ hired hand Albert (second from left) and siblings (from left) Margaret, Stuart, Patricia, David, and Jimmy Weddell. Their father, Cyril Weddell, arrived in the Joe Rich Valley in the early 1920s, when there were already a few families farming there. Cyril married Mary Shanks, the teacher at the local one-room schoolhouse. Members of the Weddell family continue to live in the Joe Rich Valley.

Do you have a photograph that captures a moment, important or ordinary, in Canada’s history? If so, have it copied (please don’t send priceless originals) and mail it to Album, c/o Canada’s History, Bryce Hall, Main Floor, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9. Or email your photo to album@CanadasHistory.ca. Please provide a brief description of the photo, including its date and location. If possible, identify people in the photograph and provide further information about the event or situation illustrated. Photos may be cropped or adjusted as necessary for presentation in the magazine. To have your posted submission returned, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.