Doug Osness and Ken Gottfred, owner/operators of Culligan Okanagan at 1950 Windsor Rd. in Kelowna, have received the prestigious Top Performance Award for 2015.
The Kelowna branch was sixth out of 603 dealerships in North America for the largest growth from the previous year. The Okanagan franchise grew leaps and bounds in water softner sales, in-home filtration and bottled water delivery. The award will be presented at Culligan’s 80th anniversary gala event in Huntington Beach, Cal., in April. Call 250-860-6733.
A great day for golf and a great day for Kelowna. GolfBC and Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club will host a Mackenzie-PGA Tour Canada tournament from June 6 to12. Gallagher’s Canyon will host the event for the next four years, with this year 156 golfers competing for the $175,000 purse. The Mackenzie Tour is run by the U.S. PGA Tour featuring young stars of the future of golf. Gallagher’s Golf and Country Club and GolfBC are the perfect hosts and venue for this prestigious event. For sponsorship or details on the Pro-Am call 250-862-7662.
Bruce Hamlin has joined the Bell media team as their new regional sales manager. Relocating from Vancouver, Hamlin will lead their strategy for all of the company’s local sales efforts in the B.C. Interior. He was formerly vice-president, director of sales at Channel M for six years before moving to Rogers, where he was director of sales for TV properties and most recently vice-president, sales for conventional TV, specialty TV, Sportsnet and Vancouver radio cluster including News 1130, JackFM, SonicFM and Rogers digital media assets. Bell Media radio stations in Kelowna are EZ Rock-101.5, 99.9 Sun FM and 1150 AM. Ken Kilcullen is the general manager of the B.C. Interior for Bell Media.
After over 32 years as coordinator of the well-known volunteer group, Kelowna Hostesses, Lillian Moller has retired from the organization. The Kelowna Hostesses and Lillian have been long-time supporters and volunteers of many events, including the Maxine DeHart-United Way, Ramada Hotel, Drive-Thru Breakfast for the past 18 years. Brenda Scrutor is the new coordinator of the organization. Call Brenda at 250-452-6719 or davebren@telus.net.
Long-time furniture sales associate Louise Pearson, formerly with The Brick and currently with Sears Home for the past seven years, is retiring Feb. 17. Pearson is moving to Vancouver Island, retiring into a new lifestyle.
After several weeks, plenty of dry walling and a lot of sweat equity, Csek Creative + Pulse, formerly on Ellis Street, has moved to new premises upstairs at 1685 Pandosy St. in the former Kelowna Conference and Banquet Centre premises, a new, 6,800 square-foot space designed with their clients and team in mind. Call 250-862-8010.
Long-time city employee Paul Macklem plans to retire March 11. Macklem has been with the city for 27 years and deputy city manager for the past three years. He started as the budget manager in finance and went on to work in many other roles and departments. He is retiring from the city but is moving to Victoria and taking a position as executive director of the Government Finance Officers Association of B.C. The association supports government finance people throughout the province, providing training and professional development for them.
August Luxury Motorcars, owned and operated by Matt August, has opened its new dealership at 884 McCurdy Pl. in Kelowna. This luxury automobile boutique deals in luxury to exotic vehicles along with boats and trucks. The dealership even has an incredible ’07 custom Harley Davidson in the showroom. It won’t be unusual to see exotic vehicles like a Lamborghini Murcielego, Mercedes-Benz SLS, Bentley, Maserati or Aston Martin in their showroom. Just new in the showroom is a $500,000 Lamborghini Aventador. On Aug. 7, August Motors and the Gary August Fundraiser will host the inaugural Okanagan Dream Rally for the Central Okanagan Hospice Association with 50 exotic vehicles rallying from Kelowna to Penticton. The hope is that rally will help provide special children and their families with an incredibly fun-filled experience of being in the hot seat of a dream car for a day. Participating children will have their very own rally car and driver for a day. As the Okanagan’s only rally of exotic cars and luxury vehicles, this will be a fun-filled day touring the Okanagan. To participate, call 250-864-431 or go online to augustmotorcars.com or okanagandreamrally.com.
Congratulations to Raghwa Gopal, recipient of the Vocational Service Award presented by The Rotary Club of Kelowna. The award is presented annually to member of the club in recognition of outstanding achievement in his/her vocation and demonstrating the ideals of Rotary in the workplace.
Kudos to new champion chef Marc Lepine, from Ottawa, for winning gold for the second time, making Canadian Culinary Championship history with his smoked steelhead trout with miso molasses glaze, cured pork belly, barley and corn porridge, corn cob broth, paired with Les Clos Jordanne Vineyard 2012 Chardonnay Twenty Mile Bench from the Niagara Peninsula. Silver went to chef Matthew Batey, of Calgary, and bronze went to chef Alex Chen, of Vancouver. I was fortunate to have tasted all the chefs’ dishes at this fantastic event.
