Team Canada Celebrity Hero Ambassadors

Meet Hero To Hero Team Canada's Celebrity Hero Ambassadors or as Liz Jackson likes to call them, our Hot Cha Cha's!

Whether it's Julian Austin taking a few minutes in the middle of his concerts to tell his fans about Hero To Hero or Tyler Brown plastering his race car with Hero To Hero decals or Canada's last World War One Veteran posing for our famous Badass shot, you will find the stories on this page.

For an overview of ALL our U.S. and Canadian Hot Cha Cha's visit the HeroToHero.US website by clicking on the link on the left side of this page.

Meet the newest Celebrity Hero Ambassadors for Hero To Hero Team Canada and HeroToHero.US. They are Lisa Miller and Karen Boire, affectionately known as Canada's "Red Friday Ladies".

In June of 2009 Liz Jackson (Founder/Director of Hero To Hero.US) and i attended a Red Friday Rally in Petawawa, Ontario that was organized by Lisa & Karen. We were impressed by their passion and enthusiasm in support of our troops.

We asked them if they would consider being Celebrity Ambassadors for our troop morale campaign.The ladies very enthusiastically accepted the position. They love our troop support efforts and we couldn't be more pleased about that.

Karen & Lisa have organized and participated in rallies in Ottawa, Petawawa, Barrie, Kingston, Bowmanvile and Toronto.They have also helped people across Canada in organizing hometown rallies.Their efforts are phenominal and we are thrilled to work along side these two great Canadian women in support of our troops.

Wearing red on Friday is like giving our troops a huge round of applause

Lisa Brazeau

Like an undulating ocean of red and CADPAT green, a literal sea of supporters flowed down Petawawa Boulevard waving Canadian flags, banners and handmade signs.

In an impressive show of appreciation for the men and women of the CF and their families, thousands turned out for a homegrown Red Friday Rally and March of Military Appreciation, filling the parking lot at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 517, Petawawa with the signature colour.

“Wearing red on Friday is like giving our troops a huge round of applause,” said Lisa Miller who along with Karen Boire brought Canada-wide attention to the grassroots Red Fridays Campaign. “When we all wear red together, it adds volume to our voices in colour. It speaks of our support, our pride and our appreciation for our Canadian Forces members and their families.”

Ms. Miller and Ms. Boire, the “Red Friday Ladies”, worked closely with 580 CFRA last year to bring a massive Ottawa Red Friday rally to Parliament Hill, and wanted to bring the initiative to the home front where so many have seen their loved ones deploy to Afghanistan, and so many soldiers have paid the ultimate sacrifice. “No matter how many people show up, whether it be 15 or 15 000, it makes the rally, and the message we're sending, a success,” noted Ms. Boire.

Like ‘Red Fridays’, the local rally also garnered national attention; among the dignitaries were Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, and Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier.

“These rallies and all the other demonstrations of support are immensely important to those of us in uniform and I don't need to tell this crowd about sacrifice, service or duty. You live it every day,” said Colonel Denis Thompson, 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group commander, who through personal experience, attested to the positive impact local support has had on morale overseas. “It's significant, it does resonate here, and frankly it gives our efforts real meaning.”

To date, successful Red Friday rallies have been held in numerous communities. The Prime Minister applauded the Petawawa community not just for fanning the flames of the Red Friday movement, “but because of the incredible strength and support this community has displayed over the past 12 months while hundreds of troops from CFB Petawawa have been deployed in Afghanistan,” he said.

“I know that it hasn't been easy. This community has had more losses to mourn than any other base in this country. But you have stood firm in support of our troops because you're so proud of them and you should be.”

He spoke of the numerous unsung heroes in Afghanistan, not just Canadians but everyone who has had a part in helping the Afghan people reclaim and rebuild their war ravaged country. He also noted that nine soldiers from the base were recently honoured for their service overseas.

It’s progress made possible, too, by the support Canadians have for their military and the mission in Afghanistan, said Mr. O'Connor. “I've been to Afghanistan three times, and I can tell you how important it is for our troops over there to know that this mission has the support of Canadians, a mission that is critical to the future of Afghanistan,” he said. “Today, through this rally, we can remind our troops that we are behind them 100 percent.”

The rally, he added, is also an opportunity to acknowledge the sacrifices made by military families, and the “vital support they provide to our men and women in uniform, sustaining them while they carry out their duties. Thank them for all they do to keep the Canadian Forces strong.”

Ms. Brazeau is a writer with the Petawawa Post.

If you would like to learn more about what the Red Friday Ladies are up to, check out their Facebook page.

Are you having a Red Friday Rally or any other troop support event?

