Neighbourhood Heroes aren't "heroes" as defined in the dictionary; they are role models, people who are doing something in their lives from which you and I can learn.

In their retirement ... and throughout their lives ... today's Neighbourhood Heroes, Dale Huck and Bill Horman have committed themselves to making a difference in their community but they've always insisted on two things: they must work in teams of two or more and everyone must have fun.

These guys are the experts when it comes to having fun. You can ask anyone in the downtown Rotary club, the local Probus club, the Nanaimo Coffee Club, or any of their friends. They'll tell you.

Early in their Rotary careers, Dale and Bill organized a small fundraiser among club members. They raffled off a "washer and dryer" and sold tickets to their fellow Rotarians -- a whole bunch of tickets. When the day of the draw came, the excited winner was presented with his prizes -- a washer, minus the nut and bolt that had come with it and the dryer -- a Kleenex tissue threaded through the washer.

A few years later when a bunch of new suckers members had joined the club, they raffled off a "portable barbeque - an ideal item to be kept in the car for those unexpected barbeque opportunities," they claimed. That prize turned out to be two-dollar butane lighter and a skewer.

Strangely enough, these two haven't been invited allowed to do any more club raffles.

Although I had met them on several occasions, I really didn't know Dale and Bill until they joined the local unit of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Both are open-heart surgery survivors, as am I, and they joined primarily because they wanted to help organize a Mid-Island support group for those recovering from open-heart surgery or heart attack.

Before they could start working on that project, however, Heart and Stroke staff members pleaded with them to take over the job of collecting and distributing coin boxes, boxes that, for the past six years, have been handled by Sam Paul.

By the way, during Sam's tenure, he raised the amount of money being collected by nearly ten fold, an amazing accomplishment.

Amid gales of laughter that spread like wildfire through the entire office, Dale and Bill began to organize their new responsibilities.

"They did it as if they were organizing a milk route," Unit President, Larry Rumming, says, "and ever since, the money has continued to roll in."

Although they are just filling in on the coin box task until replacements can be found, they have tackled it with constant good humour, energy and, of course, teamwork.

It was Dale and Bill that came up with the idea of getting buttons made to identify volunteers who are open-heart surgery and heart attack survivors. We'll be wearing them at Country Club mall and Rutherford mall at various times during February, Heart and Stroke Month, and we encourage you to talk to us about our experience.

We'll tell those of you facing surgery that you can relax. The surgeons and other professionals in Victoria and Vancouver are nothing short of amazing and recovery is unbelievably rapid.

Soon, Bill and Dale will begin to organize a support group that will spread that message wherever it's needed but first, others must step forward to take over their coin box responsibilities.

What a great opportunity for you and perhaps one or two of your friends.