by David Gregory
Special to the Review
The province of British Columbia celebrates Heritage week from Feb. 21 to 27.
This is the 25th year that the community of Summerland has actively celebrated its heritage.
Each year Summerland selects a heritage building, a heritage site and a heritage tree.
George Ryga Centre
At the most recent Heritage Advisory Commission meeting, the selections were made for 2011.
This year’s heritage building is the George Ryga Centre. This Centre was the home of Ryga, our province’s most noteworthy playwright.
He crafted his masterpiece, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, in this home in 1967.
This building is the only Summerland building that is a registered provincial heritage building.
The George Ryga Centre was founded in 1996 and has become a hub of cultural activity.
The centre conducts many events including the National Authors Series, the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness and an artist-in-residence program.
Upcoming events include Henderson-Forbes Songwriting Workshop on April 16 and 17.
Gartrell Homestead
This year’s heritage site is the Gartrell homestead.
This site that the Okanagan’s first commercial orchard. Fruit grown at this site was sold at the gold towns of Fairview (near Oliver) and Rock Creek in the late 1880s.
The Gartrells also transported fruit to sale in Vernon.
His peach trees were started from seeds from Okanagan Falls and his apple trees from seeds from his home province of Ontario.
In the early 1900s, the Gartrell orchard won awards at the Colonial Fruit Exhibition in London England, the Spokane Apple Show and the Exposition Universelle in Paris France.
Last year at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto the Gartrell orchards won first place honours for their Ambrosia and Aurora Golden Gala varieties.
Father Pandosy Apple Tree
The 2011 Summerland heritage tree is the original Father Charles Pandosy apple tree.
In 1862, at the Oblate Mission in Kelowna, an orchard of apple trees was established.
It is believed that Father Pandosy used seedlings from Saint Mary’s Mission at Mission B.C. for the Okanagan Valley’s first orchard.
For almost 100 years, the Mission apple orchard withstood disease, severe winters and even the fire that destroyed the Mission house.
By 1949 there was only one apple tree left.
That winter the tree was severely damaged and finally the famous winter freeze of 1955 to 1956 killed the tree.
Fortunately Summerland research scientist Dr. Donald Fisher had obtained “scions” from the original tree and had propagated a seedling in Summerland.
In 1966, at a ceremony to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Summerland Research Station, the Pandosy apple tree was re-planted.
The honour of the ceremonial planting went to Mrs R.C Palmer wife of the late Dr. Palmer, former Superintendent of the Research Station.
This original tree can be found near the road at the Ornamental Gardens within the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland.
Heritage Week begins in Summerland on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Summerland Chamber of Commerce building on Highway 97.
The Summerland Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society proudly presents award winning author Don Gayton.
His presentation is titled The Selfish Uses of History.
This author and ecologist will mine history for good stories yet to be told. Reaching all the way back to the Ice Age and forward to Peachland’s Eddy Haymour, Don will present a series of little known and entertaining snippets of North American history. Copies of his six books including his latest Okanagan Odyssey will be available.