Shooter has soft heart for heart charity

Andrew (The Shooter) Leong, the News Leader Pictorial's veteran lensman, and long-time Cowichan Heart & Stroke booster.

Peter W. Rusland

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By the way, did you hear:

• NLP shooter extraordinaire (and official heart breakfast photographer) Andrew Leong has always had a soft spot for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, but he’s stepping it up a notch this month. Andrew is offering a mini portrait session plus the client’s choice of one digital file, all for $80 (valued at $150), with all proceeds going to Heart and Stroke.

“I have volunteered for the Annual Celebrity Heart Breakfast group photo gig for the past 10 years for Colleen Marsel and can’t help thinking about those who put their heart and soul in helping the foundation much more and even longer than I have, such as Preston Bruce and Mike Calijouw,” he said.

For your shot, contact Andrew at 250-748-9969

• Speaking of Colleen Marsel, as she delivered her Heart & Stroke Breakfast tickets she noticed several school children sitting on the cold damp ground near Queen of Angels School, presumably waiting for rides home. She wonders if there is a way we could get the kids a bench.

• The Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival maple syrup contest at the B.C. Forest Discover Centre is over. Contest winners for 2013 Festival were:  Light Syrup: 1. Nesbitt Family; 2. Pamela Williams; 3. Bumstead Family. Medium Syrup: 1. Teesh and Gary Backlund; 2. Mountain Valley Farm; 3. Brian Dice. Dark Syrup: 1. Thoran Brown; 2. Fiege’s Farm; 3. Coulee Side Maple Farm. Judge’s Choice: Jennifer Impett. Judging was done by Ken Harper from Vancouver Island University (Nanaimo campus) and Patty Abbott from Hilary’s Cheese.

• Michael Watkins of Duncan and Thoralf M. Gran-Ruaz of Cobble Hill are celebrating the 11th-consecutive year their financial services firm Edward Jones was named by Aon Hewitt to the “50 Best Employers in Canada” list, published in Maclean’s magazine. The firm ranked in the No. 14 spot.

• Nichola Evernden, a Vancouver Island University recreation and tourism management student from Crofton, was among four students honoured during the first Co-op Student of the Year Award ceremony and luncheon, also Jan. 24 at VIU.

• Good luck to young Cowichan resident Rebecca Smith, off to join the missionary force for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montreal. She is one of three Cowichan area youth serving missions in North America.

Exciting things happening for you, your friends or your family that you want to share with your community? Send me a quick email at editor@cowichannewsleader.com. We’d love to spread the word.