How time flies! This month my column celebrates its 18th year with the Kelowna Capital News.
Thanks to all of you for your good wishes and congratulations over the past week. Many thanks to all of you, our readers, friends, colleagues and clients for supporting this newspaper, the column and me. Your loyalty and continued support and encouragement have made our success. Thanks for all the leads, faxes, emails, phone calls, letters, Facebook, LinkedIn messages, referrals, stops on the street and visits to the Ramada Hotel (where I hang my hat). Keep them coming. I appreciate everything, especially all of you taking me into your confidence each week. I certainly could not have made this great milestone without your help.
Marshall’s Home Living, 2455 Highway 97 N, has expanded into the 10,000 square-foot former Fabricland location and is now one huge 26,000 square-foot store of home living and décor.
Owned and operated by James Marshall, with the added new space his store has significantly expanded its leather furniture, bar stool and power reclining galleries, home theatre seating and dining department. With this expansion Marshall’s Home Living is now able to show a greater variety of large pieces of leather furniture, along with more paintings, artwork, chandeliers, wall clocks, wall units and hundreds of accessories. Along with more than 300 unique accent tables, look for the larger store to offer pieces of traditional, modern, contemporary, restoration and shabby sheik with a fabulous glam area. Marshall’s also offers free design services as all of its sales representatives are qualified interior decorators. One thing is for sure—you will need a great deal of time to browse in this store.
Based at their club location on Springfield Road since 1979 and in the Invue building for the past seven years, the Kelowna Elks Club has moved to a new clubhouse location at 1923 Kent Rd. At 100 members strong, the Elks’ new clubhouse has 60 seats, easy access, great parking, a friendly environment, lots of TVs, dartboards and a nice bar area. Hours are four days of operation on Wednesday and Friday, 2 to 7 p.m., and Thursday and Saturday, 1 to 8 p.m., which are the days of their meat draws. Drop in and visit. The Elks members are a great group of people and are always looking for new members. The club executive consists of Al Blaquiere (president), Elsie Dash (past president), Angela Erdely (1st vice-president), Barb Maynard (2nd vice-president), Ben Van Helvert (3rd vice president), Walter Stasiuk (Sergeant-at-Arms), Aimee Land (treasurer), Judy Bastiannssen (secretary) and Keith Baker (chaplain). Call 250-860-5841.
Hunger is no game, but the 10 teams participating in the seventh annual Central Okanagan Canstruction had fun playing with the “games” theme. Congratulations to the following winners. People’s Choice, Kelowna Jaycees (Super Mario); Juror’s Favourite, Capri Insurance (Hangry’ Bird); Structural Ingenuity, CEFA Early Learning (Hoot Owl); Best Use of Labels, Okanagan Adventist Academy (Hunger Fames Wall); Best Meal, KSS Basketball (Slam Dunk); Honourable Mention, St. Joseph’s (Pac Man and Ghosts). I was delighted to be a judge along with Dennis Campbell, David Pfuetzner and Erich Klein. Close to 20,000 cans were used in the displays and will be divided between the food banks and Salvation Army.
The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has a new board of directors for 2016-17: Ken Carmichael, Tom Dyas, Brian Bonsma, Angela Nagy, Stuart Grant, Una Gabie, Al Hildebrandt, Nikki Csek, Jeff Robinson, Andrew Ingenhorst, Silvano Todesco, Martine Hickman, Shelagh Turner, Shelley Gilmore and Carmen Sparg. Appointees are Barry McGillivray, Tracy Gray, Kevin Lavigne and Michele Leeners.
World Beat Family Golf, 625 Old Vernon Rd. in Kelowna, is open for the season from 10 a.m. to dusk, seven days a week. Call 250-765-7010.
The Kelowna Yacht Club has a new board of directors for 2016. At the helm is commodore Nancy Thompson joined by vice-commodore Henry Harlos, rear commodore Don McEachern, past commodore Murray Ramsden, staff captain Eva Konik, fleet captain Peter Wingfield, treasurer Stuart Symon and secretary Dot Schoneberg. The board directors are Mike Bourgeois, Larry Clark, Lori Field, Chantelle Froats, Gabi Haas, Paul Jollymore and Michael Newcombe.
