This week’s column is dedicated to a long-time friend, Lynn Hamilton who passed away after a long battle with ALS on June 16 at the age of 64. Lynn ran a successful home cleaning business and loved animals, especially her Great Danes of which she had many throughout the years. Personal condolences to husband Dave, children Kevin and Tabitha, her entire family and many friends.
Owned and operated by Deb Dunnigan and Karyn MacKenzie, the original DunnEnzies at 1559 Ellis St. in downtown Kelowna just celebrated its sixth anniversary on July 1. The new larger location still offers all their delicious specialty traditional and infamous pizzas. It will add white pizzas, pressed Italian sandwiches, calzones, design your own salads, daily combo specials and grab and go. The restaurant now offers eat-in and take-out with community tables to seat 16 and 12 eat-up bar stools along with a large patio and bright red patio tables. Open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 3 to 9 p.m. with delivery service. Call 236-420-3062.
Effective Sept. 5, Natasha Girard is the new executive director of the Central Okanagan Hospice Association. Currently the director of Hospice Kingston for more than10 years, Giard has focused during her time there on organizational growth and sustainability and led initiatives including integration of organizations and planning for a capital project to build a residential hospice. Prior to joining Hospice, Girard worked as a legal assistant in St. Catharines, Ont., and in Alberta. In the interim call Nica Garziotto at 250-763-5511at the COHA office here in Kelowna. Marion Henselwood is the president of COHA.
Total E’Clips Salon and Spa, which opened six years ago in the Spall Centre location, has been sold. The salon was owned and operated by Linda Russell, who has since retired, and Kathie Jones. The new owners are Garry Chalmers and Asmaa Barkouta. They will retain the business name Total E’Clips Salon and Spa for the short term with an eye to changing it later this year. The shop is located at 107-3957 Lakeshore Rd. in Kelowna. There will be some positive changes over the next few months taking place at that location, including completing some planned renovations. Call 250-764-8117; online totale-clips.com.
Sunday brunch is back at Lake Okanagan Resort. Owned by the Liu family for the past few of years, many staff changes have also taken place. Both relocating from Edmonton, Philip Caragannis is the new food, beverage and recreation manager, while Paul Gareau is the new executive chef. Both have extensive experience in the food and hospitality industry. The brunch is served on the lower level of the resort and also on their massive patio overlooking Okanagan Lake. Eggs Benedict is their specialty made from scratch. Renovations will be undertaken to the upstairs dining room, kitchen and bar. Along with the Sunday brunch, breakfast is served from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday to Saturday, with dinner served daily from 4 to 8 p.m. There is a barbecue at the Barefoot Bar from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the resort’s Tikki Bar, which is literally right on the beach and licensed, serves great burgers. All food areas are open to the public, resort guests and residents. It’s a great place to visit by boat as they have a full marina with moorage. Call 250-769-3511.
MotoVida Cycle, at 1254 Ellis St. in downtown Kelowna, has acquired the rights to be the local Moto Guzzi dealer. Produced in Mandello del Lario, Italy, since 1921, Moto Guzzi is the oldest Italian manufacturer of motorcycles. It has been a favourite of MotoVida’s for many years as co-owner Brent Giesbrecht has personally owned six Moto Guzzis, because he just loves the sound. Candace Giesbrecht is a co-founder of MotoVida Cycle and Brian Milligen is the new CEO. Call 778-478-2732.
Relocating from Sun Peaks Resort where he was the executive chef for several years, Darren Kashin is the new club chef at the Kelowna Yacht Club. Former chef, Ryan Swaby is relocating to Calgary.
Kelowna city manager Ron Mattiussi has received the Local Government Management Association’s Distinguished Member Award. The award recognizes the extraordinary contribution of a member to the association or to a local government or organization to their high ethical standards and is not presented every year. Mattiussi celebrates his 10th anniversary as city manager and before that was director of planning for the city for 11 years.
Happy 63rd anniversary Bud and Jo Stewart (June 28).
