Krafty Kitchen & Bar owner Chris Shaften has opened his second restaurant in downtown Kelowna at 269 Lawrence Ave., three doors down from Krafty.
The 30-seat Orchard Room is focused on primarily veg forward cuisine, craft ciders, craft cocktails and brunch on weekends. The space itself is a very new look for Kelowna and aims to evoke a sense of 1940’s Miami/Havana scene, with floral and geometric inspired wallpapers, a white marble quartz-top bar and a contrast of light to dark semi-secluded dining space. Chef Mike Wilkins will implement Shaften’s vision for the food menu while Mia Papodopoulos will be leading the beverage program with the help of Jared Schmidt. Open seven days a week.
Murray Bye is the new chief operating officer at FH&P Lawyers LLP, 400-275 Lawrence Ave. Murray will assume the daily operations and strategic direction of the firm in conjunction with managing partner Dylan Switzer. Murray has over 30 years leadership experience in financial reporting, business advisory, accounting and consulting. He is currently the CEO of Piscine Energetics Inc., a company specializing in the production of sustainable premium fish feed. Previously, Murray was the CEO of Crowe MacKay LLP.
Wink i Wear Optical Boutique has expanded and taken on a new name, Wink i Wear Optometry. Owner Laura Draycott, who opened the boutique in 2013, has partnered with Dr. Tim Degelman and relocated to a bigger and brighter location at 106-3200 Richter St., beside Save-On-Foods in the Pandosy Village. Relocating from Saskatchewan, Dr. Degelman has over 26 years of optometric experience. Wink i Wear now offers full service eye care and comprehensive eye exams with modern optometric equipment and state-of-the-art retinal imaging, reducing the need for dilation by up to 90 per cent. The new space is a funky mix of industrial-urban glam and showcases a huge selection of unique, independent eyewear and sunglasses from around the world. New patients are welcome and lot of parking. Call 250-862-9465 for an appointment.
If you like good frozen yogurt, Pita Pit, at 229 Bernard Ave., has added the new delicious brand of Yogen Fruz to their restaurant. Yogen Fruz is a franchised Canadian chain started by two young brothers in 1986 offering frozen yogurt and smoothie stores that are a healthy alternative food product. Some of the smoothie Yogen Fruz flavours include Strawberry Banana, Raspberry Blast and Very Berry and desserts of Coffee, Cookies n’ Cream, Mango, Blueberry, Cherry Cheesecake and Chocolate. Pita Pit is open seven days a week at 11 a.m. until late. Pavneet Singh is the owner/operator.
Trying to find some fun red and white Canada Day paraphernalia and souvenirs? Margy Ringrose,with Only Deals in the Dilworth Centre Mall, 2339 Highway 97, has a huge selection of great stuff. The store offers everything from Okanagan souvenirs and Canada Day dress-up to patriotic items including, hats, t-shirts, mugs, glassware, flags, key rings, magnets and lots more.
Now Open!
The Farm Market and Café on the way to the airport at 5225 Highway 97 North is now open, along with their new Farm Market location in town at 2810 Benvoulin Rd. Both are open seven days a week and offer fresh local fruits and vegetables. The Farm Market and Cafe also offers ice cream and café items. You will normally find owner Anureet Gill at the Benvoulin location.
Kelowna Cell Repair, at 103-1125 Bernard Ave., was one of the first cell repair businesses in Kelowna when it opened 13 years ago. Owned and operated by Sebastiaan Pynappels and managed by Jamie Spencer, the company makes repairs to any make, model or cell problem. Their repair service offers motherboard level work that very few shops offer in B.C. Kelowna Cell Repair is also the extended warranty dealer for all of the Vision Shops in Canada.
Karen Barnstable is an educator with a master’s degree in teaching and learning. Karen has written a memoir that was awarded the honour of being in the top five best new manuscripts for 2019 by the Word Guild. She has been an instructor at Okanagan College for the Learner Centered Instructor Certificate Program since 2011. So, if writing a memoir is on your bucket list, it might be the time to start now. Capturing your life experiences on paper is a worthwhile mission that will benefit you and countless others. Karen is offering an online course to set you up for memoir success, by walking you through the process step by step. The course contains 10 lessons that will prepare your mind, help you to organize your thoughts and motivate you to start writing. Each lesson leads to a writing assignment of 500-1000 words that will become pieces of the first draft of your memoir. Each assignment will receive ratings and feedback to help you grow your writing pursuits. Check out www.okanagan.bc.ca/writingamemoir.
The Kelowna City Float with float ambassador Clarence Johnson and Lady of the Lake Olivia Solano and First Princess Jennifer Werner will be in Osoyoos in the morning and Peachland in the afternoon on July 1. Last week in Marysville, Wash., the float won the Festival Award (second place) out of 13 floats entered.
Congratulations
Several City of Kelowna yards department celebrated their 2019 long-term service awards. Congratulations to Shirley Boyle (35 years); Cindy McNeely, Bruce Dacre and William Backstrom (30 years); Darren Seneshen, Kenneth Salisbury, Greg Bevandick, Greg Maier and Trevor Hunchak (25 years); Chris Blamire (20 years); Terry Lesko, Jason Schultz, Nick Schultz, Jules Roy (15 years); Daniel Tauber, Shawn Louttit, Daniel MacLead, Jens Petersen, Jeremy Roth and Stephan Jancikic (10 years).
Accent Inns Inc. has been awarded for their outstanding workplace culture at the 2019 North American Employee Engagement Awards in New York. They were honoured with the Highly Commended Award in the Culture and Purpose category. The company strives to place a strong emphasis on employee empowerment and customer satisfaction, along with being encouraged to have fun and spread positivity in the workplace, while working towards the common goal of building an engaging and inclusive culture. Mandy Farmer is the president and CEO.
City of Kelowna Wastewater Treatment Plant celebrated their 2019 Long Term Service Awards. Congratulations to Brian McAuley (35 years); Sukh Saran, Nicole Holzer, Herb Lamprecht, Jeff Devitt (15 years).
Interested in helping guide your community?
The Regional District is recruiting volunteer members to serve on the Environmental Advisory Commission (EAC) and the Central Okanagan West Advisory Planning Commission (APC). These groups work with planning services staff to advise the Regional Board by reviewing development applications for the potential environmental impacts, land use and planning issues within the electoral areas and must reside within the Central Okanagan. Visit www.regionaldistrict.com/advisorycommissions.
The Grad Class of 1957 of both Rutland Senior and Rutland Middle Schools had 32 classmates attend their successful reunion at the Ramada Hotel. Organizers were Jill Siebert, Margie Ruf and Bill Wosttradowski.
Just a reminder to anyone that is sending me information for the column. Please include a work phone number and perhaps also a cell number for weekend contact, as that is when I normally write the column.
Birthdays of the week
Happy 90th Ann Ellchuk (July 2); happy 93rd Remi Picco (July 2); happy 40th Brett Thompson (June 24); Greg Carter (June 26); Jeffery Foisy (June 27); Eileen Cordingley (June 27); happy 65th David Prystay (June 27); Roger Powley (June 27); Ted Gerk (June 27); Ed Makarenko (June 28); Cami Hill (June 28); Lane Shupe (June 28); David Walker (June 28); Mike Isaac (June 29); Tom Martin (June 29); Brenda Scruton (June 30); Don Gordon (June 30); Paul Byrne (June 30); Sattu Mahapatra (June 30); Linda Brandon (July 1); Marlene Trelenberg (July 1); Kathy Butler (July 2).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662; email dehartmaxine@gmail.com.
