LAURA ladies fashions have relocated in Kelowna from Orchard Park Shopping Centre to 402-1575 Banks Rd., in the former Bowring facility next to Homesense.
The new store is bright, well-appointed and there is loads of parking with easy access to the store. LAURA offers something for every women, no matter how tall or short or what shape you are. All the styles are modern and this year’s new arrivals for fall are wonderful, with colours of corals, navy, lime green, beautiful blue tones and of course the staple black. This new store location now has a devoted dress shop within the store, which is separate from all the other fashions. It makes it easier to shop for what you are looking for. Look also for handbags and jewelry accessories. I purchased a really cool pair of sun glasses at an exceptional price. With 10 staff, Sallah Tuer is the general manager.
The Mortgage Centre has relocated from 1553 Harvey Ave. to 213-1579 Sutherland Ave. Irene Wilkinson and Les Yeager are now joined by Carol Dorm and Dwight Folk. Call 250-861-4222.
The Downtown Kelowna Association has a new board of directors for 2016-17. Congratulations to new president Dan Allen, of Doc Willoughbys. Joining him on the board are Yarden Gershony, Rush Ihas Hardwick LLP (vice-president); Rob Collins, Grant Thornton LLP (treasurer); Angie Bricker, Georgie Girl Vintage (secretary); Dustin Sargent, Streaming Café (past president); Nikki Csek, Csek Creative; Jason Guyitt, Delta Grand Hotel; Jan Johnson, Tigerlily Fashions; Brent Lobson, Imperial Parking; Jim Meiklejohn, Meiklejohn Architects; Renata Mills, Festivals Kelowna; Trevor Neill, Mosaic Books; and Renee Wasylyk, Troika Developments. I am delighted to be the representative on the board as a liaison for Kelowna city council. Peggy Athans is the executive director of the association.
Michelle Corsicana is the new owner of The Kore Dance Project, 1774 Baron Rd., in Kelowna. Formerly known as DanceForce, Corsicana purchased the business from Lynn Deschner, who retired. She is continuing on with the classes that Deschner previously offered, but has added acro and aerial hoop classes this year. She has also hired new teachers. There are not many, if any, dance studios in the area that offer, and also perform or compete with them at dance competitions. Corsicana has been an acro teacher for more than 10 years and she is also certified with Acrobatique. Dance is her passion. Full classes start Sept. 12. Bring-a-Buddy week is Oct. 3 to 7. Call 250-712-2202; online thekoredance-project.com.
Partners Graham Watson and Donovan Roberts have started EnviroCut, a 100 per cent emission-free lawn care company. Both formerly of Summit Tools, the two have mounted solar panels to their trailer to charge the batteries that their equipment uses, thus creating less pollution and running quieter as well. The new trend in business is to go green and Graham and Donovan want to be at the front of the pack. They would like to help homeowners and businesses reduce their carbon footprint and offer lawn care, yard cleanups and trips to the dump. Free estimates and senior discounts. EnviroCut is now accepting bookings for next spring 2017. Call 250-470-8163; online envirocutlawn@shaw.ca.
Next time you are downtown or at the Town Centre Mall, make sure you stop into Annegret’s Chocolates and grab a gelato cone or cup. It’s incredible. Annegret makes the gelato in-house with eight per cent fat content. I tried the Mozart Chocolate (hazelnuts) and Quark (raspberry). Then, to top it all off, they asked me to try a scoop of the Cherry Mania. Unbelievable and reasonably priced.
Congratulations to Madeline Kempf and Cassandra Lum of Okanagan College’s School of Business, who were two of only six college students in B. C to receive the Premier’s International Scholarships this year. The awards valued at between $8,000 and $10,000 each assist students studying a wide variety of subjects ranging from fine arts and nursing to potential studies at colleges and universities around the world.
This is pretty cool. Canadian musicians Robbie G and 3-time Juno and 5-time MMVA winner and 2009’s Canadian Man of the Year, Moka Only, recently visited Kelowna to shoot their new vacation inspired music video. The video was directed by Kelowna resident Matt Bhird (who also works at the Ramada Hotel), a life-long friend of Robbie G and Moka Only. Bhird was honoured to work on such a great project and was eager to showcase the Okanagan Valley to the world.
