There’s no question that Doppler readers love local stories. And at the heart of your favourites, always, are local people.
From people doing good things beyond our borders to those making a difference right here at home, there’s no shortage of amazing people doing amazing things in our town. According to our stats, these were some of your favourite stories about community-minded people and people in our community this year. (Click on the links to read each of the original stories.)
Beyond our borders
Local team of fathers and sons headed to Guatemala to help build a hospital
Pictured above: The GEN2 team (front from left) Ben van der Staay, Brandon Rea, Justin Dellandrea, Caleb Chan, Daniel Bradbury, Robert Hill; (back from left) Mike Degazio, Michael Ankenmann, Stephen Hill, Dave Hiscox, Glen Nelson, Bill Coon, John Rea, Greg Stewart, Rob Alexander, Ray Chan, Ryan Rea, and John Van Gyssel. Absent from photo: Aaron Chapman, Cody Hiscox, Luke Alexander, Glenn Coon, Jeff Van Gyssel, and Jeremy Heyer
A team of local fathers and sons, which calls itself GEN2, will be heading to Nebaj, Guatemala in January 2019 for 10 days to work on the village’s hospital.
Guatemala’s civil war in the 1970s and 1980s has had a lasting impact and many in the Nebaj area are impoverished. A small clinic has been providing residents with medical care, but a permanent, full-service hospital is needed. Local physician Dr. Greg Stewart and his wife Charlene, who have done previous work in Guatemala, led a team to Nebaj in 2017 to work on the hospital. Some of the young men Stewart once coached in basketball heard about the trip and said they’d like to be part of something like that, too, and the GEN2 team was born.
All of the men are paying their own way there and will provide labour to continue building the hospital. Construction on the building is intermittent—it relies on work teams like GEN2 to provide labour and funds for materials. It could be four or five years before it is finally complete.
Huntsville sponsors say ‘bon voyage’ to Syrian refugee family
Sometimes what begins beyond our borders ends up being embraced by the local community. That was true when Huntsville welcomed several Syrian refugee families sponsored by local organizations. Earlier this year, after having helped one of those families adapt to life in Canada, SRS (Syrian Refugee Sponsorship) Huntsville bid the Al Rshead family farewell with a pot luck dinner.
Jmal and Faeza Al Rshead, along with their five children, Mohammad, Ali, Aatedal, Tabarak and Ahmad, arrived in Huntsville in November of 2016 and spent a year and a half improving their English skills, forging new friendships, and experiencing new things. They made a move to Ottawa in late February 2018 when Jmal found a full-time job there.
Local people
Huntsville’s rock man has big heart: donates kidney to save his friend
A year ago, when Rudi Stade learned that his friend Luis was experiencing kidney failure as the result of a hereditary disease, he immediately wanted to help. And in May 2018 he gave Luis a precious gift: one of his kidneys.
Smiles and tears filled retirement party in honour of Dino and Bessie Georgas
For over 35 years, as owners of Family Place Restaurant, Dino and Bessie Georgas provided great food and kind hospitality to their patrons. When they retired, it was finally their turn to sit back and enjoy the accolades of their hard work. In March 2018, family and friends gathered in the restaurant to throw a surprise retirement party for them.
Local schools
Eleven HHS welding students pass national certifications usually completed at college level
In May, we told you about 11 Huntsville High School (HHS) students who had passed the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Level 1 Flat SMAW (shielded metal arc welding) certification exams, which are not usually attempted until after one year of post-secondary education or an apprenticeship. Even more impressive is that 67 per cent of the students who attempted the exam passed on their first attempt. The provincial pass rate for first attempts is just 10 per cent.
But the good news didn’t stop there. By the time the school year was complete, the numbers had climbed to 21 students and 26 total certifications.
Above left: Grade 11 students (from left) Max Hill, Garrett Stillar, Kyler Thompson, Cameron Torrance, Colby Thur, Gideon Climenhaga, James Boothby, Iain Renwick, Tyler Blair, Garrett Crozier and Gerrit Hill all earned CWB SMAW Level 1 Flat certifications this year. They’ll have opportunity to earn others when they return for grade 12 in the fall. (supplied photo)
Above right: HHS grade 12 students (from left) Riley Kyneston, Logan Voyer, Blake Schmitz, Aidan Todd, John Curtis, Mitchell Paquin, Quinton Strood, and Cameron Yeo earned their CWB SMAW Level 1 Flat certifications this year. Blake Schmitz also earned an additional four certifications. Missing from photo: Bentley Lupton and Tyler Jones. (supplied photo)
Time capsule buried in Pine Glen by the class of ’81 opened after 37 years
On June 19, 1981, teacher Tom Conlin and his grade 7/8 students at Pine Glen School buried a time capsule. For 37 years the capsule remained hidden in the bowels of the school. In the company of the present day students and teachers, 37 years to the day after it was buried, Conlin and Earl opened the time capsule. Inside were newspapers from the time as well as letters from students.
Passionate people made HPS accessible playground a reality
Huntsville Public School (HPS), and by extension the larger community, now has an accessible playground that all kids can use. It took hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and many passionate people, but they made it happen in time for the start of the school year.
The project was initiated by a group of grade six students during the 2016-2017 school year. Aided by teachers who quickly formed a project committee, they ran some fundraisers in the school, but they soon learned that with an estimated cost of more than $300,000—half of which would be paid by the board through a matching program—they were going to need community support.
They got it. Donations large and small came in during the following months with several substantial donations in late 2017 and early 2018—$40,000 from the Rotary Club of Huntsville and $20,000 from an anonymous donor—putting their goal within reach. With enough funds in hand, construction on the playground began over the summer of 2018 so that the playground would be ready for the start of school in September.
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