A hill overlooking Kelowna International Airport may seem an unusual site for an estate winery, but for Dutch native Richard Kamphuys and his wife Jitske, it’s a perfectly sensible spot to grow quality grapes and make fine wine. When the couple first immigrated to Canada in 1992, they bought the property that then hosted a 19-hectare apple orchard. “We were seeking a change from a big city environment,” Richard says. After running the orchard for a few years, he learned that it had been a vineyard in the 1940s. Although the bitterly cold winter of 1949-50 severely damaged the young vines and ended the venture, grapes had been growing on this land as far back as 1930, when the Rittich brothers planted vinifera vines in the district. They reported the results in BC’s first wine book, European Grape Growing in cooler districts where winter protection is necessary, published in 1941. With oversupply pushing apple prices down, Richard decided to assess the feasibility of grapes and wine. He took courses at Okanagan College in Penticton and in 2005 planted 27,000 vines in a 6.4-hectare vineyard. “The west-facing slope catches the sun from 8 a.m. to sunset, which is just right for the correct varieties,” he says. Richard selected early ripeners like Lemberger and Pinot Noir, recommended by the Rittichs, as well as Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Zweigelt and Baco Noir. Opened in 2011, the old-world winery, designed by Penticton-based architect Robert Mackenzie, includes a bird’s-eye view of the airport. ~ Michael Botner

“I think, therefore I am.” Is this statement false or true?

Last year I wrote about an author who claimed to know the happiest region or city in which to live. I wondered out loud if the Okanagan might be it, or if it could ever be that place? I concluded it could—but only if we corrected a few things.

Think back to when you were in Grade 3. Did your teacher ever ask, “Did you think about that—before you did it.” Has your boss ever enquired, “Did you think this through first.” Hockey coaches can be heard yelling, “Think before you make that pass up the middle.” For centuries, our highly biased societies have been force-fed a steady diet that thinking is our only salvation.

I’m one of the many who believe that the French philosopher René Descartes got it wrong when he said, “I think, therefore I am.” Many of today’s neuroscientists, including Antonio Damasio and Joseph LeDoux, suggest that thinking is less important than paying attention to our emotions. While all regions of the brain are important, neuroscience is proving that the limbic or emotional regions play the most critical roles when defining influence, motivation and behavior.

“I feel, therefore I am,” more accurately describes who we are, what we do and what we are trying to accomplish on the ice, at work or in school.

I’ve been thinking a great deal about thinking lately, and I think that thinking is highly overrated. Did you think before you started reading this column? Or did it just happen? Did you think about moving to the Okanagan or did randomness guide you here? Did you think about paying your taxes or did fear play a role? Contrary to nearly everything we have been taught, decisions are never made because of one reason, yet time and again our brains allow us to think that way. If you were to emote about taxes or the logic behind choosing to live in one of the best places on earth (which you did) you’d realize that dozens or even hundreds of reasons came together to inform that decision. Emotion focuses our attention, determines what we remember, develops attitudes, provides motivation and moves individuals to act.

Understanding the counter-intuitive way our brains evolved is the first step to realizing that centuries of thinking have brought us experts. And while we all consider ourselves expert at something, Philip Tetlock showed us that expert predictions are (mostly) wrong—66 per cent of the time. I believe that even using the word “think” conjures up the laziest neural connections of the brain to do its bidding—which is finding the simplest, easiest and singular reason to come up with a decision. A plethora of simple human biases (that are invisible to the thinking brain) only add to the paradox of a poor choice. Even when we know we are wrong, we convince ourselves that we didn’t make a bad decision after all.

So next time you think about making a decision, ask yourself how you feel about it first.

“I feel, therefore I am,” is a new and better way. ~ John Paul Byrne

Whenever Derek takes a longboard land-paddling along the waterfront in Kelowna, he turns heads. These aren’t just skateboards, they’re elegant works of art.

They’re called longboards for a reason, being up to 1.8 metres in length. And instead of gravity powering them down steep hills, longboards can be poled along like gondolas by using special land paddles.

With his wife Catherine, Derek owns Peregrine Longboards and since starting operations last summer, he’s racked up an impressive client list including Ed Robinson of the Barenaked Ladies, Steven Page, and Tofino mayor, Perry Schmunk.

The reason Derek is attracting this level of attention is craftsmanship. His boards are laminated from a number of different and valuable woods like jarrah, purpleheart, arbutus, walnut, maple and elm.

