This week’s column is dedicated to a long-time friend Walter Kristalowich, who passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer at 67. Walter and his wife Tena and I have been friends for 41 years. Walter made life-long friends wherever he went and his hearty laugh will be missed. Personal condolences to Tena, his family and many friends.
Factor Furniture has opened at 102–1851 Kirschner Rd. (behind the Women’s Place). Owned by Scott Vigar, this contemporary and modern retail home furnishing store also offers some décor and lighting products. All the displayed art and some of the furnishings are local.
Factor Furniture sells directly off the showroom floor, so there is no need to order an item if you want to take it home that day. They are a Canadian Huppe, Gus Modern and Blu Dot exclusive supplier. Factor Furniture can also provide special order items and offer Sealy Canada mattresses. The clocks in the store are made in Calgary. It’s a great place to browse as they have many unique products. Might be the store for that one special item. I loved the humongous coloured glass apples, especially the bright green one. They make a real statement. Open Monday to Saturday. Call 778-484-1668.
The new board of directors of the Downtown Kelowna Association for 2015/16 is Dustin Sargent, Streaming Café & Davara Enterprises (President); Dan Allen, Doc Willoughby’s Public House (vice-president); Rob Collins, Grant Thornton, LLP (treasurer) and Yarden Gershony, Rush Ihas Hardwick LLP (secretary). Directors are Luigi Coccara, La Bussola Restaurant; Perry Freeman, Colliers International; Angie Bricker, Georgia Girl Vintage; Brent Lobson, Imperial Parking; Trevor Neill, Mosaic Books, Jan Johnson, Tigerlily Fashions; Renee Wasylyk, Troika Developments; Renata Mills, Festivals Kelowna and Jim Meiklejohn, Meiklejohn Architects. I was delighted to be appointed by Mayor Colin Basran as the city councillor liaison on the DKA.
With 25 years of service as an elected trustee on the Black Mountain Irrigation District (BMID) board, Alf Kempf has retired. BMID’s annual general meeting was held on April 15. Gordy Ivans was re-elected chair by acclamation and the position left by Alf has been filled by Sohan Johal. Dawn Williams is the new administrator at BMID. Call 250-765-5169 or dwilliams@bmid.ca.
Ian Lorimer is the new appointed vice-president, finance and CFO of FortisBC. He brings 16 years experience in regulated utility finance roles, including vice-president, finance and CFO for Fortis Alberta and a director role with FortisBC. Lorimer is based out of Kelowna.
Local fresh food market, Quality Greens Farm Market at 101-1889 Spall Road is celebrating its 20th anniversary in business. Known for high quality products and customer service, Quality Greens has been providing a unique, quality shopping experience since inception. Original founders Chris Holmes and Lisa Taylor are hands-on owners with a team of over 100 members throughout the valley. They continue to grow, with three additional stores in the valley including West Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon, along with a new warehouse location in Kelowna, which has been serving the wholesale sector since 2014. They support local farmers and are involved with many charities in our community. To celebrate, they are hosting a fundraiser barbecue and customer appreciation day on Saturday, June 13. Drop in for free coffee, cake and treats for the kids and a barbecue by donation with funds going to the local branches of the BC SPCA. www.qualitygreens.com.
The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has won the prestigious BC Chamber of the Year Award, along with having all five of their policies passed at the BC Chamber of Commerce AGM and Conference in Prince George. To top it all off, it was also announced that Kelowna will be hosting the conference next year. Ken Carmichael (BDO LLP) is the present and Caroline Grover the CEO of the Kelowna Chamber. Call 250-469-7356.
Well-known executive banquet sous chef Bjorn Oldendorf, who has been at the Delta Grand for 23 years, has moved on and has accepted a new position as assistant general manager at Fernbrae Manor at 295 Gertsmar Rd. He will be overseeing all food services and dining room operations. Call 250-979-0600.
JBFSports.com was the winner of the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission (COEDC) Metabridge 2015 Full Event Pass, valued at $3,500 supporting local technology companies and the industry. The pass grants them full access to Metabridge’s conferences, pitch sessions and VIP networking receptions, but most importantly the opportunity to connect with top people and companies from California’s Silicon Valley. Call 250-469-6280 or info@investkelowna.com.
RoundBox Strategies Inc. at 748 Bernard Avenue has already begun helping small to medium sized businesses that recognize that they would like different results from their business, from moving beyond the start-up stage, building growth or preparing for a sale of their company. The RoundBox team has a proven demonstrated track record for successful executions and is driven by the desire to help small businesses access resources normally available only to the big companies. Partners are Desmond Regier, CPA, CMA, Angela Kuefler, operations and Paul Beauchemin, marketing. Call 250-717-0026 www.tectrade.ca.
There are two new additions to the team at the Economic Development Commission (EDC). Dustyn Baulkham is joining in a contract position to coordinate components of the human resource strategy as the workforce development coordinator. Drew Vincent is also in a contract position to lead the Okanagan Young Professional Collective.
