Please do not forget that Thursday, Oct. 9, is the 17th Annual Maxine DeHart, United Way—Ramada Hotel Drive-Thru Breakfast from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Ramada Hotel, 2170 Harvey Ave. (Come into the hotel via Enterprise Way).
It’s going to be a great day. Rona has donated $1,000 of $20 gift cards and they will also be giving out goodies and discount coupons in the line-up. Some of the grand prizes in the bags this year are a Samsung Galaxy Tab4 sponsored by Progressive Waste Solutions (formerly BFI); a $500 Travel Voucher from Creative Mortgage and gift certificates from Corks & Hops Okanagan (Barb Douglas); Sonic Care Toothbrushes from Bernard Dental and a $500 shopping spree from MarketPlace IGA (now back to IGA). Kozy Shack pudding is being shipped all the way from Hicksville, New York and Bernard Gauthier from Kozy Shack called me last Friday to say that they were also sending 200 coupons for packages of free pudding.
Along with the wonderful apples from BC Tree Fruits, you will find Solo Bars and our famous Sun Rype juice. Many of the local restaurants have contributed gift cards. Look for the large Mario’s Towing Truck as you enter the Ramada lot and also the Booster Juice truck that will be making their Booster Juice products.
So walk, blade or ride into the Ramada Hotel. Remember all monies raised stay right here in our community. Please open your hearts and your wallets.
Tridem Services Ltd. has opened a new, three-bay truck and trailer repair and designated inspection facility at 2659 Norris Rd. (off Edwards near the Chevron Card lock). Owned and operated by Tibor Himer and Agi Himer (his daughter) and their family, they have been operating a commercial truck and trailer repair shop and inspection facility in Langley for 20 years—the shop in Kelowna is their second facility. The shop employs four mechanics, providing services from regular oil changes to inspections on tractors and trailers, including all repairs, big or small. They are open Monday to Saturday. Shelley Scott is the office manager. Call 250-765-7622 or tridem@telus.net.
Talking about doing everything at once. Celebrating her 20th anniversary with BCAA on Harvey Avenue on Oct. 16, well-known membership and auto insurance advisor, Maureen (Mo) Crosby will be retiring on Oct. 31. She celebrated her 60th birthday on Sept. 19, so she has had a lot going on. Mo and husband Les and the Crosby family have been friends of the DeHart’s for many years. Les’ mother Verna was like a second mom to me before she passed away. Many BCAA customers will miss Mo when renewing their memberships.
Well-known local restaurateur Steve Stinson has owned and operated The Keg restaurant for 27 years in downtown Kelowna on the corner of Water Street and Lawrence Avenue. Stinson’s Keg will be closing at the end of the year for a six- to eight-week renovation and will re-open as a new independent casual dining concept. Stinson also owns The Train Station downtown and Mission Tap House on Lakeshore Road.
Mike Jacobs, president and CEO of Emil Anderson Construction, has been named Business Leader of the Year for 2014 by the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, recognizing him for his outstanding contributions to the business community. Mike is the fourth generation leader of the family-owned business of companies involved in road building, earthworks and heavy civil projects throughout B.C. The handle highway road maintenance in the Fraser Valley and residential land development and housing in the Okanagan. Some highlighted projects in our area include the WR Bennett Bridge, Campbell Road Interchange and Sneena Overpass projects in West Kelowna. The awards will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 21. For more info call Dicky Dack at 250-469-7355.
The Dean of Okanagan College’s School of Business, Dr. Heather Banham has been awarded the highest honour that can be bestowed on a member of the Certified General Accountants (CGA) Association. CGA-BC honoured eight of its members with a CGA Fellowship designation, which is given to members who have made outstanding contributions to the CGA Association or the accounting profession. She was specifically recognized for her contribution to the development of the college’s business program and the creation of strategic partnerships between the college and the CGA, which resulted in a $100,000 endowment from the CGA through the Okanagan College Foundation.
The Dish Café has opened at #145-1855 Kirschner Rd. Owned and operated by Tami Cartier and Paul St. Pierre, the café is open for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Breakfast has some great unique items such as baked egg skillet, stuffed French toast, deluxe crepes, big scramble pizza and fresh fruit and mini waffle skewers. Lunch focuses on soups, chili, deli, sub and gluten-free sandwiches, beef dip, pulled pork, shrimp and avocado tacos, pizza by the slice, deserts and daily and weekly chef features by Seann Domoney. There is ample seating and a patio. They also offer lunch hour office deliveries with a minimum order of $40 to all the Landmark buildings and Kirschner Road. Call 778-478-7434.
Waterfront Wines chef and sommelier Mark Filatow and his team are celebrating their 10th anniversary. They recorded their busiest year on record this year through the restaurant and Details Catering. Waterfront Wines has won countless awards over the years, including gold at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards for six straight years and being named one of the Top 50 Restaurants in Canada by Vacay.com. They are hosting a gala at Bottega Farm and Inn on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Tickets $150 with partial proceeds benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation. To purchase email info@waterfrontrestaurant.ca.
