This week’s column is dedicated to Don (Ronald) Phelps, one of the first solicitors I met in Kelowna back in 1971 when I was working for Scotiabank. He had great sports ability. I witnessed many racquetball and squash games that he won with ease and always enjoyed our chats. Personal condolences to Dorothy, his family and many friends.
After 32 years in the same location on Bernard Avenue, the building has sold and Picture Perfect/Perpetual Blooms has moved to a new location at 543 Lawrence Ave. (formerly the Greenhawk Building, next to Oranj and across from the Towne Centre Mall parking lot).
Owned and operated by Linda Winnick, the new location is large, bright and has lots of parking on Lawrence with an additional two spots on the side of the building. Picture Perfect offers in-house custom framing for any budget, framing repairs, a wide selection of local artwork, original paintings, limited editions, art cards, posters, custom sizeable reproduction prints on either canvas or paper, and canvas stretching, dry mounting and laminating. Picture Perfect is now also the dealership for Sid Dickens Collector Memory Tiles. Perpetual Blooms has a huge selection of silk florals for weddings, residential and corporate designs, along with vases and related accessories. The business also specializes in destination wedding planning. Make sure to give yourself enough time to browse in this large new shop. Call 250-763-6966.
After having started their popular restaurant four years ago, Ross and Monika Grimmer have sold Café Mrmello, located in the South Richter Professional Building, 3330 Richter St., to Monica and Brian Greenslade. The Grimmers are going to take the summer off. Monica plans to return to work in the future while Ross is retiring. My best to both of them.
Joe Izat is the new district manager–BC Interior for Progressive Waste Solutions (BFI), a territory that covers Kamloops to Osoyoos and everything between. Izat has been with the company for 20 years, with his new job being a promotion after spending the past 20 years working out of Calgary. Izat is replacing John Snelling, who has moved on to a new job working for the corporation’s head office in Toronto, although he still will be based out of Kelowna.
Randene Weij is the new regional director of the Canadian Cancer Society-Southern Interior Region. Weij has relocated from Prince George, but originally grew up in the valley. She has been in the non-profit industry in management positions for over 17 years. Call 250-762-6381; email rwejr@bc.cancer.ca.
Urban Systems has been recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Medium-sized Employers by the Globe and Mail and the Great Place to Work Institute. Medium-sized employers are those with less than 1,000 employees. This is the ninth consecutive year that Urban Systems has been recognized with this prestigious honour. This recognition is particularly meaningful as the award is the result of staff survey results on what it’s like to work for Urban Systems. The company’s culture is also audited by outside experts to determine a final ranking. More than 300,000 employees from companies across Canada took part in the survey this year. Urban Systems started in Kelowna in 1976 and employs 60 professionals. Martin Bell is the CEO of the company.
Gayle Voyer is the new B.C. Interior territory manager for Canadian Blood Services. Voyer would be happy to meet with your organization, schedule your group bookings or provide more details about their community program Partners for Life. Call her at 250-448-4022; email gayle.voyer@blood.ca or just stop into the Blood Donor Clinic, 1865 Dilworth Dr. Melanie Wasylyshen has also joined the team as volunteer coordinator. She can be reached via email wasylyshen@blood.ca or phone 250-448-8057.Volunteer applications are available online at www.blood.ca.
Kelowna lawyer Christy Lovig has become a partner in the firm of Doak Shirreff. Her experience is in residential and commercial real estate transactions, commercial leasing, corporate, commercial and business law, strata property laws, wills and estates and all manner of lending and secured transactions. Call 250-763-4323; email clovig@doakshirreff.com.
Don’t let the construction discourage you. Visit the free Kelowna Yacht Club’s 21st annual Boat and Leisure Show Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, from 10 a.m. each day. This year, with the new yacht club under construction, the focus will be at the on-the-water display of more than 150 boats as well as 14 on-land exhibits. More than 40 exhibitors are displaying their products and most will have special boat show pricing to make this the best place and time to purchase a new or used boat. The key feature is an F1 race boat, which is the highest class of inshore powerboat racers and something that most people have never seen before. There is also a free draw and prizes. Lisa McHaffie is the chair of the organizing committee.
Spring is always a good time to refresh your home and give it a little drama. Hertha Cooper, of Abode Redesign, is just the person to give you that advice. With 10 years in the industry, she specializes in redesign, home staging, organizing and de-cluttering. She also has earned her International Redesign Professional Designation. Redesign is the art of making your home more functional and appealing with what you already have. It’s about re-arranging those items in a new way or perhaps just adding a new wall colour or a couple new accessories, which is very economical. Perhaps you might wallpaper a wall or two, as wallpaper is making a come-back. Home staging is the process of making your home more appealing to a broad range of potential buyers. Cooper has a Canadian Staging Professional Designation as well. Call 778-478-3403 or email h_cooper@shaw.ca.
