(see Ski Hills)

Joe Rich has even had golf. When Jim Weddell and his logging friends were young, they golfed on the Weddell’s pasture. The greens were rough, but the price was right. In 1978, the radio station CKIQ and Labatts sponsored a winter snow-golf tournament on Weddell’s property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1954 S Weddell, C McClelland, J Weddell, B Cross, D Weddell, D McClelland, W Slyter

Organized sports for the children probably began in Joe Rich with Gert Weddell’s Monday evening softball for the children. They grew into many events for the young people and young adults. First, there were the Ball Tournaments. Other teams came and stayed in the valley for a few days of games in the big field southwest of and behind Weddell’s house. These still go on sponsored by the ‘Downtown Joe Rich’ team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1999 Shelagh Weddell pitching

Volleyball also became a favourite and is still played at the hall on Thursday nights.

Some sporting events like “Tug of War” were sometimes associated with picnics for all the residents of the valley. Barbie and Ken Ross were often enthusiastic organizers. Sometimes the Tug of War took place across the Joe Rich Creek and the losing team was dragged into the creek for a wetting.

The Kelowna Metal Detector’s Club has held treasure hunts on Weddell’s fields on several occasions.

These events were all evidence of a wonderful community spirit. Most of the people involved had lived in this sort of setting for years, many worked in the valley or the woods and they had a “live and let live” approach to life. Unfortunately, this spirit began to break down in the early 1980s when the valley people began to show signs of splitting into two groups. One was the old timers and the other was the new residents from a more urban background who were more “environmentally” conscious and wanted a more rigid management of what valley residents could or could not do even on their own properties.

The Joe Rich Environmental Group hoped to be able to make the Joe Rich Fire District a ‘no shooting zone’ in 1998. They also hoped to be able to have some Joe Rich sites and buildings declared ‘environmentally sensitive areas’.

An event which emphasized the division in community opinion was the proposal for a shooting range put forward by the ‘Joe Rich Sportsmen’s Association’ in 1994. The association had been formed by a group of men opposed to the ill-fated federal government gun control program. They were headed by Neil Hemming. They hoped that Uppenborn’s field could be developed into a shooting range in time to host the shooting events at the BC Summer Games. However, many in the community were strongly opposed. James Baker, Professor of Archaeology at Okanagan College had the area declared a heritage site because he felt that natives had come there to gather stone for tools possibly as long as 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. We have not heard of significant archaeological discoveries being made on the property, but the controversy was enough to slow up the gun range plan. However, the Sportsman’s Association worked hard and persisted. They set up elaborate fire protection measures, and a warning ribbon and signs around the property. Eventually, only nine days before the BC Summer Games (July 21 – 24, 1994), the Regional District rezoned Uppenborn’s field and the shooting events of the games took place there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Ball Team T- Shirts