Leif began performing at the precocious age of 8 for his brother’s daycare. His first 30 minute show included turning a scarf into a cane and inserting a needle into a balloon, a trick he still does today. That summer, bitten with the performing bug, the newly christened Ali K. Zam continued to perform up to three times a week at daycares and senior’s centres. These shows were booked by his mother, who was also his assistant/manager/chauffeur until he learned to drive. “Mom basically did everything except the show itself.” He even bought her a sequined teal dress to match his teal suit. Ali K. Zam was on his way, soon busily performing at festivals, parties and schools. Leif David Thordarson, a once shy and fearful young lad, had found his life’s passion. Amazing what the simple gift of a magic kit for Christmas can inspire!Leif David kelowna magician

Almost entirely self-taught, with the help of some library books, a few workshops and lots and lots of experience, Leif is now a seasoned professional magician who performs up to 170 shows a year. He is also President of the local magic club, sharing his skills and enthusiasm with other members, ages 8 to 70. Magic seems to attract people of all ages and from all walks of life. “I just love magic!” says Leif. “It’s very empowering to do these tricks and entertain people…especially if you can give them that moment of astonishment and wonder when they forget about everything else.” His favourite routine to perform is bending metal forks with his mind, a trick which won Leif second place at a magic convention last summer.

Asked about the name change, from Ali K. Zam to the more sober Leif David, he laughs “ I don’t want to be Ali K. Zam when I’m 30.” He also performs at a lot of corporate functions, and other adult oriented shows where the name Ali K. Zam may not exactly portray the mature, more sophisticated performer he has since become. He’ll keep Ali K. Zam as the name of his production company.

Did Leif never have any doubts about the direction his life would take? Well he did attend college as a “back-up plan,” studying telecommunications and network engineering. He took a job in computers for a while but hated it and soon decided to return to performing magic full time. However, his education wasn’t wasted as he applies many of the technical skills he learned to his magic work and promotion. “What college really taught me was the work ethic,” says Leif.

Odd that someone who’s been working since the age of eight and who bought his own braces should need to learn about the work ethic! But that’s just the kind of guy he is: while doing a library show last summer he cut his finger deeply while performing a rope trick. “Even though I was bleeding pretty badly, I managed to finish the trick,” he says. “I don’t think the kids even noticed.” The show must go on! For more information about Leif David or to book him for an event, visit www.alikzam.com.

This private car museum could really be said to be a tribute to the expression “they just don’t make things like they used to.” Talk about attention to detail– each bumper, each dash, each body, each paint job is unique down to the aerial knobs matching the dashboards. That certainly could never be said about new cars. Cars have become the workhorses of the family, a means to get from place to place. The Nixdorf Classic Car Museum bring us back to an era when cars were art, one of a kind show pieces and status symbols of the new American wealth.

Garney Nixdorf has been collecting classic cars for about 50 years. His son Tim caught the bug or inherited it in the genes and also began collecting. Between them they own the 100 on display at the museum (a rotating display of 50 at a time) with about 16 more in restoration stage; mostly convertibles and two door hardtops from 1937-1970 with a few muscle cars thrown in. In fact, the most valuable car in the collection is a 1970 Ford Mustang “Boss 429.” In mint condition and one of only 499 made of that model making it extremely rare and collectible.

The museum is managed by Jim Kyluik, Garney’s cousin and also a self-described “car nut.” As he watched his cousin’s collection grow over the years, he kept hounding Garney to display them to the public. They were just too beautiful to keep hidden away. He even offered to manage the museum if it ever happened. Eventually Garney agreed and built the warehouse on his Summerland property, opening three years ago. Jim kept his part of the bargain, semi-retiring from his work in project management to get the Nixdorf collection into the public eye.

The Nixdorf Classic Car Museum is a not for profit enterprise. So far, they’ve been just making ends meet (buying and restoring cars is an expensive hobby). But should there ever be profit from the business, the Nixdorfs plan to donate it to a children’s charity, preferably something helping children with disabilities.

A new part of the business was added this year– wine tours using the classic convertibles. Jim and his wife Joan Kyluik do the tours, tailoring them to the clients’ needs and interests. These have been a great success, even spinning off into a cable series called “Vintages and Vines.” Watch for it on Shaw. And do yourself a favour, stop at the Nixdorf Classic Car Museum at 15809 Logie Rd., Summerland, and be amazed.

www.nixdorfclassiccars.com

Visit Deborah’s website at www.airwaterearth.ca

If you have to go cross-town shopping and you’re in Kelowna’s ‘big-box’ area, you may be pleasantly surprised to discover a place of respite just a few minutes’ travel away. You’ll find a natural area near the intersection of Enterprise and Banks Roads.