Congratulations to Orchard Ford for winning the prestigious Ford Canada President’s Diamond Award for outstanding sales and customer service for the 12th time. The award feedback is given from customers who do surveys asking their clients about service, sales and their overall dealership experience. Orchard Ford has also won the North America Customer Excellence Awards six times and the Distinguished Achievement Award and Quality Dealer Award three times. Dan Assam is a principal owner of Orchard Ford.
The City of Kelowna Civic Awards Finalists were recently announced. Many thanks to the following people who worked hard and diligently on the various committees to make these awards a success coming up on May 1. Beryl Itani, chair of the nominating committee, is retiring after more than 10 years on this committee. She will be greatly missed by all the participants and city staff. Thanks to the following people:
Nominating Committee
Dawn Wilkinson (KCR); Rae Stewart (RDCO); Karen Hill (publisher, Capital News) and Amber Gilbert (City of Kelowna).
Steering Committee
Amber Gilbert and Jim Gabriel (City of Kelowna); Michael Loewen (Royal LePage); Wayne Moore (Castanet) and Ellen Boelcke (KCR).
Selection Committee
Michael Loewen (chair); Jim Gabriel (City of Kelowna); Louise Roberts, Dave Bond, Shelagh Turner, Barb Hagan, Tanveer Gill and Mya Brewis.
Also, thanks to the sports committee chaired by Wayne Moore, the arts committee coordinated through the Arts Council and the environment committee, all with long standing volunteers. I am delighted to be the city appointed chair of the Civic Awards. With all these talented people, it makes my job extremely easy.
The Sears Beauty Gala Beauty in Blooms is Wednesday, April 30, 5 to 9 p.m. This event will be filled with exclusive offers, complimentary personalized beauty consultations and more. Tickets only $10 available at Sears with $2 being donated to Look Good Feel Better to benefit women living with cancer. $8 can be redeemed toward your cosmetic or fragrance purchase that day.
Wanda and Dan Truong are the long-time owner/operators of Mekong Restaurant, 1030 Harvey Ave., in Kelowna. Wanda is launching her newly published book, Second Chance in Canada, at the restaurant Sunday, April 27, from noon to 4 p.m. Her book began as a learning project to upgrade her English. But instead of writing a textbook to learn the structure of English, her life stories took on a different direction for the book. Learning is Wanda’s passion, but three years ago she never imagined she would be publishing a book for the public to read. But her English teacher and family friends kept telling her the stories about her life were wonderful and should be shared with others beyond her own family. So, she has subsequently written a wonderful book to tell us how to understand why the Vietnamese were called “boat people” and how they risked their lives for the chance at better life in another country. Wanda and Dan met on one of those boats. She is proud to share how hard they worked and how they sacrificed to feed their family, striving to create work for everyone in the family. All proceeds of the book are going to the Central Okanagan Hospice Association.
Downtown After 5 is April 30 at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, 5 to 7 p.m. Wine will be provided by Calona Wines, beer from Big Surf Beer and appies from RCA Bistro.
Wadaiko Tokara presents Kazakoshi for their 10th anniversary World Tour at the Kelowna Community Theatre on May 2, 7:30 p.m. Kazakoshi is Wadaiko Tokara’s newest production currently touring 15 countries throughout the world for two years. It celebrates both Wadaiko artist Art Lee’s 20th anniversary in 2013 and Wadaiko Tokara’s 10th anniversary in 2014. Not simply a taiko performance, Kazakoshi is an expression of the powerfully flowing, yet jazzy style of performance for which Tokaro has become known. Lee, the Kazakoshi artistic director, is considered one of the leading Taiko artists of his generation. For tickets call 250-862-9338 (Komatsu Japanese Market) or online at wwww.sushikelowna.com/store/c6/Event-Tickets.html. www.tokara.net.
Last week I wrote about Meena Cleland’s new cookbook, Indian Inspired Cuisine. I prepared the green bean and red pepper vegetable dish for Easter and it was a great hit, certainly a recipe keeper. It was my first time at the Indian Food Market on Dougall Road in Rutland where I purchased some of the ingredients. They sure had a lot of great products. The recipe was easy to follow and easy to make. The next recipe I am going to try is the Aloo Gobi which is a cauliflower and potato vegetable dish. www.meenasindiancuisine.com
Birthdays of the week: Happy 50th Alana Francis, Canadian Cancer Society (April 24); Jim Stuart (April 23); Myrna Telford (April 25); Alan Dolman (April 25);
Frieda Perrot (April 27); Carol Glenn (April 27); Chuck Dixon (April 27); Ron Labossiere, lawyer (April 28); Lilly Legatto (April 29); Phillippe Leger (April 29); Jim Hedman (April 29); Dave McLean (April 29); John McCormack (April 30); in memory of Peter Dick (April 26).
