Straight From DeHart – Aug. 22, 2018

The Bike Shop Cafe & Catering Co. at 101 – 1357 Ellis Street is celebrating 20 years in business this month, serving comfort food in a relaxed atmosphere in the downtown cultural district.  Owned and operated by Darren and Kim Ansley, you might remember they were on Doyle Avenue for eight years before moving to their present location. It was, in fact, an original bicycle shop, hence the name given to the cafe. The café is open for breakfast and lunch from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. They offer wholesome homemade made fresh-daily salads, sandwiches; award-winning soups, treats and they even roast turkeys for their sandwiches and salads. The Bike Shop has excellent coffee and specialty coffees and are known downtown as a great coffee house and a place to meet.  Call 250-861-6858

<who>Photo Credit: Contributed</who>Darren and Kim Ansley - The Bike Shop Cafe

Darcy Provost has started BC LED Online providing new build structures and retrofits with a wide variety of high quality LED lights and fixtures. With over 25 years’ experience in a wide variety of lighting products, Darcy took his vast knowledge to market LED to contractors, developers, property management, engineers and architects. As a LED lighting wholesaler from well-established Canadian manufacturers, LED lighting is efficient, provides savings and has long reliability. He offers certified products for energy rebates, 10 year warranties and assessments and audits on all his products. Call 250-718-8100 or check out www.bcledonline.com

Due to a flood in March, The Curious Café at 1423 Ellis Street has re-opened. Owned and operated by Luigi Coccaro, the restaurant has retained all the classics on the menu, but has added a few new funky pizzas and vegan dishes. They also have added eight new beer taps with the majority of draft beer are not the standard types you would find anywhere else. Open 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. Closed Sunday evenings and Mondays.

Don-O-Ray Vegetables at 3443 Benvoulin Road now has now opened Don-O-Ray Farm Adventure on the property, which is a petting zoo and maze. You can head over to Billy’s House to feed the goats or to the Lil’ Red Barn to feed the ponies. Find a seat at the up close and personal petting area to hold some small barn yard friends like a baby chick at the Chick Inn, a baby duck, silky chicken or even a rabbit. Then, you can explore the wonderful 6,000 square foot hedge maze with three surprises that change every week. You can even have a free temporary airbrush tattoo at the Tattoo Shop. Browse the market for fresh fruits and vegetables and top off your visit with a delicious ice cream. It’s a fun place with reasonable admission. Open daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Neil Peterson the manager of the farm. Call 250-860-2557

<who>Photo Credit: Contributed</who>Don-O-Ray Adventure - (L to R) Mark Peterson, Britney Peterson and Mike Pinkney

This year Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards at 659 Highway 97 S (Greata Ranch) were evacuated for three days. Remarkably the winery and vineyard were left unscathed. They are now open and look forward to seeing the public. Join them on August 31 for dinner and the concert with Colin Arthur Wiebe who played with Randy Bachman and BachmanTurner Overdrive. The winery earned Gold for their 2014 FITZ Brut, 2015 FITZ Brut, 2014 FITZ Sparkling Rose, 2014 FIT Blanc de Blancs and 2017 Pink Mile Rose. The Bistro is open for lunch Wednesday to Sunday and brunch on weekends. Also open Labour Day Monday. For tickets www.fitzwine.com

Pogo Propane Ltd. is a new full-service propane provider in the Okanagan Valley servicing Revelstoke to Osoyoos. They specialize in propane heating solutions for commercial, residential, industrial, construction heat and agricultural propane, offering reliable service at competitive prices. Owned and operated by three partners, Bradley MeyerRick Wiebe and Sammy Malhi, the company also offers retail dispensing units for local filling stations. With certified gas fitters on staff, they are able to assess all your propane needs and provide you with a solution that best fits your needs, whether it’s to recertify tanks, providing tank and regulator maintenance or repairs construction heaters and propane appliances for your home. Pogo also holds a full inventory of construction heaters, tanks and fittings along with other necessary inventory. The inventory is available for purchase or rent, all at competitive pricing. All three partners have operated successful propane companies and have over 30 years combined experience in the industry.

<who>Photo Credit: Contributed</who>Pogo Propane - (L to R) Sammy Malhi, Bradley Meyer and Rick Wiebe

Impulse Escape Room is a business owned and operated by husband and wife team Gabriele Lawson and Alicia Macgregor located at 157 Asher Road. The escape room and will take you on a journey through time and space and will intrigue you with mysteries, puzzles, riddles and more. As you step through the doors you are transported into a world of adventure. Choose a story and get ready for the thrill of your life as you race against the clock to solve all the challenges in your locked room and escape with your life. Escape rooms are an exciting adventure for families, couples and everyone in-between travelling through multiple rooms solving puzzles, finding hidden passages and working together to find a way out before your 60 minutes is up.  A great team building exercise. Open Wednesday and Thursday by reservation only and Friday to Sunday. What’s your impulse? Call 250-859-1272 www.impulsekelowna.com

Summerhill Pyramid Winery has released their first ever biodynamic wine releases.  Biodynamics views the farm as an ecosystem, connected to the greater systems of the earth, solar system and universe. It`s a wonderful feeling for the farmer to be a part of something greater than oneself and the biodynamic program of composting and making special plant and manure preparations is demonstrably good for the farm.   Their new releases are Summerhill Vineyard Gruner Veltliner and Summerhill Vineyard Riesling. In addition to their bistro, they have added an authentic organic street food container kitchen where guests can grab a quick delicious bite to eat before or after trying some of their world-class wines. The recently remodeled vineyard Estate House is an open concept Contemporary California B&B hosted by Chef Mara Jernigan. The house is perfect for wine country getaways, company parties, management retreats or hands-on cooking classes.www.summerhill.bc.ca

The North Okanagan Labour Council is hosting the 5th Annual Labour Day event from noon until 3 p.m. on Monday, September 3rd at Mission Creek Regional Park. Labour Day gives the community to acknowledge the achievements of union and non-union employees across Canada. This Year’s theme is Pharmacare – A Plan for Everyone. The Canadian Labour Congress Campaign are doing everything they can to ensure they get pharmacare needed for all, which is a national, universal, single-payer and public prescription drug plan for all. It’s a fun event featuring entertainment, a no cost BBQ, bouncy castles, children activities as well as displays from local union and non-profit organizations. Everyone is welcome.

Dr. Dale Forsythe is hosting a free workshop about eliminating neck problems which may cause pain, stiffness, sinus congestion, arm pain along with many other issues. Seating is limited.all 250-765-1466.

If you are looking for something different and interesting to do this Friday, August 24th there will be a viewing at the Innovation Centre of the 68 minute documentary called Broken. It is about Director of Ballet Kelowna’s Simone Orlando’s devastating injury incurred in rehearsal when she was the principal dancer for Ballet B.C. and ended her dance career. It is a dancer’s, athlete’s or anyone’s worst nightmare. The film shows her emotional struggle, her rehab and a great deal of footage of her dancing roles prior to the accident. This is being held as a fundraiser.

Birthdays of the week – Angela McManus (Aug. 23); Marg Hobson (Aug. 24); Gavin Young (Aug. 24); Maria Fabiano (Aug. 24); Gerry Wourms (Aug. 25); Jennifer LeaskTrask (Aug.25); Bill Everden (Aug. 26); Richard Rafton (Aug. 26); Doris Vester (Aug. 26) Kim Dorcas (Aug. 27); Tom Light (Aug. 27); Mason Rice (Aug. 28); Debbie Larry (Aug. 28); Michele Kirschner (Aug. 28).

Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662; fax 250-860-3173, E-mail [email protected].