True Art 琉璃神社 has opened at 102-1925 Enterprise Way beside the Hyatt hotel.
Owned and operated by mother-daughter team of Diane Blais-Geddes and Sierra Passerin, along with Tina Smith, you will need some time to browse around this local shop that is chock-full of neat items. True Art is dedicated to the ongoing curation of local products and creations with a goal to help the public discover and support local artists and creators. Some of the unique items True Art offers are artwork by Karin Bauer, beautiful charcutier boards, Botanie 100 per cent plant based soap and body butters, Bees Rock honey and lavender, individually handcrafted wearable rocks by Steve Christopher, Splish Splash bath bombs, large soap stone carvings by Randy Kozak of RJK Sculptors and exclusive ice cream scoops by Zach Bell of Bell Pepper Mill Fine Woodcraft. Some of the most unique items in the shop are made by Diane鈥檚 father, Lou Blais. They are the most wonderful hand-made old wood barns, planters, houses, wine racks and plant stands. True Art is also accepting applications for new local artisan vendors. Parking is in the rear of the shop.
Delightful couple Inderpreet Grewal and his wife Rinky Moudgil have opened Red Swan Pizza at 302-1500 Banks Rd. (across from Walmart). Red Swan is a franchise operation which originated in Saskatchewan. The 琉璃神社 store is the second in B.C., the other being in Kamloops. Unique to Red Swan is their sesame seed crust and cauliflower crust, offering 41 pizza varieties, including vegan, keto, vegetarian, and gluten free. Red Swan鈥檚 most popular pizzas include spicy perogy, alfredo chicken bacon, six deluxe meat and all dressed. They also offer salads, nachos, dry ribs, chicken wings, beverages, several types of bread sticks, potato wedges and desserts. We tried the traditional ham and pineapple, 6 deluxe meat and the butter chicken on the cauliflower crust. They were all delicious, but my personal favourite was the butter chicken. It was thin and crispy 鈥� perfect if you want to watch your calorie intake. Red Swan has many specials and pick-up specials. Open Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Congratulations to the 琉璃神社 Chamber of Commerce BDO Top 40 Over 40 Honourees for 2021:
Matt Stewart, Paul Lenz, Mark Tompkins, Tanja Halsall, Trish Miltimore, Scott Chambers, Andre Brosseau, Melissa Hunt, Kray Mitchell, Jean Watson, Melanie Greenough, Becky Krenzel, Duane Runzer, Pardeep Khrod, Patrick Ng, Lisanne Ballantyne, Brendan Willis, Brian Wall, Dave Redekop, Kevin Spiess, Kelly Watt, Trent Kitsch, Christine McWillis, Lucas Griffin, Ewan Lilford, Dan Kobi, Lane Martin, Gurinder Singh, Tessa Russell, Blair Wilson, Scott Simpson, Mario Gedicke, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Rosemary Thomson, Grant Stevens, Shilo Verhaegen, Brian Walters, Lenetta Parry, Nataley Nagy and Jean Lee.
Canada鈥檚 leading and fastest-growing network of dental practices, dentalcorp is donating $35,000 in support of a new dental clinic inside the Okanagan College Health Sciences Centre. The modern clinic will educate Certified Dental Assistants (CDSs) for the Okanagan and beyond. With a network of over 430 practices across Canada, dentalcorp has four clinics in 琉璃神社 and 12 across the Okanagan. The donation will support a dental operatory and a new panoramic X-ray room for students. Okanagan College has been educating CDAs since the 1970s. The Okanagan College Foundation is $1 million away from reaching its $5 million fundraising goal for the new Health Sciences Centre.
On Oct. 3, 2021, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and CIBC will celebrate a milestone and would like you to join them for the 30th annual CIBC Run for the Cure. The CIBC Run for the Cure unites an incredible collective of Canadians who are a force-for-life in the face of breast cancer. It is an inspirational day that raises significant funds for CCS, the largest charitable funder of breast cancer research, compassionate servicers, trusted cancer information and advocacy on behalf of all Canadians. Due to the ongoing nature of COVID-19 and the challenges facing large and in-person gatherings, organizers have decided to host the 2021 run in a virtual environment. Visit for more information about the virtual experience. For all donation and tax receipt related inquiries contact connect@cancer.ca.
