By Maxine DeHart

After 16 months of construction and years of dreaming, Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards is open and ready to pour wine. Owned and operated by the Fitzpatrick family (Ross, Linda, Gordon and Lesley), the winery is located just off Highway 97, south of Peachland at Greata Ranch. With an absolutely incredible view, the winery is open seven days a week for tastings and tours. They offer two separate tastings, one at the tasting room counter and sparkling wines at the sparkling wine bar. FITZBistro is now open and features the cuisine of chef Tony de Luca, which is open seven days week for lunch, specializing in brunches on weekends with dinner service on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. Chef Luca is famous for his wood-fired pizzas. Sarah Bain in the winemaker. Jim Cuddy will perform on Saturday, July 15 on the crush deck. www.fitzwine.com.

Congratulations to my sister Tracy Nyboe of RE/MAX ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç and Charlie Styles of the ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Daily Courier on their marriage July 1 at the ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Golf and Country Club.

The, ACT/UCT, ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç West Council #1003 has, for the second year in a row been awarded the prestigious ACT/UCT International Gold Medal of Honour Award. Competition was 25 regions and 130 other councils in North America with nine awards designated for 2016 and gold being the top award. Each council had to qualify in a number of categories, both fraternal and community, including sustainable membership. ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç West Council has 101 members. They have donated $20,000 to various charities and contributed 3,500 hours of volunteerism. Their volunteerism and grants received from the B.C. Gaming Branch allows them to continue to serve the community. Directors Cheri and Dick Melrose were instrumental in organizing the submission for the award.

Don Bennison is the new Fire Chief appointed by the Regional District of Central Okanagan to serve residents in the Wilson’s Land Fire Protection District, taking on the chief’s duties for the paid on-call department. Don has served as Deputy Chief since 2011.

The BC Corps of Commissionaires directors from the Interior of BC will be changing. Bill McKinnon, retired RCMP superintendent is replacing Frank Richter, retired RCMP assistant commissioner. Bill was the officer in charge of the ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Detachment retiring July, 2013. After retirement, he took a position as a security manager at the Kearl Oil site in northern Alberta where he worked for 18 months. Bill will be joining Col. Larry Mintz, CD of West ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç as a director on the BC Corps Board. The head office for the BC Corps of Commissionaires for the Interior is ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç. Commissionaires have been providing security services to government and commercial clients since 1927. They are a non-profit organization with a volunteer board of directors.

The second location of Glow Juicery in the new Okanagan Centre for Innovation building at 103 – 470 Doyle Avenue is in the final stages of construction. Owned and operated by Kathleen Treadgold, the juicery will now be open on July 18. www.glowjuicery.ca.

Sentes Automotive has announced the opening of their new ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Infiniti Nissan dealership at 2741 Highway 97 North (formerly located on Enterprise Way). The new state-of-the-art facility boasts almost 48,000 square feet, making it the largest automotive dealership in the interior. The lot has 396 stalls with ample parking. It offers a dedicated Infiniti and Nissan sales department and dedicated Infiniti service drive-through, with a large two-lane Nissan service drive-through. They have a dedicated express oil change lane, automatic car wash with vacuuming and a 16 bay repair shop, with the latest tire and wheel alignment equipment. ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Infiniti Nissan is one of the six automotive dealerships owned by the Sentes Automotive group which also include ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Mercedes-Benz, Lexus of ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç, Penticton Honda, Penticton Hyundai and Vernon Nissan. Dez Lorencz is the general manager of ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Infiniti Nissan. www.ÁðÁ§ÉñÉçinfinitinissan.com.

With two years of ongoing training, Susanne Engel, owner of FACES BODY & SOUL at 850 – 2271 Harvey Avenue has recently become a Dermalogica skin expert. This is a specialized training program developed by Dermalogica founder, Jane Wurwand for skin therapists only. Together with Tarahlynn Buchanan, FACES BODY & SOUL is the only treatment center in the Okanagan that has two Dermalogica skin experts. To date, Dermalogica has won more than 300 awards for their revolutionary products and treatments, all researched and developed by The International Dermal Institute. They have also added Jane Iredale, the skin care make-up to their line of products. Call 250-869-4114 www.faceskelowna.com.

Happy 50th anniversary Bob and Marleen Knoblick (July 8).

