There’s a group of greedy individuals in Lower Manhattan who think that they deserve more than their fair share. Their selfishness blinds them to the fact that most people on the planet have drastically less than they do. They appear to be concerned only with themselves. They live a life of privilege and luxury, oblivious to those who have nothing; they live in comfort while others starve. These men and women ought to be called to account for their greed, for their selfish regard for only themselves.

If you want to find these men and women, head straight for Wall Street…and then continue on another block to a place called Zucotti Park.

This is the birthplace of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which has as one of its many slogans, “We are the 99 per cent.” This phrase is meant to unify us in solidarity against the one per cent. (Nothing brings people together like a common enemy.) The one per cent are the rich and the powerful who control most of the wealth and resources while the 99 per cent slave (if they’re lucky enough to have a job) to make ends meet. The one per cent are the unscrupulous corporate fat cats who, aided by corrupt politicians, hoard vast mountains of cash while the rest of us are forced to smash our piggy banks in order to collect enough pennies for bus fare to get to the local food bank.

Far be it from me to make fun of poverty. The crushing weight and hopelessness that accompanies real poverty deserves our compassion, and more importantly, requires us to act.

But the sad irony of the occupy protests, and what makes them almost laughable, is that they’re based in North America—one of the richest parts of the world. North America accounts for only six per cent of adults worldwide, but held 34 per cent of the globe’s household wealth in 2006. In that same year, Canada’s net worth per capita came in at US$70,916 while America’s net worth was $143,867 per person. By comparison, Ethiopia registered $193 per person and Congo $180.

The United Nations Development Program released a report in 2007 which states that the richest 20 per cent of the world’s population—which includes Canadians and Americans—accounted for three-quarters of world income, while the bottom 40 per cent (who live on less than $2 a day) accounted for only five per cent of world income.

Let me put that another way. The poor, hard done by, downtrodden 99 per cent here in North America belong to a group of people that have a share in 75 per cent of the world’s wealth, while a group of people twice the size has a share in only five per cent. The 99 per cent in North America already have a huge slice of the world’s pie and the 99 per cent wants more? In 2005 an individual required a little over US $2,200 in assets to be included in the top half of the world’s wealth distribution. That’s a Macbook laptop, an iPad and perhaps an iPhone tossed in for good measure (much like those being used by the protesters.) While there can be greed among the one per cent (Bernie Madoff comes to mind), there can just as easily be greed among the 99 per cent.

We need to stop taking the Occupy Wall Street Movement and its hypocritical brand of Marxism seriously. Instead, we need to wake up to our responsibility as the top 20 per cent to seek justice for the real poor in this world. (Hint: it’s not us.) ~Gordon Hawke

Jeremy Woo doesn’t do things for others to gain glory, accolades or attention, he reaches out because it fills him up.

“When you help someone else, you feel and they feel better. There’s twice the benefit,” says Jeremy, a 17-year-old, Grade 12 Kalamalka Secondary School student.

For the past two years Jeremy’s been the brains and the workhorse behind the Vernon Lawn Bowling Club’s 24-hour bowling relay raising almost $7,000 for the United Way, a good portion of which he sees go back into his community.

“If I follow my heart, I’ll make a difference. I really want to leave things a little better than they were before,” he says with pride.

Jeremy credits his parents with his drive and strong work ethic and says if it weren’t for his family he wouldn’t be making such a difference.

Along with his volunteer work Jeremy also runs the school newspaper, stage manages for the drama club, curls four days a week and holds down a part-time job. Jeremy is also leader of the Safe School Team, a group that promotes respect, anti-bullying and connectedness.

“That’s really important for kids to understand,” he says.

Yet as busy as Jeremy is doing for others, he makes sure school work is a priority, maintaining a 90 per cent average.

“Hard works gets you somewhere. It might sound old fashioned, but that’s how it’s done.” ?~Stacy Pavlov

If you’re on the edge, don’t see a way out, don’t know how to face the future, dedicated volunteers like Maria Boruta at the Kelowna Crisis Line are ready to listen 24-7 at 250.763.9191

“Life is all about attitude. I love having fun and I appreciate life,” she says.

Once on the line, however, Maria is all business. She settles into the office chair with a massive resource binder open for quick access. “This one day a week belongs to me and my callers,” she says.

A day as a Crisis Line volunteer has rewards and challenges. “There was joy the day someone called and said they just got out of the hospital and I had saved their life,” says Maria. “Or getting positive feedback from the RCMP when I stayed on the line during a suicide in progress, sometimes an hour or more, until help arrived.

