Sunok Jung (Left) and Changbok Park (Right), owners of Bon Ga Korean Cuisine Restaurant.
Had the pleasure of dining at Bon Ga Korean Cuisine BBQ & Rolls Restaurant at #107 – 437 Glenmore Road (beside Pharmasave). Owners Changbok Park and Sunok Jung, who is the chef, are both delightful people, helping us through each dish to understand the traditional flavours of Korean cuisine. They immigrated to Canada six years go from Korea and opened the restaurant on September 1, 2013, previously working at the Sushi Bar at the UBCO campus for four years before starting their own restaurant. Sunok is a licensed certified chef for both Korean and Japanese food. Every dish we tried was incredible including Bulgogi (BBQ beef with house special sauce); Jeyuk Bokkeum (BBQ pork with vegetables in spicy sauce); Hot Pot Bibimbap (mixed rice with beef, vegetables, mushroom, fried egg and hot pepper paste in hot pot and the Hot Bone Soup that really had a tang (pork spine, vegetables, green onion in a spicy saucer) and was my favorite. Bon Ga does not charge for extra rice and we loved the Korean Pears for dessert. Open Monday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Call 778-484-3412. Incidentally it is Changbok and Sunok’s 20th wedding anniversary today, April 1. www.bongabbq.wordpress.com
Paul Winkler, former publisher of the Kelowna Capital News is coming to Kelowna to launch his book, written by his wife, journalist Mary LynnMcCauley Winkler. A Costly Stand: My husband’s brave and lonely fight for justice against his powerful bosses at Hollinger, is the inside story of what happened right here in the Okanagan Valley. You will be surprised at the number of people that you might recognize who are in the book. You might also be surprised at what the book has to say about them. It chronicles the shameful details of how Kelowna’s newspapers were entangled in the fall ofConrad Black and David Radler. Winkler refused to cooperate with his then bosses at Hollinger, at the time Canada’s biggest media company and third largest newspaper group in the world. Winkler believed they were involved in illegal business practices, and he was eventually fired. He subsequently fought a lengthy legal battle over his wrongful dismissal and tried to alert securities authorities and media about what had been revealed at his trial. Eventually, through this entire process, both Black and Radler were brought down. Paul will be speaking at several Rotary Clubs, will be interviewed by local media and will be hosting a book signing at Mosaic Books on Tuesday, April 14th from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. He will also be hosting a reception and book signing at the Ramada Hotel on Wednesday, April 15th at 5:00 p.m. The public is welcome, but please contact pwinkler@trajan.ca to confirm your attendance. You will certainly want to purchase a copy of this book. Remember it all started right here in Kelowna.
Corneal specialist, Dr. Ron Baldassare has teamed up with charity organization Canadian Vision Care to offer eyeglass recycling at Vivid Laser Centre. Vivid offers all manner of eye surgery that can reduce or eliminate a person’s need for glasses. With the new recycling depot, those unneeded eyeglasses will now be making their way overseas to those in need. In most developing countries, an eye exam can cost as much as one month’s wages and your gift of glasses is the gift of sight that can change lives. The popularity of Vivid Laser, where more than 70 procedures are performed each month, means a steady stream of donated eyeglasses for the outreach clinics. The donated glasses will be collected by volunteers from the local Lions Club and shipped to the national Canadian Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center in Calgary where they will be cleaned and categorized by prescription. Local residents can drop off their glasses at 1517 Sutherland Avenue. Call 250-979-2010.
Peter Johner, Swiss Chocolatier in Lake Country.
Easter is just around the corner and if you are looking for some unbelievable chocolate; Peter Johner Swiss Chocolatier in Lake Country has some fabulous chocolate items, including 325g, 240g or 125g bunnies (dark or milk); 300g gold tulip; 175g designer cello bag; 200g linear box; 250g chocolate egg filled with truffles; 100g chocolate bark, almond or hazelnut (dark, milk, white or dark hazelnut/orange) or 200g clear cello bag. All are a variety of prices. Call 250-766-1928 or pjohmer.chocolatier@gmail.com
After 26 years in the vehicle appraisal business, Ron Gray of Special Interest Appraisal is retiring and handing the reins of the company to his son Jon Gray. Jon has been involved with cars since his father can remember and he brings all of Ron’s knowledge to the business, along with some new ideas. Jon stated that he is passionate about all things in the automotive industry and loves cars. He has toured many North American and Asian auto shows, visiting exotic car and motorcycle factories in Italy. He owns a 1994 Toyota Supra Turbo and a classic 1966 Chevy Caprise low-rider. Special Interest Appraisal assesses anything from street rods to boats. Jon is looking forward to expanding the company to include car detailing, importing-exporting and custom video. Ron will now be enjoying his RV with photography as a sideline. www.specialinterestappraisal.com Call 250-863-1983.