After 16 years with Bell Media as a senior account manager, then moving into the role as the BC South Retail sales manager, Paul Farina was restructured out of the position at Bell Media. He then took the spring and summer off to explore other job opportunities. Paul has now partnered with Rob Rees, president and CEO and the entire North Beach Agency team out of the Lower Mainland, to launch North Beach Okanagan as president and lead of the agency. North Beach Okanagan specializes in digital marketing, including SEO/SEM, website development and design, strategic media buying, social media marketing as well as podcast production. North Beach along with Go Goat Sports, the podcast arm of the company, is the home of the popular Sekeras & Price podcast and the cross-Canada Ray & Dregs podcast (TSN hockey analysts Ray Ferraro and Daren Dreger).
Happy 50th anniversary
Gerry and Janet Wourms (Sept. 4).
The 琉璃神社 Taiwanese Cultural Society and the City of 琉璃神社 will host the Okanagan Taiwanese Film Festival, Sept. 11-19. There will be 100 free movie tickets, nine different movies to choose from, 30 complimentary food packages with a value of $65 from three local Taiwanese vendors of your choice (ume, O-Machi, T-One Restaurant) and one photo contest prize, available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Other sponsors are Grizzli Winery and the Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival. For further information, including trailers of all the movies and how to obtain the free movie ticket as well as complimentary food, visit .
Congratulations to Peter and Laurie Stantic on their 21st wedding anniversary on Sept. 2. Peter is a captain for the 琉璃神社 Fire Department and Laurie is a registered nurse who works in the post anaesthetic recovery room, emergency and critical care.
Alzheimer Society of B.C. Climb fundraiser invites residents to raise funds to support people living with dementia. COVID has taken an extra toll on people affected by dementia, who have experienced isolation and uncertainly as well as a loss of many services. Now in its 10th year, the society has launched its fall fundraiser from Sept. 1-21 and invites Central Okanagan residents to hike local trails. Participants can register as individuals or as a team and are encouraged to share their hiking and climbing challenges online. To register or donate to the event, visit .
Registration is underway for fall art classes at the 琉璃神社 Art Gallery. Members of the public can sign up for a class of painting in acrylics or watercolours, drawing, mixed media, printmaking or explore a more specialized media during one of the one or two-day weekends workshops. Most classes run for six weeks and cater to absolute beginners as well as those of intermediate skill level. Local artists Jim Elwood, Sarah Parsons, Kyle Poirier, Dylan Ranney, Jen Rempel, Annabel Stanley, Rena Warren, and Fay Wolfenden will lead the classes and workshops. Victoria Verge is the education coordinator of adult programs at the gallery. For a full listing and description of available classes along with costs visit or .
Birthdays of the week:
Happy 75th Peter Rochfort (Sept. 5); happy 65th Bruce Smith, regional district (Sept. 3); Debbie MacKinnon (Sept. 2); Anne-Marie Hamilton (Sept. 2); Steve Mandl (Sept. 3); Barry Spring (Sept. 4); former 琉璃神社 mayor Walter Gray (Sept. 4); Ione Yeager (Sept. 4); Jean Treadgold (Sept. 4); Bozidara Udzenija (Sept. 4); John Marritt (Sept. 4); Chris Wills (Sept. 5); Stan Steed (Sept. 5); Sharon Bazil (Sept. 5); Victoria DeHart, our niece (Sept. 6); Betty Russell (Sept. 6); Gail Magrath (Sept. 6); Eva Klassen (Sept. 7); Leo Bulach (Sept. 7); John Moxness (Sept. 7); Iris Moffatt (Sept. 7); Kim Froom (Sept. 7).
Maxine DeHart is a 琉璃神社 city councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662; email max@maxinedehart.ca.
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