Stay updated with breaking news from Jody lafontaine. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca) April 25, 2021 - 8:00 AM Holiday Park Resort s blue and white sailboat served as an Okanagan landmark for years before it burned to the ground earlier this month with still no word what caused the blaze. In the early morning hours April 1, ambulance paramedics spotting the burning boat along Highway 97 between Kelowna and Lake Country. They pulled over and firefighters from both Lake Country and Kelowna battled the blaze but the boat was destroyed. Dan Signal, president of the resort, said 90% of the boat’s remains have been removed and as the resort does not own the property on the corner, it’s unlikely any more signage will be going up in its place. ....
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Steve Windsor April 01, 2021 - 12:05 PM The beloved blue and white sailboat containing 120 years of Okanagan history is no more after it was destroyed by fire. Holiday Park Resort’s marketing landmark along Highway 97 in Lake Country has been showcasing the resort since its inception in the 1980s. Early this morning, April 1, president of the resort Dan Sigal watched as firefighters battled the blaze that ultimately destroyed the boat. Lake Country fire chief Steve Windsor said the boat was fully involved by the time firefighters arrived shortly after 1:30 a.m. “It’s almost like the passing of a well-known human. Being on the corner of the highway there, for that long of a time, it’s hit a lot of people. The resort staff is all upset and saddened,” Sigal said. “I kept wishing it was a joke, being the day it is. The phone call I thought was but it became pretty real, pretty quick.” ....
(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca) January 31, 2021 - 8:00 AM A blue and white sailboat has been the marketing staple of Holiday Park Resort since its inception in the 1980s, but the boat has a far longer history, some of which was spent beneath the waves of Okanagan Lake. The sailboat is actually the Orchard City II, a tugboat commissioned in 1903 that was used to cart logs across Okanagan Lake. In 1948, it sank after a storm near Kelowna’s Mission area, where it sat for almost 30 years, according to Old Kelowna, a Facebook page which highlights the Central Okanagan’s history. In 1979, it came back to the surface when Kelowna entrepreneur Leo Budnick decided to use it as a restaurant. ....