Like many of our less-celebrated Okanagan Valley parks, this one is sometimes a little abused. In the off-leash dog park, located next to the pond near the beginning of the trails, graffiti adorns a nearby wall, the portable washroom and the lone picnic table. There’s often a bit of litter in the parking lot, the leftover daytime hints of nighttime skulduggery.

Yet, the whispering leaves of a huge tree that shades the parking lot and the birds swimming in the waters of the pond are uninjured by this lack of human respect. The trails beckon.

Mill Creek journeys through this peaceful area. It’s a beleaguered yet intrepid creek that’s come from miles away, burbling contentedly and surrounded here once more by graceful trees, shrubs and grasses. This creek supports a wide variety of birds and animals, but passing as it has
for years through Kelowna’s industrial, shopping and residential districts,
it has endured much.

With a little physical help lately from community groups and a small environmental remediation crew, Mill Creek has become more resistant to foolish human behaviours.

You came down a gravel driveway between Shaw Cable and a BMW auto dealership on Enterprise Road to find this place. From the gravelled square, you see the shimmering pond. It’s edged in cattails and is host to herons, waterfowl and the occasional exuberant dog.

Though you might want to put down a towel first to protect your clothes against everything from muddy paw prints to ashes, you can sit at the table in the fenced off-leash dog park and watch the action in the pond while you sip a drink.  Some days you can observe a heron, fishing.

If you by-pass the fenced doggie park, you can walk the trails along the meandering creek. The wide path of fine gravel is level, fairly smooth and easy enough for pushing a wheel chair or stroller or allowing a toddler to pedal. There’s both sun and shade here, and several wooden bridges over various arms of the singing creek.

This little park is an oasis, hidden away behind huge cable spools and satellite dishes on one side of its entrance and hundreds of expensive gleaming cars on the other.  Just a hundred metres away, busy Enterprise Road moves as much traffic over its smooth pavement as the creek slides water over its rocky green bed.

When you’re in the area, take advantage now and then of this modest and hidden gift.  Leave the pavement to visit the creek.

But Cindy Lee hasn’t always been an angel on earth. There was a time when she thought she wouldn’t even walk again. Born with scoliosis of the spine, by the age of fifteen she had 13 fusions and a steel rod inserted to straighten her spine. Belly-dancing gave her her life and her mobility back. It was 10 years ago that Cindy Lee Yelland attended a goddess circle where one woman got up and did a belly-dance for the group. “It was just so beautiful. I said ‘I want to do that.’” So she started taking classes with local belly-dancer Annie Beserekian and has never looked back. “At first it was just about dressing up and having fun,” she says. But it wasn’t long before she realized how much the dancing was helping her back by strengthening her core muscles and improving her flexibility: “I’m in the least pain now than I’ve ever been in my whole life.” Because Cindy Lee has trouble sitting or standing for long periods, dancing is the perfect alternative!

In addition to the great physical benefits, there’s mental, spiritual, and social components to dance. She talks about how belly-dance originally was a dance by women for women, done in celebration and to prepare the body for childbirth. It’s only in recent history that belly-dance has been performed in front of men. Cindy Lee’s classes and the weekly free-dance meetings of the Loose Hip Sisters try to re-capture this fun, social bonding between women. “There’s no wrong way to dance,” she points out. “There’s so many women and so many body types…It’s a great way for women to get in touch with their bodies and celebrate them just the way they are.” Dancing is also a great stress reliever and a form of artistic expression to boot. Very empowering– the sisterhood of the dance! But as Cindy Lee says “Really I’m still doing what I was doing when I was nine– dressing up in shiny things and dancing around.” May the angel keep on dancing.

For more info visit www.angelontheloose.com

Visit Deborah’s website at www.airwaterearth.ca/

Rose Valley Regional Park is a natural asset that deserves several hours of your time, and requires a bit of preparation to enjoy it fully.

This park is rugged, yet features a network of wide and easy-to-follow forested paths as well as steep, challenging trails and panorama views.  You have several options in Rose Valley Regional, and each provides satisfying experiences that will linger in your mind for hours and days after your visit.

Before you come, pack a wide-brimmed hat and a small first aid kit as well as water and a snack, and put on a pair of seriously treaded, securely fitted hiking shoes or boots. Check the weather forecast, and bring along clothing to protect you from sun, wind or precipitation. And bring a camera. The few minutes of extra effort to be ready for whatever the forest and ridges of Rose Valley Park may share with you will be worth it.

