KCIC’s Heritage Committee Co Chairs Don Rampone and Gord Hotchkiss are recognized as Outstanding Impact Volunteers by Heritage BC

The Kelowna Canadian Italian Club was recognized by Heritage BC for their work in collecting and preserving the Italian heritage of the Central Okanagan. Don Rampone and Gord Hotchkiss, co-chairs of the La Nostra Famiglia Italiana (Our Italian Family) Committee, both received the Outstanding Impact Volunteer Award at the Heritage BC Awards Ceremony, May 27th in Chilliwack, BC. 

​The Club is currently working on a full schedule of heritage events for this fall, including partnering on a major exhibit with the Okanagan Heritage Museum celebrating 140 years of Italian contribution to the Central Okanagan, a wine tasting event recognizing Italian contributions to the industry and the debut of their Legacy Video series. 

"Heritage BC is pleased to award to Gord Hotchkiss and Don Rampone, Co-Chairs of La Nostra Famiglia Italiana Committee, our Outstanding Impact in Volunteering award", says Britney Dack, Chair of Heritage BC. The storytelling of Italian Canadian pioneer families is an example of community led cultural heritage preservation. The success of the project required exhaustive research and a commendable commitment building community".

For Gord and Don, the recognition is welcome acknowledgment of the importance of preserving these stories: “During these past five years we have written 150 family stories, conducted 32 online family tree workshop sessions, presented 30 public heritage evenings, scanned 2500 documents for our local archives and we have over 60 hours of video interviews for our Legacy video series which is currently in production.  
 
During all of these events and activities we have been rewarded with many connections we have discovered between people, families, places and events.  Being presented with a Heritage BC award is the icing on the cake, that will keep us motivated to continue this project.”

"It is with an immense amount of pleasure that I congratulate Gord Hotchkiss and Don Rampone for this fantastic accomplishment,” adds KCIC President Rosann Nanci. “We are so proud of these two individuals and are so grateful for their dedication to the preservation of Italian Canadian history in the Central Okanagan.

Italian Canadians have made significant contributions to our region for over 140 years, specifically in the areas of agriculture, construction, and winemaking.  Without the diligence of people like Gord and Don, who are painstakingly sifting through less than perfect archives, individual collections that have been relegated to boxes in the garage, or worse; that history would be lost.

The KCIC's mission statement is to preserve our heritage and promote our culture, and I believe these two gentlemen have helped to fulfil that quest.

Mille Grazie!”

For more information about the award or for media inquiries, please contact the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club at [email protected] or call Gord Hotchkiss at 778 484 7100.