Incorporate Ok Falls

It is interesting to read the many opinions being shared about the upcoming incorporation vote that will take place in Okanagan Falls on March 22.

One opinion is some people like the (community) the way it is and don't want it to change. I find that interesting because the (community) has changed over the years. Let me share some examples.

There was nothing but a railway spur and land where Railway Lane is now. The end of Railway Lane was, in fact, where the pier that served the barges carrying railway cars landed. Later it was a great swimming place. Now there are condos there.

Going a little further east, there was a large, empty lot where there is now a shopping area. Where Cedar Street curves to the east, there was nothing, and then, eventually, the spit, which led to a dock that ran from the spit east. It has since been removed.

Along Highway 97, or 9th Avenue, there was a barbed wire fence that ran from Cedar Street to Ash Street. I believe there was one house on the property, which later burned down. There were no buildings along the highway but the store on the corner was there. Eventually, there was a building that was, first a restaurant, then, I believe, something else before it became a doctor’s office and the Pharamsave store.

There was no hotel. The Bassets still lived in their house. There was no museum. There were houses on the block between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue, bounded by Ash Street and Willow Street. The United Church is there, but the Anglican Church was not.

There was the piece of land that became Centennial Park but it was not developed or used for much. I remember when we got electricity, and later, street lights. I can remember going to school, which was at first a one-room school and then a two-room school, with a gravel playground and no swings or other amenities. We played house on the south side of the building and our rooms were delineated with pine cones.

There are many more but these are the things I recall, and (they are ) probably coloured a bit with time. They are not in chronological order.

People are worried about costs going up if we incorporate. I believe they will go up regardless of who is in charge. I also believe we have a better shot at determining how much, and for what, those costs will be if we are in charge of our own destiny.

As to who will be the mayor? Well, I've lived through the reigns of many groups who have influenced the (community), who were never voted in but who had the best interests of the place at heart. So I guess I can wait, see and vote accordingly.

In case there is any doubt, I voted yes to incorporation. I hope other will as well.

Eleanor Walker. Okanagan Falls