James Dunn
Recently Janice Furevick-Dunn asked me to act as MC at a surprise "Toast or Roast" fifty fifth birthday party for her husband, James; a party that featured caricatures of him from one end of their long driveway to the other and a full sized, really funny caricature inside the front door. This event took days to organize...

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Costa Rica
I spent three weeks of my five week Costa Rican vacation living with the Mata family, a family that has housed several Malaspina students while they worked on the university’s Heart of Gold Program. This is a program based in a small town called Santa Maria de Dota that has students helping a group of organic coffee farmers develop a home stay type tourist business...

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Janice and James Dunn
Half of Canadian marriages end in divorce, so second marriages and blended families have become common place; common but not always easy...

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Wayne Peace
Although I never met Wayne Peace, I went to his funeral on April 5 to lend what little support I could to his wife, Tanya who proved herself to be an extraordinary teacher when she taught an early version of our Hidden Heroes program at Georgia Avenue Community School – She is now Vice Principal at Bayview School...

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Frank and Delphine Charmley
I spent an hour with two Hidden Heroes and their children last Saturday morning. As most of you know, I define Hidden Heroes as ordinary people who do small things that any other ordinary person could do, things that make a difference either in their own lives or the lives of people around them. Truth is I don’t consider today’s Hidden Heroes “ordinary” but I’m sure that’s the way they see themselves so I’ll say they qualify...

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Junior Mthembu
Last week’s column acknowledged local Rotary Clubs and individuals who have been paying school fees and providing a monthly food allotment for AIDS orphans at Sihlengeni High School in Zimbabwe...

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Keith and Eilleen Thomas
Last year as summer approached, Keith and Eilleen Thomas began planning their family holiday realizing that it just might be the last time both their twelve year-old son, Colin, and their sixteen year-old daughter, Pauline, might be available, or interested, in going with them. So when Colin suggested a trip across Canada, Keith and Eileen were immediately in agreement and Pauline soon began to like the idea as well...

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Janice Dunn
When four Mid-Island families couldn't find an educational opportunity that fit the needs of their children who have autism and other related disorders, they formed the Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization, a not-for-profit society...

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Linda Janes
When Sandra Grimes nominated Linda Janes as our next Neighbourhood Hero, her description sounded almost too good to be true, but when I talked to her boss, Mike Paquette, and a long-time Boys and Girls Club co-worker, Teresa Pring, their description was even more glowing...

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Joyce Randle
When I first started writing this column (four years ago next week) I thought I would have to spend a lot of time networking across the city to find people to write about, but that's not what has happened.

Time after time during the first six months, I would meet people or hear stories and find myself thinking, wow, isn't that a nice story and then forget all about it until a few days later when I would suddenly realize that I had overlooked yet another Neighbourhood Hero...

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Catherine Green
Eleven-year-old Catherine Green colours pictures of houses for four our more hours a week. She’s working to help her family become the next Habitat for Humanity homeowners in Nanaimo...

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Bill McAdam
Last Friday I overheard Jenn White talking about her grandfather, Bill McAdam, who passed away recently. She spoke about him in such glowing terms, I knew he was definitely a Neighbourhood Hero, a role model, someone who had something to teach us all...

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Bill Hicks
Less than a year ago, an offhanded comment from a neighbour changed Bill Hick's life dramatically...

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Cheri Rost
I constantly surprised that very few readers have nominated teachers who have made a difference in their life but I am shocked that, until now, no one has nominated their mother.

Adam Hall was the first and here's what he wrote about his mom...

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Susan Houchen & Jenny Bentley
When Susan Houchen found herself pregnant at sixteen, she promised herself that when her kids were grown, she would complete her education. It's been a challenging journey...

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Dave Price
About a month ago I received a nomination form from Amber Price nominating her dad, Dave Price, Senior, as a Neighbourhood Hero.

In two and a half years of writing this column, Amber was the first person to nominate one of her parents...

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Coal Tyee's Grade 5 Class
As regular readers know, this column has spun off an exciting internet-based project called the "Hidden Heroes WebQuest, which has been designed for use in schools as well as other family and youth groups. The project is now being piloted in the mid Island region...

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Cheryl Garrett
At the age of thirty-one, with three small children and pregnant with a fourth, Cheryl Garrett's marriage ended...

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Tom and Joyce Huck
Imagine yourself flipping through the newspaper and suddenly ... surprise! ... you see your photograph and a column describing you as a Neighbourhood Hero, an exemplary friend, workmate, neighbour, child, parent, or grandparent. It would probably take you a few minutes to recover from the shock.

Well, Tom and Joyce Huck are just now starting that recovery process...

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Katerina and Andreas Andrinopoulos
"They are the hardest-working, most wonderful people I have ever met. I couldn't ask for better people to work for or to know"...

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Christmas
Like most people, I have been thinking a lot about Christmas these days, Christmases past and present, and that of course leads to thoughts about finding perfect gifts for friends and loved ones...

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Kristen Robinson
As a teenager, Kristen's only interests were music, partying and preparing for the next party ... oh, and boys of course...

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Rod McCracken
Rod McCracken is a very special person, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, neighbour and friend. That's what Jacqueline McCracken told me and she should know, she's been married to the man for 55 years...

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Janell Karst and Linda Karst-Labbee - Follow-Up
Remember Janell Karst? She left home at the age of fifteen and flirted on the edge of illegal activities for years but today she's an enthusiastic university student thanks to the ongoing communication and support given to her by her aunt, Linda Karst-Labbee...

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Janell Karst and Linda Karst-Labbee
Janell Karst, a 21 year-old Tourism Management student has nominated her aunt, Linda Karst/Labbee, as today's Neighbourhood Hero and, in turn, I want to nominate her...

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Christmas and Other Gifts
Heroes Give Unconditional Love
Like most people, I have been thinking a lot about gifts recently; Christmas gifts and other gifts; gifts of things, deeds and thoughts ... gifts I have received, gifts I have given ... and gifts I have not...

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Bob and Val South
"My 'heroes' are average, everyday people," Kathy Mitson wrote. "They're the kind of people that give me faith in the human race and the hope I need to go on. Val South is one of my heroes...

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Mike MacCoy
Mike MacCoy was taken from an alcoholic home at the age of ten and spent the next five years in a variety of Ontario foster homes...

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It's the little things that count...
Neighbourhood Heroes are the kind of people who do small things consistently, small things that, over time, have a big impact. Today we will celebrate three such Neighbourhood Heroes, two young mothers and an older gentleman. First the mothers...

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