Thursday April 13 2000

Unfortunately, Ogopogo not available for comment
By Ross McDermott
The Signal,

Being of Scottish decent (I was actually born in Glasgow), I've always held a fascination for the legend of the Lock Ness monster.

I remember as a young boy rushing to the library on a bitterly cold, winter day to warm my hands and mind with a good book on that very topic. I read extensively about Nessie, and in my research I recall coming across some mentionings of Ogopogo.

Well, never in my childhood dreams did I ever imagine that I would be fortunate to live in the vicinity of the home of this Canadian legend, never mind work just a stone throw away from the creature's place of residence.

But here I am, banging away on the keyboard of this computer just seconds away from the waterfront of beautiful Peachland: as far as I'm concerned, the undisputed home of Ogopogo.

Why, some may ask, would I say undisputed? Kelowna, after all is not conceding residency.

Well, as Mayor George Waldo said at Tuesday's council meeting, "Too bad Kelowna."

Arlene Gaal, a Rutland resident and expert on Ogopogo indicated if the creature was to live in any one location within that waters of Lake Okanagan it would more than likely be near Peachland.

Native legend specifically places the creatures place of residence at Rattlesnake Island: again, directly across from Peachland.

Coun. Jim Nielsen claims he has seen the creature, and Coun. Harry Gough described a sighting a few years ago while standing in the first tee-box at the Ponderosa Golf Club with his then nine-year-old son, Tyler.

The last official sighting of the century occurred in the waters off Peachland.

And just to add my own testimony (at the risk of being ridiculed), I too have seen something strange moving across the surface of the lake in the waters off Peachland.

It was on a clear, sunny day in October of last year. I had just started my job as reporter at the Peachland Signal and was on my way home from a hard day's work.

I was driving up Drought Hill when I pulled over to take in the magnificent vue. I got out of my car and looked back in the direction of Peachland when I noticed a small, dark object moving across the surface of the lake. At first I thought it was a small vessel, way down on the shimmering waters, dwarfed in size by the lofty height that was m vantage point. But something about the colour of the object made me do a double-take.

It was grey, almost the colour of mortar, and the wake the object left was a long clearly visible V.

I turned to grab my camera and attached my zoom to get a better view of the object. When I turned back to the lake the object was gone -completely. But what was most interesting was the wake still remained and it did not continue to either shore, which would have indicated a small vessel gone to port. No, the wake just stopped in the middle of the lake.

What ever had been moving across the lake -what ever had captured my attention - had simply vanished beneath the surface.

To this day I'm not sure exactly what I saw, but I like to think it was Ogopogo. Mystery is attractive to the human mind. And what better mystery to entertain, entice, and induce wonder, than the mystery of Ogopogo.

Fact or fiction? Who knows. And that's the beauty of it.

As a reporter in Peachland, I tried to get some answers to the questions surrounding the residency of the lake creature, and the creature is, after all, the only being who could truly confirm or deny its place of domicile.

Unfortunately, despite, repeated attempts to make contact, Ogopogo was not available at press time.