Summerland Museum & Archives Society
9521 Wharton Street V0H 1Z0 Summerland, BC, Canada

It's Throwback Thursday, and although we are feeling the chill of winter in the air in the mornings, we are enjoying the daily sunshine we're being treated to! In this photo from 1906, a group of curlers are seen on the Prairie Valley reservoir, including Frank Osler (center with black hat), and R.H. Agur and sons. #throwbackthursday... #tbt #summerland #summerlandmuseum #reservoir #curling #winteractivities See more

It's Throwback Thursday, and on a day where we would normally be busy preparing for many Festival of Lights visitors, today we are reminiscing! Historically, the Festival of Lights is held on the last Friday in November, and the Summerland Museum saw over 500 people come through the doors last year during the event. The Festival of Lights started in 1987, led by a group of four Summerland businessmen who were involved in the Downtown Business Improvement Area program. Jerry ...Hallquist, Bruce Hallquist, Art Sewell, and Allan Fabbi, along with the Festival of Lights committee, sold strings of Christmas lights to businesses in the downtown core to encourage participation in the event. Later, the District of Summerland joined in by decorating buildings and light posts throughout the downtown area, and businesses continued to support the event, and expand their involvement year after year. It is estimated that the first year of the Festival, or "Light Up", as it is more casually known, saw between 4,000 to 5,000 people join in on the fun. In more recent years, the festival expanded into a multi-day, multi event celebration, including Light up the Vines, Sip N' Shop, and Light Up The Arts, with attendance skyrocketing to almost 15,000 in some years. Do you have photos from Festival of Lights from years past? Share them in the comment section! #throwbackthursday #tbt #summerland #summerlandmuseum #festivaloflights #lightup

Out of an abundance of caution, the Summerland Museum and Archives is closed to the public, effective Tuesday November 24th, until further notice.

It's Throwback Thursday, and the sun is shining! In this photo from 1956, we see people standing inside the building at the summit of Brent Mountain (also known as Snow Mountain). The elevation at the summit is 2203 m, over four times taller than Giant's Head Mountain... a worthy spot to take a break from a hike, for sure! The building pictured is a former BC Forest Service fire lookout tower, which now serves as a sheltered area to take in the 360 degree views of the Okanag...an Valley, as well as the Coast and Monashee Mountains. #throwbackthursday #tbt #summerland #brentmountain #hiking #lookout #views