“And then there’s the day you read in the newspaper about a suicide and you know the person could have called and didn’t.”

The Kelowna Crisis Line has been serving the community since October 1976 and in 2001 was honoured as the Vounteer Organization of the year at the City of Kelowna Civic Awards.Volunteers provide short-term crisis intervention when a caller is unable to cope with a situation. Volunteers offer empathy, information and referrals to community services to empower individuals to meet their own needs and find solutions.

What does she hope people will understand about those who call the Crisis Line?  “They are lost and need people to look out for them,” she says. Maria hopes the public will not be judgmental about those who are depressed, mentally ill or on drugs and alcohol. “They are the victims,” she says.

Encouraged by a friend, Maria signed on, armed with high school graduation from Burlington, Ontario, retail experience in Toronto and Surrey Eaton’s fashion and cosmetics and, perhaps most importantly, raising three sons. She enthusiastically completed the 50 hours of required training, which included instruction in communication and specific crisis line preparation. “The training was excellent,” she says, “and during that time I realized this is what I was looking for as a volunteer.”

For the first few days on the line new volunteers are audited by those with more experience. “You never feel you have enough training, but what’s important is what you do with the training and the guidelines they give you.”

The Okanagan Suicide Awareness Society says that suicide rates are highest in April and the summer months June and July. They emphasize that suicidal behaviour is a result of a medical condition and not a sign of weakness or character defect. And the biggest cause of suicide among college students is mental illness, usually depression.

But it’s not all about suicide. “The age range of the callers I get is from 15 to 65.” Sometimes she gets multiple calls from the same teen struggling with drugs, alcohol and family issues. “I tell them to never, never give up on themselves,” she says and is thrilled if they finally accept referral to an agency.

“But I am also getting an increasing number of calls from retired people who feel anxious, lonely, useless and depressed. They don’t know what to do with themselves now they are no longer working,” says Maria.

As for unwinding after her shift? Maria says she stays around the office to chat with others, then takes a few minutes of quiet time to think through the past five hours.

Maria encourages everyone to be involved in the community in some way and to be vigilant about their own neighbourhood. “Don’t be afraid to help. It’s a privilege to be able to help people. I’m a drop in the ocean. My contribution is little, but put all the drops together and we can make a difference.”

Here is one 75-year-old not likely to slow down soon. “I’ll continue to volunteer for as long as I can,” she says. The voice of an angel. ~Patti Shales Lefkos

It’s a cold winter evening. I gather my jacket around me, tucking my hands into its folds and shrugging my shoulders to block the wind from my neck. I scurry into a warmly lit store, and see a table circled by eager 20-somethings, chatting and laughing as they pull out their supplies. A no-nonsense woman with silver hair and spirited eyes walks out from the backroom to greet her students. She’s backdropped by dozens of boxes filled with folded orbs of colour, waiting to be plucked and formed into their future shapes.

“What’s everyone working on today?” she asks.

“I thought I would try the left hand fingerless,” says one; “I’m shooting for a hooded cowl,” says another. The only boy in the group pipes up, “I’m making a bikini for my girlfriend.” He throws back a loose strand of hair and pulls out two firm balls of yarn.

I’ve just entered my first knitting class. Not only am I the oldest one here, but by the sounds of it the most out of touch with current trends in the knitting world. “I want to learn how to get the yarn on my needle,” I manage to mumble, my head slowly panning the room, mouth agape at the endless materials, tools, samples, books and patterns that line the walls. I’m at The Art of Yarn, a beautiful shop in Kelowna that provides endless fuel for those passionate about the many things that wool and her threaded sisters have to offer.

I have a small goal, a scarf for my husband. I thought I came to learn a skill from the days of yore, a quaint talent I would pick up from a group of loving and slightly gnarl-fingered grannies crocheting tea cosies as fast as I could pour a cup of Earl Grey. As I sit among my young peers, however, and admire an incredible pair of socks someone made, which are practically Monets in merino, I’m awakened to the truth behind the needles; knitting is for all ages and personality types and you can make anything from a sweater vest to a baby booty into a work of art.