Rose Valley Regional Park is quite easy to find, even if you’re new to Kelowna and its sister community, West Kelowna. Grab a map or guidebook to explore your options.  First, travel to the west side of the bridge, and turn at the T intersection of Highway 97 and Westlake Road.  Travel uphill on Westlake Road.

Should you choose the roads less traveled, the ridges and hills of this huge and sprawling park will get your heart thumping and your eyes filled.

If you choose to take a mostly level approach, perhaps with a child on a mountain bike, turn onto Rosewood Drive in the Rose Valley Homes subdivision for an enjoyable stroll to the dam on a wide gravel road though the forest.

If you decide on a gentler walk, you can treat yourself to a stroll around Rose Valley Pond, accessed easily from a small parking lot on Westlake across from the Fire Hall and teeming with birds and creatures of all kinds.

If you want to take up the lung-expanding challenge, you can park near the pond and fire hall, set off on one of the wide hillside pathways and get ready for at least a half hour work-out as you walk up to the ridges above.

How long you ascend depends on your fitness and which section of Westlake Road you’ve started from.  To cut some climbing time off the hike, you can drive up to the end of West Kelowna Road just past the elementary school, park on the roadside, pass through the gate and head through a meadow and once-burned forest to the ridges and views above.

In all four seasons, Rose Valley Regional Park offers breathtaking views of Lake Okanagan, the City of Kelowna, the new municipality of West Kelowna and beyond. Views of neighbouring mountain ridges include MacDougall Rim, and the sparkling reservoir lake that shares the park’s name.

There’s green and burned forest and grassy meadows and twisting trails down to the reservoir lake.  There are great lookouts and perches for picnic lunches, dozens of species of wildflowers, craggy rock formations and a wide variety of birds and other wildlife.  Rose Valley Dam’s lake is home to hundreds of Western Red Painted Turtles. The surrounding forests stretch for many kilometres, providing habitat for coyotes, deer, bear and the elusive cougar as well as other animals. Raptors range above and humming birds nest in the shrubs.

Your dog is welcome to accompany you into Rose Valley Regional Park
if it’s on leash, and in this watershed area it’s vital that you clean up after your pet.  Take out whatever you took in. To avoid damaging sensitive vegetation or spreading invasive weeds, keep on the trails.

People from all over the world have come to hike in the Okanagan Valley, and Rose Valley Regional Park is a destination park we can be proud of.

Contact Deborah via email at westsidebusiness@shaw.ca or by phone at 250-768-4885.

As avid skiiers the Neills had visited Kelowna many times en route to Big White. They liked the city, so when Michael heard through the grapevine that Mosaic Books was for sale back in 1995, he jumped at the opportunity. They sold their share in Black Bond Books, uprooted their family (including their BookManager company and employees) and moved to the Okanagan.

Now anyone who’s lived in the valley for any length of time knows that Mosaic Books is something of a Kelowna landmark. In fact, the busy downtown bookstore just turned 40 years old back in November. As those of us who also have reached this venerable age know, life begins at 40! Started in 1968 by Rhoda Moss, a daughter of Kelowna pioneer Stanley Simpson, Mosaic Books has had a few owners through the years and a couple of different locations. Thirteen years into their tenure, Michael and Michele Neill seem to have found a winning formula and location.

The bookstore business certainly has its challenges. When you’re dealing with huge numbers of titles which are constantly changing, a huge database of up to 5 million available titles to order from, a variety of suppliers and publishers plus a sometimes finicky public, it can add up to a big headache. But Neill says he’s getting his ordering down to a science. Using a network of 285 independent book sellers, who make educated guesses and predictions about what’s going to be popular, as well as submitting their weekly sales figures, Neill bases his ordering on the accumulated knowledge of many experienced booksellers/booklovers. “That way I don’t have to have 30,000 sq. ft.,” he says, “ I can be more effective.”

As for what makes his bookstore unique, Michael Neill points to Mosaic’s strong community connections, relationships with local schools, and teacher-librarians, their 3-5 day special ordering service, and their great bargain books department. They recently underwent a bit of an expansion/ layout change which saw the removal of the cafe area, and the incorporation of the bargain books into main body of the store. This move was necessitated by more expensive rent which required “more dollars per square foot,” says Neill. Still, he’s confident about the viability of the bookstore: “ I just signed a 10 year lease.” Books have proven to be a somewhat recession proof item. “It’s cheap entertainment,” he says. As a final note Neill reminds shoppers that buying from local independent businesses keeps more of your dollars circulating within your own community. Christmas books anyone?

