June 17, 2012
Local pups walk for a good cause
Broods of local dogs trekked through Whiffin Spit for the fifth annual Purina Walk for Dog Guides on June 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to raise money for service dogs.
The Sooke Harbourside Lions organized the event, which is held in support of the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides -- an initiative that trains and supplies assistance dogs to Canadians with disabilities at no cost.
Sooke Harbourside Lion, Susan Percival, said the Sooke dog walk raises between $2,000 to $3,000 each year through donations and pledges from residents.
Sept. 12, 2012
Family stays strong when faced with cancer
When Michelle Dorval learned her six year old son had cancer, everything that followed -- hospital visits, treatment and even the diagnosis -- was a “whirlwind.”
Sooke resident, Joel Dorval, now 10, was diagnosed with leukemia two weeks after his sixth birthday party.
According to Michelle, the family received at call at nine p.m. at night, telling the family to go straight to the hospital in Victoria. They stayed the night and were airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver where treatment began almost immediately.
“It was a whirlwind,” said the mother of five.
That fateful evening would prove to be a prolonged series of lumbar punctures and needles over a three-and-a-half year period. He remained at Children’s Hospital for a month, and then continued treatment in both Victoria and Vancouver.
Nov. 7, 2012
Local man competes in eight triathlons
Danny Eddy, better known around town as ‘Boone,’ participated in eight triathlons this year, and made it to the podium in every event.
Among the eight sporting events are the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah and four out of five Subaru triathlons, including Sooke, Shawnigan Lake, Elk Lake and Banff.
Eddy had a special honour at the Subaru Banff Triathlon on Sept. 8, when he was presented with his gold medal by trampolinist Rosie MacLennan, Canada’s only Olympic gold medalist from the London Games.
He earned the gold medal in the Super Sprint category (300 m swim, 12 km bike and 5 km run) for his age category.
Nov. 28, 2012
EMCS ready for b-ball season
The Edward Milne Wolverines senior boys basketball team is primped and ready for a season full of success.
According to Trevor Bligh, senior boys coach, the team has seven players returning, if you include the juniors who played up last year.
“We’ve got two Grade 11s that played with us last year, that played as Grade 10s, so you can almost say we have seven returning,” he said.
“This is a big pay off year, this has been three years with these guys on the junior up to the senior (level). We took some bad licks along the way to get here and get to where we want to be and to be able to play the kind of ball that we’re at,” Bligh said.
“We’re ready to win now.”