So much can be said with a twist of the needle that it is perhaps the most versatile of three dimensional pallets. That the life span of clothes and bedding is often short lived, makes handmade originals all that much more precious. My mother was not a knitter, but she did turn out a small yellow and orange blanket of soft wool while I was waiting to be born. It is, in its humble innocence and crooked edge, a tale of transition and hope painted in affordable yarn that was sturdy enough to outlive the havoc and daily disasters of a baby gone wild. How can that not be considered art in its most serving form?

I look over basic scarf patterns as the clicking of needles fills the room and the class hums with the energy of creative motion. I pick one that is simple, but different, and decide to stitch a little symbol on the end that means something special to my spouse. In the past I’ve given him paintings and other art as gifts. I hope, in the details of the stitching, he will see my love and imagination indelibly offered through my very first steps into the art of yarn. ~Gillianne Richards

“I feel like we were put on this planet to help one another,” says Hannah Paracholski a 14-year-old Vernon Secondary School student. “I think we should go out of our way to do so whether the person is next door or far away.” When Hannah sets her mind to something, it gets done with a big heart and impressive results.

Whether it’s placing in an Irish dancing competition, winning a downhill slalom ski race or reaching out to help others across the globe, Hannah stays committed, especially when it benefits others.

She showed her willingness to jump in with both feet during her crusade to help Japanese tsunami victims.

After seeing the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami on the news, Hannah put together a team and organized a fundraising run and fun day that raised over $7,000.

“We were so amazed at the support we received for those in Japan. They are people just like us that needed our help,” she says.

Closer to home Hannah volunteered more time in an effort to gather votes in a sadly unsuccessful bid to advance in a competition that could have seen $150,000 awarded to the rebuilding of Camp Hurlburt, an outdoor Vernon youth camp.

Hannah believes if you reach out to others they might do the same for someone else down the road, and that’s what’s really important. ?~Stacy Pavlov

When sub-appellations are named in the Okanagan, the Golden Mile Bench between Oliver and Osoyoos is on track to be among the first (along with the Black Sage and Naramata benches). Highlighting the individuality of the wines, sub-appellations are part of the evolution of a mature wine region—and much coveted by wineries.

No question we’re obsessed with the national sport. Check out our Okanagan hockey highlights …

Download PFD…

On the Scouts’ List

The top prospects for the 2012 NHL draft will take to the ice at Prospera Place in Kelowna at the end of January. It will be familiar territory for two talented Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets’ right-handed captain Colton Sissons (#15) finished December with 20 goals and 27 points. Dubbed a defensive forward, Sissons’ proficiency at both ends of the ice may be just what the scouts are looking for in a multi-faceted player. Also on the scouts’ radar is defenceman Damon Severson (#7) who neared Sission’s end-of-year record with 20 points including four goals. With size, great skating and an ability to jump into the play, Damon’s talent may take him to the next level.

Fan Appeal

Spending time with their loyal fans is as much of a thrill for the Penticton   Vees as it is for the kids who join the team for their annual community skate. As of the end of December 2011, the Vees had six of the top 10 scoring leaders and were ranked #2 in Canadian Junior A hockey.

Pursuit of Excellence

Jordan Krause (inset above) is taking to the ice in the cherished red jersey. The young Kelowna defence is going for gold with Team Canada in the 2012 Under 18 World Championships in the Czech Republic.

A midget AAA player on the Pursuit of Excellence Academy team, Jordan sees coach David Roy (right) as a role model.

“He has such passion for the game, an unbelievable drive to help me and all my teammates to improve. His strong character inspires me every day to just keep going,” she says. “As a result of his knowledge of the game and values as a person, I feel like I have one of the greatest opportunities in the world and am going to do my best to soak it all up.”

Having a powerful influence on hockey players is nothing new for Roy. As one of the most respected skating coaches in the world, he’s worked with national, Olympic and NHL teams. A former skating coach for the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars, Roy returned to Kelowna to start his hockey camps in 2003.

For young, Okanagan athletes, the support has propelled their careers. West Kelowna’s Justin Schultz attended the academy for two seasons prior to playing with the Westside Warriors. Chosen by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2008 NHL Draft, the young defenceman is attending the University of Wisconsin, playing for the Badgers and topping the leader board.

In the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, Vernon’s Curtis Lazar, another academy student, went second overall to the Edmonton Oil Kings. The 16-year-old centre has already wrapped up 10 goals and nine assists in his 33 games this season.

Roy has touched the lives of many hockey players, sharing his passing and talent for explosive speed with a number of NHLers from Dany Heatley to Brendan Morrison.

