Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of the Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from an Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear".
The Okanagan, also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of the Okanagan Country, extending into the United States as Okanogan County in north-central Washington. According to the 2016 Canadian census, the region's population is 362,258. The primary city is Kelowna.
Peachland is a district municipality of over 5000 residents in the Okanagan Valley. It is located on the west side of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1899 by John Moore Robinson, although the region had long been home to the Okanagan people. Peachland is approximately half-an-hour's drive south of the city of Kelowna and about a 20-minute drive north of Summerland. The Okanagan Valley is very narrow in the area and there are few terraces that mark former lake levels and the former lake bottom. As a result, the city is largely located on a steep sidehill. Like many other areas in the Okanagan, Peachland is rapidly growing, with new residents coming from all across Canada. Across the lake from Peachland is Rattlesnake Island, home of the legendary Ogopogo. Peachland is approximately 370 km from Vancouver, British Columbia, on the British Columbia south coast.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, comprising the City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna and their surrounding municipalities. The regional district's offices are located in Kelowna.
Westbank is one of the communities within the City of West Kelowna in the province of British Columbia. It is 12 km to the west of Kelowna. Other communities in West Kelowna include Casa Loma, West Kelowna Estates, Shannon Lake, Smith Creek, Glenrosa, Rose Valley and Lakeview Heights. Westbank is at the southern end of the municipality.
Okanagan College is a public, post-secondary institution with over 120 certificates, diplomas, degrees and programs including apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship trades programs. Its largest campus is located in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1963, Okanagan College has since grown to be the largest college in British Columbia outside the Lower Mainland and Victoria with over 8,500 full-time students on four regional campuses and is the second-largest trade school in British Columbia. Approximately 1,000 international students from over 40 countries currently study at Okanagan College. The College also has one of the fastest growing populations of Aboriginal students of any college in the province; in the 2015-16 academic year Okanagan College delivered educational programming to 1680 Aboriginal students.
The Kelowna Memorial Arena is an ice hockey arena located in Kelowna, British Columbia. It was built in 1945 and has a capacity of 2,600. It is notable for its small ice surface of 180' X 80'. It once hosted the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Wings and the Kelowna Rockets before they moved into the new Prospera Place. The arena also hosted the Kelowna Spartans of the BCJHL, who won the Centennial Cup in 1993. The old arena still stands and is used for Kelowna Minor Hockey, and the Okanagan College Hockey League.
Mount Boucherie is a mountain located in West Kelowna on the west shore of Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada, opposite the city of Kelowna. It is the remnants of a former stratovolcano created nearly 60 million years ago. Between four and six different glacial periods over the past 50 million years have eroded the volcano to produce Mount Boucherie. Though it now only rises 417 metres above the nearby lake level, it is estimated to once have had an elevation of 2,000 m (6,562 ft) or more.
CHSU-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.9 FM in Kelowna, British Columbia. The station currently broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format branded as 99.9 Virgin Radio.
CKQQ-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format at 103.1 FM in Kelowna, British Columbia. The station is owned by Jim Pattison Group.
West Kelowna, formerly known as Westbank and coloquially known as Westside, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shannon Lake, Smith Creek, Rose Valley, Westbank, and West Kelowna Estates. West Kelowna had an estimated population of 34,883 as of December 31, 2018.
The Kelowna Community Theatre is an 853-seat Theatre in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It is the home of the Kelowna Community Concert Society it is also the home of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and has been since it opened.
Okanagan Mission, also known colloquially as "the Mission" is a neighbourhood of the City of Kelowna in the Okanagan region of Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located on the south side of the city at the foot of Okanagan Mountain. It derives its name from the Okanagan Mission founded by Father Pandosy, historically known as the Okanagan Mission, which was located here and was the first non-native settlement in the Okanagan Valley.
WT Small House is reputed to be the oldest continually inhabited home in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It is listed on the Kelowna Heritage Register as a highly valued example of early residential pioneer settlement in the Okanagan Valley.
Mission Hill Winery is a wine grower and producer based in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, in the Okanagan Valley wine region. The winery is situated atop Mission Hill overlooking a 145 kilometre lake, mountains and vineyards.
Lambly Creek is located in the Okanagan region of British Columbia. The creek flows into Okanagan Lake from the west across from Kelowna. Lambly Creek is also known as Bear Creek. In 1876, gold was discovered in the Creek. The creek was mined for gold. Gold Nuggets with a $5 value have been recovered from the creek.
Mission Creek is a large creek in the Okanagan Region of British Columbia. Originally called N'wha-kwi-sen, it was later mapped as L’Anse-au-Sable, the name Mission Creek was adopted in 1860 in honour of the Catholic Oblate Mission established by Father Pandosy and other settlers. The Creek rises in the Greystoke Mountain Range and runs west about 43 kilometres (27 mi) before emptying into Okanagan Lake south of Kelowna. Its watershed covers about 200,000 square kilometres . Mission Creek was designated a BC Heritage River by the province in 1996.
Jean-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Félix Pandosy, commonly known as Father Pandosy, was a French Catholic priest who was the first settler in the Kelowna area in British Columbia. He set up a church and a school and attracted many settlers to the area. He founded the Okanagan Mission which was the first permanent white settlement in the British Columbia Interior aside from the forts for the Hudson's Bay Company and the gold rush boomtowns of the Fraser Canyon.
Canadian National Tug no. 6 was a diesel-powered tugboat owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) company on Okanagan Lake, British Columbia. It was launched in 1948 and transferred railway barges between Penticton and Kelowna. It was retired in 1973, becoming the last of many tugboats to operate on Okanagan Lake. Tug 6 was moved to Penticton in 2007 to rest alongside the SS Naramata and SS Sicamous, two Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) steamboats, as part of the S.S. Sicamous Inland Marine Museum. The ships are currently being restored by the S.S. Sicamous Restoration Society.
MV Pendozi was a ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. The provincial government commissioned her in 1939 and she was the first steel ferry built for the run connecting the communities of Kelowna and Westbank. She was 147 feet (45 m) by 42 feet (13 m) and weighed 237.5 tons. She was powered by two 150 horsepower Vivian engines and had two life boats and two life rafts, as well as four propellers, two at each end of the ship. Pendozi could carry 30 cars. Kelowna residents suggested her name after Rev. Father Charles Marie Pandosy, O.M.I., who established Okanagan Mission, British Columbia in 1859. A street in Kelowna was also named Pendozi after him and the misspelling was never changed and even applied to the new ship because it reflected the proper pronunciation of his name. In the line of Kelowna-Westbank ferries, Pendozi came after MV Kelowna-Westbank and was later joined by MV Lloyd-Jones and MV Lequime. When the Okanagan Lake Bridge opened in 1958, the three struggled to carry the load and were eventually retired. Pendozi was returned to rest in Westbank in 1965, and is now the clubhouse for the Westbank Yacht Club.