Kettle Valley Plates Restaurant, 100-5305 Main St. in South Kelowna’s Kettle Valley subdivision, is a really great place for dinner. Owned and operated by Serge Dosanj, the restaurant is open 5 to 9 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday. It also has an inviting patio. Plates now offers the popular Poppadoms restaurant dishes on their menu like mango chutney, mum’s yellow daal, mum’s vegetable pakoras and Poppadoms incredible butter chicken. The restaurant also serves the classics like house-made burgers, steak sandwich, fish and chips and spaghetti and meatballs. Plates have Jas’s cooking classes and family style dining bi-weekly. If you enjoyed Poppadoms at McCurdy Corner and are missing its menu, take a short drive to the Upper Mission area of the city for some incredible food. Call 778-477-2414.
Foot Bar at Cream Hair & Makeup Studio, 2-1771 Cooper Rd., offers relaxology foot massages that do just as they say, relax you. The foot bar offers three different packages with add-ons of sugar scrub, hand massage or essential oils. It also includes a five minute neck and upper-back massage. Call 250-868-4889 and ask for T’Keya Delwo who does a super job.
Nine delicious Artisto gelato and sorbetto flavours are now available at your local grocery stores. The product is locally made and family owned and operated by Rob and Nica Graziotto. Flavours vary by retailer and they also produce special flavours that celebrate each season at various time of the year. The flavours of gelato are sea salt caramel, double chocolate, espresso bean, Tahitian vanilla, Sicilian Pistachio and traditional hazelnut. Sorbetto flavours are fresh lemon, wild strawberry and mango mania. You can find Artisto at Peter’s Your Independent Grocer, Sunshine Market, Quality Greens (all locations) and Urban Fare.
The Greater Westside Board of Trade Business After Hours is on March 10 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bodyshop CrossFit Training Centre, 1060 Stevens Rd.
The members of The Ukrainian Catholic Church at 1091 Coronation Ave. in Kelowna are cooking and baking for their Easter Food and Bake Sale on March 19. Mark your calendars for the pre-sale will be held on Thursday, March 17, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the church hall. Email your requests to joestetch@yahoo.com or phone Alice Pelechaty at 250-763-4870. Pre-order deadline is March 12.
Sons of Italy Galileo Lodge is hosting a dinner and dance with a neat twist on Saturday, March 19 at the Okanagan Mission Hall, 4409 Lakeshore Rd. It’s called Sopressata Contest. Sopressata is a bigger version of a regular sausage. Anyone can enter. Bring your home-made salami and you will be eligible to win prizes. After the contest you will be treated to a delicious dinner and music to follow. All this for $25.00 and free for children under 12. Call Ono at 250-862-7799.
Four Okanagan authors and illustrators will be at Chapters on March 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to sign their children’s books. The authors on hand will be Darcy Nybo (Emma Jean Finds a Friend, The Great Grape Adventure and Bark, Swat, Crunch); Karen Autio (Sabatoge, Second Watch, Saara’s Passage and Kah-Lan); Beth McCarthy (How Perfectly You and The Doubt Booger) and Judith Jones Muchowski (The Adventure of Kiki).
The 2016-17 season for the Kelowna Actors Studio at 1379 Ellis St. has been announced and it’s an exceptional lineup. The Glass Menagerie (July 28 to Aug. 6, 2016), Rocky Horror Show (Oct. 12-31, 2016), A Christmas Story (Nov. 30 to Dec. 18,2016), Chicago (Feb. 8 to 26, 2017), Anne of Green Gables (April 19 to May 7, 2017), The Great Gatsby (May 31 to June 17, 2017) and Billy Elliot (July 27 to Aug. 5, 2017). If you renew your subscription by April 1, you will have your name included in a draw for a Sparking Hill weekend getaway. Call 250-862-2867 or drop by their Orchard Park Mall location.
Peter Johner, the Swiss chocolatier in Lake Country, is in full chocolate production for the Easter season. All of his handcrafted chocolates are preservative free and have no artificial flavouring. Johner also schedules chocolate making workshops in the event that you would like to create your own chocolate bunnies or Easter eggs. To place orders or inquiries regarding the workshops call 250-718-0193 or email pjohner.chocolatier@gmail.com.
If anyone knows of or is a Tupperware representative, would you give me a call? Could not a find a representative on-line either.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 91st Sid Tamaki (March10); happy 40th Angie Rothwell (March 9); Rudy Litz (March 9); Marguerite Berry (March 9); Karen Christiansen, MNP (March 10); Ryan Coome (March 10); Helen Hut (March 12); Linda Manoin (March 12); Bill Justus (March 12); Lise Sinclair (March 13); Curt Tingley (March 13); George Apostolidis (March 14); Netti Schafer (March 15).