Let us know at Hero To Hero Team Canada. We will post it on our "Red Fridays" page.

Drop us a line at mchargs@xcelco.on.ca.

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Hero To Hero Team Canada would like to introduce you to Celebrity Hero Ambassadors, Denise Marek and Sharon Quirt. This Badass picture we asked the ladies to pose for will likely be the only time you see them without huge smiles on their faces. Oh! The things our Cha Cha's do in support of our troops.

Denise Marek is an international speaker and television personality known as The Worry Management Expert. She has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals transform their feelings of worry into feelings of inner peace. Visit her Website at www.denisemarek.com/.

Sharon Quirt counsels individuals around the world, helping them rediscover the art of living joyfully and with purpose. Learn more about Sharon's work at www.sharonquirt.com/.

Together they are an incredible team and we congratulate Sharon and Denise on the recent release of their new book The Keys: Open the Door to True Empowerment and Infinite possibilities.

Both Sharon and Denise have offered to do whatever they can to promote support of our troops and they are off to a great start.

To begin, Sharon has arranged for a printer to donate 5000 full colour Hero To Hero Team Canada Brochures which will be distributed across the country.

Both ladies have been actively promoting the Hero To Hero program everywhere they travel.

Denise appears on a television show called Lifestyles. Her segment is called "Life By Design". She recently interviewed Hero To Hero Team Canada National Director, Kevin McHarg on her show.

Sharon and Denise have many great ideas and are presenting us with many opportunities to create awareness of our troop morale campaign. We can't thank them enough and we look forward to working together with them in support of our troops.

Below is a little bit of imformation about Sharon & Denise's new book. My copy is on order and i'm sure many of you may enjoy reading their book. We wish them great success.

Part 2 www.youtube.com/watch

Find Your Keys and Open the Door to Greatness!
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you had the keys to unlock your full potential and free yourself of the negative feelings that hold you back? Internationally renowned motivational teachers Denise Marek and Sharon Quirt have joined together to help you find these keys within yourself—and learn to use them to make positive changes and create the kind of life you've been longing for. In their new book The Keys: Open the Door to True Empowerment and Infinite Possibilities, Denise and Sharon reveal how the four keys of awareness, acceptance, forgiveness, and freedom can lead you to your authentic self and help you discover the bright future you were born for. Often, only our own mistaken beliefs are keeping us locked in.

A hummingbird flew into a garage through a door that had accidentally been left open. In trying to escape, the bird went to the window and was banging itself against the glass. Even when all of the remaining doors were opened and freedom was just a few yards away, the bird kept beating its wings and bumping its little body against the invisible barrier.

If you were to watch the bird unsuccessfully trying to get out through the closed window, you might be baffled by its foolishness. How could it continue to throw itself against the window and not realize that what it was doing wasn't going to work? Yet isn't it true that many people find themselves in similar predicaments? When feeling stuck in an unsatisfactory life situation, rather than stepping back for a moment and looking around for an open door, a new opportunity, or a way to make things better, they continue to throw themselves into the same barriers, repeating negative patterns.

The reason they do so is that they believe the things they think, such as: I've got no choice. This is just the way it is, and there isn't anything I can do about it. Besides, if there were an open door, I couldn't walk through it. I don't have enough time or money. I'm not strong enough, smart enough, courageous enough, deserving enough, successful enough, or good-looking enough to do it. Even if I were—and if I did—what would other people think? These kinds of beliefs create a lot of fear and keep many of us trapped in dark places, trying to escape through the same closed window.

When the negative side of ego has control over your life, no good comes of it. It creates fear, doubt, guilt, regret, blame, jealousy, and anger. It keeps you imprisoned in past pain and blocked from your innate potential. It can hinder you from achieving what you truly desire out of life and from becoming who you truly want to be. You may be scared by thoughts of being less than perfect and also doubt your abilities.

You can be preoccupied, worrying about what everyone else thinks; and it can convince you to sabotage and abuse yourself.
This is a side of ego that no longer needs to exist within you. It's not serving you.

You can release yourself from a negative ego and develop a positive one that's loving and kind toward yourself and others; one that allows you to see yourself as capable of achieving all that you desire; and one that encourages, inspires, and builds you up with positive self-talk. A positive ego will create peace, simplicity, and honesty. It will assist you in creating a life of infinite possibilities. That's the ego you want to develop.

We are proud to be able to call Jack Babcock a Hero To Hero Celebrity Ambassador.
Jack is Canada's only surviving World War One Veteran.
He is 109 years young.

