This team of fifteen paddlers is standing beside their C15—class war canoe racer. This year is 1910 and Peachland, British Columbia is only one year old as a municipality. These young men are the athletic champions of their newly incorporated community. Behind the boat is the boat house on the edge of Okanagan Lake. In the background is evidence of one reason why the town had to incorporate—power poles. A provincial loan was needed for a dam and power lines.

They won many victories against the other small but growing towns along Okanagan Lake, such as Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton. The sternwheeler “Aberdeen” often carried canoes from place to place along the lake, passengers hoping for a view of the lake monster “Ogopogo.” This picture came from the son of the last man on the right and team captain, Bill Sanderson. His son Gordon Sanderson still lives in Peachland.

The Great War was soon to decimate the team, and many of them never returned. Peachland lost more men per capita than any town in Canada and the community cenotaph lists them. The war canoe races never ran again until the community enthusiastically supported them as a year 2000 project. Four vintage canoes once again churned through the waves along the waterfront to large crowds.

Do you have an ancestor who served in the Great War? Submit their story and it could be included on this Great War Album website.