“We’re not just a school for elite players,” say Roy. “Our goal is developing kids as hockey players and people.”

Roy and his wife have worked with kids all their lives and they believe that hockey is a great vehicle. With a half-day in school and half-day working on the game both on and off the ice, academy players improve their hockey skills and mental preparation.

The development of every player’s character and values is of equal importance to Roy. The academy provides players the opportunity to be involved in the community and in specific projects of service to others. Players have travelled to Mexico to build houses for the poor, sponsored children from Third World countries and served food to people off the street at Kelowna’s Gospel Mission.

“Strong values and life skills are not just talked about,” says Roy. “They are experienced.”

NHL Roundup

With the cup: Brent Gilchrist (left top & bottom) is a champion in so many ways. In 1998, he hoisted the Stanley Cup as a forward with the Detroit Red Wings. Today, he’s a champion fundraiser in the community. For 20 years, his invitational golf tournament has raised funds for the BC Children’s Hospital and the North Okanagan Neurological Association, reaching over the million dollar mark. Brent is just one of many NHLers living and coaching  in the Okanagan, supporting both charities and young player development.

In the net: Kids of all ages, like weekend warrior Greg Thierman (second row left) dream of shooting the puck like Wayne Gretzky, but the dream of any young goalie is to stop the puck flying off the Great One’s stick. In 1985, a Hersey Bears goalie got the call to the NHL when a tragic auto accident took the life of the Philadelphia Flyer’s number one goaltender Pelle Lindbergh. Darren Jensen (top & second row middle) now calls the Okanagan home and still revels in his victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

Behind the camera: The game is long over but the highlight reels still run, thanks in part to Kelowna native Dimitri Gammer (top right), an associate producer with CBC. Clocking many hours in the Hockey Night in Canada “war room” Dimitri pulls footage for Don Cherry, Ron MacLean and Kelly Hrudey

In the OR: During last spring’s playoff run, Canuck fever was burning hot in the Penticton Regional Hospital operating room.

On the Bench

Cheers rise to the rafters in Rutland Arena as families root for their new hometown favourite, the Kelowna Chiefs. A development team for the Western Hockey League, the Chiefs provide a competitive level of junior hockey, attracting players who want to study at Okanagan College and UBCO. The team’s 2010 move to Kelowna was due in part to the efforts of Grant Sheridan who has taken the reins as assistant coach.

Hockey permeates Grant’s life. The Sheridans billet Kelowna Rocket Zach Franko and their seven-year-old son Tanner is busy with minor hockey. During the day, Grant keeps his coaching skills active, setting financial strategies for professional players through his work with the Peacock Sheridan Group. He says, “Hockey is my hobby, my business and my passion.”

At the Box Office

Ticket in one hand, pop and snacks in the other, fans head to their seats. A great crowd sparks spirit in the rink and adds millions to the local economy.

In 2011, the Kelowna Rockets, a franchise in the Western Hockey League that showcases the highest level of junior hockey talent in Canada, pegged the indirect annual economic impact of the team at $31.5 million.

UBC Okanagan economics associate professor Ken Carlaw, who headed up the study, looked at both the economic and social impact hockey can have on a community. For any young player, a chance to skate or meet with a hockey star is a thrill. For a vulnerable youth, hearing from a hockey hero could mean turning away from drug use. Ken points out that the Rockets’ investment in school outreach and charity programs is an investment in the social fabric of the community.

The Kelowna Rockets are among the top producers both in terms of pennants won and players graduated to the National Hockey League.

At least 20 former Rockets, most following their NHL careers, have returned to the Okanagan to live.

Downtown Kelowna is a buzz during a home game. Fans catch a quick bite before the game, out-of-towners stay at hotels, and special guests are wined and dined in corporate-sponsored suites. When the dollars are added up, nearly $15 million flows into local stores, restaurants and hotels as a result of regular season activities. And when the team makes the playoffs, another $5 million is generated for the local economy.

The organization itself generates nearly $4 million in direct benefit: staff salaries and wages, advertising done by the team, player pocket money and expenses, billet expenses and the annual cost of the WHL scholarship program. ~John Paul Byrne

Download PDF

When Mom warned you not to throw stones, she wasn’t talking about this popular Okanagan winter-buster …

When you see the portrait of James Cameron Dun-Waters (the Okanagan’s early 20th century answer to Scottish landed gentry) on the cover of Stan Sauerwein’s book Fintry, you wonder if this man ever had a passion for anything. Known as the Laird of Fintry, his face defines the dour Scotsman.

