Linda Tanaka was such an easy person to work with when she was in charge at the Roots & Blues annual festival in Salmon Arm. Actually she was the founder. Last year there was a blowup with the board for some reason. I have never figured out why she was tossed. She has just been appointed the interim artistic director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. I hope they keep her in that job, she will do well for them...

He is the man in charge of Canada’s Winery of the Year for the second time. It was time to celebrate with the media and those in the industry so Anthony von Mandl chose the very posh and popular Canoe restaurant. They were gathered to honor Mission Hill Family Estate Winery. The present Mission Hill got its start in 1981 when the world didn’t believe any wine of note could be produced in the Okanagan Valley. Today, the estate farms 1100 acres and is the largest with the 164 wineries growing approximately 5,000 acres of grapes at the present time.

The site where the gorgeous winery is now calling home was originally a winery owned by the well-known brewer and construction magnate Ben Ginter of Prince George. Ben called the winery (his first venture into wine) Uncle Ben’s Gourmet Winery and that was in 1969. He made a lot of strange products. His claim to fame was Fuddle Duck and Hot Goose. The winery was here when we arrived thirty years ago and I don’t have a clue where they were selling the stuff they bottled...

Andrea McFadden and her husband David have created quite an attraction on their farm in south Kelowna. She planted the first lavender plants in 1994 and has fashioned a lavender experience for people who come out to their Okanagan Lavender and Herb Farm. I didn’t know what she meant when she called me way back then and told me about the lavender weekend that was about to take place. We had to go and see for ourselves. The couple also grow grapes for Andrea’s brothers Ben and Tony Stewart, owners of the well known Quails Gate Estate Winery...

Stork Craft Manufacturing has acquired all the brands and trademarks of Penticton’s Canwood Furniture, which just closed a month ago. Canwood had been producing their classic look of fine solid pine furniture since 1986. Stork Craft has products distributed throughout North America, Europe and Asia from their headquarters in Richmond. Their distribution points are located in Seattle, New Jersey and Vancouver. The company will go offshore to manufacture the products. I understand it will be in Vietnam...

For the moment it is over. The new championship golf course at Rossland will not be built where the owner of the Red Mountain Ski Ventures wanted it to be built. Howard Katkov, the San Diego cosmetics manufacturer who bought the mountain four years ago had added the golf course on his way to make the resort a four seasons playground. From what I can see it would have been a big bonus for the area. He has spent at fortune at Red Mountain. When I first interviewed him the first time, I wanted to know why someone from San Diego decided on this particular ski hill for an investment. He liked to ski there and so did his family. The contractors from Kelowna Ledcor Construction have built town homes at the resort and they are well done. At our annual real estate development conference Tom McBroom explained to the audience that he was building the course with Annika Sorenstam as his design partner. She is getting married and has already bought a home at the resort. He could build it right across the road from where he got the permit for. There was lots of controversy over water. Ten per cent of the region’s tourism dollars come from golf. I just know Mr. Katkov won’t walk away from this one...

Recently I wrote about wines and what we, as a young married couple, chose way back then. We had Mateus and Baby Duck on the list and then my readers came back with emails so we added Black Tower, Lonesome Charlie and Fuddle Duck. We certainly knew about them but I can’t remember ever drinking Lonesome Charlie or Fuddle Duck. Yes, we drank Black Tower...

West Coast Leisure Penticton isn’t going out of business they are just closing the Penticton plant. The 60,000 square foot plant will be closed except for a small crew handling administration and service. The plant has been producing the Okanagan Brand that was started in the valley in the 1960s. I believe a couple of manufacturers owned the brand before it was taken over by West Coast Leisure in 1991 when it was operating as Travel Mate Industries...

The Planning Institute of BC named the City of Kelowna's Downtown Sign Plan the best in the province. The city's sign plan won first place in the Site Planning and Design category (projects under $50,000) at the provincial organization's annual awards ceremony. "The awards committee considered this plan an excellent way to celebrate cultural history and a playful form of way finding, while helping residents and visitors to experience the area to its fullest," said PIBC President Hazel Christy. The goals of the Kelowna Downtown Sign Plan were to help direct motorists to parking areas in the downtown, to help pedestrians and cyclists locate facilities and venues, and to help create a sense of place within the downtown through communication of historical and geographic information. The signs are installed at key locations in the downtown...

It looks like Canadian shoppers are continuing their spending ways as they remain in better financial shape than their colleagues south of the border, but a slowdown seems likely...

U.S. home improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. Inc. will open three more stores in Canada by the end of January to add to the seven it already launched here since late last year. The move comes amid continuing speculation that the Mooresville, N.C.-based chain will eventually buy rival Rona Inc. of Boucherville, Que., as it races to take on market leader Home Depot Inc. That rumour just never seems to go away. The Lowe's stores so far in Canada are all in Ontario...