Lakehouse Home Store at 510 Bernard Ave. has opened a second downtown location at 1264 Ellis St. in the former Flashbacks heritage building, next to BNA.
This will house their new 8,869 square foot furniture and home décor showroom on two floors. Owned and operated by Ben and Sue Boschman, this incredible, completely renovated space was opened to give their furniture the show area it really needs. The store offers a huge variety of sofas (leather and cloth), light fixtures, accessories, tables, occasional tables and chairs, pictures, artwork, bar stools, dishes, mirrors, lamps, decorative pillows, ottomans, coffee and end tables. Clients can purchase by way of quick ship (in stock) or made to order. There is even a ping pong table at the entrance of the shop. Lakehouse is also preparing space to accommodate a full commercial cooking school with demonstration style classrooms within a portion of the second floor. Keep tuned for the opening of this addition. Makes sure you give yourself enough time to browse, as the Lakehouse is huge and there are literally hundreds of items to choose from. Open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Three well-known Kelowna women, who I am privileged to say are my friends, were honoured as B.C.’s Most Influential Women in Finance by BC Business and are featured in the BC Business March 2019 issue. Congratulations to Kathy Conway, president and CEO, Interior Savings Credit Union; Meryle Corbett, CFO, KF Capital and KF Aerospace Group; and Laurel Douglas, CEO, Women’s Enterprise Centre.
Well-known travel gal, Gloria Meeder, of Expedia CruiseShipsCenters in Orchard Plaza 2, is retiring from the travel business on March 15 after 51 years in the industry. Gloria has been in Kelowna for 18 of those years after relocating here from Calgary. Gloria tells me that in her retirement she and her husband Joe are going to start going working on their bucket list. Pat Thompsonwill be taking over for Gloria. Call 250-763-2900; www.cruiseshipcenters.com.
Tourism Kelowna has been named the province’s Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Of The Year at the BC Tourism Industry Awards. It received top honours in the category of Destination Marketing Organization Professional Excellence recognizing the organizations outstanding performance, accountability and commitment to B.C’s tourism industry. Kelowna and the valley demonstrated industry leadership in several award categories. Congratulations to Jan Dobbener, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery, customer service award winner; Mario Arango Rodriguez, Kelowna Yacht Club, customer service award nominee; TOTA, innovation award winner, tied with Fishing BC; Accent Inns, employees first award winner; and The Paisley Notebook, remarkable experience award nominee.
What’s happening at the mall ?
Lots of neat things happening at Orchard Park Shopping Centre. New stores under construction and opening this spring is Mr. Pretzels, which is a pioneering brand of aromatic soft pretzels baked in a broad variety of flavours. Mr. Pretzels has been baking delicious hand-rolled soft pretzels since 1994, with more than 300 stores in 20 countries. Using only the finest quality natural ingredients and the pretzel dough is prepared right on the spot and hand rolled in front of their customers. The pretzels are made with whole wheat, are low in fat and contain no preservatives. Located next to Jugo Juice and Indigo. Meanwhile, Sunrise Records who recently were in the news about having purchased the HMV stores in the U.K, are doing significant renovations and slated to re-open by the end of March. Freshly renovated and re-opened is New York Fries, Tim Hortons and Claire’s Accessories. Roots will be renovating and expanding into the former Hyba location adding more than 70 per cent to their former space, which will permit them to carry all of their product lines. Hyba activewear, including yoga pants, printed tanks, hoodies and more is now available in-store exclusively at Reitman’s.
Happy retirement
Long-time radio guy, Bob Mills of Power 104 will be retiring on Friday, May 10. Bob has been in the broadcast industry for 48 years, 17 of those in Kelowna at both CKOV and Power 104. The past 12 years he has been part of the Power 104 morning show. Bob says he is not sure what he is going do with all his time, but knowing Bob, the time will get filled. The person who will be filling Bob’s big shoes is Kieran Wilkie, who actually started his career with a practicum at the station in the mid 2000’s, when the station was CKOV and on the AM side of the dial. He will join Bob Johnstone. Kieranis currently doing mornings at 98.9 The Goat in Courtenay, B.C. I think May 10 will be the good bye Bob show.