Pushor Mitchell partner Brad Cronquist has been recognized by the Urban Development Institute (UDI) in Vancouver and Kelowna for his many contributions to the UDI Committee. Brad has been active on a UDI provincial committee that provided input to the province on the changes required to the laws surrounding real estate development marketing in B.C. under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA) and its associated policy statements and regulations. Call 250-869-1150 or cronquist@pushormitchell.com
The email for Rebecca Robinson, producer/personal historian of Life Story Film—a business about your life, your story and your film that was in last week’s column—is rebecca@lifestoryfilm.ca. Rebecca produces customized family documentaries, memoirs, guided autobiographies and legacy rescue and preservation. Call 250-808-6968.
Congratulations to See Ya Later Ranch Winery on receiving the Premier’s Award for Rover Shiraz—Viognier (2012) at the 2014 British Columbia Wine Awards held in Kelowna on Oct. 1. Also congratulations to the following Platinum Medal Winners: Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery (Cabernet Franc-2012); Quails Gate (Syrah—2012); Silkscarf Winery (Viognier—2013); and SpierHead Winery (Pinot Gris—2013).
Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s Sunset Organic Bistro is the first winery in the Agricultural Land Reserve to be granted a license to expand the alcohol options on its restaurant menu. Gerry Jobe is the new consulting bartender who was brought on board to train staff in the art of cocktails. Along with fancy cocktails, they will also be serving beer from the Nelson and Pacific Western breweries.
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has launched the BDC Small Business Week 2014 microsite in preparation for the 25th edition of its trademark event, running from Oct. 19 to 25 across Canada under the theme Back to Basics: Re-energize Your Business. Go to www.bdc.ca/sbw
Talking about BDC Small Business Week, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Mary Irwin Theatre, six business experts are being brought together to provide sales and growth strategies for small business owners in a one day-only event during Small Business Week. Sponsored by CIBC, Younility Software and Regus Office Solutions, the local speakers are Crystal Flaman, Dan Zaleski, Frithjof Petscheleit, Alexandra Krieger, Guy Steeves and Colin Parker. Tickets are $74 from the Rotary Centre for the Arts box office or selectyourtickets.com. For more info contact Colin Parker at 250-575-1935 or colin@lonestarsalesperformance.com.
Ashely Little, a graduate student of creative writing at UBC Okanagan’s Department of Creative Studies has been short-listed for the City of Vancouver Book Award 2014 for her novel, Anatomy of a Girl Gang. Set in the streets of Vancouver’s gritty Downtown Eastside, the book follows the tragic exploits of a crew of deeply troubled teenagers. Ashley is a double winner at the BC Book Prizes, is working on projects ranging from movie scripts to stage plays, a short story and a fourth novel.
Speaking of writing, former long-time Kelowna resident Terry Hynes has been trying his hand at poetry the past couple of years with great success. Now living in Grand Forks, he has won, for the second time, a contest put on by the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City, Yukon, as well as a few others in the last couple of years. He submitted a poem to the Ode to a Farmer Poetry Contest put on by the BC Association of Farmers Markets and won for the Thompson Okanagan Region. He also won a neat prize; a $50 gift certificate to the BC Farmer’s Market of his choice. The poem is published on www.bcfarmersmarket.org. Take a look, it’s really good. Contact Terry at allquipbc@gmail.com.
The Central Okanagan Heritage Society Fall Speaker Series is Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Reid Hall, Benvoulin Heritage Park. Carolyn MacHardy is the speaker on Kodaking and being Kodaked: Lady Aberdeen’s 1981 photographs in the Guisachan album. Limited seating and suggested donation of $5.
The Sunrise Rotary Shoe Bank and Soles4Souls are in need of warm socks for men, women and children, but particularly men’s warm socks. So, clean out your dresser drawers or perhaps buy a pair to donate and drop them off at Roy’s Shoes, 1627 Ellis St. Also, since Oct. 1, all Starbucks in Kelowna and West Kelowna as well as all branches of Capri Insurance offices have been collecting gently used footwear and will continue all year round.
Kudos to the staff at The United Way in Kelowna. They entered a Maxine DeHart—United Way Drive-Thru Breakfast Scarecrow at the URBA Scarecrow Festival at Lions Park in Rutland this past Sunday and guess what? They walked away with a prize. It won for the scariest scarecrow, but do not laugh yet. It won, not because it was literally scary; Laurel D’Andrea said it was scary how great it looked and also it was scary of how much it really looked like me (ha-ha). It was so much fun. The United Way staff did a fabulous job and the festival had a record number of scarecrow entrants and over 5,000 people attending.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 80th Lambert Schmaltz (Sept. 28); Happy 90th John Bell (Oct. 1); Paul Macklem, City of Kelowna (Oct. 6); Cathy Locke (Oct. 8); Karen Roen, Ramada Hotel (Oct. 9); Virginia Pisio (Oct. 10); Irene Morrison (Oct. 11); Diana Warnock, my sister-in-law (Oct. 12); Jerry Cronquist (Oct. 14); Mac Leitch (Oct. 14).
