Were you one of the many people wondering what was up with the searchlight sweeping across the sky in Penticton last night?
No, it wasnsa国际传媒檛 Batman. It was the latest stunt by Skytouch Flooringsa国际传媒檚 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? sa国际传媒淏ecause, sa国际传媒榳hy not?sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Eddison said.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e always been attracted to light and Isa国际传媒檝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,sa国际传媒� Eddison said.
The lights themselves are quite a rare commodity. Eddison rented them from Galarie Productions owner Gordon Alarie.
Alarie has owned the spotlights sa国际传媒� and ten more sets sa国际传媒� 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.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e had these lights for more than forty years, donsa国际传媒檛 ask me why,sa国际传媒� Alarie said.
Alarie has scoured the world to obtain his cherished spotlights and the parts necessary to run them. Hesa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淚 basically scoured the [world], just going to wherever they had searchlights or searchlight parts,sa国际传媒� 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 hesa国际传媒檚 able to make some of the parts required to run his searchlights.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 burning carbons from 1940. They stopped making them,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淲hen Isa国际传媒檓 out Isa国际传媒檒l have to find another source or make my own.sa国际传媒�
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. Theysa国际传媒檙e most visible on highly humid days.
Alarie said itsa国际传媒檚 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. sa国际传媒淧enticton is a nice place, when I was a little kid I used to stay at a motel a few blocks from the lakesa国际传媒� itsa国际传媒檚 a beautiful town with beautiful people and itsa国际传媒檚 always nice to come back,sa国际传媒� 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, hesa国际传媒檒l be at Skytouch all weekend admiring the show. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e open for business all long weekendsa国际传媒� my wife said this is the last long weekend I can stay open, Isa国际传媒檒l have to take a weekend off soon,sa国际传媒� 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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