Community

A heart of ribbons is seen on the fence of Highroad Academy along Chilliwack Central Road on Friday, June 4, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

Orange Heart Memorial campaign launches in Vernon on National Indigenous Peoples Day

North Okanagan Friendship Center raising funds for bench, mural memorializing 215 discovered in Kamloops

Lady Dia, pictured with her son Glory, is a Kelowna artist. She recently received $10,000 in funding for her podcast MoM:ents. (Twila Amato - Black Press Media)

Lady Dia selected as City of Kelowna’s artist in residence

Dia will release a project designed to discuss and shape the future of a more inclusive Kelowna

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to collect donations ahead of Kristy Handel’s 33-kilometre run for Chelaine McInroy (pictured) to cover costs for a new prosthetic leg after her June 12, 2021, surgery. (GoFundMe)

Friend running to raise funds for Armstrong woman’s new prosthetic leg

33-km Run for Chelaine to help athlete cover medical costs from latest surgery

Nine exhibits representing the commercial core of downtown Salmon Arm in 1910 are pictured at R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum. (Facebook - R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum)

R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum ready for visitors

Opening date for popular attraction Wednesday, June 16

Nine exhibits representing the commercial core of downtown Salmon Arm in 1910 are pictured at R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum. (Facebook - R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum)
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran addresses a crowd of more than 100 people who gathered at Stuart Park on June 12 to honour the Muslim family who was attacked in London, Ont., on June 6. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News)

‘It’s gotta stop’: Kelowna mayor, local faith groups honour victims of London attack

Faith groups at the event included the Okanagan Jewish Community, the Baha’i community and the Sikh community

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran addresses a crowd of more than 100 people who gathered at Stuart Park on June 12 to honour the Muslim family who was attacked in London, Ont., on June 6. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News)
Lyndsay Fillier and Braden Taylor have been living the van life for four years and they've detailed the first year of their adventures in a new book. (Twila Amato/Black Press Media)

VIDEO: Okanagan couple details first year of van life in new book

Lyndsay Fillier and Braden Taylor have been living the van life for four years

Lyndsay Fillier and Braden Taylor have been living the van life for four years and they've detailed the first year of their adventures in a new book. (Twila Amato/Black Press Media)
Tim Gibson joined the Shuswap Children’s Association on June 14, 2021. He is taking over the executive director position as June Stewart is retiring on June 30, 2021. (File photo)

New executive director joins Shuswap Children’s Association

Outgoing executive director June Stewart to retire on June 30, 2021

  • Jun 14, 2021
Tim Gibson joined the Shuswap Children’s Association on June 14, 2021. He is taking over the executive director position as June Stewart is retiring on June 30, 2021. (File photo)
Four golfers from Fairview Mountain Golf Club in Oliver will golf from sunrise to sunset to raise funds for ALS on June 29. (Submitted)

Golfing from sunrise to sunset in Oliver for ALS

Four golfers from Fairview Mountain Golf Club have taken up the challenge June 29

Four golfers from Fairview Mountain Golf Club in Oliver will golf from sunrise to sunset to raise funds for ALS on June 29. (Submitted)
Longtime SOWINS volunteer Diane Fru (far left) walks with members of her family as they Walk To End Abuse Sunday, June 13, 2021. South Okanagan Women In Needs Society (SOWINS) raised a record amount this year. (Monique Tamminga Western News)

Walk to End Abuse in South Okanagan breaks fundraising record

More than $53,000 raised so far while the pandemic has increased need for SOWINS’ services

Longtime SOWINS volunteer Diane Fru (far left) walks with members of her family as they Walk To End Abuse Sunday, June 13, 2021. South Okanagan Women In Needs Society (SOWINS) raised a record amount this year. (Monique Tamminga Western News)
Shuswap Litas and Son of Stomp head out from uptown Askew’s parking lot on Thursday, June 10, some with teddy bears and stuffies, to ride to Pierre’s Point by Adams Lake community hall to show their support for band members in the wake of the confirmation of 215 children buried at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)

Shuswap bike clubs ride to support Indigenous communities

Motorcyclists go to Pierre’s Point in solidarity with bands in wake of residential school findings

Shuswap Litas and Son of Stomp head out from uptown Askew’s parking lot on Thursday, June 10, some with teddy bears and stuffies, to ride to Pierre’s Point by Adams Lake community hall to show their support for band members in the wake of the confirmation of 215 children buried at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)
Victoria’s Taya Lee, left, won Innovator of the Year in the 16 to 19 age category of the 2021 Youth Innovation Showcase, while Cranbrook’s Keanu Chan, right, won Innovator of the Year in the 12 to 15 age category.

