The Maxine DeHart – United Way, Ramada Hotel Drive-Thru Breakfast is tomorrow, Thursday, October 6th at the Ramada Hotel from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. All the sponsors and volunteers are ready to greet you and the weather is going to be great. Vehicles should enter on Enterprise Way where you will see lots of volunteers to guide you through. This year, Big White Ski Resort have come on board in a huge way. You will find a Big White Ski Resort Opening Day Free Lift Ticket in every breakfast bag. You will also receive 15% off Big White Merchandise, 50% off Rental Equipment and a Free Hot Beverage.
Some of the other items you will also receive in the bags is Sun Rype juice and bars, Costco Kirkland brand bars and other products of Kellogg’s, Old Dutch, Nature’s Fare, Saputo, Dairyland, Karma Fruit Co., BABZ, along with B.C. Tree Fruit apples and Coca Cola Dasani water. Tim Horton’s owners and volunteers will be at the end of the line to serve you their premium coffee and you will also get some Timbits in your bags.
Grand prizes you might be lucky enough to win is a helicopter ride to a winery sponsored by RE/MAX Kelowna, a suite to a Rockets game sponsored by Kirschner Mountain, a leather office chair sponsored by Heritage Office Furnishings, a 50” TV sponsored by Waste Connections Canada, WestJet flight for two from WestJet sponsored by Tom Dyas of TD Benefits, Blue Tooth head set from Tom Harris Cellular, IGA gift cards, Bay gift baskets, gift cards from Winners, Marshalls and HomeSense, a beautiful print from Picture Perfect, Haven Mattress, gift cards from IGA, a weekend at the Penticton Lakeside Hotel by Kelowna Wallbeds, a lovely piece of art from Art Lovers Gallery, and we always get a huge surprise from Mario’s Towing, who have been long-time sponsors. Look for one of their towing trucks in the line-up. Other sponsors are Mervyn’s The Body Shop, Burger Baron, Skogie’s Auto Spa, Canco, Only Deals, TELUS, Playtime Casino, URBAN Systems, SleepCountry, Creative Mortgage, Specialty Bakery, RONA, Orchard Park, and lots of free pizza coupons from Papa John’s. You will get your windows washed by local lawyers, and URBA and DKA are also on board.
Get your hot breakfast sandwich from new sponsor Sentes Automotive and bring your dogs for a treat from HAGEN products with Total Pet on hand to greet your furry friends. Remember we are now able to accept donations via debit and credit cards. Tap your card from the comfort of your vehicle. All monies raised stay right here in our own community. Wear your PJs!
The Downtown Kelowna Association (DKA) Manager of On-Street Services, Ron Beahun, will be retiring on December 31st. Ron was the original hire to develop and manage the DKA On-Call and Clean Team initiatives over 15 years ago. Over the years, Ron has built the red shirts and blue shirts into familiar fixtures in downtown Kelowna. With Ron’s retirement, the DKA has announced that Brent Lobson will be joining their team as Director of Operations. Brent is a familiar face in downtown Kelowna. As the manager for Impark/Reef Parking, he has worked with many of the property and business owners over his 24+ years. Brent has also served on the DKA Board of Directors for over 20 years and was on the committee that initiated and created the Downtown On-Call and Clean Team initiatives. Ron’s contributions to the DKA will be recognized at the Downtown After 5 event on Wednesday, November 30th at the Laurel Packing House from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. www.downtownkelowna.com
Local, Bülent Uyaniker, PhD is the founder of Data Speckle Inc. in B.C. and Senior AI researcher at the Fusemachines Inc., a New York based Artificial Intelligence Service company. DataSpeckle focuses mainly on machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing applications. They provide services in the areas of digital transformation, automation, aviation, finance, insurance, health, medical imaging, logistics, supply chain, security, retail and commerce, document automation, business analytics, predictive business analytics, demand forecasting, time series estimation, price optimization, mobile automation, and image processing object detection/localization. What makes DataSpeckle competitive in the North American and European markets is the placement of talent in the right projects when needed. One of their specializations is demand forecast and time series analysis using state-of-the-art neural network algorithms, including financial document automation, text mining, natural language processing, real-time customer auto-response systems and anomaly detection. Among other projects, Bülent has worked as a project manager at the world’s largest steerable radio antenna, Effelsberg, Germany to build a multichannel polarimeter and develop signal processing algorithms. He also developed an automated flat field digital mammography segmentation algorithm for the B.C. Breast Cancer Screening Program. Bülent has a PhD in Physics and Natural Sciences from Max Planck Institute/Bon University and has published 50+ peer reviewed articles, scientific journals, and many popular scientific articles. www.dataspeckle.com; www.fusemachines.com
The Kelowna Liedertafel Choir is presenting their annual Oktoberfest Concert, Dinner and Dance on Friday, October 21st at Immaculate Conception Hall, 839 Sutherland Avenue. Admission is $35.00 per person with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets available at Loaves and Fishes Book Store, 591 Lawrence Venue, Illichmann’s Deli, 1937 Gordon Drive or call 250-861-8435.