“I wanted to make something people would want,” he says. “It had to be a creation that offered quality and made a statement about that person.”

This isn’t what Derek started out to do, though. For more than a dozen years he was a guide, then the operations manager for Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in the Cariboos and Monashees. Among his ski clients were the Aga Kahn and his family when they made their annual trips into the heart of the BC wilderness.

But the time came when he began looking for challenges other than skiing two million vertical feet per season.

By chance Derek saw a sign proclaiming the Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking in Roberts Creek (halfway between Bowen Island and Sechelt). Fine woodworking offered the creative outlet he was looking for and by combining it with his knowledge of the outdoor recreation business, he decided longboards would be an ideal product.

One of the things Derek learned at school was the art of inlay. This time-consuming process allows him to make brilliant designs—like the bird and bush of his Sweet Magnolia board—out of differently coloured woods.

To bring greater precision to the process he has installed a computer guided laser-cutting machine. With it he can produce intricate designs in wood, glass, granite and metal. Part of his business comes from commercial laser engraving.

Taking his product one step further, Derek produces boards that not only look super, but the trucks and wheels he uses combine with the flex of the longboards to give an ultra smooth ride. ~ Bruce Kemp

www.peregrinelongboards.com

Photos by Bruce Kemp

A giant metal hand sits on a track that runs along the ceiling. A hard push sends it lumbering across the room, the forged knuckles almost dragging across the cement floor. Down the hall, bushels of hair, severed and splayed, fill a darkened room. Down the hall, bushels of hair, severed and splayed, fill a darkened room. Around the corner sits a huge pile, torn from books or ejected from a nearby typewriter. Visitors tread softly past. Their footsteps create a current. The paper mountain heaves a breath.

This isn’t your typical art show. It’s installation art, a form known to push the boundaries of thought and engagement. “I don’t even know what that means, instillation art…” my girlfriend comments when I tell her about a recent installation show in Kelowna called the Mad Hatter. I reply with a very scholarly explanation. “It’s when, uh, you install art, like, uh, furniture, around a room.” Great, here I am tackling an article and I can’t even describe it. At least, not on the fly. Luckily, dummies.com offers a much more intelligent answer: “It means taking a large interior (the exterior can be part of an installation, too) and loading it with disparate items that evoke complex and multiple associations and thoughts, longings and moods. It’s a huge three-dimensional painting, sculpture, poem and prose work.” That’s what I meant to say…

The Mad Hatter is an annual exhibit put on through a collaboration of artists and groups, primarily organized by the Arts Council of the Central Okangan.  They take an interesting space, such as an old motel or an industrial building, and install interactive art throughout.

This year I go to the show three times. Before it opens I get a tour with the curator, Nicole Ensing. Without trying to explain the pieces, she offers suggestions that incur wonder. As we tour, her enthusiasm lights up each creation. It feels like she’s discovering it with me for the first time.

The second time I visit is a quiet weekday. Rushing in to take pictures, I happily find some good angles and then maddeningly find that my camera battery is dead. I let out a silent scream, pack up and scurry towards the exit. Sitting on guard at a little table, a white haired volunteer stops me with a strum of her guitar. Rising from her chair, she smiles and breaks into a random song, which just happens to be titled I’m Having a Senior’s Moment. Watching Betty White’s younger sister belt out a ditty describing my damaged brain, while flanked by curious works of art that seem to be humming backup, makes for a surreal and heartwarming experience. I leave with this incredible impression that I just joined the show.

On my third visit I bring my husband. He spends most days surrounded by computers or playing sports, so my job is to administer his monthly dose of art. Unconcerned with having to know much about art to enjoy it, he jumps right in. Pulling levers, pushing parts, he strolls over to a life-sized marionette of armor. I snap pictures while he does his best impersonation of its frozen gait. I walk up to the paper pile, tear up the last of an already shredded book and throw the remains into the air. It feels so wrong, but so right.

Rather than judging the work, I find I am one of its components. Installation art is a self-relevant experience offering inconcrete definitions based on the perception of the participant. In other words, if I don’t get it, it’s okay. Like life, the biggest reward comes from taking part. ~ Gillianne Richards

Photo by Jason Richards

Get the inside story on the people behind the legalese.