Science Fair Foundation BC announces winners in third annual Youth Innovation Showcase

Keanu Chan and Taya Lee each win $5,000 for their innovations

  • Jun 14, 2021
Victoria’s Taya Lee, left, won Innovator of the Year in the 16 to 19 age category of the 2021 Youth Innovation Showcase, while Cranbrook’s Keanu Chan, right, won Innovator of the Year in the 12 to 15 age category.
The Stephane (right) and the tug MPF (left), with a turbine destined for the Mica Dam, battle the current of the Thompson River near Monte Creek. Shuswap Lake Ferry Service handled the move from Savona to Old Town in Sicamous in June 1975. Image from the Denis Marshall Collection and courtesy the Salmon Arm Museum at R.J. Haney Heritage Village.

Shuswap history in pictures: Turbine up the Thompson

Turbine moved up river for Mica Dam

  • Jun 11, 2021
The Stephane (right) and the tug MPF (left), with a turbine destined for the Mica Dam, battle the current of the Thompson River near Monte Creek. Shuswap Lake Ferry Service handled the move from Savona to Old Town in Sicamous in June 1975. Image from the Denis Marshall Collection and courtesy the Salmon Arm Museum at R.J. Haney Heritage Village.
JL Jackson Grade 10 student Kate Verdurmen shows the work in progress that is a mural she is painting for her school’s library. (Contributed)

Artistic act of kindness prompts flood of accolades for Salmon Arm student

Grade 10 student Kate Verdurmen is painting a mural for J.L. Jackson library

JL Jackson Grade 10 student Kate Verdurmen shows the work in progress that is a mural she is painting for her school’s library. (Contributed)
Salmon Arm Minor Hockey’s Roy Sakaki presents Wayne March with some gifts for his retirement, including a crutch and an old hockey stick, during a surprise presentation outside the Sicamous and District Recreation Centre on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)

VIDEO: Community offers surprise send off to Sicamous arena manager Wayne March

Former Sicamous Eagles general manager also managed rec centre for 13 years

Salmon Arm Minor Hockey’s Roy Sakaki presents Wayne March with some gifts for his retirement, including a crutch and an old hockey stick, during a surprise presentation outside the Sicamous and District Recreation Centre on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)
Mamas for Mamas received $12,500 from Kelowna Hyundai's Operation 150 fundraiser. (Kelowna Hyundai/Contributed)

Okanagan car dealership raises $12k for national charity

Kelowna Hyundai’s Operation 150 benefitted Kelowna-based Mamas for Mamas this year

Mamas for Mamas received $12,500 from Kelowna Hyundai's Operation 150 fundraiser. (Kelowna Hyundai/Contributed)
A full slate of activities is being offered at the Salmon Arm pool for July and August. (File photo)

Salmon Arm residents invited to splash through summer as pool programs resume

Registration open for swim lessons, lap-lane simming, aqua fit and more

A full slate of activities is being offered at the Salmon Arm pool for July and August. (File photo)
Survivorship paddlers hold up pink carnations to honour women fighting breast cancer and those who have lost their lives on the last day of the Penticton Dragonboat Festival in 2019. Many Survivorship paddlers have become volunteers of Tomorrow’s Hope. (Western News file photo)

Offering Tomorrow’s Hope for women diagnosed with breast cancer in South Okanagan

Penticton dragonboat group along with other women offering support, resources

Survivorship paddlers hold up pink carnations to honour women fighting breast cancer and those who have lost their lives on the last day of the Penticton Dragonboat Festival in 2019. Many Survivorship paddlers have become volunteers of Tomorrow’s Hope. (Western News file photo)
Shemaine Sugarcane, the owner of the Okanagan Lake Serpent Mobile Barber Shop. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News) Sugarcane cuts customer Aaron Coombs’s hair. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News)

PHOTOS: Kelowna’s mobile barbershop, the Okanagan Lake Serpent

“I could set up anywhere like a food truck. The more I thought about it, the more I realized, what could go wrong?”

Shemaine Sugarcane, the owner of the Okanagan Lake Serpent Mobile Barber Shop. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News) Sugarcane cuts customer Aaron Coombs’s hair. (Aaron Hemens/Capital News)
Rutland Senior Secondary forestry students and Okanagan Forest Task Force volunteers worked together cleaning up a makeshift shooting range along Postill Lake Road. (Twila Amato/Black Press Media)

Kelowna forestry students, forest task force clean up backcountry together

“I tell people all the time, we need to leave better kids for our planet,” Kane Blake said

Rutland Senior Secondary forestry students and Okanagan Forest Task Force volunteers worked together cleaning up a makeshift shooting range along Postill Lake Road. (Twila Amato/Black Press Media)
John Howard Society Okanagan and Kootenay’s new video explores the work they do and encourages people to donate or work with them. (John Howard Society Okanagan and Kootenay)

John Howard Okanagan-Kootenay wants you to know what a ‘badass’ its namesake was

John Howard Society’s new promo video doesn’t mince words on the accomplishments of its namesake

John Howard Society Okanagan and Kootenay’s new video explores the work they do and encourages people to donate or work with them. (John Howard Society Okanagan and Kootenay)