Ranch corrals city funds

Vernon city council has voted 4-3 to up funding of Historic O’Keefe Ranch by $75,000 to $125,000. It was scheduled to drop to $50,000 for 2021.

“The ranch is doing a lot of things right, and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” said Councillor Scott Anderson who proposed the motion. “It’s an efficient and and responsive organization.”

“I’m of the opinion they are turning it around, and what happened this year is 100 per cent as a result of COVID,” said Councillor Brian Quiring.

The ranch had operational loses of $124,000 this year primarily attributed to COVID-19.

“This has been a money pit. It’s time we had a referendum to see if taxpayers will continue to support it,” said Councillor Akbal Mund.

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“It’s a tricky one. It gives historical context to our community, but we need to sit down with our regional partners before we invest anymore money in this.We all need to agree to keep history alive,” added Councillor Kari Gares.

The funding motion was approved with Mayor Cumming, councillors Anderson, Nahal and Quiring voting in favour, and councillors Fehr, Gares and Mund opposed.

A subsequent motion by Mund was carried; to investigate the legalities of returning the ranch to the Devonian Foundation.

According to curator and historian Ken Mather, owners Tierney O’Keefe and his wife, Betty, decided to open the ranch as a heritage site in the mid-1960s. They restored the remaining buildings, relocated the blacksmith shop from its original location down the road, and re-constructed the general store, which had been the site of the first post office in the Okanagan valley. In June of 1967, exactly 100 years since the O’Keefe Ranch had been founded, Premier W.A.C. Bennett opened it to the public.

After ten years operating the O’Keefe Ranch as a heritage site and tourist attraction, the O’Keefe’s sold the buildings, artifacts and land to the Devonian Foundation from Calgary which, in turn, gave the ranch to the City of Vernon. The Ranch is now operated by a non-profit society, the O’Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society.