Togged out (and “togged” is the only adjective that comes close to working) in his curling tweeds and Tam o’ Shanter, he glowers at the viewer from the sepia-coloured photo. Could this man possibly be having fun?

Apparently so. James was so obsessed with curling that he wrote this ode to the sport:

“You cannot be a piker
and you must stand the gaff,
And learn to hit them with a smile
and miss them with a laugh.”

Before cars and chairlifts made downhill skiing accessible, curling was the Okanagan’s big winter sport. By the turn of the 20th century, every town in the North Okanagan had its own curling sheet (read ice rink). It’s not that southern Okanaganites didn’t like to curl, but the game was played outdoors in those days and the southern end of the Valley was often not cold enough to form a stable ice surface.

Curling arrived with the earliest immigrants and was promoted by the likes of the Laird of Fintry. He was so devoted to the broom and stone that employment on his estate often depended as much on a man’s ability to curl as it did on his ability to do the actual job.

The Laird’s 21st century curling descendents are cut from a different bolt of tweed. Although the game is taken just as seriously, today there’s a lot more laughter and not a dour face among the players.

Kids as young as eight curl in organized leagues and seniors well into their upper 80s and a few in their early 90s still play for the love of the game.

Curling is regarded by many as an old man’s game. Americans scoff and refuse to call it a sport because there’s no fast action or violence and the scores don’t skyrocket to create the feeling that something great has been accomplished. Even video game designers don’t see enough action in curling to create a virtual version. Google curling and the closest thing you come up with is Barbie’s curling iron.

When you talk to a dedicated curler, you hear aphorisms like “chess on ice.” Curling is a game of strategy and cooperation more than sudden bursts and individual stardom. It doesn’t take a rare individual to play, just one willing to walk a different path.

At the Kelowna Curling Club (KCC), Ewan and Ramsey Murray are making headway in the sport. The 12-year-olds are part of the club’s 15-member junior league. Fraternal twins, the brothers wear orange hoodies—a far cry from the Laird’s tweeds and tam. But they’re serious enough to defend curling in the face of all the hockey hoopla broadcast on television.

“Hockey’s too violent,” says Ewan. “I watch it on TV and see all the guys getting hurt and I don’t want to be injured. Besides, I’m not that good at skating…”

Ewan and Ramsey are on the KCC Junior Club’s travel team, playing in tournaments with other clubs around the Valley. There are 14 curling clubs in the Okanagan where they can compete.

Teammate Logan Miron, also 12, has been playing for seven years. Like a lot of curlers, he started with his grandpa and although he likes watching hockey, he understands the financial cost of the game. “It’s too expensive. With curling I have a lot of fun and it turns out that I’m good at it.”

Anyone interested in curling can get into the game for under $50. All you need is a broom and a set of clean-soled shoes. The stones and ice sheets are provided by the curling club.

Girls have a different take on the sport. It’s a level playing field with the boys and as much for socializing as it is for the good-natured competition.

Vernon’s Carley Cade also came to the sport through her grandfather, Doug. He’s been curling for nearly 40 years and started on outdoor sheets in the North Thompson. Now he coaches the juniors at the Vernon Curling Club and passes on his knowledge to Carley, mixed in with a bit of family together time.

Hailee Kepes is another keener. Within her first month-and-a-half of curling she had improved to the point where she joined Logan, Ewan and Ramsey on the KCC travel team. “I really like curling and it’s really helped that I’m  with an amazing team who are helping me get better and better.”

The first written record of curling was in 1541, but the game was obviously played well before that. Curling was an outdoor sport between the 16th and 19th centuries and may have benefited from what is now known as the Little Ice Age. This was a cool period lasting from the Middle Ages to the mid-1800s, which coincided nicely with the growth of curling.

Because of the long, cold winters Canada proved an ideal locale for the sport. It arrived with decommissioned Scottish soldiers who received land grants as pensions in what was to become Canada.

The Royal Montreal Curling Club was founded in 1807 and is the oldest continually active sports club in North America.

Scotland still maintains control over the game that most Scots feel is their national sport. The World Curling Federation is based in Perth, Scotland, and the Royal Caledonian Curling Club is the “mother club” of curling. Ironically, the Royal Caledonian was founded in 1838 making it 31 years younger than the Royal Montreal.

