Straight From DeHart - June 24, 2026

Kelowna Ready-Mix Inc. (KRM) is celebrating their 50th Anniversary in business in our city. Hank Neufeld moved to Kelowna with his wife Kathe Neufeld and three sons, Stuart, Dean and John and purchased the company in 1976, now owned and operated by Stuart Neufeld and Dean Neufeld. KRM is still operating in their original location at 1131 Ellis Street in Kelowna’s North end. KRM expanded to West Kelowna in the late 80’s, obtaining the gravel pit at 2313 Dominion Road and the West Kelowna location at 1580 Stevens Road. In 1996 KRM began operating a portable plant at Big White Ski Resort, operating seasonally from 1996 to 2008. They further expanded in 2008 to a third location near the airport at 1399 Innovation Drive. KRM is committed to the environment and has a one-of-a-kind concrete reclaim system, which is the only one of its kind, recycling a large amount of water and aggregate. The company supplies ready-mix concrete form rentals, aggregate, lock-blocks, and insulated concrete forms (ICF). With a fleet of 38 trucks, their dispatcher, Chad can load a truck out of their downtown plant in four minutes. Under optimal conditions, KRM can load 150m3 of concrete per hour from their downtown plant. KRM has been involved in many notable projects, including Mission Hill Winery, The Grand Hotel, Landmark buildings, Movala, Aqua, and Central Green, just to mention a few. www.kelownareadymix.ca

The Okanagan TELUS Community Ambassadors have been busy. Their spring plant sale raised $360 to help fund Senior’s Hampers and Adopt-A-Family programs; Moose Hide Campaign Day Walk joined them together in ceremony and solidarity with the goal of ending gender-based violence; Adopt-A-Road Cleanup on Enterprise Way beautified our city by collecting trash along the roadway; Hospice House Gardening helped to beautify the Hospice House Gardens by spreading mulch, pulling weeds and performing other garden tasks and finally, they hosted a summer appreciation BBQ.

Lavender & Grace Jewelry is a delicate and dainty jewelry company in downtown Kelowna, located at 576 Bernard Avenue, in The Block. Owned and operated by designer Kayla Mendel, the company is celebrating their 12th anniversary in business, June 21st to 28th, 2026. Kayla started the company when she was just 17, during her gap year between graduating high school at OKM and starting her marketing degree at Okanagan College as an online business. She now has a new retail location, four team members and 30+ stock list locations across Canada. Lavender & Grace specialize in effortless, everyday pieces that are primarily gold filled and sterling silver and recently expanded into solid gold jewelry and lab-grown diamonds. In celebration of the anniversary, Lavender & Grace is offering 25% off both online and in-store purchases (excluding solid gold and diamonds) as well as a limited-edition birthday cake chain that was just launched and inspired by the nostalgic candy necklaces from the 90’s. Kayla is a Kelowna Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 Honouree. The retail shop is open seven days a week, or you can browse their entire range of pieces on www.lavenderandgracedesigns.com. Free shipping until June 28th .

This summer, the Kelowna Art Gallery brings the work of one of Canada’s most talked-about contemporary artists to the Okanagan for the first time. Sugar Rush is a sola exhibition by Tarralik Duffy, an Inuk multidisciplinary artist from Salliq (Coral Harbour), Nunavut. Duffy makes art that looks familiar but hits differently. Sugar Rush features oversized soft sculptures. For the Kelowna exhibit, Duffy has created a new work: a 20kg bag of “Fine Colonization Sugar Rush” that looks like it might be found in a grocery store aisle. Visit the Gallery and take a look at this unusual, but fun exhibit. It’s a great way to spend a summer afternoon and you might be surprised at what you see. www.kelownaartgallery.com/sugar-rush/

Starting in the food and restaurant industry when he was 16 years old at the Husky Roadhouse in Kelowna, which is now where CIBC is located at Orchard Park, Don Jefferies has retired from the Kelowna Yacht Club. After Husky, Don moved to Victoria to work at Bino’s Pancake House and when Bino’s opened in Kelowna on Highway 97, Don came back to Kelowna and held the position of head cook for two years. He then worked at Smitty’s in the Mission Park Shopping Centre for five years. Don then worked for Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Kelowna in the Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre when it first opened and subsequently transferred to Regina to open the Perkins in that city. Don returned to Perkins in Kelowna as he did not like the weather in Regina. After that, Don was hired by the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center in the conference/banquet, cooking in that department for eleven years. Don finally capped his work career off working for the Kelowna Yacht Club for the past nine years as a Galley Cook and an informal leader and cheerleader within the entire Yacht Club team. Don, congratulations on your retirement and for taking long-time residents down memory lane. I remember every one of those businesses.

