Straight From DeHart – July 31, 2019

Dragon King Restaurant owned and operated by Alan and Celia Choi has relocated to 2435 Highway 97 N. beside the Kanata Inn (formerly Ricky’s). The Choi’s have been in Kelowna for many years, starting their restaurant in 1999 on Bernard Avenue before moving to Harvey and Pandosy for many years. The new location has been completely renovated from floor to ceiling and in-between, including new restaurant furniture and updated kitchen. They offer 140 seats inside and now have an outdoor patio with 30 additional seats. The restaurant offers a large menu of appetizers, soup and noodle dishes, chow mein, fried  rice, duck, chicken, pork, beef, seafood, tofu hot pot, egg foo yong, vegetables and special family dinners, along with Dim Sum. A few of their most popular dishes are House Special Chow Mein, Spicy Ginger Fried Chicken, Beef with Vegetables in Black Pepper Sauce (Hot Plate), Salt and Pepper Prawns and Salt and Pepper Squid. Open 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week. Pick up, takeout and delivery also offered. Call 250-861-1305.

Healing Hollow Essential Oil Co. has opened at 534 Bernard Avenue, owned by Michelle Cubin and managed by local Jenna Savoie. With four locations throughout the Kootenays, Healing Hollow is an independent B.C. company with all of their products made in small batches in the Rockies of Canada. They offer essential oils (single note and handcrafted blends), carrier oils, blending supplies, natural skincare and body products, unique gifts, diffusing jewelry and diffusers, and local handcrafted jewelery and candles. www.healinghollow.com.

Carl Da Luz has joined the firm of Farris at 1800 – 1631 Dickson Avenue as a litigation associate, completing his articles with Farris and being called to the bar in 2019. Carl has a broad advocacy and civil litigation practice that includes disputes involving corporate litigation, commercial litigation, construction, builder’s liens, shareholder and real estate disputes. www.farris.com.

URBA Business After Hours is Wednesday, August 7th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. hosted by the Welcome Home Real Estate Team at 125 Highway 33 West. On Thursday, August 8th, come out to Lions Park on Gray Road from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. for Parks Alive – Oldies but Goodies 50’s/60’s. www.parksalive.com

Dress for Success is a new local affiliate of an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools. The organization has been providing suits and other professional attire to women for 20 years through their Suiting Program. Women come to them through a referral program seeking employment and a professional look for an upcoming interview and work one on one with a personal shopper who helps select professional attire. They receive a career suit and possibly cosmetics, footwear and accessories and most importantly a boast in confidence. Once employment is secured, the women can return to Dress for Success for a full week’s worth of professional attire. Dress for Success is hosting an outdoor Pop-up Boutique Sale on Saturday, September 14th at Fripp Warehousing at 1005 Ellis Street from noon to 4:00 p.m. They are selling women’s clothing, with all articles priced under $10.00 and cash only purchases. This will help fund the launch of their Suiting Program in early October. The board of directors are Kristie Nyrose (President and Board Chair), Courtenay Hesse (Vice President and Vice Chair), Bree Hankins (Secretary), Deborah Bannister (Treasurer), Glenna Anderson (Marketing/Community Relations), Kristie Hutchison and Paula Liegmann (Directors at Large) and Elizabeth Williams (Executive Director). www.kelowna.dressforsuccess.org.

 

Huge thank you to Taylor Fox of Basil and Mint Restaurant on Lakeshore Road. Half-way through my regular walk it started to rain. I ran into the restaurant to see if they would lend me an umbrella and Taylor came to my rescue. I was so grateful to be able to finish my walk dry. Basil and Mint is owned and operated by Ken Cheung. The atmosphere is chic with an eclectic, but comfortable flare and a beautiful large patio. The restaurant has an excellent wine menu and a fun lounge/bar area. Basil and Mint offers west coast contemporary cuisine, great pizza, in-house baked bread and nightly specials with gluten free, vegetarian and allergy sensitive options. Free parking. www.basilmint.ca.

