Maxine Dehart

Straight from DeHart

Date: July 18/2007

Clayton Kessler, a local Okanagan outdoor enthusiast has combined his passion for the outdoors and entrepreneurship. He consulted a local scientist and made his own campfire colorant product, resulting in a unique camping product that mesmerizes everyone who uses it on a campfire. Campfire FX is a 2.5 inch by 4.25 inch packet containing copper based salts and chlorides that when place on a campfire produces green, purple and blue colored flames. Scouts have know for years that the use of a copper pipe drilled with holes and stuffed with a section of rubber garden hose produces a similar effect and his new invention simplifies the whole process. “Campfire FX” was introduced and tested in Kelowna at Bear Creek Provincial Park where it quickly old out. His manufacturing partner, Blast-Off! Fireworks, have created a new company FX Manufacturing and the product is quickly growing in popularity. Campfire FX can be purchased at AG Outdoor Superstore, Bear Creek Provincial Park, Outdoor Adventure Gear and Ace Hardware in Peachland. Clayton also has a website www.tracksandtrails.ca sharing his outdoor experience and knowledge. Call him at 470-8704 or clayton@campfirefx.com

Long-time restaurateur Greg Capozzi of the popular Swiss Chalet Chicken & Ribs on Harvey Avenue has sold the operation. The franchise is now owned corporately. Stay tuned, Greg is getting involved in something else and I'll let you know soon.

"A Maze in BC Journey" has officially opened for business. It is a tour company catering to the fully independent explorer who is looking for some fun with their adventure. Completing a tour involves making your way through a maze of clues, enigmas and tricky questions in order to experience the best in Okanagan culture. Owned and operated by Sylvie Vidaillac, the tours are funny, brainy and healthy. Participants must have a reliable vehicle and good walking shoes. All tours end with surprises and special treats. There is so much to discover in the Okanagan with extraordinary artists, entrepreneurs, merchants and farmers...passionate gifted people and this new company is a way to see it all. For more info call 718-8075 www.amazeinbc.ca or e-mail info@amazeinbc.ca

Westbank Home Hardware at 2475 Dobbin Rod is celebrating its 20th anniversary in business. The operation is owned and operated by Garry Wittich and family. Call 768-3125

After two years on Highway 33, Innovative Floors & Design owned and operated by Sofia and Nick Simeonidis have relocated to Dougall Road N. To make an appointment call 765-4121 or e-mail innovativefloors@shaw.ca

Paul Gervais former regional manager of The Brick for 18 years is the new director of operations at Arctic Spas, Pools & Billiards at 1949 Harvey Avenue. They are the authorized dealer for Arctic Spas and also sell games. Call 861-5484

Pacific CoastCom has purchased long-time communications firm "Wood Communications" at 1744 Springfield Road. Wood Communications has been owned and operated by Don and Marj Wood since 1979. Don originally started the Radio Telephone "wireless" business in 1973 on the technical side then became involved in renting and selling mobile radios. Don has not left the operation and will stay on for a while ensuring a smooth transition for Pacific CoastCom. Ron Carncross is the general manager of Pacific CoastCom out of the lower mainland.

The names are out. Dr. Bill Nelems is the Chair and Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Tewksbury is the honourary chair of the 2007 Okanagan Family AIDS Walk on Sunday, September 23. Mark won his golf medal in swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and Dr. Nelems is a prominent physician in our community.

There’s two new Airport Operations Specialists at the Kelowna Airport. Peter Mazar relocated from Abbotsford Airport in Emergency Services and Barb Haley, an Emergency Response Specialist relocated from Vancouver to join the YLW team. Roger Sellick is the Airport General Manager.

On July 26th local business persons, Mary Krupa and Garnet Clark of Morningstar Enterprises Inc. and Mary Jo and Steve Schnepf of Kelowna Flightcraft will begin their ascent of Africa's highest peak to raise awareness about the effects of climate change and to raise money for climate change programs at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. With the Uhuru Peak glaciers disappearing, Mount Kilimanjaro has emerged as a universal symbol of our climate changing world. In response, Mary and Mary Jo have organized the "Climb for Change" which they hope to establish as an ongoing climate change fundraising project that sees donors sponsoring individuals as they climb to reach the world's highest summits. All funds for the climb are being covered by the climbers in order that 100% of the donations will go to assist the Canadian Wildlife Federation's climate change initiatives. Call Mary Jo at 470-1420 or Mary at 861-9474 or mkrupa@mstar-ca.com

An Okanagan talent gets traction in Vancouver. Former marketing manager with Silver Star and Big White, Brian Webb has joined the client services team at Traction Creative Communications; a Vancouver based strategic communications, creative design and public relations firm as an account manager. He will be working on accounts including the City of Kelowna and Tourism Kelowna. bwebb@tractioncreative.com or 604-408-7040