Richard Enns
Compass Law

I have been providing legal services in the North Okanagan for 20 years since I moved from Vancouver in April of 1992 with my wife Anita. I had been practicing in a large downtown firm where I gained experience in complex commercial litigation and corporate finance, but I wanted a change.

Anita and I were originally attracted to the area because of the blend of rural and urban influences—and Silver Star. What kept us here is the remarkable group of people we’ve come to know and appreciate. The Vernon area attracts people from all over the world and many of these people work hard to contribute to the overall economy and community. Their influence blends with families who trace their heritage back for generations.

Right from the beginning, Anita and I have been involved in our community. I am serving my second term as a city councilor for the District of Coldstream. I have been a director of the Vernon Winter Carnival, the North Okanagan Community Foundation, the Vernon Alpine Ski Club and a member of the Silver Star Rotary Club. I am also currently a director for the Vernon and District Association for Community Living.

Anita has been involved in providing local quality food to the community. In 2007 we purchased an apple orchard and began the transition process to fully certified organic. Coldstream Creek Road Orchard is the first certified organic orchard in the history of Coldstream, which has been an apple-growing area since 1892. We produce three varieties including Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Royal Gala. Last year Anita was one of the founding organizers of the Coldstream Winter Market.

I founded Compass Law Corporation in 2000 and continue to operate from our Main Street location in downtown Vernon. Practicing in my own firm has given me the opportunity to choose the type of work that I do and to work with clients who have interesting backgrounds and projects. Consequently, I have been part of a number of start-up operations requiring venture capital financing.

At Compass we seek to provide reasonably priced personalized service on a wide range of matters, but my preferred areas of practice relate to the everyday concerns of people, such as real estate (conveyancing, mortgages and development matters); business law regarding incorporations and contracts; and all estate matters including estate planning, probate, committeeships, powers of attorney and representation agreements.

Working directly with clients is especially enjoyable for me. I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping estate clients and discussing farm matters with agricultural clients. I want to express my profound appreciation to all the clients who have worked with me since I moved to this beautiful area.

Call 250.545.8059.

Tessmer Law

In my opinion, family law is one of the most interesting areas of the law. As I tell my clients, marriage is basically a contract between two people to join together for a common goal, while divorce is really the termination of that contract. However, this particular contract is the most emotional one any of us will enter into. It’s the culmination of our hopes, goals and dreams, and the breakdown of this contract triggers emotional and social reactions like no other.

There is a delicate balance of legal issues, resulting from a marriage breakdown, versus the feelings that parties experience as they go through what is one of the most difficult periods of their lives. It is the role of family lawyers to take our clients through this process as kindly and compassionately as possible. Yet we can’t be everything to everyone. I always tell my clients that this process requires a network of support including counselors, friends and family. There is as much “heart stuff” as there is “legal stuff” surrounding a divorce.

Dealing with fear about how to co-parent and concern over the effects of divorce on the children is just as important as property division and support payments. Unfortunately our current law does not consider heart stuff as much as it provides a framework for dealing with the legal matters. However, this focus is changing.

We are currently in one of the most dynamic times for family law in recent years as a new Family Law Act (the “Act”) became law in November 2011. Most of the Act will not come into effect for the next year to year-and-a-half, but there are many eagerly awaited changes. For example, the Act imposes a new and radically different legislative scheme on matters such as child care. It contemplates how to regulate topics that are new to provincial law, such as assisted reproduction and parenting coordination, and has increased focus on out of court resolution of disputes, particularly in the area of children.

While family lawyers will always be the legal stuff types, it is hopeful that these new changes introduce a bit of heart stuff to our legal processes. Follow us on Twitter or friend us on Facebook to see what happens next.

Call 250.762.6747 or visit www.tessmerlaw.com.

Gerry M. Laarakker Law

You should make a will when you marry or start a family, advises Vernon lawyer, Gerry Laarakker. The protection of your children should be a priority. “Would you prefer to appoint a guardian for your minor children,” he asks, “or leave it to the government?” Gerry says that you also require an advance health care directive and a power of attorney in case something happens to you.

“Many people advertise that they do wills and estate planning. For us, it is a specialty,” says Gerry, who has given many presentations on these subjects to community groups and has taught the material in the Bar admission course all new BC lawyers must take.

Laarakker Law takes pride in its expertise with wills and estate planning and in providing affordable, personal service.

Call 250.260.4273 or visit www.laarakkerlaw.com.

