Canadian Heroes goes all in for NASCAR

Its official, Canadian Heroes has become the main sponsor of a NASCAR Racing Team. Canadian Heroes and Peterson Motorsports have partnered up for this year’s running of the ARCA 200 for Speedweeks at the Daytona 500.

For years one of our sister sites, www.nascarcamping.com, has been participating in racing events. Through those connections and over time a relationship with Peterson Motorsports was formed. This year we saw the opportunity to get more directly involved and envisioned the partnership coming from www.CanadianHeroes.com.

The Peterson Motorsports Team, owned by Wayne Peterson, has been working together for over 30 years with top ten finishes in races, driver points and series owner points in the ARCA series.

After some deliberation it was decided that becoming the lead sponsor for the race team would benefit both sides. As the main sponsor Canadian heroes has the unique opportunity to outfit the NASCAR racer with our logos and colors simultaneously helping the race team with a little more exposure. Symbiosis at it’s best.

Currently new logos and car designs are in the works to outfit our race car with Canadian Heroes icons. If you are interested in the preliminary designs check out our Facebook page here for the first renditions and for all new designs moving forward. We hope to make this another fitting tribute to our brave Canadian Heroes.

Also, as an extra bonus this year, Canadian Heroes will be hosting four members of Canada’s Armed Forces at the NASCAR event. They will have total access to the infield and surrounding events and will be honorary members of the race team.

All told this is a very exciting time for Canadian Heroes and NASCAR camping. Keep watching us on our Facebook Page and following our sites for more information as it develops.

back.jpg

Canada Loses Another Hero

We bring you sad news today as another member of the Canadian Armed Forces has passed away. Corporal Jean-Michel Deziel fell from a rooftop at CFB Valcartier in Quebec during the installation of a telecommunications array. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

Cpl. Deziel has served with the Canadian Armed Forces since 2006 and also served a tour in Afghanistan in 2009. His squadron was directly responsible for providing communications links between frontline and operations forces and commanding officers, Cpl. Deziel served as a signal operator

"This young soldier who served a tour in Afghanistan had a resoundingly promising career ahead of him in the Canadian Forces," said Col. Jean-Marc Lanthier, commander of the 5th Canadian Mechanized Brigade.

"His unexpected and premature death represents a profound loss to our organization." Added Col. Lanthier.

The roof top incident that resulted in Cpl. Deziel losing his life is currently under investigation but the military will not presently offer further details.
We thank Cpl. Deziel for his efforts and sacrifice in service to his country. Cpl. Deziel is a Canadian Hero and he will not be forgotten. At this time our hearts and minds rest with the family and loved ones of Corporal Jean-Michel Deziel.

Lise Charron visits HMCS Haida!!!

Cross Quebec Tour a Huge Success

For three weeks now our good friend Lise Charon has been traveling across Quebec meeting members of our Canadian Armed Forces and their families. The trip started after the unfortunate passing of Corporal Steve Martin, Canada's 154th forces member to lose their life in the Afghan mission.

At that time, while working on other projects, Lise asked us at Canadian Heroes if it would be possible to borrow a Canadian Heroes vehicle and take it to the funeral of Cpl. Martin. Naturally we agreed.

"I find that people seeing a visual recognition (car) brings them forward to talk about their experiences. They have something to relate to," said Lise.

Lise had been in communication with Canadian Heroes for years but recently asked us for a co-venture of sorts. Lise has been running her own site for just over two years called RIDE IN RED in English and RIDE EN ROUGE in French. The focus of that website is to increase awareness about the troops in Afghanistan and abroad as well as promoting in country events that help support our heroes. As far as we can tell it is the only website focused on our troops with both English and French languages.

"Canadians should know how the individual soldier feels about their work, and how they feel about the difference they are making. We don't hear these things, we don't know about that. We need to increase access," said Lise.

A union between our two groups came quite naturally.

After the funeral and various Internet posts depicting the Canadian Heroes car, Lise began getting interest from her many followers and contacts with requests for the car to make appearance. Not long after that Lise began her cross Quebec tour in the Canadian Heroes car.

The trip began in late December and ended on January 17th. During that tour Lise visited countless Silver Cross families, or families of fallen soldiers. She also visited the Val Cartier Military base by Quebec City and the base in Petawawa, many Legion halls and also some veteran’s reunions, which in some cases are held weekly.

According to Lise that support group is incredibly valuable to those that attend. Lise said that it keeps the older veterans going mentally when they know they have that weekly contact.

