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50th Anniversary Celebration at The Enchanted Forest

Come and rediscover The Enchanted Forest while you celebrate their 50th Anniversary on Thursday, July 1st, 2010.  What began as a realization of a dream, Doris, an artist and her husband Ernest Needham owned The Enchanted Forest from 1960 to 1969.  Doris created unusual fairy tale figurines from cement by shaping them by hand without using molds or form. They created 8 of the 40 acres originally leased from the Crown. The Needhams created the Castle, the Candy Cane House in which they lived with their family, the rock wall and the beginning of the nature trail – all by hand! 

 

 

Shirley and Hugh Ehlers, owned The Enchanted Forest from 1970-1979 and created various items  including “The Old Women Who Lived in a Shoe” and “Little Boy Blue”.  Bev and Ian Taylor the next owners from 1980-1989 created various items including the unique Gift Shop, the Mushroom and water lines.


The present owners, Juliet and Rocky Ehlers since 1989, continue the dream and provide travellers of all ages a refreshing stop in the enchanting world of fantasy set in untouched nature.   Rocky was a contract road builder on the West Coast doing rock drilling and blasting.  Juliet moved to Revelstoke after graduating from nursing at BCIT and was a nurse at the for 13 years. The Ehlers had 3 children Aza, Silos and Naomi and are pleased to have 2 of the children work at the forest today.


Rocky’s creations of the little houses from the Three Little Pigs to the newest additions such as the Mother Hubbard – are all are unique and magical! Rocky has also been the creator of the tallest, grandest Treehouse and has made extentions of the boardwalk.  Rocky and Juliet have found that it requires creativity to run such a popular attraction and still have a balanced life with time and attention paid to family too – meeting that challenge is ultimately worth it.   “Looking back over 20 years of ownership, our greatest satisfaction is meeting the needs of what is now 70,000 people a year.” said Rocky Ehlers.  “People now come back year after year to see bedrock – forest, water and weather.  This creates happiness, which is nice to sell.” Juliet has “the biggest selection of gifts in the littlest gift shop in the valley”.  “Putting a smile on everyone’s face makes this job worth all the hard work” noted Christina who has been employed with The Enchanted Forest for the past 7 years!


Special celebration includes “Anyone aged 50 in 2010 receive Free admission” on Thursday, July 1st, a Scavenger Hunt, Beef on a Bun (additional cost) or join us for a piece of cake!

 

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