On June 15, 1924, Summerland churches held a united service at the college gymnasium on Giants Head Road to discuss the provincial governments potential changes to the liquor laws.
The meeting was quite an event with a united choir and an orchestra led by G.W. Cope.
The focus of the discussion was the current beer plebiscite. Judge Wellington C. Kelley presided over the meeting. (Kelly Avenue in Summerland is named after him, although the spelling of the name is different.)
Kelley stated that ”as a citizen who wishes to see the standard of life kept as high as possible, he opposed the open sale of beer.”
People opposed to the sale of beer in Summerland included provincial representatives J.W. Jones, C.B. Latta, H.B.D. Lysons and Jack Logie.
The provincial government had promised that the profits from liquor sales would “pay the provincial debt, but the debt has grown.”
“Taverns will be opened and money will be diverted from the stores to the saloons.”
Prominent citizen G.J. Coulter White stated that “the plebiscite was not a question of prohibition but to vote ‘No’ would be to vote against making liquor more available to the young.”
Coulter White pleaded to Summerland to vote 'no.' He stated, “Vote for Summerland, keep her dry!”
Another major event 100 years ago was the closure of the town of Mineola. This was a lumber town in Meadow Valley.
At that time, Mineola was on the government road that ran through Meadow Valley.
A number of the town’s homes and buildings were moved to Summerland. Several of the small homes on Elliott Street, across from Summerland Baptist Church, were from Mineola. One of the farm buildings can still be seen on the corner of Victoria Road and Jones Flat Road.
David Gregory is a Summerland historian.