Daily Grind Cafe has opened at 1399 Ellis Street at the corner of Ellis and Doyle in the Madison building. Owned and operated by Trevor Penn, the small ³¦²¹´Úé with about 20 seats and potential patio offers much more than just coffee and treats. Long-time Chef Chris Sudnik has created a menu for breakfast and lunch, along with coffee breaks. They offer five breakfast items, including eggs and waffles, sandwiches, soups, salads, flatbread pizzas, pastries, muffins, cookies and wraps. All the food is fresh daily and all dressings, soups, sauces and some condiments are made fresh in-house. All other products used in the ³¦²¹´Úé are sourced locally. They also offer their signature Grind chili, one with beef and one vegetarian every day, along with daily specials with gluten free and vegan options. They have a long list of specialty coffees using ³Õ´Ç±ð³Ù’s coffee, other beverages and smoothies. You can eat-in or take-out with phone in pre-orders. Daily Grind offers a °ì¾±»å²õ’ menu and a °ì¾±»å²õ’ play area with affordable pricing. Open seven days a week. Call 236-420-1192.

The downtown location of Memphis Blues BBQ House at 289 Bernard Avenue, owned and operated by Andre Thomas is celebrating 10 years in business as °­±ð±ô´Ç·É²Ô²¹â€™s Southern BBQ destination. This location was the first franchise of Memphis Blues in 91´ó»ÆѼ. Among many accolades, the downtown location was named one of Food Network °ä²¹²Ô²¹»å²¹â€™s 12 Great BBQ Joints in Canada in 2015. A second location has now opened in Rutland on the corner of Highway 33 and Rutland Road. To celebrate, both locations will be offering specials until the end of February including gift cards (buy $50, get $25 on them for next visit); meats by the pound (buy one pound and get ½ pound free); $79.95 Elvis Platters (throwback pricing) and fried oysters are back for a limited time. memphisblueskelowna@telus.net.

After a 38 year career with CIBC, Barry Abel has retired. Barry started his career with the bank in Winnipeg as manager of the data center (many of you will remember those). He then transferred to Victoria and then came to 91´ó»ÆѼ in 1996 as a senior commercial manager working under Tal Jandali. When Tal retired Barry took over as director and team leader of commercial banking for the B.C. Interior. Barry has now formed his own company and is looking forward to doing some consulting work if fishing does not get in the way. Call 250-869-2419 or barryabel46@gmail.com. CupCasions owned and operated by co-owners Libbie Lineker and Paul Philips has moved to a new location at 1971 Kent Road, off Spall Road.

Now, with triple the space, CupCasions has added a small ³¦²¹´Úé with seating for 20. Along with their famous cupcakes, you can enjoy Canoe Coffee along with muffins, loaves, cookies and gluten free products. CupCasions offers 18 different varieties of cupcakes at any one time in their showcase. They also make cupcakes to order with 55 different flavours available to choose from. Their most popular flavor cupcake is champagne raspberry which I tasted. It was delicious. Next down the list of favourites is apple pie, Boston cream, chocolate kiss and lemon delight. CupCasions is not just cupcakes. They bake and decorate all kinds of cakes for weddings, birthdays and special occasions. ³¢¾±²ú²ú¾±±ð’s daughter Breanna Kelly is the head baker and assistant manager of the store. Danya Sherwood is the fondant creations specialist. All the cakes looked spectacular. Libbie is also offering a wedding vendor corner with no charge to any vendors who would like to display their brochures or wares. Open Monday to Saturday with lots of parking. Incidentally Libbie and Paul are getting married on April 1. Call 250-860-3690 www.cupcasions.ca.

Congratulations to MNP LLP graduates Spencer Naito, Theresa Witt, Mike Daigle and Allison Engel on successfully completing the 2016 Common Final Exam (CFE). These designated professional accountants are working at ²Ñ±·±Ê’s 91´ó»ÆѼ office. Call 250-763-8919. Associated Property Management at 1441 St. Paul Street is again expanding. Thorsten Wehrmann has joined their team along with the acquisition of the Colliers Commercial strata and building management portfolio. Thorsten is a senior licensed strata and property manager with eight ²â±ð²¹°ù²õ’ experience in the property and strata management industry. Starting with Centre Group Commercial Realty in 2009, Thorsten moved to Argus Properties in 2014 expanding his knowledge in retail outlets, strip malls, office spaces and light industrial buildings. Call 250-712-0025. www.associatedpm.ca.

