Ogie lost his head

Photo: Kelowna Museum

Norm McClelland, maintenance co-ordinator, and Richard Potts, exhibits fabricator give Ogie a hand.

It's kind of "sacrilegious," that Ogopogo would be shown with his head off.

But, despite the tongue-in-cheek protestations of Mayor Colin Basran, that's just what the Kelowna Museum did during a presentation to city council earlier this week.

"I just can't believe you went public with those photos with that head being moved around like that," said Basran in response to the depiction.

"It's like finding a Disney character with their mask off. You can't show Ogopogo being worked on like that."

The large Ogopogo, which at one time adorned a city float, was recently donated to the museum by the city. It had been collecting dust at the city works yard.

Museum executive director Linda Digby was thrilled with the addition, admitting the museum's Ogopogo collection is "surprisingly small."

"This recent acquisition, we are quite excited about in that it's the first large object we have received to the collection," said Digby.

"There is a growth opportunity for the Ogopogo collection, remembering that part of the role of a museum is not to shy away from controversy."

Digby said museum staff cleaned every orifice to remove insects and spider eggs, which could contaminate the rest of the collection.

The recent debate over whether the legendary lake creature should, or should not, adorn the latest rendition of the city's float gained national exposure, as Coun. Luke Stack reminded council.

He said he heard from people from Ontario and the Lower Mainland who saw accounts of the debate.

"There is no doubt Ogopogo has stimulated a lot of debate over the years and is also a very integral part of this community's story. It shows up in a lot of our crests and emblems," said Digby.

There's no word yet on how the museum will use the large Ogopogo.

While the museum gained Ogopogo, it lost one of its larger collection pieces, the CP boxcar, acquired some 30 years ago.

"Since that time it has been stored on the CN tracks in the industrial area. With the tracks being pulled, we needed to find a solution where this valuable piece of railway heritage should go."

"We are so delighted, with the support of CN and the Revelstoke Railway Museum, we were able to find a very suitable home."