Once the meal is prepared, we sit down with another glass of wine (white this time– Deep Creek G2, a blend of Gewurtz and Reisling ) and get to chow down on what we’ve watched Chef Dennis prepare. The salmon in wine reduction sauce is tender and flavourful, the cabbage tastier than cabbage has a right to be, the baby potatoes brown and just slightly spicy, the baked grapes and fennel adding a final touch of the slightly exotic. Chef Dennis discreetly slips away as we eat and chat. After a more than filling and fulfilling meal we get our final treat; a dessert of creme brulee and cheesecake. What more could a woman ask for? Some insightful comments later penned by my group: “You pleased 11 women in one night– well done Dennis!” and “Dennis you rock– can we take you home? Your salmon was so much tastier than the peanut butter toast I made for supper last night.” Hey, we’re all busy moms who don’t often get a gourmet meal prepared for us and not have to do the dishes.

Sadly Chef Dennis Lowen has moved on to other challenges since our evening. Cooking duties at the school and the Vine-Yard restaurant have been taken over by proprietor and manager Scott Wilshaw, the brainchild behind the Producer’s Cookery School. Scott has been working in the restaurant business for over 20 years, mainly in large hotels. As a chef trained in Europe he has also run cookery classes for much of his career. So when he ended up in Peachland a few years ago (he has family connections here) and began leasing the restaurant at Hainle winery from owner Walter Huber, he decided to add on the demonstration kitchen. The lease also includes running the wine shop and wine bar, leaving Huber to concentrate on the vineyards and wine-making.

In his spare time Wilshaw pursues his dream of owning his own small, luxury hotel which will be the eventual home of his restaurant and cookery school. This project looks to be coming into fruition with building on Trepanier Manor expected to begin next summer. Meanwhile he plies his culinary talents at Hainle winery, demonstrating a fusion cuisine by mixing the European style cooking of his early training with a West Coast flair. If you’re looking for an entertaining, educational, and delicious night out, check out the Producer’s Cookery school and experience the “best tastes with the simplest ingredients.”

The Heartnut is just one of many unusual varieties of nuts grown here. Appropriately named, you’ll find a beautiful heart-shaped nut inside. The taste is reminiscent of a walnut but without the bitterness. The Buartnut is another curious nut; a cross between a Heartnut and a Butternut and an original creation of Jack Gellatly, nut breeder extraordinaire.

The Gellatly family didn’t begin as nut farmers. In fact, David Erskine Gellatly, patriarch of the clan, was known as the Potato and Tomato King. Originally from Scotland, he arrived in the Okanagan at the turn of the century. The family purchased 350 acres of waterfront land on the Westside, what’s now known as Gellatly Point, and proceeded to turn it into thriving agricultural land. The fruits and vegetables were shipped all over from their packing house at Gellatly Landing Wharf where the steamships picked up their cargo. The family thrived too with 9 children, including the two eldest sons David and Jack who began the Nut Farm story.

In 1905 the brothers were each given 10 acres of the family homestead. Wanting to try something different, David Jr. began growing nut trees on his parcel of land. Soon he was shipping nut trees all over the world and so began the first commercial nut nursery in Canada.. Brother Jack joined him and together they experimented with crossing trees like the Chinese Chestnut and the Black Walnut with hardier local varieties. Luckily, the boys were very successful in this new enterprise. Things weren’t going so well for their father.

David Sr. encountered a string of bad luck starting with a terrible gale that destroyed the family’s 250 ft commercial greenhouse. In 1920 a fire wiped out his barn, machinery, packing house and dock. Although the fire began aboard the S.S.Sicamus which was docked at Gellatly Landing, the family never received compensation from the C.P.R. who ran the steamship. Financial hardship followed. Unable to make their bank payments, the family had to give up the farm they had worked so hard to build.

The remaining 9.88 acres of nut trees represents a last vestige of the pioneer Gellatly farm. In 1997 when a waterfront development was proposed for the property, neighbors and concerned citizens banded together to try to save it from the bulldozers. Ferne Jean, neice of Jack Gellatly, joined the Gellatly Nut Farm Society and worked tirelessly to preserve the farm, raising public awareness and funds. Their efforts paid off when the Central Okanagan Regional District purchased the property, in May 2002.

Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park opened to the public in 2005, appropriately marking the farm’s 100th anniversary. The park will remain a working nut farm, with ongoing research into rare nut varieties. Visit the Nut Farm on Whitworth Rd off of Gellatly Rd which runs along the Westbank waterfront.

The Summerhill story begins when Cipes, a developer and entrepreneur living in Manhattan, visited the Okanagan with his four sons. On the lookout for a lifestyle and a cleaner, healthier place to raise his kids, Cipes fell in love with the valley. He had also done some research on grape growing and found that Kelowna’s climate and soil were perfectly suited to that purpose. He bought the 65 acre vineyard on Chute Lake Rd. intending to pursue organic farming methods to grow grapes for sparkling wine, a drink of which he had become something of a connoisseur.

