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Category: Relationship Building

An American in Kelowna – ABBA-lutely, it was a Sweet Caroline and Crocodile Rock Kind of Night

An American in Kelowna – ABBA-lutely, it was a Sweet Caroline and Crocodile Rock Kind of Night

“There was Something in the Air that Night…..Fernando” On the second Friday of September, “A Hot Vegas Night” shuffled into Kelowna for a one-night stand at the Kelowna Community Theatre. Billed as THREE Shows in ONE Night, this rock-and-roll triple-header for all ages featured The Piano Man (an unforgettable tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John), Nearly Neil (a world-class tribute to Neil Diamond), and ABRA Cadabra (a tribute to the music and magic of ABBA).        …

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An American in Kelowna – 61 Years of “Mom”-rabilia

An American in Kelowna – 61 Years of “Mom”-rabilia

Can you imagine living in the same house for 61 years? My Mom, Julia, can. That’s more than six decades of sleeping in the same master bedroom over the one-car garage. That’s 22,265 days of rinsing dishes in the same kitchen sink and flushing the same commode. That’s going back to the 1950’s when living in the Pittsburgh suburbs meant not all the roads were paved and the milk man delivered his homogenized goodness to the back door. For goodness…

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An American in Kelowna – Owl Be Back

An American in Kelowna – Owl Be Back

On the eve of Super Bowl 50, I took lovely wife Elaine out for a romantic evening that was filled with energy, passion, and a lot of heavy sweating. Did we go dancing – no?! Did we go ice skating at Stuart Park – no?! Did we go to the Kelowna Community Theatre for a Vegas-style live show – no?!           Mr. Romance took his bride to a secondary school basketball game. Whoa – slow down,…

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An American in Kelowna – Holy Mackerel, Driving Upstream to Salmon Arm

An American in Kelowna – Holy Mackerel, Driving Upstream to Salmon Arm

Allow me to explain that fishy headline.   A few weeks ago a select crew of Kelowna-based senior basketball officials were offered a two-day weekend (Friday + Saturday) assignment in Salmon Arm, BC. It was first come-first served at the 2016 Salmon Arm Nugget Invitational at Salmon Arm Secondary School high above Shuswap Lake.           Never in my officiating career did I imagine working games in an outpost called Salmon Arm?! Cool name. Cool chance to…

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An American in Kelowna – Heel of an Effort for Shoe Bank Canada

An American in Kelowna – Heel of an Effort for Shoe Bank Canada

In the candy-cane lyrics of pop-princess Britney Spears: “Oops!… I did it again.” Did what? Collected donated shoes (women’s, men’s, and children’s) on behalf of Shoe Bank Canada at various sites in Kelowna in our second annual Christmas Holiday promotion.     Based on last year’s benchmark of amassing 803 pairs of shoes, we had a tried-and-true formula for finding footwear by setting up Shoe Bank Canada donation bins in the following locations:  Kelowna General Hospital (three separate entrances), UBC…

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An American in Kelowna – Making the Sail at Okanagan Lake

An American in Kelowna – Making the Sail at Okanagan Lake

Aye Aye, Captain – should we tack the main sail, the fore sail, or the spinnaker?! Nothing better than spending the first Saturday of October out on Okanagan Lake’s whitecaps with two experienced sailors in Greg and Heather of Rutland, BC. They were kind enough to invite us out on this dreary morning for a cabin cruise to nowhere in particular. The Kelowna Yacht Club was our starting point. Around 10:15 AM, we boarded the Tommy Dog – a 25-foot…

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An American in Kelowna – Waving the Server with Volleyball Canada

An American in Kelowna – Waving the Server with Volleyball Canada

Thank You scheduler Hal for having faith, trust, and confidence in a border-crossing whistler from the Lower 48. There I was at Kelowna’s Immaculata Regional High School on Wednesday, September 23rd for three school-ball volleyball matches starting at 5:00 PM. It was A/AA/AAA girls on Court 1. Hal, the boss, had scheduled himself to work with me during my Canadian debut. He was the teacher – I was the student that hadn’t been between the VB lines since October 2013….

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An American in Kelowna – Behr in Mind our Open House was Color-Coordinated

An American in Kelowna – Behr in Mind our Open House was Color-Coordinated

Here’s a question Alex Trebek will NEVER ask on Jeopardy – “whose townhouse in Kelowna combines the wall colors of Caicos Turquoise, Lime Tree, Wild Watermelon, Morning Sun, Azure Lake, Spring Fauna, and Gingersnap on two stories under one roof?!”   Easy answer – “What is the bright and shiny retreat of yours truly and his much, much better half?“ On Sunday, September 20th – we opened our lake-friendly abode to 36 fantastic friends, neighbors, and co-workers for an end-of-summer…

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An American in Kelowna – Shoe Bank Canada Goes Batty and Barefoot on the Boardwalk

An American in Kelowna – Shoe Bank Canada Goes Batty and Barefoot on the Boardwalk

Holy caped crusader – Batman wears a size 10!       That’s what I learned on Saturday, September 12th at the 2nd Annual Barefoot on the Boardwalk fundraising effort put on by Shoe Bank Canada and its slew of volunteers and board members. The festivities took place on a gloriously warm late morning and early afternoon adjacent to Kelowna Water Park and Hot Sands Beach. The “Canadians Helping Canadians” two kilometres family-and-friends march strolled the City Park boardwalk –…

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