Most readers will know that Gray served nine years as Mayor of Kelowna. While he is proud of what he was able to achieve in those nine years he is quick to credit the hard working council and city staff. If there is anything he misses about the job of Mayor, it is the people. The ones that he worked with as well as the ones he was privileged to meet because of his position.
    His first love and deepest passion is for his large family. He now has the time to concentrate on all of them. His wife of 42 years, Doreen, is, he says, “an absolutely perfect grandmother. If there was an award for Grandmothers, it would have to go to her.”  Their four adult offspring and 11, soon to be 12, grandchildren all reside in Kelowna. He laughs as he relates that one of the perks of his life now is being able to attend a child’s birthday party an average of once a month. The Gray’s have recently downsized from their large family home to a townhouse and purchased a summer home four kilometers north of Fintry.                                                                                      The other “strong love affair” that persists for Gray is Kelowna. He said he saw a “great opportunity for his parents and moved them here” from Victoria when he was a child of six years, and “I’m glad I did. I’ve been active in the community all of my life. I just thought that’s what people were supposed to do. Life’s greatest reward is in doing things for other people. You’re the one that benefits because it makes you feel so good. It’s just magical.”  On Kelowna’s growth the former mayor says we have to refocus our priorities and at the top of the list should be affordable housing as well housing the homeless. Kelowna’s cost of housing is the third highest in the world when compared with earned income. “Children born here won’t be able to afford to live here."
    Since leaving the Mayor’s seat Gray has been appointed to three Boards as a Director: Sun Country Cablevision, Fortis BC and the BC Lottery Corporation. He has been a tireless fund raiser for organizations such as Hospice House. The campaign has raised 3.7 million dollars toward the building of a 24 bed stand alone facility that will be built on the historic Bennett family property. Part of that campaign was the famous calendar, which he is proud to say, raised about $100,000.00 for the project. Gray is pictured on the cover with several “nude” senior females. All were tastefully photographed to appear nude. I suspect it has become something of a collectors’ item.
    Gray also remains a supporter of the arts and cultural community. He and Doreen were both honourary chairs of Pirouette, Ballet Kelowna’s new signature fundraising event that was held on February 8. It was, he says, a $250.00 a plate dinner and “the social event of the year”, which raised $169,000.00 toward the growth and development of the ballet company. The group hopes to establish itself as a world class ballet company. They also want to make ballet accessible to smaller communities in B.C. and to that end, the six dancers that make up the five year old company are presently on a tour of B.C.
    Gray began his career in radio as a teen-age disc jockey with a show called “Make It or Break It.” He would spin 78’s and 45’s from new artists and the listeners would call in and say whether or not the record would make it. If they said “break it” – he did! He went on from there to owning and managing, then selling several radio stations. Now Gray is “re-launching that radio career” and has applied, on behalf of Sun Country Cablevision to the CRTC for a new FM station licence in Kelowna. If successful, it will be the only locally owned and operated radio station. Its format will be classic rock along with local content and a commitment to emerging Canadian artists. Gray will be at the helm to get it up and running if the bid for a licence is successful. A true circle of life. 

Donna Duke, Act III