In 1900, the town of Hedley, plastered up against the foot of Nickel Plate Mountain in the Similkameen Valley, was going crazy. Crazy for gold.
Folks streamed into "Camp Hedley" from all over the continent to stake and work their claims.
Soon, the town sported an array of streets and houses, a variety of retailers, no less than five hotels, and an engineering miracle - a mining tramway that shot straight up the side of the mountain to the 4800-foot mark. The population exceeded that of either Penticton or Kelowna.
Hedley's crowning jewel was the "Grand Union Hotel." Featuring good food, good booze, comfy rooms, and fine cigars, it was the epitome of gold rush accommodation.
But a rush only lasts so long. New gold discoveries ebbed, as did the excitement. Fire destroyed many of the original structures, and over the decades, the population steadily waned. In 1990, the completion of the Coquihalla Connector isolated Hedley even further. Today, approximately 300 people reside there.
One of the early fire casualties was the Grand Union, obliterated in 1918. The grounds of the hotel have since seen at least one, and perhaps two motels, the most recent of which was converted to a space for at-risk youth that closed in 1993.
By 2012, the old Grand Union property was in rough shape. And that's when a dude by the name of Nathan Fraser stepped in.
Fraser had a dream, and he saw opportunity in a town that desperately needed dreamers.
With his partner Chantal Brosseau, and mom Valerie and her partner Terry Lenord, Fraser bought the sizable Grand Union lot and all the structures and relics that came along with it.
Seven years later, on a chilly January day, I stood with Fraser on his historic piece of land and asked a simple question: Why?
First of all, he explained, the price was right. It cost less than a Penticton condo.
But there's far more to it than that. Fraser, who's still a young guy at just 36, was at one time a chef-in-training. He loves creating food, and he wanted to spend his life doing it. But a vicious mountain biking accident in 2003 changed his course. In time, he became an excavator operator and left his inner Ratatouille behind.
Except for the one thing he couldn't leave behind. Plum ketchup.
For as long as Fraser can remember, his grandmother, Joyce Beckman, made plum ketchup. An all-natural British recipe featuring plums, apples, vinegar, a secret concoction of spices, and absolutely no tomatoes, Beckman's homemade plum ketchup paired brilliantly with just about everything aside from dessert and was a beloved mealtime staple.
In time, Fraser would move from his Saltspring Island birthplace to Pemberton. And there he began recreating his grandma's recipe - at first for his own family, and eventually for others to enjoy.
In 2012, Fraser took it to retail. He rented kitchens, learned how to package and market, and spread the word. But as it began to take off, he realized that rented kitchens would only get him so far. If he was ever going to elevate Beckman's Plum Ketchup to the big time, he'd need to acquire his own commercial kitchen and quite probably quit the excavation trade.
Later that year, after much consultation with family members and the realization that a commercial kitchen anywhere near Vancouver would be prohibitively expensive, he bought the old Grand Union property.
"I love Hedley," he says today. "It has so much to offer besides affordability. Apex is at your back door, the Similkaeen River is at your front door. Fly fishing, tubing, hiking, mountain biking, and Penticton's right around the corner."
"We liked it here and this opportunity came up. At the same time we were starting this business and thinking about places we could be. And this is where we buy our fruit from. It's the fruit belt. Once we realized we had a viable business, this was the stepping stone."
A year later in 2013, Fraser's mom Valerie Beckman and partner Terry Lenord also left Saltspring to move into a section of the old motel. They cleaned up the grounds, and carpenter Lenord ultimately turned their portion of the motel into a fashionable full-blown house.
In the meantime, Fraser trekked regularly between Pemberton and Hedley until he and Brasseau decided it was time to leave Pemberton entirely. And in 2018, they did just that.
Once in Hedley, Fraser, with Lenord, immediately began work on the commercial kitchen Fraser had envisioned for so long, building it from the ground up on a vacant section of the property. And now, it's complete.
It's a big space, with enough room for a gaggle of employees. On the west wall, a commercial range and oven with ventilation system. On the south wall, an enormous hunk of machinery called a "pulper/finisher" that automatically removes pits and stems and skins, and produces nothing but juice.
Adjacent to the pulper/finisher, a 40-gallon steam kettle that cooks and reduces the extracted juice. Fraser says it's an older but still solid unit that he bought in California and shipped all the way to his new HQ.
