Why an iconic sign in Lake Country disappeared

Well-known Lake Country orchardist Alan Gatzke was overwhelmed with responses from community members after he took down an iconic sign on his property last week.

The sign that reads “Welcome to the Jewel of the Okanagan” has been on his Gatzke Orchards property on the old highway now called Pelmewash Parkway since 1986.

“It had been up for a long time and I guess it was more of a landmark than I realized, because I did Facebook post of it coming down and there was a lot of nostalgia about that sign,” he said.

Gatzke toppled the sign with a tractor for safety reasons as the posts holding it up were rotten.

The Jewel of the Okanagan phrase was coined by Dorothy Butterworth, a friend of Gatzke’s parents.

“The Butterworth’s came in the 1920s, and she was well educated and wrote poetry,” he said. “In 1947, she trademarked the Jewel of the Okanagan and wrote a poem about it. I’m currently putting music to the poem.”

Gatzke erected and painted the sign in the 1980s to advertise for his new fruit stand after he bought the property from his grandparents. This was before the District of Lake Country existed and Highway 97 was a two-lane road going through Oyama.

“It has a photograph of a water skier and cornucopia of fruit that kind of fits the culture of Oyama,” he said.

The sign came down in good shape and Gatzke is going to find a place for it on his property.

“The whole response about the sign coming down triggered a lot more nostalgia than I expected,” he said.

“I’ve had a number of people send messages asking for it. If a community club was interested in it, I’d give it to them, but I think I’ll have to repurpose it on the farm now, people will be upset at me if I don’t.”