High Definition Conditioning & Performance (HDC Performance) is a holistic health and wellness coaching business specializing in active mobility and sport performance that is a mobile service which means he will help you where you want to train. Owner and head coach, Brandon McCallum is certified as a CSEP, Certified Personal Trainer; NSCA, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist; B.C. Association of Kinesiology Practicing Kinesiologist and has a Bachelor of Human Kinetics degree. Brandon has two employees that are head strength and conditioning coaches for localorganizations. His goal is to improve the quality of life of each person and team that he works with. Brandon’s broad knowledge and base in the industry allows him to work with people rehabilitating an injury all the way back to the point they are ready to compete at the highest level again.
Did you know?
Did you know that the average Canadian owes $1.78 for every $1 of income earned and in October, 2018 and Canadian Insolvencies increased 9.2 per cent from the previous year? The Canadian Debtors Association (CDA) has launched in Kelowna with Henrietta Ross as the new CEO. They are now recruiting and soliciting new members. Charlie Peet and 4 Pillars (Canada’s Debt Relief Specialists) were the driving force behind the formation of the CDA, making the debt industry more trusted and allow the industry players to collaborateto come up with common goals and ethics. There was also a lack of debtor representation and lack of an existing association that was inclusive. Contact Charlie Peet at charliep@4pillars.ca or 250-860-1653.
New project in town
Growing to Give is a new project and collaborative effort between non-profit organizations and companies to provide improved access to nutritious fresh products through area food banks. Made possible by Crop Circles and TomatoVolcanoes, the Growing to Give Alliance is seeking in-kind donations of grower supplies for the first farms dedicated to growing food for those in need. Specific items include tomato plants, seeds, weed barrier, compostsoil, fertilizers, soaker hoses, harvest baskets, bird netting, shade covering, frost protective covering, metal fabrication and gardening tools.
The Central Okanagan Food Bank will act as the hub for food banks up and down the valley. Land is in place and will be provided by Helen’s Acres, acreage along the shore of Mission Creek off Benvoulin Road managed by the Trinity Foundation. To contribute or for more information, visit www.growingtogive.org or call Siobhan Shaw at 250-215-8125.
The third Annual Golf for Julia Fundraiser, presented by RONA, is in August with all proceeds going directly to little Julia’s spinal cord injury rehab and recovery. Julia Grassmick was paralyzed by a blood clot when she was just 17 months old and she is working very hard to learn how to walk again.
The family travels to the U.S. for treatment which is very costly as well as Julia’s equipment is also expensive. They are looking for sponsorship packages to help her road to recovery. Golf registrations and silent auction donations are also needed. Call Melissa Grassmick at 250-863-9975 or melissagrassmick1985@gmail.com
Strong neighbourhoods
The City of Kelowna’s Strong Neighbourhoods team is currently seeking neighbourhood champions interested in hosting events in their community. Whether it’s a block party, condo festivity, themed gathering, community potluck or neighbourhood clean-up, the Strong Neighbourhoods team can help.
Events can be supported by the mobile event trailer, on-site staff support and a $100 gift card by Save-On-Foods. New this year, residents can request an event mini toolkit, which includes games and resources. Melina Moran is the community development coordinator. Visit www.kelowna.ca/neighbourhoods to apply.
Birthdays of the week
Colin Pritchard (Mar. 13); Max Runge (Mar. 14); Christine Romanow (Mar. 14); Ron Houtstra (Mar. 15); Tony Vos (Mar. 16); Patricia Ainslie (Mar. 17); John Clarke (Mar. 18); Mike Koutsantonis (Mar. 18); Bruce Wilson (Mar. 18); Corrie Meere (Mar. 18); Ryan Smith, City of Kelowna (Mar. 19); Garry Benson (Mar. 19); Ian Macdonald (Mar. 19); Bert Gee(Mar. 19). In memory of Joe Iafrancesco (Mar. 19).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna city councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at250-979-4546 or 250-8662; email maxdehart@telus.net.
