a letter from John Hamston, 1981
To give you a brief rundown on this most unusual gentleman, Old Kennard came to Canada from England well before the turn of the century and lived for many years at Nahun, on Okanagan Lake’s westside trail to O’Keefe Ranch. During his tenure, he kept a store and post office (he was the official Postmaster) that tended to about 40 people in the area.
He was an avid hunter and a close friend of Major Allan Brooks, the wildlife artist, and they both spent a great deal of time hunting ducks and the like. Kennard made a little extra cash marketing the ducks to the neighbours.
When the first war broke out, Kennard applied for active service, but age prevented him from getting in. However, he was accepted for Home
Vernon Internment Camp and the Home Guard
Guard duty and when the prisoner-of -war camp was established in Vernon, this is where he was assigned. He stayed until the war was over in 1918.
When he was accepted in the Home Guard, the Government bought his store at Nahun. They had to keep the Post Office open even though all the settlers on the westside were English and all joined the armed forces.
After the war, he sold the property at Nahun to Bernard Biggin and moved to Okanagan Centre. He bought several town lots from Mr. Major, another British character in his own right.
No doubt Old Kennard had a private income from England because when he was discharged from the army he came to the Centre and immediately built himself a house. This was no ordinary bachelor’s cabin, but an honest to goodness two story house. Granted there was no basement, but he built a beer cellar quite close with a storage room above. A little further away he built a garage to house his Austin, one of the very few cars at Okanagan Centre at the time. Up the hill about fifty feet, he built a large workshop where he spent many hours.
You see, back in England, Kennard had trained to be a “Brewmaster”. This was after a formal education at Marlborough University. He produced a very limited amount of fine ale using hops he grew in his garden.
Kennard was immaculate in his habits and was the envy of the housewives of the district. His garden was also a joy to behold, both for the vegetables and the flowers. His Honeysuckle grew over little fences and arbors and could be smelled for miles.
Every Sunday would see visitors come from Kelowna and elsewhere by boat to stop and admire his garden. He would prepare a picnic area and be the perfect, gracious host to all.
Old Kennard at home in Okanagan Center
He would invariably offer his guests a bottle of home-brewed ale. He was always frugal with his supply and the offer was only extended as a single bottle. He was not having anyone leaving his place in the least inebriated.
When I was married in 1933, after having lived at Okanagan Centre for some four years, I bought two twenty-five foot lots from Old Kennard for the princely sum of fifty dollars. It was the
depression, after all.
It was during the last seven years of Mr. Kennard’s life that I found out what a truly fine a man he was. Poor folks with large families, and there was many at this time, would inevitably find a large hamper of food on their doorstep on Christmas morning, with no indication of where this manna came from.
Although he never married, he had a great love for children. Our two year old boy would meet his other neighbour’s three and four year old girls at Kennard’s which was halfway in between. They were warned by Kennard that there would be no crying or they would be sent home. Inevitably tears would flow but would always be stopped by his stock of sweets.
Old Kennard was truly a legend.