Also known as the “roaring game” because of the sound the stones make as they pass over the ice, curling is now played across northern Europe, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and Korea.

Yet for a game that’s been played constantly for at least five centuries and internationally for nearly two hundred years, curling is pretty casual compared with many other sports. The first world championship, in Edinburgh, Scotland, wasn’t held until 1959.

Canada took home the first Scotch Cup. Ernie Richardson, from Regina, skipped the winning team. Ernie and his family are game legends of the sort Don Cherry would love to talk about.

Curling finally made it into the Olympics in 1998, but Olympic curling has kind of a hazy history. It was introduced to the International Winter Sports Week in 1924 and sporadically continued as a demonstration sport.

In a strange twist in 2002, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared the 1924 Winter Sports Week to be the earliest Olympic Winter Games. The IOC then went on to award medals to the winners of that event. In a competition that included only men and official teams from just three nations, Great Britain received the gold, Sweden took home the silver medal and France walked away with the bronze.

But all the events between then and 1998 were only considered demonstration games. Too bad. In the 1932 Olympics, for example, curling was a demonstration sport with teams from Canada and the United States. Canada won, 12 games to 4.

Stone and broom have been taken to heart in this country. According to the Canadian Curling Association, we are the largest curling nation in the world with more than 729,000 active players (2008 Census). Since 1998, both men’s and women’s teams have stood on the podium in every Olympics.

When Sandra Schmirler, first ever woman’s curling Olympic gold medalist, died in 2000, over 15,000 people attended her funeral and it was broadcast on national TV.

So what is it about curling that appeals to the Canadian soul? Is it the lack of bench-clearing brawls? Or is it civility and polite competition where you don’t have to man-up on steroids and UFC commercials?

This is a very civilized game played by all ages where sportsmanlike teams shake hands and wish each other “Good curling” before the event and afterward, teams stack their brooms and the winner traditionally buys the loser a drink.

Curling is a game for people with a wide range of physical abilities

Stick curling has come on strong in recent years. This version of the sport allows the players to use “push sticks” to deliver their rocks. For many folks with joint issues, this allows them to play the game without having to bend or squat at the hack (the anchored blocks from which players push off on the slick ice surface).

An experienced stick curler has all the control players using hand-thrown stones have. The stone can be spun either clockwise or counter clockwise to alter its course down the sheet and the weight of the throw (the force with which the stone is thrown) can be varied to successfully accomplish different tactics.

Stick curling also makes it possible for special needs athletes to take part in the sport. Jonathon Macdonald, a 24-year-old special athlete and his buddy Dayle Booth represented KCC at the Special Olympics provincial championships a few years ago. Another friend, Joanne Siefried played on the provincial Special Olympics team and placed second in the recent provincials.

Joanne, along with Teri-Kay Lawrence are the veterans of the Special Olympics team having joined when KCC first offered stick curling.

All three are proud and brag about their accomplishments. But Jonathon has another reason why he likes curling—it introduced him to his girlfriend and fiancé Tiffany Conners.

Tiffany curls from her wheelchair. When it’s her turn to throw, a teammate pushes her chair off from the hack and she guides the stone with her stick toward the hog line (the line where a curler has to let go of the stone or be penalized). Tiffany is in total control and follows the skips directions on placement.

When she has to sweep, she works her brush over the ice surface while being pushed along.

“I have a lot of fun on the curling team. The people are really nice and I get to meet a lot of new friends. It’s especially cool because I got to meet Jon through curling.” Tiffany holds up her diamond engagement ring emphasizing her love of the stones. ~Bruce Kemp

Photos by Bruce Kemp

Download PDF

This is the 17th consecutive year that our readers have voted for their favourite business heroes in the North, Central and South Okanagan. Happy business people who receive the hottest award in the Valley know that Okanagan Life readers vote by way of official ballot.

These quality businesses display the Best of the Okanagan award in their offices and retail stores for all to see.

In Okanagan Life’s 23-year life we’ve worked hard to highlight courageous and innovative people whose efforts and dedication to our communities, towns and cities, make the Valley the wonder it is. This story is different because readers wrote it—we simply tallied the results and created the art and design that you are devouring now.

This issue is all about recognizing the great business ideas and effort that owners, managers and staff put forth to earn their Best of the Okanagan award.

Being named the best is an honour and a privilege. Please celebrate the winners,  patronize them and thank them for living up to the moniker—Best of the Okanagan! —Paul Byrne

Download PDF