The organic part was simple: he didn’t want to expose his children to chemical sprays and didn’t want to contribute to water and air pollution. He also believed that the small, thin-skinned grapes used to make sparkling wine were more susceptible to taste contamination by pesticides.

After beginning the five year process to become certified organic. Cipes next step was to yank up the old, hybrid vines that had been the staple of the BC wine industry up to that time. Cipes visited France and Germany, bringing back cuttings of many of their successful vinifera varietals. The vineyard began producing grapes for other wineries. Their first vintage was produced in 1989 after Jack Davis, winemaster at Schramsberg cellars in California, approached Cipes. Davis, who had also been doing his homework, had discovered the unique properties of the Okanagan valley and believed it would be a great place to produce sparkling wine.

Under the guidance of Davis, and operating out of Cipes’ garage, Summerhill produced its first vintage called Cipes Brut, a sparkling wine which is still one of the winery’s flagship products. Since that time, Summerhill has expanded its wine portfolio considerably and built a beautiful facility, including a wineshop, restaurant and, of course, the pyramid. It is now the most visited winery in Canada, receiving up to 1,000 visitors a day at the height of summer.

Part of the attraction, besides the wine, the food and the view, must be the power of the pyramid. Since the founding of the winery, a small wooden pyramid sat behind Cipes’ garage. It was there for research purposes as some wines were aged in it and some were not. Over the years ongoing taste tests confirmed that wine aged in the pyramid tasted better. These results were enough to convince Cipes to build a larger pyramid as a cellar; a uniquely Summerhillian version of the Champagne caves of France.

Modelled on the Egyptian pyramids of Giza, the Summerhill pyramid was build using the concepts of “sacred geometry,” building methods and ideals of proportion based on mathematical ideas well known in the ancient world. The building seems to have a clarifying effect on liquids. Wine aged in the pyramid is said to be smoother, with enhanced flavours. All Summerhill wines now spend at least one month in the pyramid, some stay there for up to a year. The pyramid has become an integral part of their identity and their winemaking process. And the tourists like it too. Visit the winery and see it for yourself.

Front Street, a short run of colourful older buildings near the downtown core, is the perfect home for this funky cafe. The street has character, the building has character, the cafe has character, the owners have character. Debra Rice and Pierre Couture started the business about six years ago. It began, strangely enough, as an import business: Gypsy Heart Casual Imports, bringing merchandise in from Asia. After the Christmas rush was over, they still had a few months on their lease. “We could do a little cafe,” Pierre suggested. He had been in the restaurant business for many, many years so knew what he was getting into. Debra had a health food background.

They ran their “little cafe” for three years, selling their import items downstairs. They started bringing musicians in, realizing that they could be full on a week night if there was music. Jack Velker and Harry Manx were some of the first performers. “The community loved it,” says Debra, “We had a great response.” But it was a very little cafe, only seating 40 people. In order to survive, they had to get a bigger space. When a building across the street became available, they took the leap. After a major reno and community investment in the form of 50 shareholders, Debra and Pierre opened the new, improved Dream Cafe in July, 2004.

The new cafe was designed with the music and musicians in mind. The small stage is at the centre of the space, with tables circling around in layers, making for good sight lines and acoustics. The decor is suitably eclectic, with large stone Buddhas scattered around, colourful fabrics, wall hangings, pictures, candles, earthy coloured walls, huge dragon and butterfly kites staring down from the ceiling, comfy chairs, books left casually around to be leafed through. There’s a warm and friendly atmosphere here, welcoming. This is probably a result of Pierre’s philosophy of “putting the value on the people, not the money.”

The menu is about as eclectic as the decor, featuring a wide variety of tastes from around the world, showcasing Indian, Thai and Mediterranean flavours. “Very fresh with loads of veggies,” says Debra about their food philosophy. “It’s very simple,” says Pierre, “It’s clean food.”

Debra makes most of the desserts herself, including her legendary cheesecake. “ I have musicians all over the place addicted to my cheesecake,” she says. The Dream Cafe also offers a full bar but as Pierre says “ We don’t push the booze…I don’t like drunks.” Drunks are noisy and, as the SHHH notes on the tables state, the musicians are there to be listened to. The attentive audiences, the addictive cheesecake and Pierre and Debra’s welcoming ways, keep musicians and customers happy and coming back for more.

The Dream Cafe
67 Front St. Penticton
490-9012