Elvis is in town!

This mural of Elvis along with his pink Cadillac (by Michelle Loughery) is on the side of the Beer and Wine store in Merritt B.C. (part of the town's musical theme hearkening back to its Merritt Mountain Music Festival days).

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Mysterious monster

Nha-a-tik - Ogopogo - 2003
2704 Highway 6, west-facing wall





Lake Okanagan's famous and mysterious monster has been around a long time. Sightings go back to the 1860s.

This bold, green mural has to be my favorite of all the Vernon murals. Isn't it imaginative and just plain fun?

With this monster mural we've come to the end of the Vernon mural series. I hope you've enjoyed them. Kudos to Vernon for giving us such wonderful street art!

The latest wheels

Indian Motorcycle - 2003
2904 - 30th Ave., west-facing wall



This mural features a Megaw Motor Company ad for Indian Motorcycles. Their all-chain drive was an improvement over the usual belt-driving motorbike of the day.

Rustic street

Dr. Reinhard's House and Office - 2000
2909 - 30th Ave, west-facing wall



This street scene pictures the home of Vernon's third doctor, Dr. Reinhard. It was both his home and the medical clinic.

(It was tricky to photograph though, because of the narrow space between it and the building beside it. It will always be viewed at an angle because of this, never straight on - unless it can be seen the windows of the neighboring building.)

Love that lake

Okanagan Lake - 2003
3101 - 29th Ave., east-facing wall

Beautiful Okanagan Lake is featured in this mural that looks like a page out of someone's scrapbook. The sailboat pictured is the only one with two masts available in pioneer times. (And wouldn't you just like to take a bite out of one of those juicy looking apples?)

Well-read

Office of the Daily News - 2000
2807 - 32nd St. west-facing wall



The Vernon News was the Okanagan's first newspaper. As well as local and world news, it had a weekly column of news about community life.

Steamy clean

Vernon's Steam Laundry - 2000
2807 - 32nd St. south-facing wall.



Opened in 1908 by Mr. Cecil Johnston, Vernon's first commercial laundry promised prompt and satisfactory service.

City of Vernon

City of Vernon - 2000
2902 - 32nd Street, south-facing wall



Eldon Seymour and Jim Duddle bought plans from a magazine, then worked 10 months to construct this open cockpit monoplane. The 40 HP engine could reach speeds of 90 MPH.

Bicycle mania

Bicycling - 1999
3300 - 30th Ave., east-facing wall





This mural celebrates bicycling. It was said one had to be possessed of an iron will to resist the cycle temptations on display at the many dealers in town.

Trompe L'oiel Museum

Museum Without Walls - 2000
3301 Coldstream Ave., west-facing wall




This Trompe L'oiel mural shows a little boy looking through a broken wall into a museum. The "museum" mural shows women working in an orchard during W.W.II. The painting is so realistic, there are even parking stops painted into it.

Steam Boat of the Okanagan

Captain Shorts, High Admiral of the Okanagan Ocean, began a rowboat service with a boat named after his mother, Ruth Short.

Captain Shorts and the Crew of the S. S. Penticton - 1999

Captain Shorts eventually developed a steam-powered vessel.



The crew of Captain Shorts' steam boat - the S. S. Penticton.

Life on the Ranch

Located at 3213 30th Avenue, this mural celebrates the young men that came to the valley in the 1860s to 1890s to live the cowboy way of life on the cattle ranches. The best riders and ropers were the Okanagan First Nation Cowboys.

Cowboys - 2002

Celebrating Aboriginal Peoples

This mural, "Okanagan Indian Band" is at 3219 31st Avenue - west-facing wall

It depicts the culture of the Okanagan First Nation's people. Notice the eagle and the wolf which are very much a part of lake legends. Some of the people in the mural are chief Pierre Louis and his wife Catherine, as well as Tommy Gregoire, an accomplished rodeo rider.

Okanagan Indian Band - 2001

Fire Brigade

At first the Vernon fire brigade had only leather buckets with which to fight fires. An insurance company prompted them to purchase a hand-drawn engine equipped with a hand pump. The vehicle in the mural - a later upgrade - has a motor.

"Vernon Fire Brigade" - 1999
3002 - 32nd Ave., North-facing wall

Alice Parke Diaries

Alice Barrett Parke's daily journals were the inspiration for this mural. In 1891 this Port Dover, Ontario resident moved to the Okanagan Valley to be a housekeeper for her brother. She married Harold Parke, a former Northwest Mounted Police officer and wrote in her diaries about work, health, religion, race and gender relations, and women's lives.

Her diaries later became the book Hobnobbing with a Countess and Other Okanagan Adventures: Diaries of Alice Barrett Parke, 1891 - 1900, edited by Jo Fraser Jones.

Alice Park Diaries
2002 by Michelle Loughery lead artist
2910 - 31st Avenue in Vernon.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

I like the handwritten journal page background and granny glasses. I wonder, when she was writing those diaries, did she have any idea they would someday be published?

Vernon murals

We spent a few hours last Saturday mural hunting in the Okanagan city of Vernon. (Yaaay - new murals at last!) Vernon's mural project, which consists of 27 murals scattered throughout the downtown area, is described on their website:

The mural project was a multi-year collaborative effort which included both a youth employment and revitalization strategy. Initial core funding came from Human Resources Development Canada as part of a job creation program.

Over 54 youth were hired and gained valuable life skills and real work experience. Many of these youth have gone on to rewarding careers. Two of the youth, Steven Skolka and Tyler Toews have created their own company called Canadian Murals. ...

The mural project created pride in our heritage and was a catalyst for revitalization of the heritage character of Vernon's downtown business center.

In the days ahead, I'll be posting my photos of these murals here. Today we begin with the mural "Shuswap and Okanagan Railway" created in 2000. It is located at 2899 - 29th Street and Michelle Loughery was the main artist.

Shuswap and Okanagan Railway

This spur of the CPR was begun in Sicamous in 1890. It reached Vernon in 1891. Though it was officially called the S&O, it was nicknamed the Molasses Ltd. because people said they could make the trip faster by foot.

(Information about the murals comes from The Heritage Murals of Downtown Vernon website.)