I couldn't help reading the old news letter above the men's wee wee pot at the Kelowna Club recently. Brings back memories to me of the early 1960's when as a young fellow I sat and listened to yarns and stories of the old timers and the old times being told at the round table at the old facility which is now the Indian Friendship Society on Leon Stories told by, to name a few, Bob Knox, Gabbie Bottger, Jack Treadgold, Dr. John Campbell, Bill Carruthers, and many others who are no longer with us.

You didn't need too lively of an imagination to get a kick out of these stories as all were adept at adding colour were needed to hold an audience, and of course there was no shortage of tongue loosener being hurried to the table.

One of the stories I remember - after I asked the question, "Why was the Kelowna Club formed in the first place?" - the question was answered to me in the following way:

In the 1800s, in England it was fashionable for the upper and middle class men to belong to a club not unlike our own. Fathers introduced their sons into the facility and so it continued. There was, also, another custom that was fashionable at the time: if a son became an embarassment to the father or his business the son was sent abroad to one of the many colonies of the Empire to eliminate "The Embarassment'. Some of these men arrived in the Kelowna area late in the 1800s and early 1900s. To keep the lads somewhat comfortable in their new surroundings the families would send money from England on a regular basis to hold them abroad, lest they return home. This was called a remittance. Thus the birth of the "Remittancc Men".

The monies were sent over, and in our area brought to town by paddle wheel boats like the Sicamous which docked at the foot of Bernard Avenue, on a regular basis. The Remittance Men who lived in the are from Okanagan Mission to Okanagan Centre to Joe Rich would saddle up thier horses and come to town whenever they were short of fUhds or entertainment. The meeting place was usually the Lakeview Hotel situated about where the Caravelle is today.

It was usually payday for most of them each time they arrived in town, usually Friday afternoon. Loans were made to those who had not yet received their remittance and the lonely days and nights of living in the wilds of Canada were soon forgotten as the Remittance Men washed away the memories of "Jolly Old" with the best the Lakeview could serve.

This, however, wore thin with the management of the Lakeview and others, when the whiskey took hold and damage resulted from the boisterous behaviour, such as horse racing on the main street of Kelowna at all hours of the day and night. This was accommpanied with loud shouting and guns ablazing and all night card games in the rooms upstairs which disturbed the regular clientel of the hotel. The Remittance Men were told to find other lodgings. Thus the Kelowna Club was formed.

In the beginning, to fulfill the need to keep in touch with things at home, many magazines and newspapers from England were subscribed to in the new club with rooms upstairs for the distant travellers as well as a stable in the back for his transportation back to his little corner of the Empire.

And that's the rest ofthe story, right Doc?

Footnote: Many of these men went to war 1914-1918 and were lost.