Nadine Casey French Law

Nadine Casey French is dedicated to her profession and to her West Kelowna community. Providing exceptional legal services to individuals and businesses, NCF Law handles corporate, real estate and estate planning issues in a timely and cost-effective manner with an emphasis on personal attention.

Nadine will go to hospitals and clients’ homes to help those who can’t get to her office and she regularly provides pro bono services to the elderly as well as community organizations such as the Food Bank. She has been a tireless worker for Westside Daze and is the organizer of the Westside Women’s Group, the only organization that supports women entrepreneurs on the Westside.

Call 250.707.0771 or visit www.ncflaw.ca.

Robert O. Levin Law Office

Robert Levin has been practicing civil litigation, specializing in commercial disputes and personal injury claims, since arriving in Kelowna in July 1980. After initial training in his hometown of Winnipeg, he discovered the Okanagan and never looked back. Bob has a beautiful wife of 30 years, four loving children, all born and raised in Kelowna, and three wonderful grandchildren.

Active in the community, Bob is a past president and board member (for almost 30 years) of The Bridge, a leading social service agency that assists children and families throughout the Central Okanagan. “I’ve stayed on that length of time,” he says, “because of the fabulous work the organization does and the respect I have for the people who work there.”

Bob has also served on the boards of Sunshine Theatre, School District #23, The Okanagan Jewish Community and was a founding director of the Southern Interior Karate Association. He is the Central Yale area representative to the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch.

Karate is Bob’s main source of fitness. He teaches advanced children’s classes at Parkinson Rec Centre and holds a Sandan ranking (third degree black belt). Bob has won gold and silver at the BC provincial and national levels. His other sports include skiing, hockey (“I’m really not very good, but love the game and play with a great bunch of guys”), golf, hiking and tennis. Bob is fully committed to life in the Okanagan.

Call 250.868.2101 or visit www.rlevin.com.

Okimaw Law

Serving the Okanagan since 2007, Okimaw Law is committed to providing the highest quality service and advice. “We help clients protect their intellectual property, assets and legacies,” says Richard Okimaw.

A lawyer, engineer and patent agent, Richard practices exclusively in intellectual property and technology law. He is dedicated to delivering unparalleled IP. Rick’s clients consider him an indispensable strategic partner and integral to their success.

Kristen Okimaw, who was raised in Kelowna, handles wills and estates, family and corporate law. She and Rick are active in the autism community, busy chasing after their young children and enjoying the Okanagan lifestyle.

Una Gabie deals with real estate, corporate and estate planning. Una is involved in the Okanagan Mortgage Lenders Association, Community Futures, Okanagan Suicide Awareness Society and the United Way.

Call 250.469.9628 or visit www.okimawlaw.com.

Blakely & Company

In 1980 the University of Windsor Law School wanted me because of my LSAT marks and my experience as an infantry NCO and later as a captain in the Canadian Forces, where I won the Canadian Infantry Association Sword.

As a soldier I learned to take good care of the soldiers under my command. As a lawyer I apply that same principle to my clients and the community. Loyalty, integrity and dedication make a win-win. I have also served as a director of provincial and national organizations for nearly two decades.

My focus on seniors, farms, families and small business gives me a close connection with the community. Our approach is to work hard for our clients and treat their challenges as if they were our own.

I am a solicitor. Years ago I stopped doing all court work so I could focus exclusively on the paper side of the law. Now, my deeper knowledge and experience in these chosen areas means that I do more for my clients than is the usual standard of practice.

For example, my advanced approach to estate planning for blended families has proven effective. Assisting executors in the probate of estates, I can help families when they are under great emotional stress. One of my most satisfying activities is helping disabled persons and their families to establish effective structures for ownership and management of assets.

Over the years I have provided leadership on dozens of projects and committees. My most unusual project was as executive producer/fundraiser and scriptwriter for a 42-minute search and rescue training film for the Justice Institute of BC.

I have assisted hundreds of non-profit organizations and charities. I provide workshops on liability and governance and I am often consulted on the development and drafting of bylaws and constitutions.

My grandmother, now deceased, once told me that the true measure of a man’s worth is whether, upon his death, the world is better for his having been placed upon it. I have striven to ensure that this is the case in both my personal and professional lives. I think my grandmother is smiling right now!

Call 250-546-3188 or 1-888-838-9982 or visit www.blakelylaw.ca.

Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law

TRU Law recently celebrated the completion of its first year. The 75 inaugural law students, who started the program in September 2011, wrote their final first-year exam on April 20. Founding Dean of Law Chris Axworthy, QC, says that students will have a chance to recharge their batteries over the summer.

Robert Fischer-Summers, president of the Society of Law Students (SLS) says, “Many of us will be working over the summer and we have begun making ourselves known to law firms and supporters further afield now that exams are over. The SLS articling committee has also begun work in the search for articling positions next year.”

While the inaugural class has completed its first year, excitement abounds among the applicants who have just received word that they will be joining TRU Law this September.

“It has been a wonderful year with many milestones, including the opening of Canada’s newest Law Faculty in over 33 years, in September, and having the Chief Justice of Canada visit in February,” says Alan Shaver, president of Thompson Rivers University.

Visit www.tru.ca/law.html.

William “Bill” Clarke – Courtyard Law 

Born in Alberta, Bill Clarke came to Kelowna with his mother at age nine. Bill graduated with the first class of the UBC Okanagan history department, attended the University of Alberta Law School and was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1996.

Bill tells his clients, “Where you have come from will often dictate where you are going.” This sense of community prompted him to purchase one of Kelowna’s oldest properties, former home of the BC political dynasty of W.A.C. Bennett and his son Bill. The Bernard Avenue restoration, now home to Courtyard Law Offices, was awarded the Central Okanagan Heritage Society Heritage Award 2012.

“I am so much happier working in the heritage house than in a traditional office space where you feel confined, cloistered or even trapped by the sterile walls that surround you,” says Bill, who maintains that this relaxed feeling extends to the people who come to him for legal advice in family law.

Joining him at Courtyard Law are family law practitioner Tracey Brice-Nicolson; Russell Tretiak, QC, with over 30 years of trial experience and an association with the Quay Law Centre LLP, the largest group of family lawyers in British Columbia; and most recently, Anukiran Klar, with wills and estate proficiency and fluency in the languages of Punjabi and Hindi.

Bill’s community involvement reads like a renaissance man with a sleep disorder, including CBC Radio/Television commentator, children’s charity fundraiser, musician, legal volunteer, rescue diver, curling skip and dragon boat captain. Among his honours are the Legal Services Society Award of Recognition for quality of legal service and the President’s Medal, Canadian Bar Association BC Branch.

Call 250-762-2252 or visit www.courtyardlaw.com.

Our readers choose their favourites in a host of categories and Okanagan Life brings you the results. Welcome to the 18th Annual Best Restaurants issue. Perhaps above all others, this is the keeper magazine of the year. Readers try new restaurants all the time and you can expand your dining experience by referring to these listings throughout the year. Get ready to dine—Okanagan Life style!

Unless otherwise stated:

Central = Kelowna   

North = Vernon   

South = Penticton

CATEGORIES

Renowned ecologists, authors and activists, John and Mary Theberge have spent a lifetime studying nature, working to increase understanding and seeking to protect endangered environments through the national park system…

Before you start talking to them, John and Mary Theberge look like another pair of comfy grandparents from the south end of the Valley. But beneath that thin veneer of age lies the chain mail of their just cause—nature.

John and Mary are ecologists living a crusading life that would be the envy of most Knights Templar. They travel the backcountry of the world studying wildlife, then return home to the Okanagan to write books about their discoveries. Their third and latest book, The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma is a study of the complex interactions of the environment, evolution, selection and time on the very process of developing life on Earth.

It wouldn’t be accurate to call the couple retirees. Better to refer to them as having made the transition from their past day jobs to their new day jobs. Mary was educated as a teacher and works as an illustrator and researcher alongside John. He was a professor of ecology in the faculty of environmental studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario from 1972 until 2000. Now he consults in the field. Today John and Mary give lectures, write and do field research, without the cumbersome necessity of dealing with a teaching load.

No matter how you cut it, though, they’ve given their lives to the environment and its preservation. Their 30 years of research has taken them into the Yukon, the depths of Ontario’s Algonquin Park, across BC and into the world’s jungles and savannahs.

Not people to shy away from a challenge they’ve mixed it up with their political counterparts at the provincial and federal levels. John advises on environmental policies ranging from the establishment of national parks to protecting wolves. Some listen, others don’t.

