Checking Vital Signs, Elections Signs, Dollar $igns

Since my last post it has seemed that not only have the days become shorter but the hours fewer. It's a busy time for the Woodman. Riding AGM's, campaign readiness, charity and promotional work and an increased workload have all eaten into my precious blog-time budget.

With Doc on vacation last week, my responsibilities expanded to include prepping the content of the show in addition to the production elements. Public appearances included fundraisers for The Spirit of Christmas campaign for underprivileged and sheltered families and the induction of Doc and Woody into the Order of The Good Bear at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario for our fundraising successes over the past 5 years.

Being somewhat reluctant to receive the order in the first place, I felt further at ill-ease hearing the stories about the other inductees of the evening. The honour, as I realized, is about being included in such a fine group of caring citizens.

While Doc was away in Cuba, we still managed a photo-op to recognize his accomplishments:

As it is Christmas time, I'm shifting my focus slightly to another pet project of mine to help a good friend address the needs of over 300 families who, without his efforts, might well have no Christmas at all.

Ted Long has been running the Spirit of Christmas campaign for the past 15 years in the west end of Ottawa and has constantly seen the numbers in need rise. This year is no exception. Along with Mike Deslaurier, his partner of 8 years in business, and several others of us committed to the success of it all, Ted has been working feverishly to raise the funds and the toys required to deliver at Christmas. That's why I was thrilled last week when the two received their 2005 Community Builder Awards from the United Way of Ottawa.

(Mike/Ted United Way 2005 Community Builder recipients)

Working out of Sonny's Bar and Grill, 1119 Baxter Road (next to the Ottawa Citizen) we've staged a few successful fundraisers but we're still not there. More is required. To that end, I must also recognize Danni and the crew at Dog and Pony Sound karaoke service for coming to the table with a 1983 Hall of Fame autographed Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawk jersey. We're auctioning it off this week until closing Sunday at Sonny's. Details at the bar.

Danni's Generous Donation

Extending my days even further is, of course, the election campaign. Since I'm talking about people of quality and good deeds for the moment, I have to say that a proud event came last week when, during Stephen Harper's campaign kickoff at John Baird's headquarters, I met this man:

We need more like Allan Cutler and the others I mentioned. To me, that's how you build a community. That's how you build a country.

NOTE: Originally posted 12/06/2005 on Woody's Blog