About Vernon

Jewel of the North Okanagan

Vernon is a city in the south-central region of British Columbia, Canada. Named after Forbes George Vernon, a former MLA of British Columbia who helped found the famed Coldstream Ranch, the City of Vernon was incorporated on December 30, 1892. The Greater Vernon area has a population of 55,418 (2006) and is the largest city in the North Okanagan Regional District. A resident of Vernon is called a "Vernonite".

In 2005, on an episode of The Early Show, Vernon was ranked as one of the top six most desirable communities to retire to in North America by Consumer Reports.

Three provincial highways can be found in Vernon: Highway 97 which passes through Vernon, Highway 97A which begins in Vernon, and Highway 6 which ends in Vernon. In recent years, each of these highways has undergone major renovations, including a new $22-million interchange system and four lane expansion at the Highway 97 and Highway 97A junction.

The City of Vernon, in conjunction with the District of Coldstream and the North Okanagan Regional District, operates Vernon Regional Transit through BC Transit. This transit system is responsible for all local full-service and handyDART public bus transportation. However, there are very few buses services the area, and they do not run on a very tight schedule. Most resisdents get around by automobiles, and in the summer many of them walk. Greyhound Canada also serves Vernon for out-of-town destinations from their downtown bus terminal.
 

Vernon is served by the Vernon Regional Airport (IATA: YVE, ICAO: CYVK) in the Okanagan Landing area. Currently, the airport has no scheduled air service, and is primarily used by civilian aircraft.

The Greater Vernon area is also served by Kelowna International Airport, located approximately 40 kilometres (about a 30 minute drive) south on Hwy 97. Numerous airlines provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to points throughout British Columbia and Alberta, as well as to Toronto, Ontario and Seattle, Washington (USA). Some airlines also offer service to locations as far away as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Most people that are traveling long distances have to drive to Kelowna International Airport and then fly from there to Vancouver International Airport, where they take their flight to the location they are traveling to.

Vernon is currently served by School District 22 Vernon, a school district that includes 14 elementary schools and 5 high schools. The high schools are: Vernon Secondary School, Kalamalka High School, Fulton High School, Seaton High School, and Charles Bloom Secondary. Vernon Secondary School, otherwise known as VSS is in the neighborhood of East Hill. Kalamalka High School, otherwise known as Kal, is in the neighboring town of Coldstream which is near Kalamalka Lake. Fulton High School is closer to the Wesbild center, in the lower-income part of town. Seaton High School, also known as Seaton, is located closer to downtown Vernon, near the downtown residences. Charles Bloom Secondary is in the town of Lumby, which is East of Vernon on Highway 6. The high schools have many school rivalries, these are mainly between VSS, Kal, and Seaton. This may be because the other schools are on the outskirts of town.[8] Vernon is also home to multiple tuition charging schools such as religious schools.

For post-secondary education, Vernon is home to Okanagan College, a multi-campus full degree granting college. Many summer courses and yearly courses are offered there. Other smaller community and specialty colleges exist within Vernon.

Each winter, Vernon plays host to the Vernon Winter Carnival. First held in 1961, it is now Western Canada's largest, and North America's second largest Winter Carnival. Also, in summer, there is the Sunshine festival, held on the main street.

Vernon is also home to a state of the art performing arts centre, The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. The society presents three series of entertainment including dance, theatre and child oriented. The performing arts centre also hosts hundreds of touring musical acts, local talent and community based events on a yearly basis. Vernon also boasts one of the most successful film societies in Canada. Films are presented every second Monday at Vernon's Towne Cinema (www.vernoncinema.com). The Vernon Film Society also produces two film festivals per year. One is a festival dedicated to the presentation of documentary films from around the world. The Second film festiva is also an international film festival dedicated to the presentation of mainstream movies that fall into the "Arts" genre.

