• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Local Hero

CRM

  • Home
  • Sponsors
    • Event Sponsors
  • COMMUNITY PARTNERS
  • Rules and Categories
    • ANIMAL ADVOCATE
    • ARTS ADVOCATE
    • COACH
    • COMMUNITY BUILDER
    • COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
    • COURAGE & BRAVERY
    • DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ADVOCATE
    • EDUCATOR
    • EMERGENCY SERVICES
    • ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
    • Health Care Hero
    • HERO OF THE YEAR
    • MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE
    • SENIORS’ CHAMPION
    • YOUTH VOLUNTEER
  • Submit Nomination
  • Top Honour

Finalists

2019 Finalist Diversity & Inclusion: John Hollywood

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

John Hollywood is the creator and manager of the band Inclusion, which is well known for performances that have raised funds for community groups and brought light into people’s lives through music. 

It’s part of Hollywood’s commitment to a more inclusive world for people with disabilities. 

“I was finding that people often aren’t included in things that are going on, and sometimes wind up segregated,” he said. “I wanted to see if there was a way to change that.” 

He worked professionally in empowerment for people with disabilities in Ontario. Years later, at a community singalong in Campbell River, Hollywood met a young musician with a developmental disability who played an instrument called a Qchord. 

Hollywood knew about another musician in the community who played the keyboard, and decided to see what would happen if they sat down together to make music. They played their first gig in May 2005. 

Since then, the band has grown to include between eight and nine members. As the name Inclusion suggests, the band isn’t restricted to people with disabilities or to any particular group. 

The band has raised funds for individuals and wide array of groups including the Campbell River Foster Parents Association and the Campbell River Syrian Refugee Support Committee.

“The goal of the band is to give back,” Hollywood said. 

A lot of people who don’t “fit the mold” have special gifts, he added. It’s important to find ways for them to realize their potential and thrive. 

“That’s a real need,” he said. 

Filed Under: Finalists

2019 Finalist Community Builder: Stacey Larsen

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

Stacey Larsen is a community advisor for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). It’s a role that she says was best summarized by a colleague: “We help people help fish.” 

She works with First Nations and other groups on salmon enhancement projects across northern Vancouver Island and surrounding areas including Cortes Island, Phillips River and Gilford Island.   

Larsen is also known for her public service as a volunteer with a variety of environmental groups, including the Greenways Land Trust, Campbell River Salmon Foundation and Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society, and for serving as a representative on the city’s Advisory Planning and Environment Commission.

In her various roles, she has bridged the gap between the community and administrative bodies, making sure people’s voices are heard. But she says that a lot of credit is due to the larger community.  

“I think that the passion of the groups and the people that I work with is what keeps me motivated,” she says.

Filed Under: Community Builder, Finalists

2019 Finalist Community Builder: Geoff Payne

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

Geoff Payne is a well-known fixture in the local mountain biking scene. He serves as treasurer for the River City Cycle Club and heads the trails committee, helping to spearhead the construction and maintenance of authorized trails in partnership with BC Parks and Recreation Sites & Trails BC.

“It’s putting back into something you’re using, and other community members can benefit as well,” he says, adding that credit should go to the club more generally.

Payne works with crews of volunteers, facilitating workshops on sustainable trail construction and maintenance techniques. Since 2008, the club has rerouted roughly 6 km of trails in the Snowden Demonstration Forest and 2 km in Elk Falls Provincial Park to address safety, environmental and sustainability issues, he says.

“We’ve tried to incorporate the new knowledge of trail construction and maintenance techniques, and how to make them more sustainable and require less maintenance into the future, as well as fun for riders,” he says, noting that it benefits not only mountain bikers, but other trail users such as runners, hikers and people that just enjoy being out on the trails.

Filed Under: Community Builder, Finalists

2019 Finalist Coach of the Year: Hugh Gurney

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

Often, new teams struggle, but that wasn’t the case for the North Island Cubs in their first season.

Joining AAA midget baseball in 2018, the team is made up of kids generally aged 15 to 17 from around the region, including several from Campbell River.