If you are looking for your holiday and Halloween pumpkin, you must visit Don-O-Ray Farms at 3443 Benvoulin Road. While you are there take a look at probably the largest pumpkin in our area, which is over 1,100 pounds. It’s humongous! Their produce is picked fresh daily and they have a huge variety of condiments from local producers. www.donorayfarms.com
The new executive of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD Okanagan) for 2022 – 2023 are Michael Conway, FCPA, ICD.D (Chair); David Bond, CPA, CA; Meryle Corbett, FCPA, FMA, C. Dir; Gary Parmar, CPA, ICD.D; Larry Smith, MBA; Sharon Varette, MA, C. Dir.; Judy Bishop; David Burke, CPA, CMA, ICD.D; Laurel Douglas, MBA; Robert Scott, MBA, FRAeS; Laura Thurnheer, MBA, ICD.D. Contact Michael Conway at mtjconway@gmail.com
The Kelowna West ACT/UCT #1003 have a new executive for 2022-2023. They are Rick Warner, President; John Grant, Vice President; Susan Warner, Secretary; Rick Warner, Treasurer; Sheila Falk, Charities; Penny Pearston, Socials; John Grant, Membership; John Grant, Sunshine; Terry Dowler, Medal of Honour; Dick Melrose, Sunshine Delivery and Officers are Gregg Turkington, Terry Dowler, and Bruce Clark.
The 2022 Kelowna Chamber Business Excellence Awards are Wednesday, November 23rd at the Delta Grand Hotel. 319 nominations have been received in the 35th year of the awards. Petraroia Langford LLP and Interior Savings Credit Union share the 35th Annual Awards Presentation Sponsorship. The categories and number of nominees for 2022 include: Rising Star Business, 27; Small Business, 50; Mid-size Business, 19; Large-size Business, 16; Environmental Impact, 14; Excellence in Agriculture, 19; Arts & Entertainment, 19; Social Leadership, 14; Excellence in Business Ethics, 33; Not for Profit Excellence, 18; Young Entrepreneur, 24; Excellence in Tourism, 25; Inclusive Workplace, 18; Indigenous Business, 14; and Technology Innovator. 4. The Business Leader of the Year Award sponsored by MNP LLP will be chosen by a volunteer panel of community and business leaders based on recommendations from the community.
Kids Spanish Club Kelowna is operated by Vicky Belteton. The fall program of Spanish classes for children ages seven and up is starting on October 11th with eight sessions from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. Registration is now open at kidspanishclubkelowna@gmail.com
Birthdays of the week – Happy 65th Jan Verhagen (Oct. 11); Dave Proctor (Oct. 5); Courtney Hesse (Oct. 5); Trevor Salloum (Oct. 5); Kyle Blanleil (Oct. 5); Marlene Murray (Oct. 6); Gurinder Pabla (Oct. 7); Beatriz Dionisio (Oct. 7); Wilf Petkau (Oct. 8); Dale Briggs (Oct. 9); Jeramie Cole (Oct. 9); Cathie Locke (Oct. 8); Kahir Lalji (Oct. 8); Karen Roen (Oct. 9); Mark Golbey (Oct. 10); Carson Chan (Oct. 10); Irene Morrison (Oct. 11); Chris Gibson (Oct. 11); Robert Tarko (Oct. 11); Stan Biggs (Oct. 11); Michelle Rule (Oct. 11); Gaelene Askeland (Oct. 11).
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
