One of Penticton香蕉视频直播檚 greatest landmarks, both in size and recognition, is in need of a bit of revitalization.

The 54-by-300-foot sign that calls the city香蕉视频直播檚 name out from the mountaintops, an 80-year-old fixture in Penticton香蕉视频直播檚 skyline, will be getting that work done next week, as a group of realtors head to Munson Mountain to give it a new paint job.

香蕉视频直播淟iving here, sometimes you just don香蕉视频直播檛 make the time to get out and remind yourself why we live here, in such a beautiful city,香蕉视频直播� said managing broker Brooks Lancaster, whose real estate firm is heading up to Munson Mountain next Wednesday for the project.

The group will be heading up the hill at around 7 a.m. and expects to begin painting the sign closer to 8 a.m., with employees taking one- or two-hour shifts, which Lancaster described as a nice break from working in the office.

香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e going to have a fun day up there. We香蕉视频直播檒l have the tent up there, we香蕉视频直播檒l have some sandwiches and some water,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 just nice to get out of the office and do something that香蕉视频直播檚 important to all of us that live here.香蕉视频直播�

He expects the group to take around five hours to complete the paint job, which he says is likely the first in about half a dozen years.

香蕉视频直播淥ver the years, a lot of volunteer groups have been maintaining the Penticton sign, since the 香蕉视频直播�40s,香蕉视频直播� Lancaster said.

Among the caretakers of the past, Lancaster lists the Boy Scouts, the former board of trade and other volunteers.

Though the sign has been up for 80 years, now a B.C. heritage site, Lancaster says the spot had significance to Penticton for a full 10 years prior, including a beacon fire lit on Canada Day, 1927.

香蕉视频直播淭his is kind of why we香蕉视频直播檙e doing it at this time of year,香蕉视频直播� Lancaster said. 香蕉视频直播淣inety years ago on Canada Day, they had a beacon fire on Munson Mountain 香蕉视频直播� and that was the first recorded evidence of the social significance as a local celebration.香蕉视频直播�

Local historian Randy Manuel says the sign was created all those decades ago with the board of trade at the helm of the project, while others worked to maintain it later on.

But it was the Associated Canadian Traveler香蕉视频直播檚 club who hauled up a total of 44,000 pounds 香蕉视频直播� nearly 20 metric tonnes 香蕉视频直播� of silica rock over three intervals while maintaining the area, including weeding the space.

香蕉视频直播淭hat would have been one heck of a job to haul those bags of silica down the slope and put them into place,香蕉视频直播� Manuel said.

To put that into more tangible terms, 44,000 pounds would require 880 individual loads, if each person carried 50 pounds at a time.

For decades, the sign was in need of regular maintenance, as those rocks, placed on the ground, were often outgrown by the weeds underneath. That became the cause for a local radio station in the 1980s and 1990s, according to Manuel.

香蕉视频直播淎 one point, Ralph Robinson from CIGV radio started a campaign to be able to have annual cleanups and put cement in place, instead of stone,香蕉视频直播� Manuel said.

That was finalized in the late 1990s, according to Lancaster, who says the concrete was poured over the silica rocks to keep weeds from growing over it.

香蕉视频直播淭hey just made it that much more permanent in 1998. It was basically just a pebble sign (before),香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚n 1998, the concrete was poured, and the silica rock that was there is embedded in it, and that香蕉视频直播檚 what we have there, today.香蕉视频直播�

The sign香蕉视频直播檚 creation in the late 1930s was the product of an inability of the city and developers to commercialize the park space, which Manuel says might ring a bell with those paying attention to local issues more recently.

香蕉视频直播淕uess what. Fast forward 80 years, and it香蕉视频直播檚 still going on, right?香蕉视频直播� he said.

Commercialization of the space around the sign came up more recently, too, with an outdoor theatre proposed for a natural bowl behind the hill, according to Manuel.

香蕉视频直播淏ut that never came to fruition. I think probably what happened was more interesting things came on stream, and then the 2008 financial crash didn香蕉视频直播檛 make it financially viable,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚t would have been a combination of city and private enterprise.香蕉视频直播�

Those who wish to help out with the upcoming efforts to revitalize the sign are more than welcome to, Lancaster said.