By Maureen Parriott
Special to the Times-Chronicle
The Osoyoos Desert Centre relies on two sources of power: people and sunshine, according to Managing Director Jayme Friedt.
Since its founding in 1991, the Desert Society has created a world-renowned habitat restoration, environmental conservation, and interpretive centre showcasing the rare and often endangered plants, animals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians unique to the South Okanagan.
Thousands of visitors have trekked the 1.5 kilometer boardwalk that introduces them to the rabbit brush and sage environment without disturbing either the vegetation or the creatures that call it home.
Friedt said last week that in a typical May to October season, a third of their visitors are international, a third regional, and a third local. Some 98 per cent of regional visitors come from the Lower Mainland.
Volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours to working hand in hand with the staff to restore the original desert biome, to establish a demonstration garden, and to maintain the reception and parking areas. After years of fundraising and hard work, last May they replaced the tiny trailer that had served as the headquarters with a simple but elegant new building and a pergola. Every inch of the spacious wood deck and the pergola was stained by volunteers. Inside the building, they helped mount displays of the creatures native to this area. Volunteers man the admission desk, provide information, and sell books and collectibles.
Photo by Maureen Parriott
Friedt and Centre Manager Leor Oren are the sole full-time staff. University of Victoria biology major Kaylee Lesmeister has conducted twice-daily boardwalk tours all summer, but she will return to her fourth year of study in a few weeks.
Of necessity, the Society has taken on a new project. The centre is off-grid, and depends on the sun for its electricity. The venerable solar voltaic system is showing its age and needs replacing soon. The cost is $20,000, of which they have already raised $10,000. To obtain the rest, the board decided to hold a raffle. Friedt, with years of media and nonprofit society experience, and director Birgit Arnstein, a legendary fundraiser, approached local businesses for donations. They assembled an impressive array of prizes, which are listed on the Society’s Facebook page.
Everyone assumed that this summer’s visitors would snap up the tickets.
Then the COVID bombshell hit.
“It couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Friedt said.
Admissions plunged. Money that paid for part-time summer students evaporated. Raffle tickets remained unsold.
Volunteers stepped up to fill in for the summer students. Friedt’s 14-year-old twins, Annika and Graydon, cheerfully handle the Sunday morning admissions desk now and again. Some visitors continue to trickle in, most taking Kaylee’s expertly-narrated tour rather than guiding themselves.
But the nagging issue of the antique solar voltaic system remains.
Freidt reminded the community that the raffle is slated for November 5.
She encouraged readers to check out the prizes on the Osoyoos Desert Centre’s Facebook page, noting that the value of most is $500.
“There are only 500 tickets. If someone buys one ticket, the chances of winning are one in 125. If they buy 10, their chances are one in 13.”
She added that the Society wanted to revive its Romancing the Desert gourmet meal, wine-and-spirits-tasting, full-moon-gazing fundraiser this year, but it was sabotaged by COVID, too. They intend to try again next year, despite not knowing what the future holds, but believing that they will make it a reality.
It’s that kind of spirit that has characterized the Desert Society since its inception, when they looked at a scruffy piece of damaged land and envisioned a desert paradise.