We first heard about Jack back on July 23rd. 2007 when he made National headlines celebrating his 107th. birthday.
I did not even realize that any Veterans of World War One were still with us.
I also learned that Jack lived in Spokane, Washington, only several hours drive from H2H Founder/Director Liz Jackson.
Of course our wheels started spinning and we knew we had to do something to recognize Jack's service in both the Canadian and the U.S. Armies.

During the Hero To Hero National Tour in June 2008 we took a Hero To Hero Team Canada t-shirt with us throughout S.W. Ontario collecting signatures from first responders and troops.
On the final stop of the tour, in Hamilton, we took a picture of first responders saluting Jack while we held up his shirt.

Shortly thereafter, Liz visited Jack & Dorothy and presented them with the shirt and a collection of other gifts from Canada.

In November of 2008 Liz Jackson, flew to Sarnia from Tacoma to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony hosted by the Sarnia Sting Hockey Club held at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Complex.
Also in attendance was Canadian country recording artist Julian Austin. Julian is also one of our Hero To Hero Celebrity Ambassadors.
Julian performed his troop support song "The Red and White" and the National Anthem in a pre-game tribute to our troops.
Jack Babcock had videotaped a greeting that was played to the fans at the game.

During this visit to Sarnia Liz captivated us with stories of her visit to see Jack.
Right then and there Julian decide we had to go visit Jack and shake his hand.
After thinking about it for about a second and a half i said let's go.
A month later Julian and i met up with Liz and her son Beau in Spokane and payed a visit to Jack and Dorothy Babcock.

We were pretty pumped at the idea of meeting this larger than life man.
With Jack being 108 years old, i figured our visit would probably be very short.
I know i need a nap in the afternoon some days and i'm less than half his age.
I assumed that Jack would probably need some rest and we certainly didn't want to overstay our welcome.
Boy was i wrong, after about 5 hours sitting in Jack and Dorothy's living room he was still ready to tell us stories of his life.
What an incredible man.

We arrived at lunch time, and Dorothy had a delicious lunch ready for us.
Jack had us in stitches as he told us stories that stretched back a century, including watching the Wright Brothers fly their airplane when he was 13 years old.
Alternately, he had us near tears as he recounted the day his father died.
It happened almost a century ago but you could see in his eyes that it was as though it just happened yesterday.

We brought many small gifts for Jack, like the banner and t-shirts signed by Canadian & U.S. First Responders. Jack was wearing the Sarnia Fire Rescue Services t-shirt Liz had presented to him on my behalf the previous July. Jack was wearing the shirt off my back and i have to say i was very proud of the sight.

The greatest gift Jack received that day (besides getting a kiss from his favourite redhead, Liz) was having Julian Austin sit beside him on the couch and sing some great songs.

Dorothy and Jack invited us all to join her and Jack for lunch the next day at their favourite restaurant Rossauer's This place is Jack's second home and he is treated like royalty by all the staff.

The following pic is Jack's "official" badass shot, taken by Dorothy in November, just before the Sting Remembrance Day tribute. Jack is wearing his Sarnia Sting jersey, signed by all of the team's players.
All of our Celebrity Ambassadors and supporters are asked to pose for this pic and Jack was a natural.

When we attempted to take a group badass pic in Rossauer's restaurant, someone was smiling and Jack chastised us, instructing us just exactly how a badass shot is done.......no smiling!
This resulted in all of us cracking up as Jack patiently waited, holding his badass pose.

One of the things that we had planned to present to Jack in December was a helmet making Jack and honourary Fire Chief of Sarnia Fire Rescue Services.
Unfortunately, due to short notice, only the faceplate and not the helmet arrived in time to be presented.
We borrowed a fire helmet from the Spokane Fire Department and put the faceplate on it so we could do a ceremonial presentation to Jack but unfortunately he could not keep that helmet.
Jacks helmet eventually arrived and Liz ventured back over the mountains this past weekend to present Jack with the fire helmet that is his to keep.
I would like to thank Deputy Fire Chief Dana Pitts for arranging the donation of Jack's helmet and John Peter and the folks at A.J. Stone for their generous donation of Jack's helmet.

Check out the photo gallery on the HeroToHero.US website to see all the photo's from Liz's trip to visit the Babcocks.
To learn more about Jack's career in the Canadian military check out this bio from the history channel..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj9PUVioYNA

As many of you are aware, i work for Sarnia Fire Rescue Services.
When our fire trucks require maintenance we take them down to the mechanics at the Public Works Dept.
Working there in the office is a very special lady named Marlyn Maidment.
Whenever you walk into her office you are going to hear about her nephew Tyler Brown and his brother Nathan.
Their pictures adorn her office. Every time you're there she has a new screensaver pic of Tyler on her computer.
Tyler races late model cars out of Waterdown, Ontario and Nathan is a member of the pit crew.