After nearly 12 years at Colliers International, Jeff Hudson has started a new company, HM Commercial Group located at 2700 Richter Street. His partner, Marshall McAnerney and assistant Nicole Behm will be joining Jeff as they move forward in their new venture. Call 250-712-3130. www.hmcommercial.com
Power 104’s creative director Doug Loepp and producer Tim Allan have won a BC Association of Broadcasters Award for Best Radio Station Imaging. Doug and Tim write and produce the crazy Carl’s Jr. promos. They are now writing and producing for Carl’s Jr. in other Canadian markets. Both Tim and Doug have worked together for 12 years at Power. Dan ‘Dirtman’ McFarlane is the promotions director of Power 104 and Q103.1.
Sandhill Winery won two golds in the Los Angeles International Wine Competition, including a Best of Class for Viognier. The Viognier is from Osprey Ridge Vineyard in Oliver and the Merlot from Vanessa Vineyard in the Similkameen Valley. Sandhill is celebrating its first anniversary in the new building at 1125 Richter St. They offer a happy hour; Fridays from 5 – 7 p.m. Drop in for a tasting. Howard Soon is the master winemaker for Sandhill.
After 54 years in the jewelry manufacturing, design and repair business, 41 of those years in Kelowna, Con Litz of L & O Wholesale Jewellers at 103-11735 Dolphin Ave. has retired. Con started the business with Keith Osterhout, when the two of them relocated to Kelowna from Saskatoon. Keith passed away in 1979 and Con continued on with their successful business. Eventually his brothers, Rudy and Todd joined him.
John Simes, chief winemaker at Mission Hill Winery for more than 20 years is now the company’s vineyards director. Darryl Brooker, who is the winemaker at Mission Hill’s sister winery, CedarCreek, will take over the head winemaking duties. Simes will continue to be an advisor to Brooker. Simes started with Mission Hill in 1992, relocating from New Zealand.
Kelowna Valley Insurance, Orchard Plaza Branch at #156 – 1876 Cooper Rd. is hosting a Community and Client Appreciation event on Friday, June 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a barbecue supporting the SPCA, games, prizes, Crime Stoppers, Safety Bear, RCMP, with a grand prize draw for an iPad mini. The company has been at that location for 15 years. Call 250-860-6064.
Trout Waters Fly & Tackle at 101-2340 Highway 97N is having a Father’s Week Sale until June 13 with plenty of savings and great items in the store. Lots of new items to choose from also. Call 250-860-2262.
George Pringle’s Class of 65 is celebrating their 50th anniversary on June 20. All students who attended George Pringle in the 1960s and their partners are welcome to attend at the Westbank Community Center, 2466 Main St., West Kelowna from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. RSVP to Eileen at Dionne@shaw.ca or May at cheekym6@hotmail.com.
The winners of the United Way Raffle for a $5,000 painting at the Kelowna Palette Club’s Simply Art Show at Bottega were M. and A. Teresposky. The winner of the People’s Choice draw on Saturday was Heidi Gamett and Sunday’s draw winner was Vicki Benham. Each won a basket of thirst-quenching products from The View Winery with appies donated by Deli City. 300 people attended and 35 paintings were sold.
The St. Andrew’s 86th Annual Flower Show and Tea is Saturday, June 20 from 2 to 4 p.m. at 4619 Lakeshore Rd. The tradition of flower shows in the Okanagan Mission goes back many years and an added feature this year will be a display of quilts made by a local craft groups. Members of the public who wish to enter flowers in this year’s show may get a copy of the classes from the church office or call 250-764-2626.
The inaugural CPABC Okanagan Cup Golf Tournament, with proceeds to benefit the CPA Okanagan Scholarship Fund, is Friday, June 26 at Pinnacle Golf Course (Gallagher’s) with a shotgun start at 3 p.m. including nine holes of golf, dinner and prizes. There is a $5,000 hole-in-one (Investors Group); closest to the keg (Molson Coors); trip to the Masters (Investors Group) and much more. Sponsors are KPMG, Grant Thornton, Investors Group, MNP, Houghton & Co. and Rider Cider. Glen Jackson is the president of CPA Okanagan Chapter. Call 250-878-8523 or to register or http://ow.ly/NwDm0.
The Annual Ride for Dad is Sunday, June 14, leaving from Banner Recreation, 819 McCurdy Rd. at 10 a.m. The first 350 riders receive a free meal from Montana’s. Contact Ron Wittenberg at ron.witt@hotmail.com.
The Legion’s Veteran’s Dinner is Sunday, June 21 at Parkinson Rec Centre. Dinner is no cost for registered veterans; first guest is $5 and additional guests are $10 each. Call 250-762-4117 for tickets and to register.
Birthdays of the week—Raymonde Armstrong (June 9); Al Horning (June 11); Pat Moore (June 12); Wayne Judiesch (June 12); Brian Burnell (June 14); Tony Ambrosio (June 14); Mark Dickie, Crowe MacKay LLP (June 15); Rod Mackay (June 16).
