Photo: Contributed

Viewers can take a blast through the past of downtown Osoyoos to nearly 80 years ago thanks to a circulated photo from the 1940s.

In a post on Thursday, the Old Canada Series Facebook page shared the old 1946 postcard photograph, which received hundreds of likes.

The Osoyoos Mercantile and Vets Taxi can be seen along the Main Street strip.

To view photos of historic Oliver from the early 1900s, click here.

Photo: Osoyoos Fire Rescue

South Okanagan fire crews worked hard to contain a structure fire from inside a mobile home on Friday afternoon.

Rob Graham, deputy fire chief said they were called out around 4 p.m. and once crews were on scene, found fire and smoke showing from the structure, spreading fast.

“Crews got on scene and quickly started to knock back the fire, it progressed throughout the home fairly quickly,” he said.

He added that firefighters spent the majority of the evening knocking the fire back and getting access into the house to get everything contained.

Osoyoos Fire Rescue responded to the mutual aid request from Oliver as well, bringing an engine and four firefighters to the emergency request, which they shared on social media.

The structure has sustained fairly heavy damage from the fire, smoke and water.

Graham said the cause of the fire is under investigation and no injuries were reported. Residents were out of the home when emergency crews arrived.

A crew remains on scene to monitor the damaged structure, while most of the firefighters returned to their station.

Photo: Castanet

Rural Oliver has a new representative on the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen board of directors.

Area C director Rick Knodel died in early January, leaving his position with the governing body vacant.

As per the B.C. Local Government Act, his alternate director, Irwin Chahal, will step into that role if willing until the next regular election, due in 2026.

Chahal indicated he is indeed willing, saving the trouble of a by-election, and was sworn in earlier this month.

Photo: Contributed

Dayton and Pat Hayes.

An Oliver man is thankful to be alive following three different organ transplants in under a year.

Pat Hayes has dealt with a faulty heart since he was born.

His first operation came at three months old when he couldn’t yet walk. He’s lived his life knowing his heart would deteriorate over time. Eventually, the time came when he required a new heart.

In August of 2023, Hayes underwent a complicated heart transplant. He survived, however, after the surgery, his liver failed.

“I was at death’s door. I don’t remember any of it, but from what my family tells me, they desperately needed a liver or I wasn’t gonna make it. I had a matter of days,” Hayes said.

Luckily, his doctors found a donor for his second transplant. “That was a gift from God,” he said.

But after the liver transplant, six months after his heart surgery, his kidney stopped working, putting him on dialysis. At that point, it seemed like he couldn’t catch a break.

By May of 2024, Hayes underwent another complicated transplant for his failing kidney.

“Either you do it, or you give up. Basically, I wasn’t about to give up. I never had. I’ve got my son, and that’s the first thing I think of.”

Support from family and friends pulled him through on more than one occasion.

“I think it’s pretty significant to have three organs transplanted. That’s probably something that’s very, very rare,” said Bonnie Tosczak, Pat’s friend and ex-wife.

The couple divorced in 2009, but have remained good friends since; they share a son together.

“It’s a relief, it’s a thankfulness. My son is 22, he’s a young man and he’s watched his dad suffer with this heart issue for a lot of years. But you never want to lose a parent young, so it just makes you grateful,” Tosczak added.

On top of a challenging health journey, Hayes has struggled financially since going on disability, being unable to claim sick leave or unemployment insurance due to an application technicality.

“I’ve worked my entire life. I’ve worked since I was 16 years old. Somebody with a heart problem like I had would certainly not have to work if they chose not to,” Hayes said.

“But growing up with it, I was always of the mind that I didn’t even want to tell people that I had a heart problem. I didn’t want to be treated any different than anybody else.”

On disability, he receives $1,600, but even after cutting to the bare minimum, his expenses are $2,000. He’s paying the difference on a $20,000 line of credit, which is dwindling with time. He said he’s unsure how his return will look, depending on his recovery.

As such, Hayes’ son, Dayton, put together a GoFundMe fundraiser for his father, writing, “He just needs a bit of a helping hand to get back on his feet financially. He has gone through so much in his life, and this would put his mind at ease.”

The former welder thanks his family, friends, coworkers, doctors, nurses, and all who have supported him.

He said that although he’s had some dark days, it could always be worse.

“A real eye opener for me was when I was at [G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre] and, I saw people that were needing prosthetics, people that are missing limbs, and it makes you see that it can always be worse.

“You look at the courage that these people have, and I look at them and I’m thinking, ‘How do you get through this?'”

Photo: Contributed

Hike and Bike trail

A woman unexpectedly came in close contact with a cougar with prey while she was walking her dog near the International Hike and Bike Trail in Oliver Thursday morning.

At around 10 a.m., Beatriz Bosnjak was on the trail south of Oliver Parks and Recreation building near a bridge when she saw a cougar dragging a black creature.

“The cougar just took off up the hill, and my mom was like, ‘I’m getting the hell out of here,'” said Marko Bosnjak, Beatriz’s son.

Beatriz was about six feet away from the cougar when she noticed it. Luckily, Marko said, their dog didn’t notice. It was off-leash at the time, and it could have been a much more dangerous situation.

“My mom just asked me to put it on a Facebook page, the Oliver community page, and just let people know to kind of just be cautious,” Marko said.

“There’s a lot of seniors and kids that go down the Hike and Bike (Trail); it’s literally probably a kilometre away from the Parks and Rec.”

Marko added that his mom likely wont’ be letting their dog off leash anymore, and will be sticking to walks in town for a while.