It is often hard for a business, big or small, to work at getting online reviews from their satisfied customers. Reviews are very important in showing potential prospects what the service or product is like through the words of past customers. Many people make buying decisions based on what others have experienced. Csek Creative has built a review system that is easy to use and even easier for the customer of the businesses that use the platform to get reviews. The concept is to send the customer to the path of least resistance. Review-ify knows if the customer is logged into Google, Facebook or Yelp and sends them to the easiest place for them to us. If it is Google they are logged into, it sends the customer to Google to have a Google review; if it is Facebook then they are forwarded to Facebook to leave a Facebook review or if it is Yelp they are sent to Yelp to leave a review. This will help local companies differentiate themselves from their competitors. Call Nikki Csek at 250-862-8010 or Nikki@csekcreative.com.

At the BC/Yukon JCI Regional Convention, JCI ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç was recognized as the Chapter of the Year for 2016. 2016 also marked the year that JCI went-co-ed after over 80 years. The membership now includes nearly 90 young professionals in the local chapter. JCI is Junior Chamber International and they represent business people between 18 and 40 all over the world who simply want to do better by their community. The Rene Bourgault Legacy Golf Tournament sponsored by SYNLawn on July 21 gives the late young professional his own legacy while creating a grant for Community Futures that will be awarded to a local young entrepreneur. To register go to Eventbrite. For sponsorship contact Shereen Fabbas at shereenfabbas@gmail.com.

Sharron Simpson has been named president and board chair of the Okanagan College Foundation. Sharron joined the Foundation board in 2013. She succeeds Alf Kempf who has served as president since 2013. Directors Bev Busson and Lynda Wilson have retired from the board. They are welcoming three new directors with the addition of Colin Edstrom (Pushor Mitchell LLP), Susan Ewanick (Valley First), and Tom Styffe. Current board members are Anne Clarke, Roy Daykin, Connie Denesiuk, Gladys Fraser, Raghwa Gopal, Keith Grayston, Jim Hamilton, Mary Ellen Heidt, Rob Phare, Allan Sanderson and Kimberly White-Gilhooly.

The 3rd Annual CPA Okanagan Cup Tournament is Friday, July 28 at the Pinnacle Golf Course. You can register or get more information by emailing Jamie at jschram@kpmg.ca or Tracy at tprintz@spencevaluation.com. The BCCPA Okanagan Chapter has a new board for 2016/17. They are Tracey Harrop-Printz, CPA, CGA, chair (Spence Valuation Group); Paul Guerette, CPA, CA, vice-chair (Trident CPA); Shawn Harrison, CPA, CA, secretary (Interior Savings); Kyle Stewart, CPA treasurer (MNP LLP); Judy Lloyd , CPA, FCMA, social committee; Candace Surette, CPA, CA, communications (Crowe McKay LLP); Dragica Saric, CPA, CA, professional development (Interior Health); Chris Knight, CPA, CA, professional development (Ecora Engineering & Resource Group Ltd.); Nicola Simpson, CPA recruitment (KPMG LLP); Amanda Darko, Vernon Sub Chapter (KPMG LLP); Stuart Grant, CPA, CA, young professionals (Norelco Cabinets); Caroline Ferreira, young professionals (KPMG LLP): Tori Hayes, CPA, CA, community events (Grant Thornton LLP); Charlene Smart, CPA, CA, member at large.

RV’ers will want to attend the grand-opening of the new RV Storage Centre at 3150 Sexsmith Road on Saturday, July 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. Enjoy a BBQ and enter into the draw for six months of RV storage. Call 250-765-4125. Bob Laird is the general manager of the centre.

The Miss ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç 2017 Pageant Night, a ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç tradition that began 88 years ago is Friday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç Community Theatre. Tickets at the door. For more information call Betty Cleland at 250-215-2180.

Birthdays of the week – Happy 80th Don McArthur, retired Scotiabank (July 4); Happy 60th Barry Gobillot (July 7); Gladys McCulloch (July5); Ian Robertson, (July 5); Wayne Moore (July 5); Derek Bistricky (July 6); Peter Angle (July 6); David Spevakow (July 7); Sandra Babbel (July 7); Dennis Gerace (July 7); John Walker (July 7); Jerald Grassmick (July 7); Don Richmond (July 8); Marc Whittemore (July 9); Sherri Rea (July 9); Sherry Huva, (July 10); Bobbie-Jo Koutsantonis (July 10); Smiley Nelson (July 10); Rose Sexsmith (July 10); Gary Bakelmun (July 11); Dave Maclean (July 11).

Maxine DeHart is a ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662, fax 250-860-3173, E-mail maxdehart@telus.net.