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VIDEO: Old Kelowna Facebook page makes history

It started at Kelowna's old train station. Shona Harrison posted a photo on her own Facebook page out of concern that it might not be preserved. The response was huge, and Harrison decided to create a page for it all. Old Kelowna Facebook page was born.

<who>Photo credit: Shona Harrison </who>

"I thought 'Oh my gosh,'" said Harrison. "There's a real appetite here for our history." That was in 2014. The Old Kelowna Facebook Page has since grown to have close to 27 thousand followers with over 2, 000 photos in albums and many more to sort through. "People just flew with it," said Harrison. "We started getting so many photographs and amazing photographs that are not in the museum. These are more personal."

She operates the site along with fellow history buff Doug Cook. Cook is a former Kelowna resident currently living on the lower mainland. There is no salary for the work, but there are rewards.

<who>Photo credit: Old Kelowna </who> Kelowna's float from the 1958 Grey Cup Parade in Vancouver

When great photos come into her mailbox she says it can be like Christmas. But that's when the work begins.

"We screen them and then we try to catalogue them and put them in a particular order."

The next pay-off is seeing how people react to the photographs once they're posted. "Just the response to them. How they resonate with people."

<who>Photo credit: Old Kelowna </who>

Harrison said the site appeals to people because it fills a need for history, that's not readily available. "It's not very accessible," said Harrison. "Not very many people will go into the museum and go down to archives and sift through the photographs."

The site has been recognized as one of the best Facebook pages in Kelowna year after year by Best of Kelowna, and Harrison's work on the page was recognized with a special project award by the Central Okanagan Heritage Society in 2015.

The photos are made available for people to use as long as the Old Kelowna Facebook is given a credit.

<who>Photo credit: Old Kelowna </who>

Interestingly the most popular photographs are the ones featuring the fun-features of Kelowna that are no longer around like the waterparks and Flintstones Bedrock City.

<who>Photo credit: Old Kelowna </who>

Old Kelowna has inspired other communities to set up their own. Vintage Vernon Facebook now has over 7 thousand followers.



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