Straight From DeHart – Feb. 19, 2020

Heritage Office Furnishings is celebrating two milestones. Forty years in business and 30 years in business in Kelowna. Operated by President Wayne Cooney, Heritage is located in a 6,000 square foot warehouse and showroom at #100 – 395 Penno Road. They also have a location in Kamloops. Each location features a full range of office furniture and related services.  Heritage provides the right office furniture solutions at the right price, with a focus on high-quality sustainable products and processes. The company selects manufacturers based on their ability to provide quality products backed with warranties they can rely on and is a Steelcase Premier Partner. Staying on top of the trends, Heritage knows the importance of acoustic design and also partner with company 3form, who specialize in room acoustics and acoustic design with the purpose of creating favourable experiences conducive to learning and working. From casual to high design, from sophisticated to hip, traditional and ornate, Heritage has all the workspace products and services with quality pricing. Roy Newington is the operations manager. www.heritageoffice.com

Kudos to Manteo Resort who will be displaying the coveted Hospitality Blood Drive Team Trophy for 2020, bringing in the most blood donors in January. Donate at 1865 Dilworth Drive anytime throughout the year. Blood, it’s in you to give. Gayle Voyer is the territory manager.

Join myself and many others to support the Alzheimer Society of B.C. at their first Breakfast to Remember fundraiser presented by Valley Mitsubishi at the Coast Capri Hotel on March 10th. Hear from Vancouver Whitecaps soccer legend Bob Lenarduzzi and Kelowna-based dementia advocate Craig Burns as they bring awareness to this issue to help break the stigma of dementia. Tickets at www.BreakfastToRemember.ca. For sponsor opportunities contact Magda Kapp at [email protected].

Accolades to Crowe MacKay LLP.  In honour of their 50th Anniversary, the firm has donated $50,000.00 to the KGH Foundation. KGH was the charity of choice as they embark on a campaign to raise funds for an Electrophysiology (EP) Lab. The funds make it one step closer to completing the EP Lab, which will support approximately 450 electrophysiology procedures and 150 implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) procedures annually, adding to the over 11,500 cardiac patients who have already received lifesaving cardiac treatment at KGH since 2012.  The local office of Crowe MacKay LLP is located at 500 – 1620 Dickson Avenue. www.crowe.com

Vinyl is definitely coming back into style. Along with that, it is important to keep your vinyl clean. Why clean a record? The typical analogue vinyl record has about half a mile of grooves; any dirt or debris picked up as your stylus makes its long journey through your record will have an impact on sound quality. Just like a dirty or bumpy road will wear your car tires quicker, dirty grooves will inevitably make life harder for your stylus. Mobile Vinyl owned and operated by Daniel Janus specializes in mobile ultrasonic vinyl record cleaning serving the valley. Daniel will pick up your records and deliver them back cleaned, or he will come to your residence and clean them while you wait with his state-of-the-art Vinyl Cleaner Pro unit. Reasonable prices. www.vinylclean.ca

The Dreamland Big Band 17 piece orchestra is hosting a concert/fundraiser on February 21st at the Mary Irwin Theatre with all net proceeds going to the Starbright Children’s Development Centre at 7:00 p.m. The band will be joined by two singers, local talent Alisa Anderson and International performer Marty Edwards.  The music will comprise of traditional arrangements from Glenn Miller to Gordon Goodwin as well as original arrangements written for the Dreamland by their lead alto sax player, Malcolm Green. Tickets $30.00 available at the Rotary Centre for the Arts Box Office (250-717-5304) or online at www.rotarycentreforthearts.com

Just after having their son Rise Up being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, Parachute Chub member Julie Masi is back with her band for some special live performances. You can catch her, Steve SoucyScott Gamble and Mark Larmand on February 21st at MTL at 7:00 p.m. Tickets available by calling 778-484-3888.

If you are heading out Peachland way this weekend, drop into the Spring Peachland Indoor Artisan Market on Saturday, February 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Free admission at 5878 C Beach Avenue. www.copsforkids.org

The Kelowna Yacht Club has a new Commodore and a new 2020 Board of Directors. Congratulations to Commodore Eva Aylward. The new board is comprised of Ken Hardisty (Past Commodore), Tillman Hodgson (Vice Commodore), Michael Newcombe (Rear Commodore), Danny Foster (Fleet Captain) and Mariam Armanious-King (Staff Captain) and Sandy MacDonald (Secretary).  Directors are Christian BrixJames Wendland and Eric Stansfield.

