Rob Peter
President
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan and moved to Kelowna in 1980. Rob retired from Sun -Rype Products Ltd. in 2004 after 25 years with the company. Most of Rob's career with Sun-Rype involved senior sales and marketing positions. These positions provided a wide range of opportunities including leadership roles in brand management, corporate alliances, new product development and business initiatives into China. Rob has been active in the community by serving as 2nd Vice President Marketing with the Okanagan Sun Football Club for 5 years, past President of the Kelowna Men's Touch Football league and as the Marketing/Media Chair for the 2005 Kelowna Centennial Celebration Committee. Currently, Rob is working as a Marketing Specialist for the European Bank of Reconstruction & Development and as a Mentor for the Community Futures Development Corporation. Rob is also the Media Chair for the 2006 Canada Day celebrations.

David G. Morris
Vice President
David was born in Edmonton, Alberta and raised and educated in British Columbia. With a background in finance and public administration, he has been active in local government, serving as Director of Finance and Municipal Manager in local governments within the Province of British Columbia, since 1971. In 1990, David was appointed Executive Director for Local Government Services Division, with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs in the Province of British Columbia, a position he held until his retirement in 1997.

David and wife Sue relocated to Kelowna 2000, when he established a local government management consulting practice under the name of Suda Management and become an Associate Local Government Advisor to Urban Systems Ltd., to continue his support for local government in the Province.

David has served as Director of the Kelowna Museums Society since 2007.

Bob Groves
Past President
Bob Groves is a lawyer in private practice, having arrived in Kelowna in 1983. In addition to acting as an advocate, Bob is a chartered arbitrator and an accredited mentor. He is a member of the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute and the British Columbia Mediator Roster Society. He is currently a co-chair of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (Okanagan) sub-section of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch, and a part-time lecturer in Law at Okanagan College. He has also served as an executive member of the Kelowna Bar Association for several years, and is a Past President. Bob Groves has been a director with the Kelowna Museums Society since 2003.

Garry L. Filafilo
Treasurer
Garry was born and raised in southern Alberta where he owned an automotive repair facility. Upon moving to Kelowna he attended Okanagan College, where he completed the Business Administration program and received his Chartered Accountant designation in 1993. Garry has spent most of his public practice career providing consulting, accounting and assurance services to a wide range of industries, both large and small. His well-rounded experience ranges from owner-managed businesses to medium sized manufacturers, municipal governments and cooperatives. In industry he has worked as corporate controller for a Canadian ski lift manufacturer and as finance manager for a mining exploration development group. These positions not only developed his entrepreneurial skills, but also have allowed him to be much more aware of the day-to-day needs of the typical owner-manager.

Dale Knowlan
Director
Dale Knowlan was born and raised in Lively, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Honours) in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. Prior to moving to Kelowna with her family, she worked as a Planner for the City for Guelph, Ontario and for the City of Edmonton, Alberta. In 1992 Dale moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver as Project Manager for CN Real Estate for the Bayside Development in Victoria; three years later she and her family moved to Kelowna where she signed on as Project Manager for Canada Lands Company. Dale is responsible for the management of Brandt's Creek Crossing and other Canada Lands' properties in the Kelowna area. Dale served as a Director of the Downtown Kelowna Association between 1998 and 2003, and as President of the DKA in 2000. In 2001, Dale completed the Diploma Course in Urban Land Economics at the University of British Columbia. In 2003, Dale became a Director and Treasurer on the Board of the Kelowna Museums Society.

Tom Wolf
Director/ OMMS

Laurie Mills
Director
Laurie Mills is the founder of Lighthouse Professional Development Consulting Services, bringing together her knowledge and expertise as a Professional Coach, H.R. Practitioner, and Learning Facilitator. Since 1986, she has worked and studied in the field of employment development and people management with a passion for building workplaces that nurture talent, embrace diversity and support lifelong learning.

Julia Trops
Director
Julia Trops was born and raised in Calgary Alberta. After a 12 year career in the Canadian Air Force, which included a peacekeeping tour in the Middle East, Julia returned to University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Great Distinction) from the University of Lethbridge in 2001. She moved to Kelowna that same year, and has been a proud resident artist of the Rotary Centre for the Arts since its opening in 2002. Julia is a founding member of Livessence Society for Figurative Artists and Models, and is an active participant in the arts community and the Cultural District.

Donna Senese
Director
Professor, UBC Okanagan
Donna completed her MA at Sir Wilfred Laurier and her PhD at the University of Waterloo. Current research interest include: Tourism, Parks and Protected Areas; Landscapes of Wine: Ecumene, Iconography and Cultural Diffusion Wine, Food and Agriculture: Commodified Conceptions of Rurality; Hazards, Gender and Vulnerability.
Over the years Donna has enjoyed the research support of a wide range of agencies including - Parks Canada: The South Okanagan Lower Similkameen National Park Feasibility Study and the Regional Tourism Industry: The Potential for Strategic Alliances in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen Region of British Columbia; SSHRC Aid to Small Universities: Terroirism and Winescape Iconography of the Okanagan (with Bernard Momer); UBCO Grant in Aid Fund: Terroirism Defined: Wine Ecumene meets a globalized tourism industry in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia (with Bernard Momer).

Paul Seguna
Director/ OMMS
Canadian Armed Forces.
Born in Sydney, Australia, Paul Seguna has resided in Canada since 1974. He has served continuously in the Canadian Forces since that year, in both the reserves and regular force, as a naval rating and Naval and Public Affairs Officer. His career includes service at sea and overseas in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo in addition to various public affairs positions within Canada. He also served during domestic military operations related to the Manitoba Flood, the Great Ice Storm, and BC forest fire emergencies in 1998 and 2003. He was recently appointed as the Reserve Advisor within the Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs) organization at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, acting as the senior Reserve Public Affairs Officer in the Canadian Forces. In his civilian career, Paul is the Senior Consultant for Corpen Group, a Calgary based communications firm specializing in critical communications in support of contingency communications planning and training in the corporate and government sector. He created and maintains the Okanagan Military Museum website (www.okmilmuseum.ca). Paul resides with his wife Beverley in Lavington, BC, just outside Vernon.

Board member representing the Okanagan Military Museum Society

Howard Hisdal
Director/ OMMS
Howard came from Yarrow, BC, and graduated from the Royal Military College in 1976 with a BA in history. He served as an infantry officer in the Third Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry until going to the University of British Columbia to become a high school social studies teacher. He taught for five years in Grand Forks then went to Ottawa where he met and married Dana, another Westerner, at Carleton University. He taught in the Ottawa area and completed an MA in Canadian history in 1994 specializing in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. In August 1994 he moved to Kelowna. In 1996 he joined the British Columbia Dragoons and retrained as an armoured officer. Howard teaches history courses on Ancient Civilizations, Medieval Europe, the Twentieth Century, and Canada at Okanagan College. He is also the archivist for the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay. With two daughters, Anna, three and Sarah, two, Howard stays active. Howard has five years of service on the Okanagan Military Museum Society Board.

Sandra Kochan
Director/ City Representative
Sandra Kochan is the Cultural Services Manager for the City of Kelowna. Her professional background includes nearly 10 years as a practicing lawyer and 12 years in the wine industry as an owner-operator and marketing director. Her career with the city started with the coordination of the thriving public art program and also included strategic planning and community consultations for a Recreation, Parks & Culture Master Plan. After 26 years in the Okanagan Valley, she considers herself to be firmly rooted in place, drought tolerant and reasonably winter hardy.