Northwest Kitchen Centre started more than 40 years ago, has been sold multiple times, and now has a new couple at the helm after the previous owners moved across the country.

Nick and Brooke Bandstra are the newest kids on the block, and are making a splash in the industry.

Nick, who has a background in carpentry, and Brooke, who went to school for marketing, have been married for 12 years, have four children together, and decided to buy Northwest Kitchen Centre when it went up for sale earlier this year.

The thought of marinating their passions together and owning their own business seemed like a great opportunity and a good fit for their family.

The shop strives to make people’s homes a space where family and friends come to gather with the durability and functionality for everyday life.

While they focus on kitchens and bathrooms, they are also known to create other custom furniture. They have installed kitchens from as far west as Kitimat to as far east as Burns Lake.

The couple, who were both born and raised in Smithers, knows the importance of community.

They shop here, their kids go to school and participate in activities here, and they have been known to stay-cation.

Research has shown that locally owned businesses circulate more dollars in the community compared to multinational organizations.

Local businesses have owners who live and provide jobs in the community. They provide more support for local events, sports teams, and charities, and are more likely to buy local services and stock local products.

Spending with a local business has ripple effects that contribute to the growth and health of the communities in B.C.

Most of Northwest Kitchen Centre’s products and supplies are sourced within the province and as close to home as possible. Not only do the high and ever-rising shipping costs make this necessary, but the Bandstras understand how critical it is to support their neighbours, and they aim to circulate their money as locally as possible.

While there are challenges and unknowns associated with buying a business, there are a lot of opportunities, perks, and benefits, they said.

“When a client’s happy, once you’ve installed their kitchen and they’re happy with it, that’s because you’ve done your job, there is a sense of accomplishment,” Nick explained.

Brooke echoed his optimism.

“So far, it’s just been fun,” she said. “It’s fun working with customers and designing, and bringing their vision to life.”

They have one employee, who was an owner of the business at one point, and who they say is the heart of operations. For now, they don’t want to stir the pot and are keeping things running as they were previously, before thinking about changing anything.

You can visit them at their storefront on Tatlow, check out the beautiful kitchen displays, and have them help make your renovation dreams come true.

The tallest known tree on planet Earth today is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) known as “Hyperion” which has been measured as reaching 116 metres.

Redwoods grow in a humid, maritime climate and are often bathed in fog clouds coming off the Pacific Ocean along the west coast of southern Oregon and northern California. Obtaining enough water is not a big problem for them.

Studies on tree heights suggest that really tall trees peak at between 100 and 130 metres (330 to 426 feet). The maximum height possible is largely determined by gravity and the availability of water.

When we visited friends in Tasmania, we were very surprised to learn that the second-tallest tree then known in the world was in Tasmania – a spectacular individual of Eucalyptus regnans (mountain ash) known as “Centurion.” 

We think of Australia as being hot and dry, but Tassie can be wet and cool – the right conditions for tall trees to live in. Centurion is no longer the second-tallest because it lost 4 metres in a forest canopy wildfire and is now listed as the seventh tallest.

The second tallest is a South Tibetan cypress (Cupressus austrotibetica) growing in Tibet measuring 102.3 metres tall and the 3rd tallest tree is a Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) growing in California that measures 100.2 metres tall.

Number 4 is a Coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) at 99.5 metres tall growing in Oregon. Some people believe that there used to be taller Douglas fir trees growing in B.C. in Lynn Valley and in Washington, but they were cut down.

A noble fir (Abies procera) near Mt. St. Helens was 99 m tall but was levelled by the 1980 explosive eruption.

Note: The information on tree heights is from Wikipedia, but I could not find the date the trees were measured, so it is possible the list may have changed.

In some areas of Canada, the snow is already on the ground, while in places with mild temperatures, the roads are bare, but black ice can become a winter driving hazard.

Take time to prepare for winter travel to avoid an unexpected walk in a winter wonderland.

How much do you know about winter driving and other forms of winter transportation? Put your knowledge to the test with these 10 questions.

Good luck.

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Last winter AAA Marine owner Frank Hillier teamed up with fellow Tappen resident and longtime friend Mike Hall of Rust Valley Restorers fame to host a turkey giveaway at the downtown Askew’s in Salmon Arm. Hillier estimates the two of them handed out 350 turkeys, some of which went to the Second Harvest and Salvation Army food banks along with cash donations made during the event.

In years prior, Hillier said he and Hall would donate to the local radio station turkey drive.

“We always challenged each other on the radio for turkeys every year,” said Hillier. “It started off at 25, 30 and then next thing we’re up to 150.”

Last year the duo decided to take the wheel of their own turkey drive, each buying 150 turkeys to give away from the Askew’s parking lot. Hillier said Askew’s donated additional turkeys for the event, as well as baked goods and coffee.

