KCIC's History - now available in our archive!

(L-R) Gord Hotchkiss, Tara Hurley (archivist at Kelowna Public Archives) and Don Rampone donating materials to the archive

NOTE: The first phase of our scanning project is now available to search in our own KCIC Library. Thousands of documents including old newsletters are now keyword searchable. A computer workstation has been set up in the library. Anyone wanted to access the archive can contact Don Rampone by email.

Three years ago, the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club began a scanning project. Documents and photographs, of relevance to Italian families in the Kelowna area, are being scanned and turned into files that are word searchable. Typing a single word into the database will instantly display all articles containing that word. Each article has a unique number attached to it, which will allow one to see the original item in the volumes of documents, accompanying the database.

Over 3500 items have already been scanned. Many more are waiting.  This collection contains many obituaries and newspaper articles about early Italian families. Some of the more interesting items to me,  that are already scanned, follow: 

In 1930, many of the early Italian families who lived in the Mission area, got together and formed the “Pandozi District Italian Community Club”. A copy of the land title shows it was registered on June 23, 1931. They soon built the Italian Community Hall at the intersection of Casorso and Gordon Roads.  A secretary’s minutes book, a treasurer’s ledger and numerous receipts and invoices tell the story of the building of this hall and the activities that ran out of it. One of those receipts lists the first Bocce balls that were purchased by club secretary, Gino Bazzana.  They were purchased on July 17, 1930, from  the City Grocery store, for a cost of $14.00. The receipt states that P. (Pasquale) Capozzi was the proprietor of “FANCY GROCERIES AND PROVISIONS” and that they “GUARANTEE SATISFATION.” There is a story that this set of Bocce balls still exists, so the search is now on to locate them.

Armando Bossio was the 1977 President of the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club. When we tried to find out about the Bossio family, we found only one nephew who knew little about his uncle. However, during the scanning of the old club newsletters we found a story. The Club newsletter, The Grapevine, (Volume 1, Issue 4) December, 1994 states: “The children and grandchildren of Armando and Doreen Bossio honored their parents with a Dinner and Dance at the Lodge Hotel on Saturday November 17, 1994, in honor of their 50th Anniversary.”  It goes on to say they were married in Fernie, BC, that he worked in the mines and the grocery and hotel business in Michel, BC and the Liquor Control Board in Vancouver, BC.  Armando was transferred to Kelowna where he worked for the Board until his retirement in 1979. 

Numerous newspaper articles from BC Historical Newspapers have been scanned.  Some of my favourites are those dealing with the Italian contribution to building of the Kettle Valley Railway and the Belgo Irrigation system from 1911-1914.  There are articles describing life in the camps as well as those articles telling of the fear some local residents had of these transient workers. 

There is a February 11, 1939 letter from Tommaso in Torino, Italy to B. Cribari & Sons in Fresno, California.  It is a response to a letter they received asking for information about the “Moscato perfume” used in making Vermouth. In the letter they describe the recipe and about the colours for both the Italian and French types of Vermouth. This letter was found in a collection of papers from Joseph Ghezzi, the original wine maker at Calona Wines.

Recently, the first instalment of this searchable database, an inventory of the items and the first 2879 items, has been donated to the Kelowna Public Archives.

The Kelowna Museums and the Kelowna Public Archives are honoured and excited to be receiving this donation from the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club (KCIC). The club has worked very hard on pulling together all of this material and working to digitize it in a way that makes it accessible to their members. Through this donation to the Kelowna Museums/KPA, the KCIC material will have an even wider reach to those interested in learning about the many contributions that Italian Canadians have made to the City of Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley.  

The KPA is utilized by both local and international researchers investigating topics varying from genealogy to academics; the addition of the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club’s materials will broaden the scope and depth of their work. The donation being in a centralized location provides greater access for researchers as well as allowing the materials to be viewed in a broader historical context amongst the KPA’s archival holding.