Art in the Garden Show and Sale is Saturday, July 4th and Sunday, July 5th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 461 Birch Avenue. This is a unique show with two painters, five artisans and a musician. The vibe is very chill with attendees sometimes staying for up to two hours chatting, looking, and listening to music. This year the free draw is one of Peter Bittroff’s metal sculptures. Special musical guest and singer-songwriter is TJ Jablonski. Painters Debby Merkel and Mary Meenagh are the organizers. www.debbymerkel.com

At the Ozone Theatre Festival 2026 in Oliver, B.C., Playliterate Productions performed West Moon by Al Pittman and The Red Dot Players performed Marion Bridge by Daniel McIvor. West Moon was not only the first show produced by Playliterate, but also the first script they ever read together. Directed by local DeAnna MacArthur, this Newfoundland based play about a group of lonely souls in an abandoned graveyard, who can only speak to each other once per year, has captured the hearts of those who have been lucky enough to see it. A Newfoundlander herself, DeAnna has been in love with this play since she performed it back in 2006. Playliterate was awarded Best Ensemble, Best Sound Design and Best Production, and The Red Dot Players were honoured with Best Performance in a Female Lead Role – Sarah Foss. Playliterate will be heading to the mainstage festival to complete against “Zone” winners from across B.C. in July. Deanna.maggie@gmail.com

Dan Ruggiero was instrumental in starting the SD #23 Central Okanagan Hockey Skills Academy. The program grew from the original program at RSS in 2003 to five schools running the program, giving 225 students the opportunity to learn the game of hockey and enhance their skills. With Dan’s passing in August of last year, the Dan Ruggiero Memorial Award through the Central Okanagan Bursary and Scholarship Society was created. The Daniel Ruggiero Memorial Foundation has now been formed and the first Dan Ruggiero Memorial Golf Tournament supported by Shea Weber will be Friday, August 28th, 2026, at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf Course with proceeds being raised for the Central Okanagan Bursary and Scholarship Society and Canadian Men’s Health Foundation. They are still looking for auction items. If you can help, contact John Guidolin at danruggieromemorialfoundation@gmail.com or 250-317-0652.

Four Kelowna high school football players have earned selection to the prestigious Team BC and will represent their province, community, and schools at the 2026 U18 Canada Cup, Canada’s premier national championship for high school-aged players. The Kelowna athletes are Marshall Daniel, Offensive Lineman, RSS; Chayse Schlachter, Wide Receiver, OKM; Kingson Trevis, Linebacker, KSS and Avery Robertson, Defensive Lineman, KSS. The U18 Canada Cup is organized by Football Canada and will be held at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg in July. Games will be streamed nationally through Football Canada. It’s great timing as the nine-day CFL Touchdown Kelowna Festival, including two BC Lions games will be held in Kelowna June 27th to July 4th. There are still a few tickets left for the two games on both days. www.ticketmaster.ca

Birthdays of the week – Ken Kilcullen (June 24); Dr. Fred Froese (June 24); Lorne Buna (June 24); Renata Mills (June 24); Brent Waldherr (June 24); Terri McDonald (June 25); Renata Mills (June 25); Dennis Campbell (June 25); Winnie Wen (June 25); Bill Ferguson (June 25); Caroline Fraser (June 25); Janet Wourms (June 26); Kelly Hutchinson (June 26); Chazz Llewellyn (June 26); Runjet Saran (June 26); Shannon Bews Croft (June 27); Cami Hill (June 28); Jim Lawrence (June 28); Lane Shupe (June 28); Sinead Scanlon (June 28); David Walker (June 28); Ken (Bubba) Coles (June 28); Maria Garcia (June 27); Tom Martin (June 29); Mike Isaac (June 28); Angie Busch (June 29); Gordon Scarlett (June 29); Valerie Hallford (June 29); Brenda Scruton (June 30); Eva Simon (June 30); Rick Maddison (June 30); Joy Wallace (June 30); Paul Byrne (June 30); Michael Benty (June 30); Chelsea Salisbury (June 30);

The Specialty Bakery Birthday Cake Winner of the Week is Kelly Hutchinson. Kelly, please pick up your Birthday Cake from any one of the four Specialty Bakery locations by noon on Tuesday, June 30/2026.

Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662. E-mail max@maxinedehart.ca