Were you one of the many people wondering what was up with the searchlight sweeping across the sky in Penticton last night?
No, it wasn害羞草研究所檛 Batman. It was the latest stunt by Skytouch Flooring害羞草研究所檚 owner Ben Eddison.
Since opening his flooring store in March 2020, Eddison has shown a penchant for putting on attention-grabbing displays. The two dragons that sit perched atop his store got many people talking last fall.
READ MORE:
Now, the Penticton business owner has caught the eyes of even more people by renting a rare set of searchlights from the World War 2 era and shooting them to the skies from his store on Okanagan Avenue East.
But why spotlights? 害羞草研究所淏ecause, 害羞草研究所榳hy not?害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟 Eddison said.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e always been attracted to light and I害羞草研究所檝e got a weird name for a flooring store with Skytouch so I just put two and two together as a way to get noticed and touch the sky at the same time,害羞草研究所� Eddison said.
The lights themselves are quite a rare commodity. Eddison rented them from Galarie Productions owner Gordon Alarie.
Alarie has owned the spotlights 害羞草研究所� and ten more sets 害羞草研究所� for over forty years, usually putting them to use on movie sets in his hometown of Vancouver.
The lights were originally constructed from 1940 to 1942 and are some of only 145 remaining sets of their kind in North America.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e had these lights for more than forty years, don害羞草研究所檛 ask me why,害羞草研究所� Alarie said.
Alarie has scoured the world to obtain his cherished spotlights and the parts necessary to run them. He害羞草研究所檚 purchased parts in places as far as Hawaii and New Zealand.
The lights were originally used to identify enemy planes during the war, Alarie said.
害羞草研究所淚 basically scoured the [world], just going to wherever they had searchlights or searchlight parts,害羞草研究所� he added.
His searchlight obsession has become even harder to feed over the years because no one manufactures the parts anymore. Luckily, Alarie has a machine shop at his home in Vancouver where he害羞草研究所檚 able to make some of the parts required to run his searchlights.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 burning carbons from 1940. They stopped making them,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淲hen I害羞草研究所檓 out I害羞草研究所檒l have to find another source or make my own.害羞草研究所�
The searchlights, which run at 16 to 18 kilowatts, can be seen from twenty to forty miles away, depending on how much moisture is in the air. They害羞草研究所檙e most visible on highly humid days.
Alarie said it害羞草研究所檚 rare for him to get a request for his searchlight services outside of the Lower Mainland and even more unusual for that request to come from a flooring store.
He was excited for the chance to visit Penticton for the first time in many years, even if it meant hauling his searchlights along the Coquihalla. 害羞草研究所淧enticton is a nice place, when I was a little kid I used to stay at a motel a few blocks from the lake害羞草研究所� it害羞草研究所檚 a beautiful town with beautiful people and it害羞草研究所檚 always nice to come back,害羞草研究所� he said.
Alarie will be in town from May 20 to 23 with his lights shining bright to the sky each night.
As for Eddison, he害羞草研究所檒l be at Skytouch all weekend admiring the show. 害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e open for business all long weekend害羞草研究所� my wife said this is the last long weekend I can stay open, I害羞草研究所檒l have to take a weekend off soon,害羞草研究所� said Eddison.
You can catch the lights by looking up from pretty much anywhere in the city from 9 p.m. to midnight all weekend.
jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
Like us on and follow us on
