In mid-February, a new listing appeared on the Canadian MLS system.
It's a big building, with nearly 4000 square feet on the main and another 1200 in the basement. There's a commercial kitchen inside, and multiple washroom facilities.
And the entire thing sits on two titled lots on Veterans Avenue, in the heart of the south Okanagan village legendary for its profusion of fruit stands, Keremeos.
But there's so much the listing didn't mention. Like the impact the old building, and its owners, have had over the years to the little community on the northern bank of the Similkameen River. Or the pain those owners feel that it ever had to come to this.
The buildup to the potential sale began several months ago, when the volunteer benevolent group known as the Keremeos Elks, part of the overarching Elks of Canada, realized they were in financial trouble.
From March 2020 onward, like many other community organizations in other small towns throughout BC, the Elks have been hammered by COVID-19. They'd been forced to cancel every single event, every single fundraising initiative on their typically busy annual schedule, and the prognosis didn't look much better for 2021.
So now they looked at any reasonable cost-saving measure to tide them through to the end of the pandemic. And time and again, they ended up focusing on the building on Veterans Avenue, more commonly known as their own Elks Hall #56.
Bought and paid for decades ago, the Hall was typically a place for weekly community bingo games, assorted dinners and fundraisers, rentals, and special events like Halloween haunted houses, no-charge breakfasts with Santa and "casino nights" for event volunteers.
Now, it sat empty. But insurance costs were nearly $7,000 annually. And property taxes were $3,700.
What once represented hope was now an anchor.
There wasn't much they could do about insurance fees, but maybe, just maybe, they could get some forgiveness from municipal hall on their 2020 property tax debt. Perhaps even 2021.
"So we went to the city," said frustrated long-time Elk Dave Barker standing outside the Hall last week. "We talked to them about eliminating taxes for 2020. And they said no, so then we wrote a letter. Our president, Bruce Dennett, got a call back from the mayor again saying no, that they needed all the taxes they can get.
"So the decision was made at our last regular meeting. All the membership was invited and it was unanimous. We simply didn't have any other options, and now the hall is actively for sale."
Barker isn’t the type to look for handouts. He's typically too busy farming fruit on his Cawston orchard when he isn't organizing some of the region's biggest happenings -- stuff like the annual Keremeos Elks Rodeo in May and the twice-yearly Keremeos Elks Bluegrass Jamboree.
The rodeo in particular is a stunner. Now past its 80th anniversary and easily the biggest weekend on the regional calendar, it attracts folks from all over western Canada and Washington state and features three days of activities that essentially take over the entire town and bring in tourist bucks. And Barker is its chairperson.
The Elks also run the concessions for the local Canada Day celebration, the Similkameen Sizzle Pepper Fest and "Kars under the K Show and Shine." Between that and all the events at the Hall, they raise enough bread to not only pay their own way but also give back to the community.
They donate to schools and help build amenities like playgrounds. They assist victims of house fires and wildfires. The list goes on.
And Barker, like the three other Elks we chatted with last week, now feels slighted.
"I'm frustrated," he said. "And I'm disappointed in the Village. I'm disappointed that after all the work the Elks have done, that this is the appreciation we get from the Village."
His melancholy is understandable. Barker's dad was an Elks original. He was there way back in 1944 when the Keremeos chapter formed, some 12 years before the town was incorporated. Back then, and for decades after, the Elks -- and their hall -- were key pillars of the community.
And Barker knows every step along the way.
"The hall was built by volunteers," he said, "They tore down an army hut in Vernon board by board. It's shiplap. And they hauled it all the way here.
"So you're coming down the old roads, and across the ferry in Kelowna. They had to come over through Green Mountain, on dirt roads in old trucks. They did all that because it was the cheap way to get lumber."
Within a couple years, the Elks had assumed control of the rodeo from its founders.
"When the Elks were first formed," said Barker, "90% of the money they made went back into the community, to charity. I was a kid back then. They helped so many people."
We asked Barker what the loss of the hall means for the Elks going forward. And he said he isn’t sure.
"If the Elks are going to keep going, we could potentially rent the Legion for meetings. We could meet at a member's house. But if the town doesn't really appreciate what we're doing, then why are we here?"
A somewhat more defiant Elks' president Bruce Dennett sees a definite upside to the potential loss of the historic old hall. And it all hinges on the rodeo grounds, also under Elks ownership but lying on the south side of the Similkameen, outside the Keremeos municipal boundaries.
"The members have spoken," he said. "We're going to sell the hall, and we'll expand the rodeo grounds. We can put an 80-foot expansion on the kitchen building that's currently there, and that would be our hall. Anything we could do with the hall, we can do at the rodeo grounds.
"We're not at war with the Village, but if they're not willing to help us, then we’ll step outside the boundary of Keremeos and help the community without having to deal with this hall."
Elks secretary treasurer Melodie Kolisnyk, also born and raised in Keremeos and with vivid childhood memories of both the rodeo and the hall, generally agrees with Dennett. But she's not exactly thrilled with the situation.
"We figure if we have a nice hall over there, we'll get family reunions, we’ll do bluegrass, we’ll have trailer shows, and of course the rodeo," she said. "But we might not make it because of the price of lumber. To build anything right now is so hard.
"But if the hall sells (and they aren’t able to reposition), we're losing our appearance in the community. We can meet in a house, yes, but we can't even make money to donate to the school or the playgrounds, or camps for the disabled, or the blind, because we can't fundraise as easily.
"People would hardly know we exist."
Yet there's another issue at play. In simple terms, old-school organizations like the Elks aren’t able to recruit like they once did. And they don't play an integral role like back in the day.
The Keremeos chapter now has just 26 members.
"The younger people can't be seen wearing a silly hat and having a do, I guess," laughed member Warren Garner, now an Elk for 15 years. "They want to get involved in something, but they won't join the Elks."
"We've tried to recruit new members," said Dennett, "but I guess people aren’t interested in joining organizations like this much more. And the Grand Lodge dictates what we can do, so we just can’t run off by ourselves with new ideas."
We later talked with Keremeos mayor Manfred Bauer, who confirmed he'd indeed rejected Dennett's request, explaining that the Keremeos tax base is too small to permit "permissive tax exemptions" for any entity.
Bauer said he understood the importance of the Elks over the years, but added that "it's not the first time that the Elks have asked, nor the Legion, nor the Masons before them."
"I can't speak for the financial management of the Elks, but if they can't afford the taxes, perhaps it is better for them to sell the building and go over to the rodeo rounds," he added.
If and when the aging hall sells, the Keremeos Elks will hold another virtual meeting and decide on their next move. But in the meantime, old hands like Dave Barker cogitate on what was.
"As a kid, I remember going around with my dad and delivering hampers to the community," he said, "and it was all paid for by the Elks. The first pool here, a kids' wading pool, was paid for by the Elks. We even used to do free movies for the kids.
"They'd fill that theatre over and over again with kids from all over the valley."
For more info on the Keremeos Elks, head here. For more info on the Keremeos Elks Rodeo, COVIDly canceled for 2021, head here.