A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections (ABCHI), one of North America’s fastest growing home inspection businesses, has expanded into West Kelowna. Local resident Al Brown has launched ABCHI’s operations along with the support of the company’s regional office in Port Coquitlam as a franchisee. Brown is bringing ABCHI’s collection of processes and systems to West Kelowna and surrounding areas with his goal to make home inspections easy for homebuyers of all ages and backgrounds to understand. With a background in the insurance repair and restoration industry coupled with his carpentry trade skills, Brown’s work experience has given him the perspective to provide excellent work. For more information call 250-486-2593; online ABuyersChoice.com.
SunRype has launched a Special Edition Hard Cider to commemorate its 70th anniversary. Made with 100 per cent B.C. apples pressed in Kelowna, the SunRype Brand Okanagan Apple Cider contains seven per cent alcohol and is fermented in small batches to create the signature apple taste that is crisp and dry. The retro design is an adaptation of the original SunRype logo, circa 1946. The amber bottle features a photograph of early century apple pickers in the orchards of the Okanagan Valley to celebrate the rich fruit growing history. In the 1950s SunRype launched Canada’s first cider, B.C. Sparkling Cider which was processed and bottled by the Caribou Brewing Company in Penticton. The cider is available in 650ml bomber-style bottles at select private liquor stores in B.C. Dave McAnerney is the president and CEO of SunRype Products Ltd., headquartered at 1165 Ethel St. in Kelowna.
The Rotary Club of Kelowna-Okanagan Mission has awarded two Paul Harris Fellowships to two locals, Dr. Stan Valnicek, plastic surgeon (chief medical officer) and Kim East, a registered nurse (head care coordinator) with Restor International Inc. The Paul Harris Fellowship is awarded by the Rotary Foundation to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to their community, whether locally or globally. In this case, it is for the work with Restor International in providing ongoing burn surgeries and medical and wound care training at the Gamby Hospital in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, with the help of other Rotary clubs.
Kudos to equipment operator Richard Jomphe, who was selected as one of the city fo Kelowna’s BEST Award recipients in March. The award was given for his dedication to service and its impact on landfill operations when the Tana compactor broke down late one Friday, expecting it to be down until Monday. Jomphe removed the broken starter and rebuilt it in the shop out of three old ones. His creativity and ingenuity also saved the city more than $120,000 in replacement parts when he created and implemented a successful in-house modification for four front end loaders.
OGO Carshare Co-op now has a vehicle parked and ready to use at KGH. The care is conveniently parked in the southeast corner of the Dr. Walter Anderson parking lot and is a joint venture between both OGO and KGH. OGO is a community owned carshare program and is a leader in re-thinking how we walk, drive and live within our city. Christian Brandt is the executive director of OGO Care Share Co-op. Call 250-864-0560. For more information online go to ogocarshare.ca.
Chiropractor Dr. Kari Primak, with the 2016 National Rider of the Inside Ride national tour team, will host a cycle challenge on Monday, July 11, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Stuart Park on the outdoor skating rink surface. All funds raised will be distributed to pediatric oncology programs including care and research being conducted at B.C. Children’s Hospital. There will be teams of six people each riding on stationary bikes as hard as they can for 10 minutes. Each team is responsible for raising a minimum of $1,000 among the six members and at the end of the hour there are prizes for the best team spirit costume, mileage and fundraising.
Happy 61st anniversary Bud and Joan Darrough (July 2).
The 2016 Get To Know Contest invites youth ages 19 and under to upload their nature-inspired entries to be featured in an online gallery while offering them a chance to win wild prizes. The contest runs from May 1 to Nov.1. Youth can visit the Enter Now page for more info about the contest at gettoknow.ca. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for a chance to see artwork from other contestants. Sneha Philip is the program coordinator of Get to Know. Call 250-980-3969; email sphilip@gettoknow.ca.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 100th Stan Bjornson (July 3); happy 65th Mardi Amrein (July 9); Gladys McCulloch (July 5); Ian Robertson (July 5); Peter Angle (July 6); Laura Golinowsky (July 6); Don Volk (July 6); Dennis Gerace (July 7); Michou Szabo (July 7); John Walker (July 7); David Spevakow (July 7); Don Richmond (July 8); Leanne Moyer (July 9); Sherri Rea (July 9); Marc Whittemore (July 9); Shirley Hutt (July 10); Sherry Huva, my niece (July 10); Donna Good (July 10); Gary Bakelmun (July 11); in memory of Doreen Ross (July 12).