Marlyn happens to be a huge supporter of our troops as well.
When i told her that Kasey Kahne is a Hero To Hero Celebrity Ambassador in the U.S. and that maybe Canada should have a race car driver supporting our troops through Hero To Hero she immediately got on the phone to Waterdown.

By days end Tyler and his Team had agreed to come down to Sarnia, which is a three hour drive, to attend a Red Friday Rally we were going to be holding on June 5th 2008.
Now, Tyler wasn't exactly sure what Hero To Hero or Red Fridays were all about.
He did know our rally was to show support for our troops and he offered to bring down one of his race cars for our static display.
He would not commit to being a Hero To Hero Celebrity Ambassador because he was not familiar with our organization at that point.
We were aware that Tyler was already supporting several charities near and dear to his heart.
Our mission was to educate him about the importance of troop support and we hoped he would decide to support Hero To Hero and our efforts as well.

Our Red Friday Rally was supposed to last from noon till 1 pm but ran till almost 2 pm.
Liz jackson, the Founder/Director of HeroToHero.US flew in from Tacoma Washington along with several members of our Core Team.

We were joined by several Veterans from WW2, Korea, the Baltic conflict and Afghanistan.
Military Family members and the Lambton Military Family Support Group participated with great support from the Royal Canadian Legion.
All of our local First Responders were there as well as a graduating class from the 1st. Hussars high school program.

The rally definately made an impression on Tyler about troop support.
When we invited him on stage to present him with a red t-shirt and thank him and his crew for traveling to the rally he asked if he could speak.
He then offered his support to our troops and the Hero To Hero Troop Morale Campaign.

When we moved outside for the group photo,Tyler placed yellow support our troops ribbons on his race car.
We also had Tyler pose for our standard Hero To hero badass shot.

We don't ask a lot of our Celebrity Ambassadors.
All we ask is that they promote troop support and Hero To Hero when they have the opportunity.

Due to the fact i ended up working every weekend that Tyler raced we did not get a chance to see him race until the last weekend in September and then again the first weekend of October in the 2008 U.S. Open.
My wife and i travelled to Buffalo, New York to watch Tyler practice and his heat races on Saturday Sept 27th. 2008 and we stayed overnight to watch the actual race on Sunday the 28th.
The race ended up being cancelled due to rain so we returned to Buffalo the following weekend.

Tyler had placed Hero To Hero decals on his car, trailer, truck, tool box, you name it, to show support for Hero To Hero and our troops.

Before the race he even told the Race Director that he was dedicating his race to all our Canadian and U.S. troops around the world.
The Race Director announced it over the P.A. system to the crowd at the start of the race. Very cool!

That alone solidified Tyler as truly deserving the title of Hero To Hero Celebrity Ambassador.
But it didn't end there.
Unfortunately it was a short race for Tyler as he developed serious problems with his brakes just a few laps into the race.
When he pulled into the pits it looked like his engine was on fire there was so much smoke.
One of his brakes had seized up.

I half expected Tyler to get out of the car and give it a kick out of frustration but no, not this kid, he's pure class.
After determining the problem and putting out the fire, one of the Race announcers interviewed Tyler right in the pits while the race continued.
After explaining to the crowd what went wrong with the car, Tyler proceeded to talk to the crowd about supporting our troops.
He also talked about Hero To Hero and asked the fans to check out our website!
Nicely done Mr. Ambassador!

This had been Tylers last race of the 2008 season.
We're looking forward to the 2009 season and we'll keep you posted about how he is doing.
We hope you'll follow Tyler along with us.
His website is http://www.4bracing.com/

To see the photos of Tyler in Buffalo visit our photo Gallery at: http://herotoheroteamcanada.smugmug.com/
Just click on "Hero To Hero Team Canada Celebrity Ambassadors".
You will even find pics of a wedding taking place right on the track between races and yes that is the Hero To Hero Badass pose the happy couple is doing for our troops!

Thank you Tyler for stepping up for the troops.

~~**~~

What a great performer and a great human being this man is.
My wife Sue, daughter Hailey and i had the privilege of being Julian's guests at this performance for our troops at CFB Borden.
A while back Julian heard about the HeroToHero.US Troop Morale Program after Gerald Koch posted info about our
program on a Facebook page he manages (along with Franky Alain) called "Julian Austin Supports Our Troops".
We had posted a little writeup on Julian and his newest album The Red and White on the H2H website.
The Red and White CD is dedicated to our troops and over $8.00 from the sale of every copy of this CD goes to support
Canadian Forces Troop Welfare and Morale Programs through the C.F.P.S.A. (Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency).

