My wife Dora, daughter Lucille and I moved to Joe Rich in the fall of 1951. I taught there for two years after the school had been closed for two years. The students had been on correspondence for that time. As there was no suitable accommodation, we opted to build a two-room cabin on the school yard. We purchased the lumber from the nearby sawmill and built the cabin with labour volunteered by friends. This cabin was demolished in the spring of 1996.

The school was a pleasant log building with big windows. Lighting was adequate for midwinter when the sun hung low on the horizon. Propane lighting was installed later.

The Joe Rich area was an unspoiled natural area with gravel roads and no hydro or telephone line to mar the landscape. There were only the small farms and some ranch land to indicate that human habitation existed. The main occupation was logging, which touch every family in the community. Certainly no water utility existed to supply the scattered homes. Most families obtained their water from the little creek that meandered through the valley. The Public Health Nurse required that the drinking water in the school be chlorinated. The students were not impressed. They immediately went down to the creek to drink at noon and recess.

The road to Joe Rich was gravel. This pleased the logging truck drivers because they would not have to chain up. Progress was inevitable, and so a paving project began at Rutland and proceeded up the hill towards the Black Mountain community. The bridge over Mission Creek was replaced. Timbers from the Kelowna Sawmill were too long to make the switchback at Eight Mile, and so an older gentleman squared the needed timbers by hand. Pioneer technology prevailed over the new.

We enjoyed the company of the students’ parents as well as the neighbours. These were: the Philpotts, Cecil and Charlie; the Weddell family; the Uppenborns; Harders; Smiths and Blacks. Since several denominations were represented, joint church services were held at the school. In all my years of teaching, no community was as cooperative as Joe Rich.

We are now retired in Kelowna and drive frequently to Joe Rich to remember our very own first home, as a young married couple.