Wine and chocolate for Valentine’s Day
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, The Westside Wine Trail’s Sip With Your Sweetheart returns Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
Bring along your sweetheart, your friends or family and check out the 13 Westside wineries that will be offering wine tastings paired with chocolate.
The tastings are complimentary with a free ticket people can reserve online from Eventbrite.ca.
Some of the pairings include Beaumont Winery’s Afterglow Rosé paired with white chocolate Oreo popcorn, Off the Grid’s Ever After Rosé paired with a chocolate cinnamon heart tart,
Volcanic Hills’ 2019 Lapilli fortified cherry wine paired with Bliss Bakery’s chocolate toffee nut bars and Niche Wine Co.’s Farmhouse Pinot Noir paired with Earl Grey ganache chocolates from Sandrine’s French Pastry and Chocolate.
For more information and see a complete list of participating wineries, go online to thewestsidewinetrail.com.
Valentine’s dinner at Mission Hill
Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Mission Hill Winery with a fourcourse dinner prepared by Executive Chef Patrick Gayler and his team, paired with Mission Hill wines.
The evening starts at 6 p.m. with a private reception including a welcome wine and canapés. A bottle of Mission Hill’s Brut paired with Karat chocolate for two to take home finishes off the romantic evening. Register online at missionhillwinery.com.
Business After Hours on Thursday
The Greater Westside Board of Trade’s February Business After Hours networking event has moved dates and venue. The event will go from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Wings West Kelowna.
Tickets cost $10 for members and $20 for non-members. Register online at gwboardoftrade.com.
Love in the air at Ad Lib Gallery
Love Is In The Air at West Kelowna’s Ad Lib Gallery Sunday from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Claudia Cargill, a multidisciplinary artist, and her husband,
Jim, will ignite guests’ senses with a Touch of Austria in the gallery’s quaint arts setting with an ambiance of flowers, fine linen and chinaware.
Toast to love and enjoy a live piano performance. Be treated to storytelling about the selection of music based on the theme of love.
Savour the chocolate Viennese Sachertore and imported Viennese coffee with European dark chocolate.
Reservations required in advance by calling 250-768-1404 or email claudia.kargl@telus.net. Ad Lib Gallery is located at 3063 Bridlehill Dr.
Paint your own spirit animal
Local Metis artist Louise Lambert of Wine Country Studios is offering Create your Spirit Animal workshops Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
During the two-to-two-and-ahalf-hour workshop, participants will journey through a guided mediation to uncover their spirit animal and then create their own interpretation of that animal under Lambert’s gentle coaching.
People can have as many as seven different spirit animals during their lifetime.
No experience with painting or drawing required. For more information, go online to winecountrystudios.ca.
Original Joe’s boosts food banks
Dozens of food banks will receive a boost in support this month, thanks to Original Joe’s Jolly Beer Month campaign, which raised $100,000 to support those in need.
Original Joe’s Jolly Beer Month, which began to help the growing number of Western Canadians turning to food banks, ran at more than 50
Original Joe’s Restaurant and Bar locations in December, including the Westbank location.
For every 18- or 22-ounce OJ’s Blonde Lager beer purchased, Original Joe’s donated $3 to food banks in those regions. Money raised at each location stayed in those communities.
The $100,000 donation will be shared among 41 food banks.
Jolly Beer Month is Original Joe’s most recent campaign to support those facing food insecurity. Between 2014 and 2020, Original Joe’s and Mealshare provided more than 450,000 meals to youth in Western Canada and supported local food banks through the Community Pint program.
With Jolly Beer Month’s $100,000 donation, Original
Joe’s has raised approximately $700,000 to provide food for Western Canadians.
Barb Aguiar’s business column appears every two weeks. Call 250-768-0129 or email westsidebusiness@telus.net.