Vernon's Towne Cinema is the home of The Vernon Film Society and is a classic example of a 1930's Art Deco style theatre. Built in 1929-30, the Towne Cinema began its life as The National Ball Room, presenting live entertainment on stage, hosting banquets and stage plays. It was the main venue in Vernon for entertaining the troops during the Second World War and was heavily involved in selling war bonds and the collection of aluminum from its customers for the war effort. Children could bring an old aluminum pot or pan and receive a ticket for a free movie, the aluminum going towards the construction of war planes and other military materials so necessary for the achievement of victory of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. The Towne Cinema has enjoyed 80 years of success entertaining movie fans in this Okanagan city and hopes to enjoy 80 more.

The Vernon Community Arts Centre is located in Polson Park near downtown Vernon. This community centre is a studio-based facility and is operated by the Arts Council of the North Okanagan. The VCAC offers year-round programming for youth and adults such as art classes and workshops, an artist in residence program and independent study sessions.

Vernon also hosts the Creative Chaos art fair. Many artisans come and sell: jewellery, chocolates and candies, unique clothing, and other household items and/or decorations. The fair usually lasts three days and many of the citizens of Vernon partake. One of the main draws of the fair is the food fair. The food fair is held in the ice-less ice rink in the middle of the Rec Centre. A number of vendors are there selling many different cultural foods. The Creative Chaos art fair is a highlight in Vernon.

The Wesbild Centre (formerly the Vernon Multiplex), completed in 2001, is home to the Vernon Vipers. Vernon is known for its lakes and beaches in the summer, and skiing and hockey in the winter. It is therefore a year-round tourist destination and weekend get-away for people from Vancouver and Calgary. During the summer Vernon hosts a large SloPitch tournament (Funtastic).

The Vernon area is home to several golf courses.[13] Among these is the prestigious Predator Ridge Golf Resort, a 27-hole golf resort and community. This resort is one of only two public golf courses in Western Canada to have been ranked by Score Magazine as one of Canada's top 25 golf courses over the last 8 years, and in 2000 was the host of the Export A Skins Game featuring Fred Couples, Sergio García, Phil Mickelson, and Mike Weir.[14][15] A new Fred Couples Signature golf course is now open. "The Rise" showcases unsurpassed views of the Okanagan Lake and of Vernon itself.

One of the most popular winter sports in Vernon is skiing. Blessed with two major ski locations, each winter locals and tourists alike flock to Silver Star Mountain Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Club. Known as one of the top ski resorts in North America, Silver Star also has a large cross-country skiing area which hosted a 1991 FIS Cross-Country World Cup event.[16][17] As another world class ski area, Sovereign Lake is the region's premier cross-country skiing location with over 50 kilometers of skiing terrain.[18] This Nordic Club gained worldwide exposure as the host of a 2005 FIS Cross-Country World Cup event.[19]

Curling also has a strong following in Vernon, with local curlers being found at the Vernon Curling Club. In past years, Vernon has hosted several major national curling events, including the 1979 Canadian Senior Women's Curling Championship, the 1992 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, and the 2004 Canadian Senior Curling Championships. Its first international event, the 2008 Ford World Women's Curling Championship was held at the Vernon Multiplex.

Hosting several beaches, Kalamalka Beach (Kal Beach) is amongst the most popular near Vernon. A large pier built by a local service club is used for sun bathing and jumping. In the evenings the beach is used extensively for beach volleyball. Kin Beach and Paddle Wheel Park Beach on Okanagan Lake are also among the most popular of the twenty or so beaches in or near Vernon.

SunValley Speedway brings stock cars, including a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series national event, to their facility north of Vernon.

Cougar Canyon is near Vernon, with both a popular rock climbing site and an ecological preserve.

Vernon has also seen success in junior hockey. The Vernon Vipers (former the Vernon Lakers) are one of the most decorated junior teams in Canadian history having won the Royal Bank Cup (formerly the Centennial Cup) 6 times, four coming in the 1990s. They won while hosting the tournament in 1990, repeated in 1991, again in 1996, in 1999 and most recently won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010; giving arguably the most dominant performance of any franchise in a single decade since the introduction of the Centennial Cup in 1971. To date, the Vernon Vipers have won 4 Royal Bank Cups, 2 Centennial Cups, 4 Abbott Cups, 5 Doyle Cups, 8 Mowat Cups and 9 League Titles.