Next time you drive past St. Hubertus Estate Winery at 5225 Lakeshore Rd. in Kelowna, you might be able to see the flock of sheep grazing around the vinyard.
The flock of 15 sheep arrived in November from Kamloops, belonging to Greg Sokoliuk and Kari Powell of Whistling Wind Ranch. There is a mix of lambs and sheep and they can fully graze over about 1.3 acres in a month. When it’s colder and deeper than a foot of snow on the ground, the flock is fed hay. Predators have been a concern since the beginning, addressed by the electric fencing surrounding their grazing area and that individual animals “Flower “and Timothy” wear bells to deter coyotes. That’s an old idea going back to old farming techniques. Normally, St. Hubertus mow the vinyard before winter starts, to reduce the need for tractor driving and also fertilize and aerate the soil with their hooves. With the sheep walking everywhere damages the tunnels dug by pocket gophers and mice, as rodents can do severe damage to the vines root systems. St. Hubertus and Oak Bay Estate Winery Ltd. are owned and operated by the Gebert family. Reto Gebert is the vinyard manager.
After 41 years of service as a pastor, Tim Schroeder has left Trinity Baptist Church, but he’s definitely not retiring, even though he justed turned 65 on Feb. 24. Tim started his career in Edmonton where he spent six years. He then moved to Kelowna and spent the next 35 years at Trinity Baptist. He plans to take on a new challenge as RCMP chaplain for both the Kelowna detachment and the South East District.
READ MORE: UBCO announces new top boss for Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan has a new face heading its leadership team into a new decade. Lesley Cormack will take over the school’s top position of deputy vice-chancellor and principal from Deborah Buszard on July 1. She has spent the past 10 years as faculty of arts dean at the University of Alberta, and prior to that held a similar position at Simon Fraser University.
The Molly Maid Kelowna/Okanagan franchise has new owners. Julianna Schell and Geoff Webb, partners in life and business, have purchased the franchise from Brigit Winkler, who retired after 11 years. Molly Maid specializes in both residential and commercial cleaning and operate throughout the valley Monday to Saturday. They currently have four staff and use environmentally preferable green products as part of their green housekeeping program. Molly Maid house cleaning service is very flexible and provides regular or occasional maid service depending on your schedule. They also service short-term legal rentals. www.mollymaid.ca
Steve Harvey, owner of Business Finders Canada, reports business purchases are up over 34 per cent from this time last year. Due to this increase, the company has hired three more brokers in the Okanagan — Rob Raybould, who assists entrepreneurs in navigating business transaction processes; Brent Marshall, who owns many businesses and operated the No.1 Chrysler-Jeep-Ram truck dealership in Canada; and Todd Sanderson, is a local Chartered Professional Accountant with 30 years of experience. The company has also added a new marketing director, David Steenkamp, to the Kelowna office.
The Okanagan Sun have confirmed CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie will be the keynote speaker for a luncheon Thursday, April 23, at the Coast Capri Hotel. The commissioner will speak about his global vision for the CFL, a vision he calls CFL 2.0. CFL 2.0 is his strategic plan launched in 2018 based on operational excellence, international presence, regional market strategies and global football participation. All Okanagan Sun supporters and football fans will definitely enjoy this exclusive and informative event. MC is Phil Johnson from AM1150. Tickets now on sale at https://trellis.org/cfl. Brett Kryskow is the Okanagan Sun president.
Congrats!
Congratulations to Dosa Crepe Café, at 110 Gray Rd. in Kelowna, for winning a 2020 Consumer Choice Award. Owned and operated by Dinesh Viswanathan and Shylender Selvaraj, Dosa also operates a food truck that specializes in the South Indian fermented crepe made from rice batter and lentils and is served crispy.
Three local businesses are finalists for the 2020 BC Tourism Awards — Big White Ski Resort and Okopogo Tours in the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture-Accessible Tourism Award category; and Wicked Wine Tours for the GoRVing Canada Customer Service Award.
USB album format, so what next? Local musician Jeremy Messenger has spent over 30 years working on various singing styles and released his first album Christmas Time Of Year 12 years ago. Jeremy has now released his first full length album titled Brooklyn. Finding his niche in the music world, he also produces and masters his original music, despite dealing with autism and Type 1 diabetes. His talent has culminated in his current repertoire of originals and well-known songs which he performs live. Now, at the age of 43 he can play seven instruments. On his new album, Jeremy does lead vocals, harmonies and all songs and plays drums, bass, guitar, piano, keyboards, ukulele, accordion and harmonica. Some of the best musical talents are also featured on Brooklyn, including Grammy Award winning saxophonist Fabian Hernandez from Los Angeles. Brooklyn is now available in a unique USB MP3 credit card size disc album format which allows listeners to play the album in a vehicle USB drive, as well as on their computer and traditional CD format. The album is available at Sunrise Records in Orchard Park Mall and New Tew Yew Clothing in West Kelowna. Facebook Jeremy Messenger Brooklyn Album or phone/text 778-214-4453.
The Women in Leadership Diversity and Inclusion Luncheon is March 11 at Coast Capri Hotel, starting at 11:30 a.m., hosted by the Women in Leadership Foundation. Giest speakers will be Amal Alhuwayshil, founder of I’m All Courage, a TEDx speaker, intersectional feminist and a courage expert; and Renee Merrifield, founder and CEO of Troika Management Group. To attend, register at Eventbrite/e/WomenInLeadership.
The Central Okanagan Heritage Society heritage award winners for 2020 are Shui Lee (Distinguished Community Service); Surtees Barn & House, 4629-4639 Lakeshore Rd. by Worman Commercial and the City of Kelowna (Kelowna Conservation Project on a Heritage Building Currently in Non-residential Use); 1368 Ethel Street, formerly 1730 Ethel Street, Lois McCloskey (Conservation Project on a Heritage Building Currently in Residential Use); Fumerton House, 1922 Abbott Street, Jeannette Mergens (Continued Conservation of a Heritage Building in Residential Use); St. Mary’s Anglican Church, The People of St. Mary’s Church (Continued Conservation of a Heritage Building in Non-Residential Use); Okanagan Rail Trail Committee (ORTC) Vernon to Kelowna (Conservation of a Neighborhood, Area or Cultural Landscape); Nellie Duke Exhibition, St. Michael and All Angels Cathedral committee (Special Heritage Project).