The space also features a commercial dishwasher, large standup refrigeration unit, walk-in freezer, and loading bay. It's the full meal deal.
"We're really excited about it," says Fraser. "We were able to build it cheaper than a lot of people could. One reason being we're in Hedley, where land is cheaper. And we were able to do most of the work ourselves."
Still, he says, the final tally for the kitchen alone was in excess of $100,000. "All my life savings have gone into this project," he says.
Happily, he has a pretty great product on his hands. But one that benefits from a quick explanation.
"It's a traditional English fruit ketchup," says Fraser. "Not many people know this, but the definition of a ketchup is a 'vinegar-based spiced condiment.' It doesn't require tomato."
"If you look back in history, there were so many different kinds of ketchups. Walnut ketchups, mushroom ketchups, and lots of different fruit ketchups. At some point in time, tomato took all the glory."
And Fraser wants to take some of it back. "Our plum ketchup is super versatile. You can eat it with all the things you'd use a regular tomato ketchup with, and more. It's great with breakfast sausage, savory pastries like meat pies, quiche, and shepherd's pie."
Indeed. We grabbed a bottle and tried it that evening with brie cheese, and later as a dipping sauce with baked chicken nuggets. And it was totally yummy, with a nice kick.
According to Fraser, all the fruit is organic and sourced locally. And he's proud of his simple, natural ingredient list. There's nothing in there you can't pronounce, and he says it contains less sugar than typical tomato ketchups.
And he expects that plum will be just one of several varieties he'll eventually generate from his new Hedley setup. "It's really exciting trying all these old fruit ketchups, especially being here in the fruit belt. In the near future, we plan other varieties of ketchups, including straight-up tomato. Maybe barbecue sauces too."
Later, we stood outside the compound as he clued me in to other future plans, which likely include revamping and rebooting the old motel.
"We'll eventually renovate the whole thing. And we want to give it a real nice flavour. We're playing with the idea of turning it back into some form of lodging again."
He then points to a large open spot at the front of the property. That, he says, is not only the site of their new septic system, but it's also the exact location of the old Grand Union.
"If you think about it, this was a hopping town. People were making money from the mine, this was one of the main hotels, and there was a bar in the hotel. You can kind of imagine what was going on in there. Right here, on this spot."
Fraser shows off some of the cool stuff they found when they excavated. Ancient wine bottles, hard liquor bottles, timbers, and coins were just part of the haul.
And he talks a little more of his passion for the Hedley region. "Princeton is colder and rainier, but it changes here. And we're in this little vortex. Apex gets snow, and they get snow up in the pass (to the west), but it's often sunny here."
"And there's just so much to see. If you take the time to explore, you'll find history everywhere. Old mineshafts, trestles...everywhere you look, you'll see history."
He gestures toward the mountain, where foundations and structures from the old mine still make their way upwards into the clouds. He's already hiked much of it, particularly along the banks of Hedley Creek, where he's found old water flumes, bridges, and more remnants of man's past in the area.
We walk up the street, no more than a minute, and stop in front of a two-floor Hedley original from the 1920s. Once renovated, he says, this will be the home of his own family, including his new baby boy August.
What's more, his mom-in-law now lives just a couple blocks away, moving from Saltspring to Hedley herself just last year and buying yet another house.
If you get the feeling Fraser's family is taking over the town, you're on the right track. He jokingly - but realistically - says they now make up two percent of the total Hedley population.
There's just one little issue - albeit a temporary one. While Beckman's Plum Ketchup is available throughout the lower mainland, where Fraser spent years building up contacts, it's virtually impossible to find in the South Okanagan.
At the moment, you'll have to stop in and see the friendly folk at the Hedley Country Market in downtown Hedley, or contact Beckman's Fine Foods directly.
But that'll soon change. Fraser plans big marketing moves throughout the valley in 2019. And he'll be part of the Penticton Farmer's Market when it fires up in the spring.
As I drove home to Penticton that afternoon, I couldn't help but feel a little envious. Here's a guy with a dream, backed fully by a family who not only believes in him, but has relocated across the province and stood by him.
But it's also the story of a town, steeped in history and surrounded by natural beauty, that's somehow slipped through the cracks. The happiest of happy endings would see Beckman's Fine Foods, its grand new kitchen, and its great concept succeed wholly and attract even more dreamers into Hedley's orbit.
And we all believe in happy endings, don't we?
