Growing Up Oliver Style
Nothing beats growing up in a small town. I grew up in a little jewel in the desert called Oliver, B.C. Most of you who grew up in Oliver in my era….the baby boomers…will agree that we had the best of both worlds.
We were never at a loss for something to do. Those of us who lived in town were only a couple of blocks away from a mountain..lots of hiking and packing picnic lunches or playing cowboys and Indians with the neighbour kids. When we were old enough, we swam in the Okanagan River or Tuc-el-nuit Lake. We also did our fishing there too because they were close enough to walk to. The rural kids also had their mountains to climb and little lakes here and there. They also had more chores being raised on a farm but found time for fun as well. We also had a swimming pool in town if you were not brave enough to swim in the river or lake.
The Ditch was a big item to explore. When the water was drained, it was ideal for bike races or roller skating and if we followed it over the river we could climb inside and walk to the top of the hill to where it came out on top again. It was built in the 1920’s to carry water as Oliver is at the end of the Great Basin Desert and does not get a lot of rain. From the source of the Ditch, there were siphons carrying water in all kinds of directions and were to be found in neighbourhoods as well. They were great fun and a bit dangerous too as they could be slippery and sticky with tar. We braved it all and managed to survive.
We had a theatre and Saturday afternoon would find the theatre full to capacity. Everyone waited for the serials to start and then a top notch movie. Mr. Gough always seemed to get the newest movies. The matinee was mainly for children so we saw all the Disney movies; all Roy Rogers and Dale Evans; Gene Autry too. I think we all loved the serials that came on before the movie. The candy counter did a booming business with hot buttered popcorn, pop, chocolate bars but best of all across the street was the Friendly Corner where a kid could get a bag full of candy for a nickel.
We were also lucky enough to have a full fledged baseball team in Oliver…the OBC’s. There was the great old grandstand with a boxed in area for the announcer to call the game and dugouts for the two teams. Every weekend the grandstand was filled to overflowing and lined up behind it were a passel of kids with their gloves read to catch foul balls…I can’t remember how much we got for the balls but I know we got paid. Hot buttered popcorn and pop and chocolate bars were sold and if memory serves me, hot bags of peanuts in the shells too.
The most important part of our growing up was that we did it together. Neighbourhood kids were like family. Those who had bikes would share with those that didn’t. We had homemade stilts and played war with wooden rifles, wooden shields and wooden swords!
Life was much slower then and the town much smaller so the townies knew almost everyone who lived in town. My Dad worked at Fairweather’s Hardware Store so we also would meet families who in lived in the rural area. School brought us all together….we were neither townies nor country kids……just kids having fun!
We were lucky too to have a fantastic high school. Every weekend in the winter we would go and watch basketball or volleyball. At the top of the gymnasium behind the benches was a little snack stand with popcorn, pop and candy. At lunch time the pep band would play while a make up team would have a game of basketball. We also had the finest cafeteria in all of Canada…that I am sure of. In the spring we held the Drama Festival with plays from the States and all around our area. Everyone from out of town was billeted with a local family. And of course the Band, Choir and Orchestra both Junior and Senior held concerts at least twice a year to an overflowing crowd.
As we grew up, we had Hannigan’s (Tastee-Freez) and the Dairy Queen to hang out at. Great jukebox at Tastee-Freez and we played it non stop. We had the Orchard Café where the best French fries were made. We could sit and watch the men play pool in the back and listen to the juke box up front. Dixie and Bob were our adopted parents, making sure we got in too much trouble. We also had the bowling alley to spend a couple of nights enjoying ourselves!
When we were old enough to drive, we did mainers down Main Street back and forth. In those days 50 cents could buy you a whole night’s cruising. We also had the Oroville Drive-In and the Penticton one too but mainly we went to Oroville. It was always scary crossing the border going down but coming back we usually got someone we knew.
When I moved to Vancouver and later Kelowna and Edmonton, I often had people ask first where Oliver was and then tease me about being a small town hick. I always commented right back that I wouldn’t have it any other way. We were lucky to have grown up in a town full of friends and relatives and where there were no “criminals” and very little real crime.
Yeah…I guess we were just a bunch of hicks but I bet we had more fun than any kid who grew up in a big city! I moved away from Oliver when I was a young adult but the years I was away, Oliver was always calling me home and home is where I am tonight.
Thanks Oliver for giving me a childhood that I can write about and share warm and happy memories about growing up in our little gem of a town!