The Blasted Church

During our summer holidays, my wife and I wanted to buy some good examples of Okanagan wine, to bring home with us. Our tour guide listed one interesting vineyard, Blasted Church vineyard. Agreeing that there had to be a story behind that name, we went to check it out. The staff at the vineyard told us a story with a chuckle: there really is a Blasted Church. The original church was located in Fairview, BC. The church fell into disuse as the town declined. Finally, in 1929, the Presbyterian Congregation in Okanagan Falls, BC decided to dismantle the church and move it to Okanagan Falls. In those days, buildings were dismantled by boarding over the windows and sealing the doors. Then a stick of dynamite was suspended in the building. The idea is that the resulting force would loosen all of the nails, allowing for easy removal of the boards with less damage to the wood. Unfortunately, someone got a bit too enthusiastic when placing the dynamite: why stop with just one stick when you have four sticks to use? Alas, the steeple and the iron cross on top didn’t make it. We had a good chuckle but wondered if the vineyard staff weren’t pulling our legs a bit. So, on our way to Oliver, BC, the next day, we decided to visit Okanagan Falls and see if we could find it. Eureka! We found it – minus the steeple. Looks pretty good, for a church that was originally built in 1897.