On the field, the Cubs, with coach Hugh Gurney at the helm, exceeded what anyone would’ve expected, placing second to the North Fraser Nationals. 

“We went right to the finals of the provincials,” Hugh says. “It was a good start for us.”

Hugh credits a strong parent group and the community for helping pull the baseball team together.

“We got some good support and some good backing,” he says. “I haven’t done it all by myself.”

Several players earned all-star honours, and a few played with the provincial team and signed letters of intent to play college baseball.

“It’s nice to see,” he says. “There’s a lot of good talent.”

Hugh, who also coaches ice hockey, credits the coaching he got in both sports growing up, and he is more than happy to take his turn as a leader and example for young athletes now.

“It’s fun. It’s really rewarding,” he says.

Filed Under: Coach, Finalists

2019 Finalist Coach of the Year: Bryce Cockburn

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

Bryce Cockburn started playing hockey in Campbell River before moving on to play junior A hockey, in the NCAA and professionally.

Now back home, he is giving back to local minor hockey players and coaches through Next Level Training, started almost a decade ago as a way to share his love of hockey. 

“This is our ninth year,” he says.

He ran hockey camps through Next Level part-time for several years while continuing to work a regular job, but for the last two years he’s been doing this work full-time. At present, he is the only Hockey Canada-certified skills coach on Vancouver Island. A couple of years ago, he was chosen for one of 24 spots to go to Calgary to be Hockey Canada certified level three skills coach. His next step is training as an advanced skills coach.

“I just got accepted to do that this year,” he says.

In March he was among a select group of dozen or so coaches chosen for the Hockey Canada Advanced Coaching Program — a group that included NHL skills coaches from the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs. “I was very happy and honoured to get selected,” he says.

Filed Under: Coach, Finalists

2019 Finalist Arts Advocate: Nadia Rieger

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

When Nadia Rieger came to town just a couple of years ago now, she didn’t really know what the reception would be like for someone looking to do what she does.

She came here wanting to open a small gallery where local artists could show off and sell their creations, as well as teach art to anyone wanting to learn, so she opened the Crow’s Nest Gallery and Studio in Willow Point. She never expected to be called a hero for it.

“I guess it feels good to know that I’m helping people find or develop their passion for art,” she says, after finding out her name was on the list for this year’s Local Heroes Awards. “People often tell me how I’ve helped them heal from something or get through a hard time and that they’re so thankful that I’m here because now they have an outlet and a place for them to show what they do and share their talents and that I encourage them.”

Because some people, she has come to learn, can’t live without art.

“There are just some people who can’t live without creating, without being artistic, and I have a place where they can do that and I offer it to anyone, of all ages, even if they can’t afford it. Because I remember when I found out that art was what I needed in my life, and there’s really nothing better than helping someone else find that out, too.”

Filed Under: Arts Advocate, Finalists

2019 Finalist Arts Advocate: Heidi Cuff

May 31, 2019 By susan Leave a Comment

Advocacy is about passion, and if there’s one thing Heidi Cuff has, that’s it. 

Serving as the marketing and programming coordinator for the Tidemark Theatre, she brings that passion to work with her every day. It also kind of spills over into everything else she does.

“I love my job, I love what I do and I love this community,” she says. “When those things line up in life, I think that excitement and passion naturally overflows. I’m also in a really unique position at the theatre, which connects me to many different facets of our community on a daily basis. Those connections have allowed for some pretty rad projects and collaborations.”

And “collaboration” might be the operative word there, because as much work as Heidi puts in to making things happen in the arts scene in Campbell River, she’s the first to admit it wouldn’t be enough without the work everyone else puts in, too. 

“There are a whole lot of us creatives in the arts scene ‘trenches’ here,” she says, “all working hard together to help each other and to elevate our collective organizations and practices. It’s one hundred percent a team effort.”

Filed Under: Arts Advocate, Finalists

2018 Finalists Hero of the Year

June 7, 2018 By susan Leave a Comment

SPONSORED BY MARINE HARVEST

STEPHANIE ARKWRIGHT: As local SPCA branch manager, Stephanie Arkwright works to find good homes for animals and oversees the other programs for animal welfare.

