Bruce Richman's name has been entered in the Neighbourhood Heroes draw to win a spa weekend getaway for two and you could get your name in the draw too. All you have to do is nominate someone you know as a Neighbourhood Hero and you could be a winner.

You'll find Neighbourhood Heroes everywhere; among your friends, neighbours, teachers, coaches, workmates and family members for instance. How many of you have had parents, grandparents, siblings or children who are Neighbourhood Heroes? Every one of you, I would suggest.

We define Neighbourhood Heroes as ordinary people who have done simple things any one of us could do, things that have made a positive difference in their own life or the lives of people around them; people who, in short, are good, everyday role models for us all.

Somehow we often seem to overlook these people. My theory is that we are surrounded by so many of them, they become ordinary, unnoticed, and in today's world, we tend to notice the extra ordinary; those few people who are a definite negative influence.

I know how easy it is to miss stories about these people. I almost missed one last week when I met Bruce Richman at a dinner party and he told me about his father and a Portuguese gardener.

I thought it was a great story but, with other things going on, I didn't give it another thought until the next day when I suddenly realized I'd like to tell the story in this column.

Bruce's dad was the Park Superintendent in Sooke and a man who liked to entertain, usually in his big, beautiful garden that he maintained with help from a little educated Portuguese man who worked with the parks department.

"These two would sweat buckets working on that garden preparing for these parties," Bruce told me. "Although I can't remember the gardener's name, I do remember the two of them sitting down in the shade when they were finished and Dad asking me to get them a couple of beers. They really seemed to enjoy each other's company."

At these parties Mr. Richman hosted the elite of Sooke and various other cities around the lower Island, friends he made through his work and other social contacts. The gardener never attended.

In his early eighties, Mr. Richman had a stroke and spent the last months of his life in hospital unable to speak. Who do you think was there everyday to keep him company ... and who wasn't?

Although he can't remember his name, Bruce Richman clearly remembers what that gardener did for his father and that's why he nominated him as today's Neighbourhood Hero.

Here's another similar story. When author, James A. Mitchner, was a lonely, isolated, nine year-old orphan boy, he was befriended by a garbage man who every week during his rounds took time to visit with him. Near the end of his life, Mitchner said that he had met every American president since his first novel was published, many kings and queens and dozens of multi-millionaires, but the person that had the most affect on his life, he said, was that garbage man who took the time to talk to him every week.

Who are the gardeners and garbage men in your life? Nominate them as a Neighbourhood Hero and you could be the winner of a:

Tauca Lea By the Sea SPA WEEKEND GETAWAY Your weekend will include: two nights accommodation for two in a one bedroom suite with fireplace, one three course spa cuisine dinner, one advanced Facial and one Aromatherapy Massage - Some restrictions may apply.