Of these, John says the former federal minister for the environment in the Mulroney government, Tom McMillan, was probably the most receptive to their concepts and strategies.

“When I went to make my presentation after chairing a task force on how to complete the national park system, I started to tell him what my report was all about. He surprised me by stopping me and saying he’d read it—which a lot of politicians don’t do—asked some good questions, agreed with me and we went on from there.”

Less environmentally sensitive was a certain minister of natural resources in Ontario. Our research had shown a need to create a protective zone around Algonquin Park for the wolves that move in and out of the park. Outside park boundaries, hunters were trapping the wolves with snares because they believed they were killing off the deer. This trapping diminished an already endangered wolf population.

According to John, the hunters had the ear of the then minister who refused to implement the ban. However, when the current McGuinty government took over, the new minister, David Ramsay, weighed the evidence and exercised his prerogative and established the no hunt zone around the park.

Like Ontario, British Columbia has lately decided to go into wolf control to protect the mountain caribou population.

“They’re ignoring the real problem, which is over-logging of the old growth forest and recreational access to the wintering grounds the caribou depend on.”

Part of the story is covered in The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma.

Problems such as these illustrate the need for the high level of protection afforded by national parks. “That’s why we have such a strong commitment for one in the South Okanagan Similkameen, where so many endangered species live. Birds like kingfishers are getting to be rare here. We used to see them all the time, but now when we go to the oxbows we only see them occasionally. We’ve got a host of environmental problems here in the Okanagan. Canadian Wildlife Service  scientists abandoned the idea of introducing prairie falcons when they found that the smaller birds falcons prey on were loaded with pesticides.”

But the national park debate has drawn a dividing line between various groups who would be stakeholders.

To combat the rhetoric surrounding the park, a science forum to inform the public about the benefits to the different species and ecosystems of the Valley was held in 2007, but rumours continue to fly.

John’s reading of the situation is that there is a degree of misinformation being spread by lobby groups to encourage their points of view. Among these is one inaccuracy that claims land will be expropriated from the area’s ranchers to create the park.

“If everyone (all levels of government, lobby groups and area residents) goes for the national park, it will be developed on land the ranchers want to sell out. The government can’t just come in and expropriate the land. They’ll have to negotiate in good faith so it’s a chance for a lot of ranchers to sell out and make their retirement money.”

If the ranchers aren’t ready to retire yet, they can keep the property until they’re ready to go.

Hope still shines through in John and Mary’s conversation. They are not drumbeaters, but consummate explainers.

“A national park would not only increase the chances of survival for endangered species, but begin to deal with the other land use and environmental problems in the Okanagan.

John and Mary believe these problems can be combated by education. They have spent 40 years taking their message to the public and maybe it’s taking hold.

“You have to have some hope that something’s going to change,” says John. “As ecologists we have an obligation to play whatever role we can in helping human society to form a sustainable relationship with the biosphere.”

Looking south they point to the advantages accrued from Yellowstone National Park where wolves and other endangered wildlife are making a comeback. “It’s successful. People line the roads to see wolves and bears in the wild and the annual input from that to the regional economy is somewhere around US$24 million.”

The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma reflects on all of this. It isn’t a light read that you can pick up and put down as you drift in and out of sleep on a warm summer afternoon. It takes some thinking on the part of the reader. That’s not to say the book requires a major science degree to get through it. It just can’t be skimmed the way you’d zip through a romance or action novel.

Part scientific reporting and part philosophy the work has been called a Third Age book—meaning the grand retirement project that comes after the study and working years—but it really isn’t. This book is the thoughtful culmination of a lifetime of asking questions.

Since writing it, says Mary, “We have developed a lot more texture to our lives. Our lives have become a far greater tapestry because we expanded into those different areas.”

John has his own thoughts. “We’re better ecologists now, after writing the book, than after all those years of teaching.”

This project has also helped to focus external attention on the issues they espouse and the work they do. The Ptarmigan’s Dilemma has been recognized with the Lane Anderson Prize for scientific writing and it was nominated for a Writer’s Trust Award (non-fiction).

These honours follow on previous achievements. In 1993, Equinox magazine proclaimed John and Mary Theberge Environmentalist of the Year and in 1998 they were presented with the Harkin Award (for environmental contributions) by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

John and Mary’s other books include Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking The Algonquin Wolves and Kluane: Pinnacle of the Yukon, which John edited and to which they both contributed.

