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ThThis week’s column is dedicated to a very special person, Mr. Ted Prystay, (Mr. P.) president and co-owner of RPB Hotels & Resorts of which the Ramada Hotel is a part of. Mr. P. passed away on March 9th and I will never forget the first time I met him in the hotel and the last time I saw him in the hotel before his death. He will be missed by all. My sincere condolences to Mrs. Prystay, his family, partners and many friends and employees.
What has four feet, four tires and can reach up to 62 feet? It’s “Wright on Signs” new 62 foot Simon Telelect Hi Ranger and in layman’s terms, it’s a “bucket truck’. It’s not just any bucket truck; its 62 feet high and possibly the largest in the valley. With over 25 years of industry experience and owning the company for two years Patrick and Maria Wright design, manufacture and install signs of all shapes and sizes. The duo and their staff do pretty much everything, except neon, when it comes to signs including logo design and production, vehicle lettering and graphics, vehicle wraps, safety and directional signage, illuminated signs, window lettering, magnetic signs, billboards and more. Now that they have the new bucket truck, the company can offer the service and installation of existing signage and lighting once thought to be unreachable by the average ladder. Call 718-7446 or 707-1123 or wrightonsigns@shaw.ca
Licensed Bankruptcy Trustee and Chartered Insolvency Restructuring Professional, Yvonne Sutton, has joined Meyers Norris Penny Limited at #600-1628 Dickson Avenue. She assists with financial counseling, proposals, negotiated settlements with creditors as well as bankruptcies. Yvonne will practice from the MNP Kelowna office and also take appointments in Penticton. Call 763-8919 yvonne.sutton@mnp.ca
Lots happening at Benson Edwards Lawyers LLP. Marvin Geekie has joined the firm as an associate lawyer and will be working primarily from their new Westside office at 1979 Old Okanagan Highway (Estates Square) which opened on March 17. He practices in general litigation with an emphasis on personal injury. Robert Bryshun formerly of Glazier Polley has also joined the Benson team in the Westside Office specializing in corporate, commercial and real estate law. David Miles from the Kelowna office has gone over to the Westside specializing in corporate, commercial and real estate law and Steve Schwartz, managing partner specializing in litigation has also joined the new Westside office. Call them at 769-4949. www.bensonedwards.com
This is one wedding date that I am thrilled and privileged to announce. 101-5 SILK FM’s dynamic morning duo Andy and T.J. have officially announced their wedding date of May 16/2009. Congrat’s to both of you.
Kim McKnight is the new store manager of the “Simply Computing” retail outlet located at 112-2189 Springfield Road. It is one of six stores and the largest Apple specialty dealer in B.C. His background spans from opening Interior Pacific Litho, then selling to Wayside Press of Vernon after seven years and went with the business as their pre-press manager. He then launched Valley Imaging Services in a Macintosh environment from a home-based office in Lake Country. He is well-known as executive director of Water Ski and Wakeboard BC. Call 861-8340
Long-time friend and well-known School District gal Brenda Erickson, administrative assistant to the director of student support services, Dr. Peter Molloy is celebrating her 35th anniversary with School District #23. Not that I’m saying she’s getting on or anything (ha), Brenda started her career with the School District when it was beside the old KSS on Richter Street.
Speaking of the School District, congratulations to Alan and Debbie Cumbers ( both with S.D. #23) on their 30th wedding anniversary on March 11. Incidentally it was also Debbie’s birthday on the same date.
Personal congratulations to Harry Grossmith, the new CEO of the United Way. I have known Harry for many years and welcome him to the United Way team.
After over 25 years, the Vandenelzen family has sold Kelowna Cycle at 103-2949 Pandosy Street to Pat Rosen. Pat is not new to the cycle business as he has been employed with Kelowna Cycle for over 10 years and previous to that was with Sun Country Cycle. Kelowna Cycle specializes in all major brands of equipment and has an excellent selection of parts and accessories. They also offer multi sport coaching and clinics. Pat’s emphasis is definitely on service and the customer. Call 762-2453. www.kelownacycle.ca
Owner and registered massage therapist Paul Dournovo of Apple Valley Therapeutic Massage formerly on Ambrosi Street has moved and is now sharing space with Karen Pettinger and the staff at Kelowna Laser Hair Removal & Skin Care Ltd. at 303- 1890 Cooper Road. Paul is well versed in different therapeutic massages including rehabilitation, acute and chronic injuries, athletics and relaxation. Call 763-1146
Mary Ellen Tabor has been nominated by the MS Society of Canada for the 2008 Evelyn Nicholson 2008 Award for International Caregiver. She was the 2007 recipient of the MS Society of Canada National OPAL Caregiver Award for caring for her husband Don over 21 years of his illness with MS, passing away in January, 2007. Tabor recently accepted the position of Honourary Chair of the Okanagan Chapter’s Super Cities Walk for MS.