Cougars are part of the environment in B.C. Some safety tips about cougars from WildSafeBC include:

• If you encounter a cougar, keep calm and never run. Make yourself look as large as possible and back away slowly, keeping the cougar in view, and allowing a clear exit for the cougar
• Pick up children and small pets immediately
• Older children should be kept close and in front of you so that you can ensure they remain calm and don’t try to flee
• Never run or turn your back as sudden movements may provoke an attack
• Children should play in groups. Do not leave children unsupervised.

Photo: Pixabay

An Osoyoos woman took to social media to warn the public after an off-leash dog caused a problem for her family near Osoyoos Lake.

“Off leash younger dog attacked my leashed dogs (both under [two] years old) on the way home yesterday,” wrote Anja in a post in a prominent community Facebook group, referring to a Tuesday, Jan. 21 incident.

“Effectively overturning my bike stroller, freaking out my young kid and causing a lot of fear for my dogs following the walk.”

According to Anja in conversation with Castanet, an unleashed poodle started being aggressive with her two leashed dogs, who became agitated.

The incident allegedly resulted in her bike stroller being turned over. Her daughter, who was initially in the bike stroller, was frightened and got out of the way.

Anja said it’s the second time an incident like this has happened to her.

At a recent Osoyoos council meeting, town staff said dogs at large are continuing to be a big problem in the resort municipality. Administration asked all owners to ensure their dogs are contained, secured, or on leashes.

Under Osoyoos’ animal control bylaw, dogs must be leashed in public spaces, unless it is in a designated off-leash area. Violating the bylaw could result in a fine up to $2,000.

Photo: Cindy Grigg

The number of cats rescued in the Okanagan has significantly ballooned over the last year, following already record-high numbers.

According to the Okanagan Humane Society, 883 rescue reports were made for cats and kittens in 2024 alone. However, that doesn’t reflect the actual numbers.

Each report represents one to 50 cats. As such, the society estimates around 4,000 individual cats were rescued in the year.

“We had a record year last year, and we broke records from the years previous for the number of animals that we’re taking into care and getting spayed or neutered,” said Romany Runnalls, Okanagan Humane Society volunteer president.

It’s a pervasive and growing problem.

In October, Cindy Grigg found a group of six cats along Lakeshore Drive and 16th Avenue in Osoyoos. Summer campers were feeding the cats, but moved back home for the winter and could no longer take care of them.

Grigg believes nearby farmers had barn cats, but could no longer could keep up with litters. Another nine cats were found in the same spot the year before.

“It’s a huge problem going on everywhere,” said Grigg.

“A few years ago, we had a real problem down at our end of the road with people dropping off cats. …My neighbour had, on two occasions, somebody trying to drop off a box of kittens in his hedge.”

Back in 2023, more than 50 sickly cats were found on a resident’s property, resulting in a $30,000 recovery bill for the Okanagan Humane Society.

Abandoned and feral cats require people to survive, said Runnalls.

“They can’t survive on their own outside without human support. Cats are not wild animals, they don’t hibernate,” she said.

“They are domesticated animals, so they absolutely need human support in order to survive the winters, especially because [there’s] no prey sources anymore for them to help supplement their diet.”

Grigg, who has voluntarily worked with the society numerous times, knows that all too well.

She kept three cats, rescuing a mom and two kittens, which fell pregnant. She said, “So in one fell swoop, in six months, it went from one to 16 cats.”

She also travelled from Osoyoos to West Kelowna twice in once day to get the most recent group ready to be adopted.

“I just don’t want them getting pregnant again, and having more and more and more,” she added.

In addition to requiring human support to live, cats who haven’t been socialized as kittens risk being unadoptable if they learn to fear humans.

“We would love to encourage our farmers and all pet owners to get their animals fixed,” Runnalls said.

The rescues mission is to “get all of these animals spayed or neutered in the Okanagan so that they stop reproducing out of control and causing problems,” she said.

With a $200 vet recovery cost, the Humane Society vaccinates, deworms, and microchips the cats for adoption. For feral and non-social pets, the organization offers a farm cat program.

“Every single one of them gets fixed. That’s our solution. That’s our main issue and mandate. And we really need support. We’re 100 per cent donor funded.”

For more information on the Okanagan Humane Society click here.

Photo: Dubh Glas

A South Okanagan distillery has earned multiple medals at the Canadian Whisky Awards.

Dubh Glas has called Oliver home for ten years, and during a recent competition against more than 200 entries from around the nation, two of its limited-edition releases stood out for “remarkable quality and innovation.”

The winning liquors were their “Oh Yeah!” and “XVIII.”

The distillery also won two silver medals for “Sand Between My Toes” and “Keys To The Kingdom.”

“Being awarded such recognition is incredibly humbling,” said owner and distiller Grant Stevely in a press release.

“It’s an honour to be part of an industry that continues to grow and produce exceptional whiskies, and we’re proud to be recognized on this stage.”

Dubh Glas prides itself on producing quality complex flavours in shorter maturation periods than usual, proving, as they put it, that “maturity is not measured by age.”

They use all British Columbian-grown barley, and aim to prove that craft distillers can compete on a broader stage.

“This recognition means so much to us as a small distillery,” Stevely said.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our local community and whisky enthusiasts who continue to enjoy our releases.”

Photo: Town of Oliver

An extreme cold weather shelter is reopening at Oliver’s Seventh Day Adventist Church on Similkameen Avenue Tuesday afternoon and overnight.

In a public notice on Tuesday, the Town of Oliver said the temporary shelter would be open again at 748 Similkameen Avenue.

The temperature is forecast to dip to -8C with the wind chill and gusts of around 10 km/h overnight, according to Environment Canada.

Starting at 4 p.m., the church will be open until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The temporary shelter has been open, during the same hours, since Sunday.

“This shelter is the result of work between BC Housing, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Oliver Missions Society,” reads the notice.

For more shelter information and related resources in the South Okanagan click here.