The Arrow Lakes Historical Society (ALHS) is looking to publish one final book about the area.
Seven books have been written so far, on subjects including ghost towns, the Arrow Lakes area, and Lardeau.
In order to publish the book, they’re seeking assistance from the Community Initiatives Program, offered by Columbia Basin Trust.
The society is asking for $10,000 to help cover the publishing costs.
This final book will be about the SS Minto, and its importance to the area.
“Before the reservoir, you pretty much always had ice on the lake,” said Rosemarie Parent, president of ALHS. “The reason the Minto was so invaluable was because it had steel plates on the hull to break the ice to get to Arrow Head and other places they couldn’t get into otherwise.”
The SS Minto plied the lake from 1898 until 1954.
The idea for the book had been in the works for some time, but because construction was taking place on the ALHS’s new building, it had to be put on the back burner.
One day, Parent found some looseleaf paper with plans for how the book would be laid out, and what pictures would be used. She contacted Bruce Rohn, a member of the ALHS.
“I said to Bruce ‘If you write the book, I’ll help publish it.’ That’s what started all this.”
Rohn has extensive knowledge of the boats of the Arrow Lakes, including tugs, dredges, and ferries.
About 100 photos will be placed in the book. About 20 of them will be colour, and about 80 will be black and white.
Parent said it’s not going to be a very long book, but including text, it will be somewhere around 150 pages.
Parent said this will most likely be the last book the historical society produces, because at this point, they have covered just about everything in the area.
The ALHS is hoping to have this final book published by Christmas.