Vivid Hair Studio at 102- 5315 Main Street in the Kettle Valley Village owned by Sherry Barton is celebrating their first anniversary in business. Join the celebration on August 8th from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Congratulations to the Okanagan Mission Senior Centre Society at 4398 Hobson Road who is celebrating their 50th Anniversary. The society has over 400 members ($10.00 per year to join) and facilitates bridge, crafts, crib, keep fit, art, painting, singing and many more activities. Grace Egeland is the current president of the society. For more information or to join call Ian Sisett at 250-762-3211.

Fun, sun and wine. Experience the new Pedal Pub Okanagan with a view and outdoor fun rolling through the East Kelowna wine region, with a Quadra cycle assist pedal bike.  Owned and operated by partner Curtis Litun, the tours are approximately two hours with all tasting fees included. There are only 15 seats on the bike, so if you are interested in a tour sign up early.  www.pedalpubokanagan.com or 1-403-991-4449.

 

Kudos to Corlee Richert who got her first hole-in-one on hole #9, 134 yards at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club.  Witness by Lesley PierceLori Mullin and Maretta Emery.

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce 2019 Annual Business Excellence Awards have added a new category to the awards being Excellence in Tourism sponsored by Tourism Kelowna. With the added category the Chamber will be giving out 13 awards at the prestigious event in November. Finalists will be disclosed at a September luncheon and The Business Leader of the Year is selected by an independent committee and named just in advance of the event. www.kelownachamber.org/bea.

Accolades to the 10th Annual Charity Golf Tournament in support of the YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign, Swing for a Cause which raised $75,000.00. The presenting sponsor of the tournament was locally owned general insurance brokerage firm Wilson M. Beck. Co-chairs of the event are John Weisbeck and Alli McNeill.

Kudos to the 2019 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s which raised $47,356.75. Guy Bird was the Committee Chair.

Sad to say goodbye to Harry Callaghan (Harold Balske) who is, after five years, leaving AM1150 News, Talk Sports and relocating to Brandon Manitoba, where he will be taking over as Morning News Anchor at QCountry/STARFM. Brandon is only two hours away from Winnipeg where his family is located. Harry was in the newsroom on The Early Edition with Phil JohnsonDaniel O’Hara and the legendary Ted Farr, who he states he had the greatest respect for. Good luck in your new radio adventure.

 

Is Okanagan Lake a good home for Ogopogo? You decided. Lake Tales is being hosted by the Okanagan Heritage Museum August 8, 15, 22, and 28th from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. This is an outdoor walking tour. $5.00 per person.

A bit of good trivia information.  There is a lot of buzz lately about phytonutrients and why we should all be getting more of them. Luckily we live in an area where Ambrosia apples are plentiful and are a great source of phytonutrients.  Phyto comes from the Greek word for plant and nutrients are what provide nourishment for growth. So the word itself loosely means plant-based nourishment. Phytonutrients are not essential for us to survive. So why is everyone so crazy about them right now? It’s primarily became they appear to play a large role in maintaining good health and protecting the body against disease and the aging process.

Birthdays of the week – Maxine DeHart (Aug. 6); Mark Fredrickson (July 31); Al Huva (July 31); Ben Stewart (July 31); Dom Vinci (Aug. 1); Kate Martin (Aug. 1); Dave Roseberry (Aug. 2); Alex Draper (Aug. 2); Herb Assman (Aug. 2); Michelle Urbanovitch (Aug. 2); Steve Francis (Aug. 2); Joan Johnston (Aug. 2); Darren Bates (Aug. 3); Sylvia Jurys (Aug. 3); Mike Christian (Aug. 4); Dana Fauconner (Aug. 3); Larry Friesen (Aug. 4); Ross Grimmer (Aug. 5); Mohini Singh (Aug. 6).

Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City councilor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662. E-mail [email protected] and website maxinedehart.ca.