The Best Medicine – Dr. Mike Ertel
The revolving door swishes open with the arrival of sick or injured people and clicks closed as hundreds of treated patients depart. This is the daily dance of the emergency department and for Dr. Mike Ertel, it’s more tango than waltz. Dr. Mike has donned some different caps during his 16 years at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH): full-time emergency room physician, former chief and medical director of the ER and, until recently, medical director of emergency services for Interior... Read More
Selah Outdoor Explorations
I’m deep in the woods, in the dark, with my three young children trudging through huge drifts of snow as we search for a way back home. A strange man emerges from the bushes and stops us in our tracks. In a twisted Scottish accent he describes the gory details of a scalp-scraping bear attack on his friend, Chief Short Legs. He points the way towards a fire pit where other travellers have been known to rest and dine on chocolate fondue. It’s just the beginning of an adventure... Read More
Doug Cox – Preserving History
Doug Cox says it’s a hobby that has gotten completely out of hand. Although his books recounting area history have been local bestsellers for decades, as a child he wasn’t particularly interested in reading or writing. He was, however, blessed with a natural curiosity. “I travel with a camera in one hand and a tape recorder in the other,” he says. “I’m always asking questions.” Doug’s enthusiasm for history was sparked while he was on the other side of the globe.... Read More
Hockey Fans – Les Misérables
Most hockey fans believe that the NHL lockout has been a necessary epic struggle, not unlike the game itself and not dissimilar from the French historical novel by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables. Pitting mere mortal millionaire hockey players against the aristocratic billionaire owners should make for a blockbuster musical. Les misérables can be translated from the French as “the miserable ones,” “the wretched,” “the poor ones” or “the victims.” At first glance,... Read More
Best of the Okanagan Special Winners Section
You voted them the best. Now they’re thanking you. The businesses featured in this section would like to show their appreciation to Okanagan Life readers for voting them among 2012’s Best of the Okanagan. They consider it a great honour to be recognized by you. We expect these businesses will continue to work to serve you beyond your expectations in 2013. Download PDF Read More
Global Citizenship
When Roger Perry returned home a few days before Christmas and saw the pile of gifts for his grandchildren under the tree, he felt utter despair. “The children we saw had so little and we had so much,” he says. On a fact-finding mission in Ethiopia, Roger, who is the district Rotary Foundation chair and a member of the Rotary Club of Kalamalka (Vernon), was asked by the driver if he wanted to visit the local school. When he stepped inside and his eyes adjusted to the gloom,... Read More
Addiction
The clean cut young man doesn’t look up from his seat in the waiting room at Crossroads Treatment Centre in Kelowna. Neither does the woman I take to be his mother. A large suitcase leans on his legs. Clearly, he’s come to stay a while; probably for Crossroads’ 42-day residential addiction treatment program. A staff member approaches, clipboard in hand, mother and son embrace quickly and she hurries out the door. I wonder what’s going through that mother’s head and heart.... Read More