I participated in a really neat project over the weekend. Along with Mayor Shepherd, Julia Ketler, Mary Mason, Dennis Rogers, Olga Byrnes. Jean Alton, Kathy Spencer, Stephanie Rosenblatt and Richard Perrin, we started our part of the project for the “Spirit of Kelowna” Community Public Art Project. With 102 citizens of Kelowna, 11 years old and up (of which I am honoured to be a part of) we are each designing and making our own bronze medallion, expressing our individual interpretations of community spirit during workshops (10 in each class) supervised by well-known and well-respected sculptor Geert Maas and his wife Elly. Thank goodness no artistic experience was required for this hands-on opportunity. Geert said that all that was needed was an idea and pride and passion for the community you live in. That is all that he got from me, as I am sure I was quite a handful without any artistic experience. I told everyone that the last time I was even remotely artistic was 25 years ago when we all made macramé hangers (ha!). The other nine participants in this particular workshop were remarkable and very talented; the mayor sculpturing a fabulous grizzly bear head; Dennis working on his very involved Rockets logo; Jean with her beautiful fruit; Olga with a “volunteer” medallion; Richard featuring ying yang fish; Stephanie creating an incredible “eye”; Mary sculpturing her car driving into the beautiful valley; Kathy with her creation around a cross; Julia with a “bunch of pictures” and myself with a sort of historical theme – the DeHart family branding iron insignia. Of course, none of us could have even been remotely successful without the direction of Geert and Elly, two wonderful people who have taken on this long, patient and time consuming project. Once completed, the 102 bronze medallions, one for each year of Kelowna’s history since incorporation in 1905, will be permanently installed as a special feature in City Hall, leaving a lasting legacy for future generations. An open house exhibit of all the medallions for the public to view will be on Sunday, September 23 from 2-4pm at The Geert Maas Sculpture Gardens and Gallery at 250 Reynolds Road. The display will be incredible and unique.

QHR Technologies Inc. has entered into a letter of intent with the shareholders of National Medical Software to purchase 100 per cent of the outstanding common stock of NMS. QHR is an emerging player in Western Canada in the development of electronic medical records software and services. National has a substantial foothold in the Alberta EMR market, servicing approximately 500 doctors in the province. Further, National's EMR and ASP hosting experience are areas that the company would like to seamlessly integrate into its operation.

The B.C. Orchard Industry Museum's 12th Annual Cherry Fair is Saturday, July 21 from 10am-3pm inside the Laurel Packinghouse at 1304 Ellis Street. Cherry lovers will have the chance to sample a variety of locally grown cherries and cherry treats. There will be live entertainment, hands-on children's activities and free face painting. Try some cherry pie, cherry ice cream, chocolate covered cherries or sparkling cherry essence. Admission is $2 per person or $5 for a family of four. Call 763-0433 or visit www.kelownamuseums.ca

The Kelowna Women's Shelter/Osteoporosis is having a fundraiser on Saturday, July 21 at The Chatsworth Retirement Suites and bungalows at 1831 Parkview Crescent from 2-4pm. There will be musical entertainment, dancers, a special guest performer, a mini market, refreshments and food for sale. Tickets at the door at $5. Call Shirley at 860-1064, ext. 403.

Predator Ridge Golf Resort will house the first annual Predator Ridge Community Arts Festival on Saturday, July 21 from 11am-4pm. The event will include an art walk featuring local artists, arts and crafts for children, face painting and a fundraising barbecue with the Kalamalka Rotary to raise money for the Back to School Project in Vernon. The festival will be mostly held around the Real Estate Discovery Centre at the resort. Call 250-503-3901 or e-mail predatorridge@predatorridge.com

Thanks to Michelle Kootnikoff at Dyck's Medicine Centre on St. Paul for all your excellent service. Michelle was telling me that they are excited that all Medicine Centre locations in B.C. are sponsoring "The Weekend to End Breast Cancer" benefiting the B.C. Cancer Foundation on August 17-19 in Vancouver. Medicine Centres are the exclusive pharmacy sponsors of the event and Dyck's are sending four participants from their store here in Kelowna (M.J., Ryan, Shelley and Sarah) and Medicine Centres would like to send 60 people total from all their B.C. stores. Each participant will walk 60 kilometers and raise $2,000. For more info call 861-3466 www.endcancer.ca or www.dycksdrugs.com

A group of 22 Japanese/Korean high school students will be attending International Gateway Kelowna for English as a second language/Cultural Exchange Program from July 25-Aug. 8. There are 72 Korean immersion schools from elementary to university level located in Japan. The Japanese Government does not recognize Japanese/Korean people as citizens and none of the students possess Japanese passports even though they are fourth generation residents of Japan. The students possess Japanese travel documents/resident cards only, which make sit very difficult for them to travel to most countries since they do not have actual passports and must apply for a Visa for each country they visit. Students will be studying at the IGK campus in the Towne Centre Mall and staying with local families. The group is planning a short performance on Korean culture, dance and martial arts. They will also sing a few songs in Korean, Japanese and English. The performance will be held on August 7 at 5pm. All are welcome to attend. RSVP to Chong He (Coco) Koh or Dale Lockhart at 868-4827

TaylorMade Golf Tip of the week – By Jason Laczkovics - Etiquette in golf is equally important as the rules. One of the more common questions I hear about is whether it is better to replace a divot or fill it with sand. Both choices are good and we'll all have better fairways to hit off if we all did either one, but the best one is replacing your divot. A divot with any type of soil has a better chance to hold moisture and therefore will recover quicker than sand/seed alone, which needs constant watering to grow. Sand/seed is used only when divots explode and there isn’t anything to put back, but, anything is better than no divot replaced at all. (Jason is the golf operations manager at The Okanagan Golf Club and Greg Murtland is the Territory Manager of TaylorMade).

Birthdays of the week – Happy 91st birthday Pearl Rudolph (July 22); Happy 80^th to Eldon Anderson who turned 80 in Feb. His family had his birthday this past Saturday in Kelowna; Happy 19th Kevin Stuerle (July 17

Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna hotelier. Phone her at 979-4546, fax 860-3173, E-mail maxdehart@telus.net and web-site www.welcometokelowna.com (click on Business)