Into the silence

Photo: Unsplash

This one you might find a bit odd for a column called Heroes to focus on but we wanted to give a shout out for silence.

That’s right, a moment of solitude in whatever form you like best. That quiet morning at home before the family wakes up, a walk on your favourite trail or paddle on the lake prior to the traffic starting, or even those that take a few minutes out for some meditation or mindfulness each morning.

We wanted to call out above the silence to recognize those that start their day with some reflection or a quiet thought.

Here’s to you and keep the calm and quiet going in this busy connected world.

Spring has sprung

This one is an obvious winner. Our hero of the month so far is the weather; gone is the snow that never seemed to end and a huge hello to spring.

I know it happens every year, but why do those first few days of spring come as such a surprise and feel so amazing?

I think it really is all about the real hero of our Okanagan Valley, summer. That’s right, the reason we get so happy about spring is we know that its just a opening act or an appetizer for our favourite time of the year, summer.

Here’s to the spring, in all its beauty; thank you for freeing us from a long cold snowy winter and here’s to three months with you before we dive into a long hot summer.

Laughter plus hugs 

This one is a challenge as we here at Heroes have seen nothing but positive results in our recent non-scientific survey.

OK, it wasn’t really a survey but we spent some time this winter trying to be funnier, trying to laugh more and giving out more hugs.

The results?

In our humble opinion, the clear winner was how it made us feel and we even think some of our friends, family and clients felt good about it too.

We challenge you this spring to come up with a joke of the day with your family, make someone laugh and start giving out random hugs.

You will see for yourself the results.

To share your Ordinary Hero story please contact: [email protected]

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Moms are family heroes

Photo: Contributed

How about a big Heroes high five for moms.

Do we really need to say any more?

After the crazy rush of the holidays, moms are the ones who get the family back on track. With kids activities, school and flu season kicking into high gear, we recognize that moms have some amazing super power to juggle the requests from kids, get to places on time and some how keep calm and cool during the chaos.

For this we salute you and thank you for keeping things normal this time of year when the days are short and cold and we are dreaming of lazy summers by the lake.

Kids, dads and the rest of us love you mom.

Dads are heroes, too

Even though moms are the star of many families, we had to ring in the New Year with a shout out to 2018 and the year of the dad.

From fixing things, to making great dinners and cheering on the kids at their favourite sport, dads may not always get the day-to-day glory in the household, but we know they work hard behind the scenes to keep the family humming along.

Dads are the best for playing a cheesy song from the '80s or '90s and getting the kids to sing along.

So here’s to you Mr. Fix-Its, Mr. Barbecue, Mr. Weekend Shuttle driver....

Cats are heroes, too

Here at Heroes, you may know we love our golden retriever, Buddy the dog.

Lately, we are starting to love cats. It all started with some new neighbours moving in and a cute, new, very vocal kitty started showing up on our porch, a very brave kitty indeed as Buddy the dog is 90 pounds.

The next thing we know dog and cat are friends and I am giving the cat a salmon treat and petting her each morning.

Cats may not be an obvious friend like dogs, sly and purposeful in their movements, but after careful examination, it’s easy to see they love the attention just as much as dogs do.

Here’s to cats and cat owners out there, heroes that crouch around the neighbourhood, waiting for a stroke on the head and a salmon treat.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Angels among us

Photo: Contributed

This time of year, I love to see friends on social media share their stories of giving.

There is something about the season that gets people in the giving spirit and turns humble, ordinary citizens into heroes.

From the stacks of food in schools hampers to stores displaying  presents for deserving families and random acts of kindness, we don’t go a day without hearing of these generous and warm gestures.

From our family here at Heroes to yours, happy holidays and, if you can, give even a little more than usual, we know there are folks out there who could really use a helping hand.

Secret Santa

Who doesn’t love the jolly old elf in the red suit? Besides the obvious answer to the question where  does Santa come from, I often wondered who were the kind souls who sat for hours in the malls, hotels and at Christmas functions in full Saint Nick attire?

It turns out that after a recent chat with Santa at the El Dorado Hotel, it’s a secret.

I tried my best to ask the elf in chief and even bribed him with some cookies and milk and he wouldn’t say a word,

in fact, he gave me a business card that had an address for his office, #1 The North Pole. Well that was all I needed to believe.

Merry Christmas Santa and keep up the amazing work.

Bookworm

On a recent trip to Calgary, I stopped in at the new Calgary Central Library for a tour.

This incredible, modern building made me want to stay all day and read. It also made me realize that books play a huge role in our lives.

In recent years, there has been a shift to digital and the lure of a dusty, old hardcover book might be lost on millennials and the younger generations,. But I couldn’t ignore the power of stacks of old books appearing on gleaming white, modern shelves and the irony of the old and new colliding.

So here’s to reading more physical books and thank you to the authors and scribes out there that keep on writing.

To share your Ordinary Hero story please contact:: [email protected]

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Investigate and report it

Photo: Contributed

These days the endless wave of media criticism seems to circulate on a daily basis.

Fake news, reporters being discredited and even barred from covering government news.

Given all of this we just had to give a heroes hug to all the accredited media professionals, journalists, editors and reporters that work for legitimate news organizations from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Regardless of what you cover, where and from what angle, we  thank you for following your nose on stories that make our world a better place.

Investigative journalism holds business, community and political leadership accountable and opens our eyes to stories we might not normally read, for that reporting we thank you.

Lighting it up

Who doesn’t love the spirit of the holidays? Well maybe not the long lines at the mall or the busy streets but how about the local neighbourhoods decked out for the season.

From lights to amazing wreaths and front doors that are a welcome sight this cold and icy time of year. So a big heroes holiday season shout out to everyone who climbed a ladder and took the time to make their home look a little more festive for the month ahead.

This weekend, take a drive with the kids or your loved one after dark and see just who is lighting it up around your neighbourhood.

Scoopers

A big high five paws up to you from our team here at heroes to all of the dog owners who clean up after their pooches in the local parks and trails.

It seems like common sense but not everybody does this and we appreciate those that take the time to bring the doggy bags and place them back in a waste bin.

We love walking the trails with our dog, Buddy, and while it isn’t always convenient, we always pick up after our big guy. 

So scoop all you can this winter, and for that, we all thank you.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.