In operation for about two years, Avenue M Microgreens is a unique business that grows and sells a variety of microgreens. Owned and operated by Tina and Ralph Gerlitsch, the microgreens are grown indoors using certified organic non GMO seeds from ²Ñ³Ü³¾³¾â€™s in Saskatchewan. They use only degassed water and follow strict organic growing practices. Microgreens are not sprouts. They are grown in soil but are harvested above the soil and are the stage after sprouts, but before the mature version. Grown in trays, there is a seven to 10 day turn-around which is a new way of urban farming. Avenue M grows microgreens of radish, broccoli, kale, purple kohlrabi, red cabbage, oriental mustard, Tokyo Bekana mustard, arugula, pea shoots, sweet wheatgrass and a micro mix. They can be used in sandwiches, salads, soups, wraps, on top of your favourite pizza, as a garnish or a stand-alone veggie with a sushi accompaniment.

New to Avenue M are their DIY (Do It Yourself) microgreen kits, purchased through their website. They also donate surplus microgreens to the Gospel Mission, Metis Community Services and little wheatgrass units to the kittens at the SPCA. Avenue M Microgreens are available at all five Quality Greens locations, Urban Fare, ±Ê±ð³Ù±ð°ù’s Independent Grocer (Capri Mall) and Choices Market. Call 250-859-4002. www.avenuem.ca.

Brenda Baer and Joy McGinnis have joined Travel Time Inc. located at 501 – 1630 Pandosy Street. Formerly with RedTag.ca, Brenda and Joy have been in the valley for more than 25 years and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Travel °Õ¾±³¾±ð’s expanding full service travel agency. Contact Brenda or Joy at 236-420-0021 or Brenda.baer@traveltime.ca or joy@traveltime.ca. Five 91´ó»ÆѼ businesses are in the finals for the Small Business BC Awards. They are Rambow Mechanical Ltd. (Best Apprentice Training); Infuse I.T. – VinStream (Best Concept); Central Kitchen and Bar (Best Employer); Mazu and Two Hat Security (Best Innovation). This year, 699 nominations came from 72 communities across the province and over 32,000 votes were received.

Students from Okanagan °ä´Ç±ô±ô±ð²µ±ð’s School of Business once again showed they are among the best in the country, notching three podium finishes. Congratulations to Madison Blancher and Adrianna Knuth (coached by Dr. Robert Groves and Roger Wheeler) who took first place in the Human Resources category. The accounting team of Kyla Bernardo and Kirsten Pitzoff (coached by Adrian Fontenia and Randy Newton) and the Management of Information Systems duo of Jared Hubner and Anthony Peterson (coached by Dr. Glen Coulthard) placed second.

The 3rd Annual Stone Soup for Literacy, a fundraiser for Niteo Africa Society is February 18th at Sandhill Winery from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Niteo is a local based charity that collects gently used ³¦³ó¾±±ô»å°ù±ð²Ô’s books for libraries, schools and households that would otherwise be recycled. Niteo is celebrating its 10th anniversary and are holding their first local book drive in May to collect and distribute books to vulnerable children in our own community. The event is supported by the Okanagan °ä³ó±ð´Ú’s association and is not just about soup. Chefs compete to create the best canape inspired by a famous book. Tickets include food, beverages, clay pottery, silent auction and cash bar. Tickets available at Eventbrite or call Brianne Swetlishoff at 250-864-1436.

91´ó»ÆѼ Women in Business (KWIB) are hosting The Money Side of Business at a breakfast on Feb. 8 from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre. KWIB is partnering with BDC to offer this educational talk. Guest speaker is Jennifer Kilback, CPA, CGA, FEA from Instep Group. Register at kwib.org by Feb. 6. Payment not accepted at door. Huge thanks to Nicole Lychak-Smith of Westland Insurance Group in Mission Park Shopping Centre. She did me a huge favour, which meant I did not have to return to the shopping centre again later that day.

The ³§´Ç²Ô’s of Norway are hosting a Let Me Call You Sweetheart dinner and dance on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 6:15 p.m. at Club 17, 1353 Richter Street. Music by the Old Time Fiddlers. Tickets in advance $15 or $25 per couple. All welcome. Prizes, fun and good food. For tickets call 778-821-4095 or 250-763-8191 before Feb. 11.

Birthdays of the week –H²¹±è±è²â 50th Karen Erickson, Investors (Feb. 7); Happy 50th Lori Moore (Jan. 21); Happy 60th Dennis MacLeod (Jan. 29); Linda Decosta (Feb. 1); Rod Romanow (Feb. 2); Jenny Krahn (Feb. 3); Rob Belanger, ´¡°ù²ú²â’s (Feb. 4); Ross Fitzpatrick (Feb. 4); Ted Farr (Feb. 4); Sergio Cunial, Ramada Hotel (Feb. 7); Marci Paynter (Feb. 7).

Maxine DeHart is a 91´ó»ÆѼ City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546, 250-862-7662, fax 250-860-3173, E-mail maxdehart@telus.net.