Florencia Matute is closing Florencia’s Consignment Store at 217 Rutland Road N. on Saturday, February 22nd. Everything is 70% off.

Work of Art Pottery Studio has opened at 500 – 1544 Harvey Avenue (by Browns Socialhouse). You can paint your own pottery with drop-in, paint parties, school programs, workshops or special events. Choose from a wide assortment of ready-to-paint bisque and stoneware pieces and create your art piece using their fun selection of paint. After a few days of kiln fired, you will be able to pick up your masterpiece. Everyone has an artist inside of them and this is your chance to let it out. Paint and enjoy time with your family or friends as you create your own work of art. www.workofartpotterystudio.ca 

It was a golden weekend for a trio of Okanagan College business students. Congratulations to Kevin Heller, Nora Glanzner and Spencer McIntosh, all third year students at the Kelowna campus who were gold medal winners on the podium at the Scotiabank Canadian Case Challenge at Vanier College in Montreal. The annual competition saw 27 of the country’s top business schools represented. www.okanagn.bc.ca.

Do not get confused? Although Ten Thousand Villages Canada are closing many stores in Canada, our locally owned and operated Globally Fair at 3001 Tutt Street is not associated with Ten Thousand Villages and is not closing. Owned and operated by Cindy Henderson for over five years, Globally Fair is a local, independent, family owned fair trade business. They now source and deal with 30 fair trade organizations representing over 40 countries as well as local products. Cindy plans to continue to bring fair trade products to Kelowna and area for many years to come. www.globallyfair.ca

Early Literacy Foundations and ASL (American Sign Language) Storytelling (Birth to 5 years) is every Saturday from February 1st to April 4th at 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at the Lake Country Branch, Okanagan Regional Library. This program is for deaf and hard of hearing children and their families and any family wishing to learn to sign with their child is welcome. Free and drop-in. In partnership with the Deaf Children’s Society of BC. Call 250-766-3141.

Welcome to new members of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce. Avoca Vineyards, Alzheimer Society of BC, Farming Karma Fruit Company Ltd,; Focus College; Grand Irish Construction Inc.; Grizzly Bear Bistro and Bar; Insulwest Building Materials Ltd.; Metro Liquor; Mission Hill Winery; CedarCreek Estate Winery; NG Media; Oakridge Shared Services; Sage Transitions; Thick as Thieves Entertainment Inc.; Twirling Umbrellas Ltd.; Vacasa; Wilson M. Beck Insurance (Kelowna); WITS Metal Fab Inc. I am pleased to be the appointee on the Kelowna Chamber board for the City of Kelowna.

The Kelowna Buddhist Temple’s Spring Chow Mein and Apple Pie Sale is Sunday, March 1st with pick up time from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. You can place orders by emailing [email protected] or call 250-860-2980. The Chow Mein is freshly made and contains no MSG. All orders via email by February 26th will receive a confirmation reply to confirm your pickup. Two kinds of Sushi ($5.50) and Pork Gyoza ($4.00) are also available. Chow Mein $9.50 per order (pork or vegetarian) and pies $9.50 each.

Birthdays of the week – Happy 90th Murli Pendharkar (Feb. 19); Happy 85th Anita Kinasewich (Feb. 23); Happy 65th Tim Schroeder (Feb. 24); Don Favell (Feb. 19); Lisa Otway (Feb. 19); Rodney Gray (Feb. 20); Tom Dyas (Feb. 20); Deb Finnerty (Feb. 20); Lyle Isenor (Feb. 22); Carmen Prive (Feb. 22); Grace Naka (Feb. 22); Bob McGowan (Feb. 23);  Wayne (Kaktus) Farr (Feb. 24); Carol Lesiak (Feb. 24); Brenda Mole (Feb. 24); Trudy Ringer (Feb. 25); Brad Cronquist (Feb. 25).

Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662. E-mail max@maxinedehart.ca and web-site www.maxinedehart.ca