Effective Feb. 29, Jason Satterthwaite will take over the chief’s duties on an interim basis for the paid on-call fire department servicing communities within the North Westside Fire Protection Area. The interim appointment is required with the resignation of chief Doug Gardiner, who is leaving to pursue an opportunity with the Fraser Valley Regional District. A formal process to select a new permanent chief within the North Westside Fire Department will begin soon.
Steve Chung is the owner of MyWebPeople.net, a business that helps businesses get found online and specializes in managing their social media profiles. This month, he celebrates the start of his fifth year in business. His company will manage your Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest profiles in one monthly package. They also help businesses claim and optimize their business Google, Bing and Yelp pages to be in the top three on page listings. Call or text 250-878-2100; email steve@MyWebPeople.Net; visit MyWebPeople.Net.
Have a Heart Radiothon sponsored by Bell Media with 12 hours of live on-the-air broadcasting is tomorrow, Thursday. Feb. 11, at Orchard Park Shopping Centre (Pear Entrance). Help them raise funds for vital life-saving equipment for the new perinatal unit helping moms and babies at KGH. Drop off your donation on Feb. 11 or at their studios at 435 Bernard Ave. You may also donate an on-line auction item. For more information call Natalie at 250-868-4702.
The nomination deadline for the 41st annual Civic & Community Awards is Friday, Feb. 12. The Young Male and Female Volunteer of the Year finalists will receive funding toward their post-secondary education through the Dillon Thomas Budd Youth Scholarship, sponsored by the Thomas Alan Budd Foundation. The award recipients will receive $1,000 while the remaining four finalists will each receive $500. Visitkelowna.ca/residents for information and nomination forms.
Mad Hatter Book Store, owned and operated by Maurice and Paulette Breault, at 5-Plaza 97S, 2483 Main St., in downtown West Kelowna (next to Papa John’s) will host its inaugural food bank drive on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Along with the Mad Hatter, other sponsors are WestK Hair Salon & Photography and Papa John’s Pizza. Bring non-perishable(s) to the store and put your name in for a prize draw. Call 250-768-2231.
New You Day Spa, owned and operated by Penny Pedersen at 202-5315 Main St. in Kettle Valley, celebrates its fifth year in busness this month. There is a great deal to celebrate at the spa with attractive renovations and many new services. A private steam room has been added along with new spa rooms for singles or couples, a luxurious king tanning bed and whole body vibrator. Natural Concepts, an organic and vegetable-based body and skin care line handmade in Kelowna, has been added to the spa line. Products range from skin care and essential oils to designer soaps and makeup. The spa has added Botox and teeth whitening by Bleach Bright. Also new is semi-permanent makeup and microblading—3D embroidery eyebrows. This is also known as feathering and is one of the most popular trends of eyebrow enhancement. It is a natural method used to deposit small amounts of pigment in the superficial layer of the skin and is considered semi-permanent. The results are natural looking, hair-like strokes, regardless of the amount of hair present. Anyone suffering from alopecia or other conditions causing hair loss will benefit from microblading as well as people who simple are not happy with their brows. Call 250-764-0664; online newyoudayspa.net.
Helen Day, physiotherapist and owner of Consult, Educate and Treat, has started a campaign in conjunction with the students at UBCO to collect used medical equipment, for Syrian families presently living in refugee camps. Items needed are crutches, canes, walkers, splints and braces. The campaign will last until the end of the month. Deliver the items to 2178 Pandosy St., call 250-448-0438 or h.day@telus.net.
Speaking o f Lake Country, Ivan Coyote, an award-winning author of 10 books, the creator of four short films and who has released three CDs that combine storytelling with music will be at the Creekside Theatre, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. Coyote is a seasoned stage performer and long-time road dog who has over the last 18 years become an audience favourite. Tickets purchased at 250-766-9309 or at the Lake Country municipal hall ticket office.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 103rd Doris Drayton (Feb. 7); happy 50th Sandi Jones, H & R Block (Feb. 11); Donnie Ungaro (Feb. 10); Wayne Horning (Feb. 10); Ernie Webber (Feb.10); Gerald Klatt (Feb. 10); Jim Stuart (Feb. 11); Tim Light (Feb. 11); Kasha Lanyon (Feb. 11); Jim Laing (Feb. 13); Lawrence Gaymer (Feb. 13); Buck LaRoche (Feb. 13); Todd Cashin (Feb. 14); Dale McKenzie (Feb. 14); Diana Wright (Feb. 14); Gary Kreller (Feb. 15); Seymour Zidle (Feb. 16); John McIntyre (Feb. 16).