Mobile Media has arrived in Kelowna. Local Entrepreneurs, Jason Tansem and Perry Mack have officially launched their new venture mykelowna.mobi – “Info on the go”. What’s unique about this mobile internet venture is that these services are designed exclusively for your mobile device, accessing information on the go, including restaurants, hotels, events, weather or whatever from cell phones and Blackberry’s. If you’re out and about and need a phone number, just go into your cell phone web browser to www.mykelowna.mobi and find what you are looking for. No more dialing 411. The secret of the mobile website lies in the advanced programming of a fast loading site which has been designed for the smaller mobile screens with pages that are low in file size but high in usable content. You can contact a business by e-mailing or dialing direct from their listings. Given the increasing use of cell phones and decreasing costs, this will be the new medium for info and entertainment. Call 469-9350 or perry@mykelowna.mobi or check out www.mykelowna.mobi
Happy 50th Anniversary Rita and Don Attwood, retired, Bank of Montreal (March 21).
Former Mayor Walter Gray has returned to his roots. Had a good chat with Walter regarding his “big win” to have a new locally owned and operated radio station on the Kelowna airwaves. The format is Classic Rock Radio, station 96.3 on the dial, which he hopes to be up and running in about 6 months or so. Some equipment is coming from Germany, so everything takes time. One neat thing is that Walter has been in radio 50 years this year and actually started in high school. The owners of the new station are Sun Country Cablevision with directors Walter Gray, Ted Pound, Mike Hall and Ron East.
In conjunction with Rotary’s literacy program, the winners of the Okanagan Mission Rotary Club’s essay contest were Elizabeth Campbell (first place); Kayla Johnston (second place) and Sasha Lesack and Kyla Thurnheer, both with honourable mentions.
The Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society will be a reality tomorrow, March 20 at 12 noon at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. The society was born from the identified need to bring aspiring and existing entrepreneurs together in an atmosphere where they may share their dreams, successes and issues, learn the methods and techniques contributing to entrepreneurial success and, more importantly, to acquire the ability to adopt an attitude and behavior toward becoming “Entrepreneurial Leaders.” Joel Young is the founding chair and chair of the advisory council; Tom Light of On Track Marketing the interim president and Hans Looman the interim vice-president. joel@ovesociety.org or www.ovesociety.org
BrainTrust Canada was the recipient of a Gold and Bronze Award from the International Safety Media Awards for its “protectyourhead.com” brain injury prevention campaign, specifically its TV and print ads. The ads show the value of a healthy brain and illustrate how life can change as a result of incurring brain injury and targets the highest risk group for brain injury, being young males 16-24. The TV and print ads were developed by Vancouver advertising agency, DDB Canada, and the website protectyourhead.com was developed by Kelowna web design company Artistech New Media. The local office of BrainTrust Canada is located at #11-368 Industrial Avenue. Magda Kapp is the social marketing manager. Call 762-3233.
The next Superhost Fundamentals Workshop is Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25 from 6-9:30pm at 544 Harvey Avenue (Chamber/Tourism office). Cost is $75 plus GST per person for the interactive workshop. Call Diana Dors at 861-1515, ext. 207 or superhost@tourismkelowna.com to register.
The Environmental Club at Ecole Glenmore Elementary School is participating in “Earth Hour” which takes place on March 29 at 8pm. Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 where 2.2 million businesses and homes turned off their lights for one hour. This year, Toronto will be Canada’s flagship city. Glenmore Elementary would like Kelowna to follow Toronto’s lead by participating in this Global event and they are trying to get as many homes and businesses as possible to turn off their lights from 8pm-9pm on March 29, with Kelowna City Council’s endorsement of the project. Spread the word to family, friends and businesses. www.earthhour.org.
The Royal Bank, Plaza 33 Branch is once again having their annual charity used book sale on April 10 & 11 from 10am-4pm. You can drop off your books (no Readers Digest or Encyclopedias) anytime during bank hours from now until April 4. All proceeds go to the M.S. Walk. For more info call Phyllis Litz at 491-2824,
This is neat. Got a call from Anita Johnson of Tim Horton’s on Kane Road to say that one of their regular customers at that location won a new Toyota Hybrid in “Roll up the Rim”. It was the first time that anyone in Kelowna has won a vehicle in the popular promotion.
There are still some tickets left for the Kelowna Professional Firefighter’s Ladies Night Out on April 5. It’s going to be a fantastic event with many new sponsors, fabulous entertainment, silent and live auction and cash prizes and trips, while helping our local firefighters raise money for their variety of charitable organizations. Call 469-8801 for tickets. See you there.
Kelowna Minor Football Assoc. Flag Football Season starts Sunday, April 6. Flag is the grass roots and foundation to organized football in Kelowna and the introduction into football for many youths. Registration is open for any young athlete between the ages of 7-14 to play this game that by design is just pure fun. The cost for the season is $80 and all games are played in the Mission Sports Field. Call 317-6222 www.kelownaminorfootball.com
Scotiabank recently donated $115,000 to Coast Mental Health Foundation to support its “Courage to Come Back Awards”. The awards, which celebrate their 10th Anniversary in 2008, recognize six individuals who have overcome illness, injury or adversity and who are an inspiration to others. Former Kelowna resident Sherry Cave was the award recipient in the Physical Rehabilitation category in 2000. Sherry now lives in Vancouver and is a mom and volunteer with MADD Canada. She was left a paraplegic by a drunk driver.
Quote of the week – When you are my age, the years go by like a long weekend. (Submitted by R.J. Bennett)
Birthdays of the week – Happy “101” Dorothy Bowden, Lakeshore Place (Mar.19); Lise Sinclair (Mar.13); Jim Ross (Byers Transport (March 23); Bryan Crandall (March 22).
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) |