“If somebody could afford to buy the turkey, great, they donated the cash right there for Second Harvest or the Salvation Army, and if they couldn’t and they needed a turkey, we gave them a free turkey,” said Hillier, noting one person who took a turkey gave a $100 donation.

While there hadn’t originally been plans to make it an annual event, Hillier and Hall were so impressed and inspired by last year’s, they decided to do it again, with this year’s drive taking place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the downtown Askew’s on Saturday, Dec. 20.

“We have close to 600 turkeys this year…,” said Hillier, explaining Askew’s is again donating along with a number of sponsors. “If there are businesses out there that want to jump in and hand some turkeys out themselves or something like that – there’s some big companies in town – we would love to have them,” said Hillier.

Donations for the local food banks will also be accepted.

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The ceremony began at the Legion, where parade participants marched to the cenotaph for the ceremony, then back to the Legion for an optional celebratory toast.

At 11 a.m. attendees bowed their heads for two minutes of silence. Many could be observed wearing the symbolic poppy in honour of those who sacrificed their lives for Canada.

Padre Douglas Campbell reflected on the history of Remembrance Day during the ceremony.

“On the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, World War One, hostility ceased, deafening. Sounds of conflict were replaced by a very eerie silence. It was in those moments between the sounds of dying and the cries of relief that we were faced with all we had done.

“All we had lost and all we had sacrificed, and in that silence, we were confronted with the truth so obvious and so terrifying that we swore we would never take up arms again. This was the birthplace of Remembrance Day, and we vowed never to forget.”

Campbell thanked everyone for coming together in community at this hour in silence once more to remember the fallen and those who served in uniform, and to reflect on the anguish of families who endured forced separation and the greater grief of those separations made permanent.

“I had a dream some months ago, and share with you today that vision of 100,000 candles, all lit, each one representing a Canadian soldier who died in World War One and World War Two. To put that loss into perspective, imagine, if you will, individuals or families pausing today, holding a lit candle and reflecting for a few moments in the sacrifice of the soldier who died in conflict.

“Extinguish the candle and feel the loss, relight the candle in gratitude, recognition and confidence that the soul of our country is always aflame after that reverent moment, consider that if every single citizen in the town of Smithers so honoured the 100,000 who gave their lives, every man, woman and child would need to light 19 candles so not one would be forgotten.”

“The enormity of it all compels us to remember, if we do so with intention, the supreme sacrifice of those 100,000 fallen Canadians can be a profound, present-tense moment. They died for us, for their houses, their families, their friends, for a wealth of values and traditions they cherished as part of a future in which they believed they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national conscience, in short, our future and how we live.”

He ended his message with the Lord’s Prayer.

Local organizations and family members of fallen soldiers laid down commemorative wreaths dressed with poppies and a purple ribbon. These included RCMP, Smithers Firefighters, Emergency Support Services, and B.C. Paramedics and Ambulance Service among many others.

Football in Canada has a long history, and the Grey Cup has been in place since 1909.

The game is unique to Canada and has some important differences from U.S. or Australian football.

How much do you know about football as it is enjoyed in Canada? Put your knowledge to the test with these 10 questions.

Good luck.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Niall McGarvey, Township Assistant Manager of Parks, Design, and Development told visitors how it appeared the sapling might not survive its trip to Canada in 2017, when it was donated as a living memorial to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

A resilient oak tree from Vimy Ridge was replanted for Remembrance Day at the Walk to Remember memorial for Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/eKvcge1yUq

— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) November 11, 2025

“It had been in a shipping container for a week, coming from Ontario, and it had been 35 degrees and hadn’t seen the light of day for a week,” McGarvey explained.

“So when we got possession of it, the thing was was almost dead, and it had a couple of leaves left on it that were just ready to drop. So we put it in the ground, we did the photo op, and none of us really had any idea that it was going to live.”

After a long wait, just as he was preparing to ask for a replacement, McGarvey made one last visit to Derek Doubleday to check on the oak.

“There was a little green nub that had just pushed its way out. And so we said, ‘hold on a minute’ and we left it.”

Now a healthy 10-foot-tall English oak, the tree was relocated in time for Remembrance Day, to a landscaped setting that mimics the rolling terrain of the torn-up First World War battlefields of Belgium and France. Work on the landscaping was finished the day before Remembrance Day.

“I think it was very fitting that it [the sapling] fought to survive under difficult conditions,” McGarvey commented.

“It was the resilience and the toughness of Canadian soldiers that turned the tide of that battle, which in the end turned the tide of that war.”

The volunteer project was funded with contributions from the Rotary Club, Langley Foundation and the Royal Canadian Legion Aldergrove branch

For a third year, Joan Richmond attended the memorial to give a public presentation paying tribute to one of the soldiers named on the Walk to Remember.

