Vernon

Vernon really is the perfect place to live, work and do business.

Vernon is best known for its lakes and beaches in the summer, skiing and hockey for the winter, making it the envy of many across Canada. Surrounded by lakes and nestled amongst grassland hills, Vernon truly is a sight to behold. There’s a very good reason that Vernon is an especially popular getaway for residents of Calgary and Vancouver.

Vernon is also the commercial hub of North Okanagan, making it a fantastic location for business, providing many career opportunities for residents.

What more could you ask for? This is the city everyone should want to live in.

ref. - Wikimedia Commons (Andybremner2012) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon%27s_welcome_sign.JPG

Vernon has some of the best activities and events for the whole family to enjoy all year round.

Vernon hosts several golf courses one of the best being the Predator Ridge Resort, a 36-hole golf resort which is one of only two public golf courses in Western Canada ranked top 25 for the last 8 years.

Vernon has two top major ski locations at Silver Star Mountain Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Club. Curling is also very popular hosted at the Vernon Curling Club and hosting several major national curling events.

Tennis is also very popular with numerous courts in the city and the Vernon Tennis Association has since 2008 registered players to provide them with greater opportunities. The city has success with junior hockey being the home of Vernon Vipers which is one of the most decorated teams in Canadian history.

There are also numerous beaches with Kalamalka (Kal Beach) the most popular with a pier with a service club and beach volleyball in the evening.

Each winter, Vernon hosts the Vernon Winter Carnival which is Western Canada’s largest, the Sunshine festival in Summer and over the August long weekend the Komasket Music Festival. The state of art Vernon and District Performing Arts Center is home to performing arts for theatre, dance and child-oriented.

Vernon is named after Forbes George Vernon who was an MLA of British Columbia that was influential in finding the infamous Coldstream Ranch at Coldstream and Vernon became a city after incorporation in December 30, 1892.

The site for the city was first discovered by the Okanagan people naming it ‘Nintle Moos Chin’ in reference to jumping where the creek narrows based on Swan Lake that passes through downtown Vernon. 1811 is when fur trade began, and many fur traders settled in Vernon in 1863 after discovery of gold in Cherry Creek, Monashee Mountains and Mission Creek east Okanagan Lake. The first post office, hotel, general store and school house where constructed in 1885.

Vernon’s major economic hub status historically was started off by the many cattle ranches and fruit orchards that attracted many British families. The Canadian Pacific Railway expanded Vernon after its establishment in 1891 while the Okanagan Mounted Rifles in 1908 brought soldier trainings for the World wars. Vernon was incorporated to a city on December 30, 1982 with a city hall formed in 1903 and it was declared the largest municipality in 1904 having a bank and telephone. A school, hospital and public services followed in 1909. The World War did not stop the city growth with a new high school, sports stadium, a shopping mall and library.

ref. - Flickr - https://www.google.ca/search?q=vernon+bc+post+cards&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSmQEJWhb92KHx-OgajQELEKjU2AQaBggVCAEICQwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKPofhxXoHfEd-x_1pHfod5h2FFYkVnCu8KrQ5gz-dK88rkjm4ObM5rzkaMCkCtZMiy2jyT