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含羞草研究社檛 Batman. It was the latest stunt by Skytouch Flooring含羞草研究社檚 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.
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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? 含羞草研究社淏ecause, 含羞草研究社榳hy not?含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫 Eddison said.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e always been attracted to light and I含羞草研究社檝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,含羞草研究社� Eddison said.
The lights themselves are quite a rare commodity. Eddison rented them from Galarie Productions owner Gordon Alarie.
Alarie has owned the spotlights 含羞草研究社� and ten more sets 含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e had these lights for more than forty years, don含羞草研究社檛 ask me why,含羞草研究社� Alarie said.
Alarie has scoured the world to obtain his cherished spotlights and the parts necessary to run them. He含羞草研究社檚 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.
含羞草研究社淚 basically scoured the [world], just going to wherever they had searchlights or searchlight parts,含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檚 able to make some of the parts required to run his searchlights.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 burning carbons from 1940. They stopped making them,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淲hen I含羞草研究社檓 out I含羞草研究社檒l have to find another source or make my own.含羞草研究社�
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含羞草研究社檙e most visible on highly humid days.
Alarie said it含羞草研究社檚 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. 含羞草研究社淧enticton is a nice place, when I was a little kid I used to stay at a motel a few blocks from the lake含羞草研究社� it含羞草研究社檚 a beautiful town with beautiful people and it含羞草研究社檚 always nice to come back,含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檒l be at Skytouch all weekend admiring the show. 含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e open for business all long weekend含羞草研究社� my wife said this is the last long weekend I can stay open, I含羞草研究社檒l have to take a weekend off soon,含羞草研究社� 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
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