Despite all the words they’ve written and the emotional hurricane that ecology and the environment provoke, John sums everything up in one elegant statement of belief. “Science is the rational springboard for a greater emotional connection with nature.” ~Bruce Kemp

Photo by Bruce Kemp

It’s obvious that Bill Reichelt, president of the Lake Country Citizens’ Patrol Society, has finally found his true calling. Whether settled in his tiny office adjacent to the Lake Country RCMP detachment, buried in statistical forms, stationed on roadside speed watch or cruising Lake Country behind the wheel of the patrol vehicle, he’s happy to serve.

“In the back of my mind, I’m just a wannabe cop,” says the Fort Erie, Ontario, native. “We are the extra eyes and ears for the police. Our volunteers gather information so the police have time for other jobs.”

No stranger to volunteer work, the retired salesman, former hockey and football coach, based his family in St. Albert, Alberta, before moving to the Okanagan eight years ago. “We came here for the shorter winters and more gardening time for my wife,” says Bill, who immediately got involved in Lake Country Community Policing, the umbrella organization for Citizens’ Patrol. “It’s a way to get to know the area, meet people and give back to the community,” he says.

Pride in his eyes, Bill describes the roles played by the 28-year-old organization. “We act as traffic directors and security at the annual Terry Fox Run, Canada Day events or the Oyama Day Parade,” he says.

The group also offers a Child ID program. “We provide families with a fingerprint, handprint or footprint of their child and advise them to place it, along with a lock of hair, in a plastic bag in their freezer.”

Checking hotel and mall parking lots and driving up dark, dead-end roads may not seem like a fun way to spend an evening, but Bill says it’s worthwhile when he finds a stolen vehicle or licence plate. Volunteers are also on the lookout for unlocked vehicles or kids, dogs, computers or change left in parked cars.

A gregarious guy, Bill likes to be where the action is. His face lights up when describing the roadside speed watch. Radar gun and reader board (which shows drivers their speed) set up on each side of the road by 7:30 a.m., Bill and his partner record the licence number, colour and make of any car doing more than 30 km/h above the limit. “We give the licence number to the RCMP. Sometimes a driver will speed up and give us the finger, then get nabbed by the RCMP further down the road,” he says with a grin.

New volunteers receive on-the-job training during their required five-hour monthly shift, partnered with a more senior member. “It takes a few months to build confidence and feel comfortable in the position,” says Bill. And all members go through a rigorous 13-page security check, the same check used for new police officers.

Safety first. While on patrol volunteers maintain radio contact with the RCMP, checking once an hour and calling for back up if necessary.

Patrollers can attend the annual symposium set up by volunteers from various Okanagan patrols, featuring sessions offered by the BC Crime Prevention Association including  non-confrontational communication skills, recognizing a grow op, first aid and training in radar, reader board and radio use.

After four years as president, Bill is stepping down. “But I’ll keep going as coordinator of speed watch,” he says, “I have no desire to leave.” Presently he is recruiting new volunteers. “We have 16, and most members do much more than five hours a month. Of course, some time is for socializing. We have barbecues with members of other Okanagan Patrols.”

The present dedicated group logs 1,000 volunteer hours a year, monitoring 10,000 vehicles with the speed watch program, providing Child ID for 300 children and has found four stolen vehicles.

The new Ford Explorer, designated specifically for patrol use, is bigger and more comfortable than the last as members put 8,500 kilometres on it in 2011. Grants from the District of Lake Country, a good deal at Watkin Motors and a Capri Insurance discount helped with the purchase. Bill is also grateful for the donation of two laptops from ICBC and additional support from the Central Okanagan Regional District and the Lake Country United Church.

His goal for the future?  “Get more members,” he says, picking up the phone.

Lately it’s been a whirlwind of interviews and photo sessions for 15-year old Alaina Podmorow and it’s looking like it won’t stop for awhile. The Lake Country student was recently named Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist for her efforts to aid women and girls in Afghanistan.

After hearing a presentation by journalist and human rights activist Sally Armstrong five years ago, Alaina was moved to try to do something for the young women of Afghanistan who had little hope of attaining the education that would allow them to determine their own futures.

Armstrong’s closing statement, “The worst thing you can do is nothing,” caught the youngster by the heartstrings. Her response was to set up Little Women 4 Little Women in Afghanistan (LW4LW).

