Specialty Bakery, owned and operated by Brent Browne and home of the famous Kelonut (half donut, half croissant with a crème filling), has hired a new head baker.
Bob Gibson, formerly with the Safeway store in the Dilworth Centre for 25 years, has joined Specialty, known for its extensive variety of European breads and bakery products for both wholesale and retail consumption. Gibson will oversee a crew of eight bakers producing more than 40 different varieties of bread from scratch, including their popular gluten-free artisan bread along with numerous other bakery products. If you like sourdough bread, you must try Specialty’s version with cranberries and their European rye breads are the best. Specialty Bakery is located at 101-833 Finns Rd. with a second retail bread outlet at 16-150 Hollywood Rd. The Finns Road bistro serves breakfast and lunch Tuesday to Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a great breakfast buffet on Saturdays until 1:15 p.m. The food is delicious, reasonable and there is plenty of parking.
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz, 2580 Enterprise Way, has won the 2020 Star Dealer Award for the second year in a row. This honour is awarded to the top 11 of 60 Mercedes–Benz dealers across Canada for sales achievement and notable growth. Mercedes-Benz is the number one luxury manufacturer in Canada for the fifth consecutive year.
The Uptown Rutland Business Association (URBA) has appointed a new executive director now that former executive director Laurel D’Andrea has moved to Kitimat. Karen Beaubier is moving over from the Westside Board of Trade to replace D’Andrea on Feb. 18.
There have been a couple of appointments at innov8 Digital Solutions, located at 809 Finns Rd. Andre De Jongh has become a shareholder in the company, while Shabir Haji has been appointed vice-president of services and operations.
Allison Mclauchlan is the new executive director of the Kelowna Women’s Shelter. She comes from the YWCA Calgary, where she led the shelter and outreach programs for five years. Allison has spent more than 15 years helping deal with domestic abuse and has a master’s degree in leadership and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology.
UBC Okanagan recently established the role of senior advisor on Indigenous affairs for its Kelowna campus. Ian Cull, a founding member of the campus leadership team, has been hired as the first person to fill the job. A member of the Dokis First Nation in Ontario, Cull has served as associate vice-president for students since UBCO opened in 2005.
Several volunteers are celebrating anniversaries with the Kelowna Hostess organization. Kudos to Shirley Hall, Marnie Parton and Brenda Scruton who have been volunteers for five years. If you would like to join this exceptional organization and give some time to community service with a fun group of people, contact membership contact Roberta Withers, membership co-chair at davebert@shaw.ca.
On Feb. 3, Kelowna’s popular morning radio duo, Andy & TJ, marked their 17th anniversary on 101.5 EZ Rock. The couple celebrated TJ’s return to the airwaves after a public battle with breast cancer. The pair has been entrenched in the community since launching their show and has also branched out into a successful voice over business.
The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce gave an incentive for their 2020 membership renewals and offered two prizes for those who paid their annual membership fees by Dec. 20 and Jan. 1. Congratulations to Bruce at Space Centre Storage Plus on winning a trip for two to Victoria and to Robert at Coast Wholesale.
Proud for Prom is an initiative started last year by the daughter-mother team of Julie and Brenda Loveridge-Marks to make sure that every student in our area gets to enjoy their prom. Without help, many students would not have the means to pay for this exceptionally expensive evening and may not choose, or be able, to attend their own prom. Last year, Proud for Prom helped 32 students. This year, it will host a Drive-Thru Donation Day on Feb. 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Gather your gently used suits, dress shirts, ties, gowns, shoes, jeweler and accessories and drop them off at Rutland Senior Secondary, Kelowna Senior Secondary, George Elliott Secondary or Mount Boucherie Senior Secondary. When speaking with Julie, she said her group needs women’s dresses sizes 12+, evening bags or clutches, women’s jewelry and garment racks that are height adjustable and preferably on wheels for gowns. I cleaned out my clutch collection and will deliver them on the 28th, along with a few men’s suits. I’m sure we all have items in our closets that we can donate to help these students out on their special day. If you know of a graduating student who could benefit from this experience, please refer them to https://proudforprom.weebly.com/refer-a-student.html. Julie can be reached at proudforprom@gmail.com.
Help us shine a deserving light on the silent heroes in our community. The City of Kelowna Civic & Community Awards nomination period for the 2019 award season is now open and nominations will be accepted until Friday, February 14th. Visit kelowna.ca/civicawards for complete category details and nomination forms.
Accolades to Pushor Mitchell Lawyers LLP on donating $30,000 to aid Okanagan College students who, in their careers, will support people facing mental health issues, homelessness and community isolation. The gift is in support of the Okanagan College Foundation’s Our Students, Your Health Campaign which has a $5 million fundraising goal to build a new Health Sciences Centre and support students taking in-demand health and social development programs. The law firm is creating two annual awards valued at $2,000 each for students taking the College’s Human Service Work program. Mental health affects everyone, an issue that can’t be ignored, says managing partner Andrew Brunton. I am honoured to be the Okanagan College Foundation community ambassador. For more information on how to support and donate to the new centre contact Holly Routley at hroutley@okanagan.bc.ca
Congratulations to the City of Kelowna on receiving the Award for Excellence in Enterprise Asset Management Practice that was received at the Cityworks Conference in December. The city received the award recognizing the city’s excellence in asset management practice supported by the organization’s senior leadership and council. The city was selected from a pool of more than 700 Cityworks clients worldwide.
West Kelowna now has its very own community theatre. Crossing Creek Community Theatre welcomes the public to its inaugural production WCKY from Feb. 14 to 16 at various times at the Westbank Lions Community Centre. Tickets available at Powers Creek Community Church, Whiskey Jacks Pub and the UBS Store and online at Kelownatickets.com. It’s a frolicking night of comedy, crime and romance during 1939 when radio was king.
Birthdays of the week:
Happy 40th Tara Thompson (Feb. 6); Teena Gowdy (Feb. 6); Don Martin (Feb. 6); Sergio Cunial (Feb. 7); Karen Erickson (Feb. 7); Darren McClelland (Feb. 7); Andre Desrosiers (Feb. 7); Jack Degruchy (Feb. 7); Darlene Jackson (Feb. 8); Karen Gee (Feb. 10); Jim Stuart, appliance guy (Feb. 11); Tim Light (Feb. 11); Kasha Lanyon (Feb. 11); Dave Lange (Feb. 11); Marshall Jones (Feb. 11).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662, email max@maxinedehart.ca, website www.maxinedehart.ca.