Local chef Mark Filatow, of Waterfront Wines, is competing to become the B.C. champion to represent the province in the Canadian Culinary Championships being held in February in Kelowna. The qualifying competition is being held in Victoria in November with 10 chefs from B.C. competing.
Local company Clearoma Industries recently shipped a load of their proven odour destroying project to several restoration companies working to remediate the damage to homes and offices affected by the recent fires in Fort McMurray. Clearoma president Darrel Bensmiller formerly owned Okanagan Laboratories and Chemac. After their sale he refined the odour destroyer and called it Clearoma. Clearoma distributes to janitorial companies, hotels and retailers. You can purchase it locally at Canadian Tire, Cooper Medical and Fibreclean Supply. The popular consumer four-ounce spray bottle sells for $7. Call 250-763-0056; website clearoma.com.
If you love Rhythm & Blues, Soul Music and the Big Motown hits from groups like the Temptations, Sam & Dave, Wilson Picket, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Aretha Franklin, you won’t want to miss Rann Berry’s Soul of Motown Revue on Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Kelowna Community Theatre. They have added two sunken dance floor areas into the stage area so that people, who want to dance, can now dance without disturbing other’s views. Rann and his crew create the atmosphere of a Detroit nightclub in the 1970’s which is super funky and soulful. Special guest vocalist Vicky Nish will be adding her powerful heartfelt vocals to the show with her amazing Aretha Franklin tribute. Tickets at selectyourtickets.com or call 250-762-5050.
You really should eat here. Dehli Cuisine & Bar has opened at 271 Bernard Ave., owned and managed by Govind Siwach. Chef Manoj Sharma has assembled a large menu of East Indian cuisine including appetizers, seafood and tandoori sizzlers, vegetarian, paneer and chicken specialties, along with seafood and lamb. Believe it or not, they offer eight different selections of tandoori nan breads, four regular and four stuffed. I was in heaven with all the selection of naan breads and my favorite was the garlic naan. We were in a large party and tried several dishes, including the vegetable and chicken biryani rice, pea’s rice, lamb roganjosh, palak paneer, Dehli butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, bhindi do pyazza, vegetable pakora and vegetable potli samosa. Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Tia Giles is the manager of the restaurant. Call 778-478-7979. Congratulations to Madison Kapchinsky and Emery Bardock, the low gross winners, and Gloria Morgan and Abby Pavelich, the low net winners of the inaugural Harvest Ladies Amateur Two-Ball Golf Tournament. A donation of $7,000 was donated to the Central Okanagan Hospice Association and will go towards education and training programs, supporting the hospice house with furniture and décor and helping with gardening projects. Next year’s tournament is July 24, 2017.
Kelowna Community Resources will host Job Readiness for the 21st Century. If you are unemployed and looking for work, a 50-plus worker, person with a self-identified disability, permanent injury or chronic health concern or an immigrant, you can apply for this no-cost, six-week training course starting Aug. 29. Call 778-484-5587.
The Kelowna Community Concert Association is welcoming new subscribers to their series of concerts or 2016-17. There are five exciting new concerts at $90 for all five, held at the Kelowna Community Theatre from September to April. Sue MacDonald is the program chair of the association. Call 250-765-2835 or visit the website kelowna-communityconcerts.org
I would like to thank everyone for your hundreds of birthday wishes through emails, texts, stops by the hotel, stops on the street and events, phone calls and Facebook messages. All very much humbly appreciated.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 80th Abby Sones (Aug. 13); happy 70th Roger Sellick (Aug. 7); happy 65th Cathy Slade (Aug. 12); Wilbur Turner (Aug. 10); Jacquie Kine (Aug. 10); Christine Daley (Aug. 10); Travis Huva (Aug. 11); Cathy Slade (Aug. 12); Willy Burgess (Aug. 12); John Wright (Aug. 12); Craig Hostland (Aug. 12); Rupert Gruen (Aug. 13); Kali Howden (Aug. 13); Dave Renner (Aug.13); Randy McBride (Aug. 14); Lorne Ettinger (Aug. 15); Herb Comben (Aug. 16); Reagan Krivsky (Aug.16); Amanda Zais (Aug. 16); Brad Buchanan (Aug. 17); Peter Lepold (Aug. 17).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna city councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546, 250-862-7662, fax 250-860-3173, E-mail maxdehart@telus.net.
