Open letter to the people of Kelowna and the Okanagan:
I am writing to share an expression of gratitude I received from our friend, Brian Scott, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
When Brian learned that my family and I were in Kelowna to help me settle in as I begin my first year at UBCO, he wrote to express a long overdue "thank you" to the the people of the Okanagan.
When Brian was a boy in Belfast during the period of rations following WW II, the people of the Okanagan sent his elementary school and many schools in the UK fresh Okanagan apples. To this day he remembers, with great delight, the joy he felt upon being told he could choose two shiny apples to take home with him to his family. They hadn't seen an apple since the war began.
So, through me, he wishes to say thank you to you and your parents and grandparents for this great act of kindness. It warmed his heart and the hearts of everyone who received that generous gift.
If you are so inclined, you can listen to Brian's own words of gratitude on Saturday, September 5 at 9 a.m on BBC 4.
Samara Prupas, UBCO, Arts
and Uncle Lorne Prupas