George Ewing could be described as a guy who can do pretty much anything he puts his mind to, a guy who can decide what he wants, envision the finished product and then make it a reality.

His most challenging "vision" to date has to involve the buildings on the corner of Fitzwilliam and Wallace, home of New York Pizza and several other businesses including his own Gates and Gifts showroom.

These buildings definitely reflect Nanaimo's history but a few years ago to the average eye they looked like they would soon become history themselves. For most of us the question was would they fall down on their own or be torn down to make room for a condo building.

But it turns out that wasn't George's vision and he didn't let that happen.

When he was 18, George bought and renovated his first house. He started his first business restoring classic cars a year later. The business did very well but then, just as he was beginning to realize the part he liked most was fabricating metal to make fenders or doors that could no longer be found, his mother's house was broken into.

To help ease her fears, George made her a metal security gate featuring a sunshine and mountain theme. The gift made his mother feel a lot better but it also changed his life.

When his mother's neighbours began ordering similar security gates, it became obvious the demand was there. George the classic car restorer passed on and George the metal fabricator was born and, with his wife, Laura’s support, the business became more and more successful.

So George's decision to do a small thing to help his mother led to a huge positive change in his life and years later it led to an historic corner in Nanaimo being saved from destruction. Small things sure can make a big difference.

I first met George and Laura six years ago when they opened their showroom in one of the really old, shaky old buildings on that historic corner.

A year and a half ago, we began to see major renovations being made; renovations that looked like these buildings were going to be saved from destruction.

That's when I learned that George and Laure had bought them and that George was in the process of replacing the 12 by 12 inch timbers that had been the foundations for the smaller buildings with steel and cement foundations.

These buildings are definitely here to stay for decades if not another hundred years.

If you haven't seen the changes on the corner, do yourself a favour and drop by. George and Laura are usually in their Gates and Gifts shop on Fridays. You can thank them for their gift to the city and I guarantee you’ll enjoy the visit. It's hard not to like Hidden Heroes.