Sicamous brothers Greg and Todd Kyllo and their families established the “Kyllo Family Endowment Fund” in March 2015 to support non-profit efforts in the Sicamous area. When Foundation Director Rod Bailey laid out the benefits, they immediately recognized that their own desire to leave a legacy and support the great needs of their community could be realized with the establishment of such a fund. To quote Greg,” I like the principles of the Foundation and feel it is well organized.”
Todd and Greg moved to Sicamous with their family in 1978, when their dad gained employment working on the Revelstoke Dam. Both graduated from Eagle River High School. Greg and Georgina, and Todd and Jolayna started working in the Sicamous-based family houseboat rental business, Twin Anchors, in 1987 and 1994 respectively. In1994 the manufacturing division was established, designing and building house boats, and in 2005, another division, Twin Anchors Structures, was incorporated, focused on the construction of relocatable office, camp, and modular structures largely deployed in the oil and gas, mining, forestry and construction industries.
Greg has served on Sicamous Council and as Deputy Mayor, and in May of 2013 he was elected as the Member of the BC Legislative Assembly for Shuswap. The decision to enter provincial politics was not an easy one because of the changes it meant for the family, especially the increased time away from home, but Greg acknowledges, “It is a great privilege to serve and help our province.”
Greg and Georgina have four daughters and are now enchanted by four granddaughters. Greg enjoys snowboarding, motorcycling and snowmobiling while Georgina’s passion is Yoga. Georgina and three of her daughters opened a Yoga Studio in Sicamous in 2013 — remarking cheekily that she needed the Zen of yoga to help balance out the effects of politics on the family. One of the highlights of Georgina’s yoga journey included leading Premier Clark and the BC Government Caucus in an outdoor yoga session last year.
Todd attended Mount Royal College in Calgary to study business administration and human resources and met his wife Jolayna during this time. They moved to Sicamous in 1994 to help run the Twin Anchors business and over the years Todd has been involved in all aspects of the houseboat vacation and manufacturing divisions. Todd has been on various boards and committees and is now a councillor for the District of Sicamous. Jolayna has always worked in the business, but took time off to raise their three daughters when they were young, and now runs the gift shop for Twin Anchors Houseboat Vacations. Todd and Jolayna and their daughters enjoy skiing at Silver Star, boating on Shuswap Lake as well as softball, dance, volleyball, biking, flying, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. They consider themselves very fortunate to be able to enjoy all the amenities that the Shuswap has to offer.
Through their business experience and public service both locally and provincially, the Kyllo family understands the interconnection of business and community. They also recognize overall community needs to maintain vibrancy and quality of life. With the establishment of the Kyllo Family Endowment Fund this family lives the description of philanthropy used by the Community Foundations of Canada:
“Your community makes you and you make your community.”
