Neighbourhood Heroes are average people who have done things that other overage people could also do, things that have made a difference in their own life or the lives of others.

Sometimes Neighbourhood Heroes are well known "average people".

As a child, today's "Neighbourhood Hero" spent two summers with his grandparents in Aberdeen, Scotland. His grandfather owned 3 butcher shops and hired other people to sell meat door-to-door from a small fleet of vans. Every Friday during those summers, the little boy would watch his grandfather as he sat in his wingback chair in front of the fire, brown pay envelopes on his lap and piles of money spread around him on the floor.

"I can't say for sure" he says now, "but whenever I think of my grandfather, that's the image I see. I guess that has motivated me all my life. I must always have believed that someday, when I grew up, I too would hand out pay cheques to my employees."

But he didn't "grow up" quickly. Although he always worked hard, when he worked, he definitely wasn't focused on building a career. His first paying job saw him selling himself as a house painter ... until he had gathered a little stash of money. Then, he'd lay back, drink a few beers, smoke cigarettes and do other things people did in the 60's and 70's. When the money ran out, he'd go back and paint a few more houses.

His next job was in the military but that didn't last long. "I just couldn't conform," he says now.

Back on civy street and needing some immediate cash, he took what he thought was a "dead end" job at Mr. Mike's in Victoria and soon became the manager.

"That's when I first learned that I was good at managing people and getting results," he says now "but I was still looking around for a "real job".

From Victoria, our Neighbourhood Hero moved to Kamloops to manage a Mr. Mike's restaurant. He also took a second job as an Extended Care Aid in a Senior's Home. "I had a son to take care of by then," he says.

After Mr. Mikes, he opened a Fishing Lodge with two partners and then returned to Mr. Mikes in Victoria, followed by a Dairy Queen, an Arbies and finally A&W. All this time he kept looking for a "real job" but as it turned out, A&W was his last stop.

Before long he had moved to Nanaimo and soon became the owner of the Woodgrove A&W. Next he added the A&W in Rutherford Mall and today he has three others for a total of five.

By the way, through most of these jobs, he was studying on the side -- he wanted to find a "real job" ... remember. By the time he moved to Nanaimo, he was in his third year of studies toward his designation as a Certified Management Accountant.

So what advice does someone who struggled through his teens and early twenties have for today's youth? "Find a job anywhere," he says, give 110%, and keep studying every chance you get. The rest will take care of itself."

By now, especially if you glanced at the photo, you have probably guessed that today's Neighbourhood Hero is Marshall Cooper, Nanaimo's A&W guy.

Cooper is past-president of the Nanaimo Tourism Board, an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Children's Festival and a fund raiser for many other good causes.