Certified Skin Care Professional, Sandra Rush, E.T. has many years of business experience, with 25 years in the medical field, 15 years working with a Chinese acupuncture doctor, 15 years as a Certified Equine Massage Therapist (horses) and 15 years as a CranioSacral acupressure/massage specialist. That’s a whole lot of experience. Now, celebrating her first year as the owner/operator of Cameo Facials Spa in West Kelowna, she offers facials/microdermabrasion, body wraps/body scrubs, CranioSacral acupressure/massage, infrared sauna blanket therapy, hot stone massage, hair removal waxing and paraffin waxing, reflexology, full body massages and sun tanning lotion treatments. Her signature treatment is scalp/neck/ shoulder massages. Her special gift working with horses has given her the intuition of healing touch therapy, offering competitive prices. Call 250-300-3101.www.cameofacialskelowna.com
Kelly Veltri (Left) and Jeff Myers (Right), owners of The Film Factory.
The Film Factory is a creative house located in downtown Kelowna at 1126 Richter Street (Richter and Gaston). You will not miss the bright lime green building. It’s a unique space consisting of a 1,400 square foot photo/video studio, audio recording studio, 18 seat theatre that they rent out which is really cool and office spaces for other creative companies to share and collaborate. Owned and operated by partners Jeff Myers and Kelly Veltri, the Film Factory specializes in all types of video production ranging from corporate and commercial to television, music videos, documentaries, and other creative projects. It is becoming a hub for the local film industry and other non-profit groups, aiding as a meeting place, a center for events and screenings and a place for inspiration and creativity. They also have a widely used cydorama/infinity curve white screen. It was a really neat place to visit. The Film Factory building was many years ago a candy factory built in 1908. Call 250-215-7766. www.thefilmfactory.ca.
Kelowna Women in Businesses is hosting a luncheon at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre on April 15th at 11:30 a.m. Guest speaker is well known businesswoman Nikki Csek of KelownaNow.com. Nikki will tell you and show you how social media made all the difference to her company, which grew from a couple of employees to now employing 16. It will be one luncheon you will not want to miss. This column has also been on their web-site for many years. Payment is not accepted at the door so register online in advance. www.kwib.org.
Happy 62nd Anniversary Joseph and Irene Hewko (Apr. 18).
The Legion Branch 26 at 1380 Bertram Street is hosting an Easter Ham Dinner at 4:00 p.m. for $15. Call 250-762-4117. The branch will be closed on Good Friday.
The 31st RCAF Association Aviation Dinner will be on April 10th at the Capri Hotel. Anyone interested in aviation is welcome to attend. The dinner will have a military flare, with guest speaker Tracy Medve, president of Kelowna Flightcraft who will be speaking about their operations and the future of aviation in the Okanagan. For more info or tickets call Bill Stewart at 250-764-8664 or Hugh Rose at 250-712-0022.
Victory Life Fellowship is hosting their popular 12th Annual Easter Pancake Breakfast on April 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Parkinson Rec Centre.
Children and the Arts is being hosted by Exceptional Music Adventure (EMA) for children with Autism and persons with exceptionalities on Friday, April 10th at The Cove Lakeside Resort from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The evening will be filled with music by recording artist Gorden James, Bob Silverside, Teena Gowdy, Chantelle Betuzzi, Ria Falker and Peter MacDonald, Elise Wozney, Aria Logan and Heather McCullough of EMA. You will enjoy appetizers by Chef Grant Demontreuil, wine, a silent auction and raffles. Monies raised are going toward musical equipment and funding for student lessons. The evening is sponsored by House of Rose Winery, OMUS Band Instrument Repair Service, Music & Arts Center of Kelowna and EMA. For tickets ($50) call Heather McCullough, 250-808-0131; Ria Falkner, 778-363-3667 or Emily VanderSchee at the Cove Resort, 250-707-1814.
The 67th AGM of the Okanagan Historical Society, Kelowna Branch is Saturday, April 4th at Parkinson Rec Centre. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. with diner at 6:00 p.m. Guest speaker is Heather Berringer, UBCO Chief Librarian with the topic of UBCO Collections. A great deal at $35, which includes dinner, branch membership and newsletters. For more info or tickets call Chris Jennens at 250-862-2801 or Bob Hayes at 250-763-8859.
Jazz presents Elizabeth Shepherd on Sunday, April 5th at the Okanagan College Theatre at 7:30 p.m. featuring Elizabeth Shepherd, vocals and keyboards; Scott Kemp, bass; Colin Kingsmore, drums and vocals; Gord Grdina, guitar and Jon Day, trumpet and vocals. The event is fully licensed with refreshments and snack bar. Ticket $20 at www.eventbrite.ca (search Elizabeth Shepherd). $25 at the door.
The Kelowna Italian Club is hosting a dinner on Saturday, April 11th at 770 Lawrence Avenue. For tickets ($25) call Joe at 250-878-3619.
Birthdays of the week – Happy 80th Garth Johnstone (Apr. 6); Happy 75th Ron Buddo (Apr. 5); Happy 70th Diane (Dee) Essler (Apr. 4); Happy 50thSteve Stecko (Apr. 4); Karen Hill, publisher Kelowna Capital News (Apr. 1); Dr. David Craig (Apr. 1); Ron Jacobsen (Apr. 1); Jake Jacobsen (Apr. 1); Cynthia Waldek-Peters (Apr. 2); Amber Firkins (Apr. 3); Rick Methot, Kelowna Capital News (Apr. 3); Lyal Shoemaker (Apr. 4).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546, 250-862-7662, fax 250-860-3173, E-mailmaxdehart@telus.net and web-site www.KelownaNow.com (Columns).
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