Working with 18 schoolmates from Davidson Road Elementary School, Alaina organized a silent auction and other events to raise funds for literacy, to train teachers and librarians and to provide the tools necessary for Afghan girls to learn.

When I talked with Alaina, she had just returned from Toronto where the award was announced on Canada AM.

“I heard I was one on the finalists on my birthday in January,” she says. But Alaina didn’t know until the first day of February that she had actually won the honor.

The title came with two cash awards from title sponsor Mackenzie Investments. In recognition of her achievement as Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist for 2011, a $5,000 donation has been made in her name to Little Women. Alaina also receives a $2,500 personal prize. She says she hasn’t yet decided what to do with the cash. However, Alaina hasn’t been to Afghanistan and wants to go, so the personal award may help with her travel expenses.

“We’re going to give a library to a village in northern Afghanistan,” says the teen, but she is reluctant to give the name of the village for security reasons. The Taliban still operate in the area.

The library will be part of a program called ABLE Box Libraries. Women 4 Women (the parent group of LW4LW) delivers everything needed?—?shelving, books, stationary and training materials for librarians?—?in a box. All the village needs to provide is a room for the library and security.

LW4LW has raised over $375,000 since its creation. Unlike a number of charities, 100 per cent of the money raised makes it to the group’s workers and programs on the ground. Because of this, LW4LW has also been able to contribute to the teacher training programs run by Women 4 Women. “Last year we trained 1,200 teachers, but this year we hope to produce 2,000,” says Alaina.

Little Women has also gone viral. There are now branches throughout Canada and the United States.

As proof of the program’s success, its founder talks about the pen pals she and her classmates have made friends with in one of Kabul’s many orphanages. “I guess nothing says it better than the fact that we’re now receiving their letters written in English.”

All of this has had a profound effect on the young Okanagan woman. Alaina believes that “…with education girls will be able to stand up for themselves.”

She says that education is so important to these Afghan girls that they go to school in shifts because their schools can’t accommodate the more than 4,000 females who want to attend.

Alain’s work will make a difference. www.LittleWomenforLittleWomen.com. ~Bruce Kemp

Think of your average businessperson in the Okanagan Valley for a couple of minutes and you’ll realize they are anything but average. She might have grown up here, started or bought a small business that she runs diligently enough to nourish and care for her family. He strives to get ahead and in doing so drives local commerce and community.

On March 31, the Downtown Kelowna Association launched Small Shop Saturday. The idea of celebrating and appreciating small business is catching on around North America and it is one of the Okanagan’s best ever ideas. Small businesses are the heart and soul of our Valley and they deserve shop-local appreciation.

It is easy to forget or simply not appreciate the added value small business people bring to our local economy. The human brain is well suited for forgetting or not comprehending true value throughout most of our lives.

Today, small businesses is under attack. It not only must compete with big(ger) business, it must also contend with multinational corporations with incredibly deep pockets. What might it be like to go head-to-head with one or more of the 143 transnational conglomerates that effectively control 40 per cent of the world’s money and commerce (Okanagan Life November/December 2011)? If they aren’t here with bricks and mortar, they are lurking somewhere out there in cyberspace.

To make things worse, for decades we were force-fed a steady diet of propaganda that lead us to believe that small business and the public sector were inept and unqualified; at least compared to corporate CEOs, who are angelic, gifted and omnipresent in their ability to manage money and people. Big is better—it’s communistic to believe otherwise.

Many of us bought into this notion and the more disconnected we became from one another the more we were manipulated by the multinationals’ illusion of easier, quicker and cheaper. You see, just like you, I am a cognitive miser—hardwired to find the quickest solution to any problem—not necessarily the best. Plutocracy and its wealthy leaders took over western civilization, all the while putting the boots to small business.

Today, we live in a world that includes the Walmart Waltons, four billionaires on the top 20 list of the richest people in the world with over $95 billion (hoarded) between them. Web-gods that once promised us that billions of dollars would be available in the long tail of the Internet. Instead, Google, Facebook, Twitter, iTunes and Amazon became monopolies, and “Wall Street math” enabled a single man to make $3.7 billion on one shady transaction. How much money does one man really need?

In the Okanagan, thankfully we live in a world that also includes main street and the locally owned shops that still open their doors. Let’s re-brand Small Shop Saturday as Small Shop Every Day, giving local businesses the boost they need to prosper in an ever more uneven playing field.