“We pick a name at random to highlight each year and just try to keep up the tributes and honours and memories,” Richmond said.

This year, she spoke about Cpl. (Bombardier) Myles Mansell, 25, a reservist from Victoria with the 5th (British Columbia) Field Regiment, who died in April 2006 in Afghanistan near Gumbad, about 75 kilometres north of Kandahar. He was one of four Canadians killed when an improvised explosive device destroyed an enamoured vehicle.

Richmond was among more than 70 people who dropped by the Walk to Remember for a quiet Remembrance Day moment.

Murrayville resident Mike Gore has been attending the low-key event for the last six years.

“It’s quieter,” Gore remarked.

“We’ve been to some others that have sort of outgrown us. It’s nice to come here. It’s very solemn.”

Aurora Borealis, known as northern lights was witnessed by Kelowna and Lake Country residents on Nov. 11.

While the lights were faint in some places, it was more prominent in others. In some places, the lights couldn’t be seen to the naked eye but could be seen through a phone camera.

According to the National Oceanic and Atomspheric Administration (NOAA), the northern lights could be visible again on Wednesday night and possibily Thursday night as well.

If you have any photos of the northern lights you would like to share, send them to editor@kelownacapnews.com.

On Nov. 11, Canadians will attend Remembrance Day ceremonies to honour those who served and died in wars and military actions.

In honour of the day, here are some questions about wars that have occurred since Confederation, and the toll taken as a result of war.

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That moment — after four years of construction, 20,000 kilometres of track and six years ahead of schedule — marked the uniting of Canada coast to coast in its early days as a nation.

According to local historian Doug Mayer, who’s heavily involved with the Revelstoke Railway Museum and Revelstoke Model Train Club, “the completion of the railway was a big deal for the City of Revelstoke.”

Not only might the town not still exist today if it weren’t for the CPR, Revelstoke benefitted as an instrumental hub for maintenance, repair and dispatch for a 250-mile division from Kamloops to Field.

“Revelstoke is considered to be a very important location on the railway by upper management,” Mayer wrote by email. “Many times over the years, special events were organized to take place here.”

Tom Parkin, who grew up in Revelstoke and worked for the CPR in his summers before becoming a Parks Canada biologist and Canadian railway historian, emphasized that “the railway’s significance is still national.”

Shortly after the driving of the last spike, “they did carry the dignitaries in an official train all the way to the coast,” he said, adding military supplies were also delivered from Halifax to Esquimalt via the new CPR.

One painting by C.W. Jeffreys depicts Prime Minister John A. Macdonald standing on the exterior platform of a train in 1886, passing through the Rockies and Columbia Mountains with a peak penetrating the background. Parkin identified this as Mount Sir Donald in Glacier National Park.

However, the CPR experienced closures early on in areas such as Rogers Pass, due to a lack of infrastructure for excavating deep snow, he noted.

Parkin recently became the first Canadian to earn the David P. Morgan Article Award from the U.S. Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, for a series he wrote about a forgotten quarry that supplied stone for CPR construction and memorials.

One site he researched, a sturdy stone archway at Cascade Creek in Glacier’s east end, became a point of fascination when Parkin collected an engineer’s notebook detailing the construction process over seven or eight years.

“It’s withstood avalanches for 127 years,” he remarked of the archway, which today is difficult to access due to the original trail no longer being maintained.

While Revelstoke’s railway-scape is nearly unrecognizable now from a century ago, Parkin said the city remains a prime site for enthusiasts to admire trains.

“The way the town has evolved is a pleasure for me to see, even as a rail fan,” he said. “The significance of our two national railways (CPKC and CN Rail), I think, is diminished in the public domain. Railways are critically important to the economy of the country.”

Moreover, Rogers Pass — one of the CPR’s most challenging stretches for locomotives to traverse — remains decorated with names of key railroaders.

The pass itself was named for railway surveyor Major Albert Bowman Rogers, who helped first find it, while the one-mile Mount Shaughnessy Tunnel took the name of Thomas Shaughnessy, a mastermind behind the railway. Railway general manager William Cornelius Van Horne, an early proponent for forging a direct route through the Selkirk Mountains, is commemorated today by the Van Horne Range not far away near Field.

“Many of the engineers who built the railway have locations on the railway that are named for them,” Mayer said. “There are far too many to list.”

Fifty kilometres west at Craigellachie, where the Last Spike monument was expanded and moved slightly following the CPR’s centennial celebration in 1985, the site today displays a large plinth with rocks from every Canadian province, Mayer described. The monument continues to be restored in partnership with the Revelstoke Railway Museum.

Ten years from now, Mayer said it’s quite likely CPKC will throw a special 150th anniversary celebration at Craigellachie for the Last Spike.