[BCMA] June E-News | Historic O'Keefe Ranch

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Happy 150th Birthday O'Keefe Ranch
Visit Us for the First Time Again
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** Happy Birthday TO US!
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This is it, tomorrow is the big day! Join us, Thursday, June 15th from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm as we celebrate 150 years. What a remarkable milestone. The Ranch is hosting a BBQ lunch (thank you Helmuts Sausage Kitchen (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=9bbccf24d0&e=1e053e65a6) for your generous donation), refreshments, and birthday cake for guests. Speeches will be made at approximately 1:00 by local constituents and community members as we share our passion for history and the significance of the O’Keefe Ranch to our community today. Enjoy a tractor ride, drum performance and good old fashioned games for the whole family. Door prizes and draw prizes also available. Regular admission rates apply.


** From the Curator
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Next week we welcome a digitization team from UBCO, who will be scanning O’Keefe Ranch’s collection of lantern slides (the older cousin to those 35mm slides your Aunts and Uncles made you view for hours on end). The slides were donated by Eileen O’Keefe in 2004, and have been catalogued by our summer students. The UBCO team will be working in the Greenhow Museum on Tuesday, June 20^th, and all are welcome to come out and see how archival photographic objects are digitized. While you’re here, check out our exhibition Staying Home: Photography, Family, Memory, now on view in the Greenhow Museum.

Carla-Jean Stokes, BA, MA, MA
O’Keefe Ranch Curator


** Cowboy Dinner Show Returns this Summer
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Every Friday evening from July 7 – September 1, the Historic O’Keefe Ranch presents “Canada’s Wild West”, the 9th season of the infamous Cowboy Dinner Show on our 150^th anniversary year. Begin the evening with a reenactment of the BC Express Co. stagecoach ride as it once traveled along the Cariboo Trail. Enjoy a true cowboy meal while being entertained by the Rob Dinwoodie Band and poet Ken Mather as they revisit the story of how Canada explored the Wild West, and how the O’Keefe Ranch was established even before Canada became a nation. Characters like Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont, the great chief Poundmaker and the North West Mounted Police will come alive through song, story, and drama in this year’s show. The evening includes a delicious steak dinner prepared by the Cattlemen's Club Restaurant (alternate food options by request) and a cash bar is available. Finish the evening by the campfire with music and poetry. The show is suitable for all ages and it runs from 5:00 pm
– 9:00 pm, tickets are $52.45 for adults, $37.75 for children and available for purchase online or by calling 250-542-7868

http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=72b4846198&e=1e053e65a6
Buy Tickets Now (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=ccda13c12a&e=1e053e65a6)


** It's Been a Whirlwind of Activities
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Since opening in May, we have already welcomed thousands of guests through the Ranch gate by way of our school program, from bus tour operators, our Mother's Day event, four weddings, our fabulous Black Tie and Blue Jeans Gala, television and photo shoots, and more. Most recently we were pleased to host the Township of Spallumcheen125th Anniversary Event which brought 500 visitors for the day, and the entertaining Murder Mystery show over the past weekend (Congratulations to Ken Mather on 20 Years of Murder Mystery shows!) We want to thank everyone who has already visited the Ranch in 2017, and we encourage new and returning visitors to come and enjoy a tour, visit the animals, walk through the museum, artisan shops, heritage buildings, tour the Ranch by horseback, and reminisce on the past. Stay for lunch or dinner, or stay overnight in one of our RV campsites. If you schedule a group of 10 or more, we offer a discounted rate of just $10 per person (+ GST). This is the year
to visit or revisit the O'Keefe Ranch on our 150th anniversary.


** Call for Volunteers
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It seems that we are always looking for new volunteers, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, we are just really busy! The more we expand our exhibitions and collections, create new programming and events, and improve our grounds and buildings, well, the more we need volunteers to help us every step of the way. So if you have even just a few hours available and you'd like to volunteer please get in touch at events at okeeferanch.ca (mailto:events at okeeferanch.ca?subject=volunteer)  or fill out our Volunteer Application (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=9469a85e1a&e=1e053e65a6) form and return it to us completed. Volunteer roles include event photography, general store attendant, special event crew, administration, animal care, grounds maintenance etc. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who have contributed in the past and those are you able to continue to work with us today. We logged 75
volunteer hours just in the General Store in the month of May, thank you!


** O'Keefe Ranch Commemorative Stamp
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Special thanks to the Kelowna Stamp Club and Peter Lepold for creating a 150th commemorative stamp for the O'Keefe Ranch. The stamp was printed through Canada Post but it's only available for purchase from the O'Keefe Ranch and Kelowna Stamp Club. Stamps are available from the Gift Shop and sell at $2.50ea (and yes, they are real, you can use them to mail your letters!) For more information read the story in the Vernon Morning Star HERE


** Current Exhibitions
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The History of O'Keefe Ranch in 50 Objects - we've gathered 50 of the most important objects to tell the O'Keefe story. Some are on display in the Greenhow Museum, but you'll need to find the rest around the site.

Staying Home: Photography, Family, Memory - how have photographic objects come to take up space in our homes and our lives? How did the ways in which we collected and experienced those objects change over time? Check it out in the Greenhow Museum, and be sure to snap your own Victorian Photo Studio Selfie.

Leading Ladies - who were some of Vernon and area's most accomplished women? Come read their stories and let us know who you think is a Leading Lady today.

The Gallery of Cowboy Treasures - a brand new gallery in the Greenhow Museum to house the famous Jade Saddle and all of O'Keefe Ranch's most beautiful cowboy gear. It might have been a rough-and-tumble life in the old west, but these guys and gals knew how to wrangle in style.

Native Cowboys - the best cowboys in the North Okanagan were those who knew the land the best. Learn their stories when you stroll through the Cowboy Bunkhouse.


** Upcoming Events
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June 15 - O'Keefe Ranch Turns 150! 12-2pm
June 17 - we are attending the Sunshine Festival in Vernon, 9-5pm
June 18 - Happy Father's Day, we are open 10am-5pm
June 20 - the O'Keefe Ranch hosts Vernon's Business After 5 (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=135d24c743&e=1e053e65a6)  5-7pm
June 24-25, Blacksmithing Class, Learn to Make a Knife (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=74ff605c49&e=1e053e65a6)  9-5pm
July 3-7 Children's Summer Pioneer Camp (full)
July 7 - September 1, every Friday evening, Cowboy Dinner Show 5-9pm

For more information visit our website under Ranch Activities (http://okeeferanch.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9abbe84adeaefd86c157e916&id=2dba2ec59b&e=1e053e65a6)
The Historic O’Keefe Ranch tells the story of early BC Ranching and endeavours to preserve the history and culture of the early ranching era for future generations.

Open daily, May -  October 1, from 10:00 am - 5:00 (from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm in July and August) Contact 250-542-7868 or info at okeeferanch.ca

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The Historic O’Keefe Ranch gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the City of Vernon, British Columbia Arts Council, British Columbia Community Gaming Grant, Young Canada Works, Canada Summer Jobs, Rotary Club of Vernon, Kalamalka Rotary Club of Vernon, and our members, donors, and sponsors. O'Keefe Ranch and Interior Heritage Society if a registered charitable organization, BN# 108090713RR0001
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Copyright © 2017 O'Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society, All rights reserved.
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Our mailing address is:
O'Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society
9380 Hwy 97N
Vernon, BC V1T 6M8
Canada
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