Kelowna Home Show organizer Rick Young wants everyone to know the Olympic gold medal men‘s hockey game will be on a Jumbotron at the show today.
“We were seriously affected by the semifinal (in which Canada beat Slovakia) on Friday night,” he said on Saturday. “So I want to let people know they can still come to the home show and not miss the game.”
The puck drops at noon for the gold-medal Canada vs. U.S. game, and virtually everyone in Kelowna and the country is expected to be watching on TV.
Dressed in red and being glued to the TV at home or in a pub is not good for a consumer show like the Kelowna Home Show at Prospera Place, but Young is making the best of it.
“It‘s during the most important game of the Olympics, the Canadians are in it and there‘s also a recession on,” said Young of Show Work.
“What can I do but wear my hockey jersey (he has a signed Roberto Luongo jersey) and put it up on Jumbotron on all four sides (of the huge time clock at Prospera Place).”
People can even sit down to watch in one of Prospera‘s 6,000 seats.
Many of the 145 exhibitors are also going to have the game showing on big flat-screen TVs at their booths.
The show, which is in Kelowna for an eleventh straight year, usually sees 8,000 people attend over three days.
Young wouldn‘t even hazard a guess as to what the attendance will be this year with the Olympic and economic impact.
“However, we are the first show of the season in Kelowna and it comes at a time when there is pent-up demand after the winter and people are ready to build and renovate and decorate,” he said.
The show certainly has tons of ideas, displays and demonstrations both for the home and not for the home.
For the home there‘s flooring, window coverings, decking, countertops, fireplaces, paint, log homes, alarms, hot tubs, pools, heating
and air conditioning and water softeners.
“I‘ve sold a lot today,” said Chris Penkoff of Redferm Enterprises, who was manning the ThunderHead shower head booth.
“This technology was originally invented by a farmer who had low water pressure. We‘ve made it into a big spa shower head that has great water pressure, but actually conserves water.”
ThunderHead usually costs $150 on the backplus.com website, but is for sale at the show for $100.
The non-home exhibitors cover everything from chiropractors, an oxygen bar, skin cream, supplements, weight loss and fitness equipment.
“I find the home show good to promote my duty free shop because there‘s lots of people and you can talk to them one-on-one,” said Cameron Bissonnette, the owner of the Osoyoos Duty Free Shop.
“A lot of Canadians don‘t know that they can shop at the store on their way into the U.S. and save money, whether they consume it in the U.S. or bring it back into Canada.”
Household Hints 1, 2 and 3 author Reena Nerbas will be holding seminars at the show at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. today.
“The message I‘m getting across is that you don‘t have to go out and buy expensive products when you have stuff around the house that can do so many jobs,” she said.
“For instance, use ketchup to clean copper and brass; mayonnaise gets water marks off wood; baking soda and borax can be used to clean almost everything; and vinegar is an all-purpose cleaner that can also be used to ease sunburn.”
Show Work also puts on home shows in Calgary and Edmonton.
The Kelowna show continues today from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission costs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and youth, and kids aged 12 and under are free.