She’s held the position for five years, though she started with the SPCA in 2001 through a summer job.

“The biggest thing for me is feeling like I’m making a difference,” she says. “The animals are also a perk. I’m very passionate about their welfare.”

TOM ROBINSON: After retiring from a career in banking, many foster kids in town have learned to bank on Tom Robinson.

That’s because the Campbell River man has opened his home to many foster children, many of them of First Nations heritage. He’s become a rock for many of these youths at risk who face many traumas in their lives. He currently has permanent responsibility for three youths but he’s “always had a houseful of kids.”

He’s been fostering children for nearly a decade and has an outstanding reputation in the community but his motivation is simple.

“I just love providing a safe, stable environment where kids can be kids and not worry about all the other pressures in life,” Robinson says.

Filed Under: Finalists

2018 Finalist Environmental Hero

June 7, 2018 By susan Leave a Comment

SPONSORED BY HEALTHYWAY NATURAL FOODS

CYNTHIA BENDICKSON: Cynthia Bendickson has been involved with Greenways Land Trust since 2012.  Now, as the executive director, she manages the Baikie Island Nature Reserve, the Kingfisher Creek restoration and the food security project. She says she loves contributing to the balance of living on this earth with taking care of it at the same time.

Filed Under: Finalists

2018 Finalists Seniors’ Champion

June 7, 2018 By susan Leave a Comment

SPONSORED BY BERWICK BY THE SEA RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

JERRY FLETCHER: From the age of 12, Jerry Fletcher has been involved in volunteering here in Campbell River, from teaching gymnastics to coaching football, cleaning Centennial Pool as well as serving as president of both the Men’s Hockey League and Minor Baseball. In more recent years, Fletcher has taken up roles with the board of directors of the Beaver Lodge Forest Lands, Greenways Land Trust, Discovery Passage Aquarium, the Pier Street Business Association, the Pacific Salmon Foundation and more.

JACOBY KOOMEN: Jacob Koomen says he was pretty surprised when he was nominated for the Seniors Champion Award.

“I mean, it’s not like I’m ashamed to be a senior. I definitely fit into that category,” he says with a laugh, “but I guess it’s just that raising money for cancer research doesn’t just help seniors. It’s for everybody.”

Koomen is on the far side of 70 these days, but he still does at least one major bike ride every year raising money for cancer research. Last year he went across Canada – 13,500 km.

Filed Under: Finalists

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Browse Nominations by Category

  • Arts Advocate (2)
  • Coach (2)
  • Community Builder (2)
  • Community Volunteer (2)
  • Courage/Bravery (2)
  • Educator (2)
  • Emergency Services (2)
  • Environmental Leadership (2)
  • Finalists (18)
  • Healthcare Hero (1)
  • Hero Of The Year (2)
  • Multimedia (1)
  • Seniors' Champion (1)
  • Top Honour (25)
  • Youth Volunteer (1)

Recent Nominations:

  • 2019 Finalist Hero of the Year: Tara Jordan
  • 2019 Finalist Hero of the Year: Greenways Land Trust
  • 2019 Finalist Youth Volunteer: Carihi Fly Fishing
  • 2019 Finalist Seniors’ Champion: Danny Brown
  • 2019 Finalist Healthcare Hero: CR Hospice Build Team
  • 2019 Finalist Environmental Leadership: Dave Cunning
  • 2019 Finalist Environmental Leadership: Cheryl Freeman
  • 2019 Finalist Emergency Service: Grant Cromer
  • 2019 Finalist Emergency Services: Amanda & Barry Glickman
  • 2019 Finalist Educator: Peter Ubriaco
  • 2019 Finalist Educator: Lisa Walls
  • 2019 Finalist Diversity & Inclusion: John Hollywood
  • 2019 Finalist Courage & Bravery: Jesse Huffman
  • 2019 Finalist Courage & Bravery: Janny Bird

Copyright © 2021 · LOCAL HERO · COMOX VALLEY RECORD