The Cd is only available through the CANEX stores located on military bases across Canada.
Their website is...www.cfpsa.com.
You can order online.

Julian contacted me to thank HeroToHero.US and Team Canada for supporting the troops and invited us to come see him perform. We gladly we took him up on his offer.
When we arrived on base we were met by Doug Vienneau who is the Entertainment Chairman at the Huron Club.
When Doug isn't looking after Entertainment for the troops he is busy running a 14 week course for new recruits.

Doug was very gracious and looked after us for the evening.
We thank all the staff at the Huron Club for their warm welcome and hospitality.

Julian's opening act was a group called MUDMEN. I was not familiar with this band but after hearing them play i purchased all 3 of their CD's. If you happen to like bagpipes and Punk/Rock music...you're in for a treat. Even if your not a big fan of punk or heavy rock music, if you like bagpipes you're probably going to like a lot of what these guys play.
It's an infusion of Celtic with Punk and Rock. Great sound.
Check them out for yourself at www.mudmen.ca.
By the way..Robby and Sandy Campbell (the two Pipers in the band) hail from our neck of the woods here in Lambton County..The town of Alvinston to be exact. You guys ROCK!

Did i mention these guys handed us some of their T-shirts to send to our troops? Nice.
We're going to print off some pics of the band from the show and send them with their donated shirts.
Julian come on stage at 11 pm but before that, we spent some time with him in the dressing room. As he tuned up and prepared for the show we chatted and Hailey snapped away with her camera. She was especially impressed with Julians cowboy hat carrying case which is made out of the same material guitar cases are made of. We have to get a HeroToHero.US sticker to put on it (and his guitar).

The bands performed in the Huron Club in Camp Borden.
Normally photographs are not allowed in here but Hailey was told by the Officer in charge of the facility that she was authorized to take pictures and that she was the only person authorized to take pictures. I think i noticed a slight grin on her face.
There were a few rules though..no flash photography and no pictures of the audience members.
Needless to say some of the photos are a little dark but we're grateful we were able to take photos period. The show rocked.
Julian acknowledged every person in the audience that he knew (and there were many).
He had an incredible rapport with the audience. Troops love this guy. I guess that's why they gave him the nickname G.I. Jules.
Halfway through the show Julian even stopped and talked about HeroToHero to the soldiers and their families for several minutes. Because of this we actually came away with our first troop adoption request for next March. Several soldiers made a point of coming over to say thanks for what we are doing.
That meant a lot.
Julian played many of his great songs along with some country and rock covers from Johnny Cash to Trooper.
Needless to say the highlight of the night was his solo acoustic version of The Red and White.
As he started the intro to the song soldiers started making there way onto the stage, standing around Julian and singing along with him, raising their glasses and bottles in toast to their comrades in arms both past and present(as did everyone in the crowd).
Seeing the video of this song on you tube is powerful enough...standing 6 feet away from the man as he sings it is something else. It is such a powerful song.
To end the show Julian played his version of Steve Millers Take The Money and Run. The place rocked!
Throughout the show there was a Molson Canadian Rocks glass guitar neon sign lit up at the front of the stage.
When the show was over Doug climbed on stage with the guitar and the next thing i knew i was being called up on stage by Julian and the guitar was presented to The HeroToHero Troop Morale Campaign as a thank you.

The band started packing up but people would not leave.
They wanted more. Doug said you better do one more.
We rocked a little more to Trooper's Raise a Little Hell.
After the show both bands stayed around talking to the fans until we were basically kicked out. lol
Julian had played longer than he was supposed to and it was after 1:30 am when we finally made it out the door and the folks who were working could clean up and go home.
We moved out to the parking lot where people signed the H2H banners and we took more bad ass shots.
We were joined by a couple of Military Police officers.
I'm pretty sure they weren't called because of us!

We stayed overnight in Barrie and returned to the base next morning to get a few outdoor pics we weren't able to take the night before due to darkness. We also stopped into the Base Firehouse where we presented a very short version of the H2H program to the on duty firefighters. We were in a bit of a hurry to get Hailey back to Sarnia for work at 4 pm, with a 4 hour drive still ahead of us. We did meet a young man named Nathan Clarke who is the Chief Fire Prevention Officer on base. He says hi to all his old instructors at the Lambton College Fire School here in Sarnia.

To see all the photos from this concert go to our photo gallery link or click here.... herotoheroteamcanada.smugmug.com/

We just want to thank Julian Austin and his band members as well as the Mudmen.
It was great meeting you all.

Y'ALL ROCK!

Special thanks to Hailey for all the photographs you took at this concert and on the National Tour.
Dad