Thanks to Lise the trip was a singing success. It wasn't always easy though and luckily Lise got some support of her own on the way.

"Cpl. Martin Daigle was assigned to me as a liaison officer to take me from unit to unit on the base. He worked with me the whole day," making her stay at Val Cartier military base a little easier.

She had interviews with all the military newspapers, including the Adsum from Val Cartier and The Post from Petawawa.

"They asked what the car was for, why was I doing it and how I got involved," said Lise.

"Everyone was touched by the vehicle, even if it was just in English."

Lise is passionate about our troops and wants Canadians to recognize both the fallen soldiers and those still abroad doing our country a valued and difficult service

"They are still (in Afghanistan) making the ultimate sacrifice, the soldiers that come back missing a leg, or with mental problems, it's a sacrifice and they all agreed to that," added Lise.

Both Lise and Canadian Heroes feel that giving back is important. And the message is getting out there. Recently Lise has been in contact with some citizens of France. They love what Lise and Canadian Heroes are doing to support our heroes and have started following the threads online from across the ocean.

"People in France have been writing to us. It's (internet groups) touching people that we don't usually hear about. It's starting to go global," said Lise.

The message is clear, Lise has and Canadian Heroes have a passion for supporting out troops in whatever way possible. Lise hopes that more people will get involved moving forward.

"I think there is a need for Canadians to have something like this (Canadian Heroes Car), to honor what our Canadian troops are doing."

"People want to see the car. With the Internet I didn't need to go but people want to see the car," said Lise.

"We have to go out and meet people. That is where we get results. When we started doing the tour last week, it exploded with requests and involvement. Knowing about what's happening there. We need to bring information about the entire campaign," she added.

We at Canadian Heroes would like to take this opportunity to thank Lise Charon for her tireless work and dedicated passion to our Canadian Armed Forces. Without people like Lise our troops would never know how much we appreciate what we do. Also, a big thank you to all those that allowed our car and Lise to step briefly into your lives, it was a great tour.

Check out our photo gallery of the entire trip and for a more detailed listing check the past three weeks of posts our Facebook pages.

Canadian Heroes Tours Quebec

For the past few weeks Canadian Heroes has had a sizable presence in Quebec thanks in large part to Lise Charron who volunteered for the heavy travel duty. Lise has been working her way across Quebec making pit-stops at various bases and points of interest to us and our followers. By now the Canadian Heroes vehicle she is driving in must be a regular fixture on Quebec highways.

Earlier in the week Lise had the good fortune to visit the “Van Doos”, The Royal 22nd Regiment. And the Canadian Heroes Truck goes with her. Our brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces have been gracious enough to pose with our truck on several occasions. Thanks to all.

Lise has gathered some amazing shots from all of her stops. Below we are posting a good cross section of her efforts thus far. We will be keeping you up to date here on our website regarding her adventures moving forward and as always keep your eye on our facebook group for constant updates and related info.

Also, as an added bonus we will be doing a wrap up story when all is said and done to give you an insight into all Lise Charron and Canadian Heroes has done in Le Belle Province.

Daytona 500 Experience for 4 soldiers

This will be the official posting for this event, the rules, ideas, timing, schedule, events, etc...refer to it for all information and questions that you might have. Please note that it will be updated and changed daily as info becomes available.

1. We would prefer to have 4 soldiers home on leave from Afghanistan be the recipients of this once in a lifetime experience.

2. All soldiers are responsible for their transportation to Hamilton and from Hamilton home.

3. We will provide the Canadian Heroes Car to get you to Daytona and back.

4. Accommodations at Daytona will be provided.

The 4 lucky soldiers will depart Hamilton in the Canadian Heroes Memorial Car Feb 9th and drive to Daytona.

Once at Daytona they will enjoy 10 days of a life changing experience at the most famous ( and newly paved) racetrack in the world.

Racing starts Feb 12 with the kick-off of the ARCA season.

Also on Feb 12, you will watch the historic Bud Shoot-out!!!!!

Feb 14th will bring the qualifying for the Daytona 500

Feb 17th will have the Gatorade Duels, two races that day to determine the starting grid for the 500

Feb 18th will see the Nascar Truck series race at night ( this is one of my favourite races of all time)

Feb 19th will see the Nationwide series race

Feb 20th is the Daytona 500 !!!!

So as you can see, lots and lots of racing, and what is not mentioned is all the testing that goes on in the 10 days, so its rare that there is not something going on!!!!

Email: info@canadianheroes.com

An Education in Support at Burlington Christian Academy

The students of Burlington Christian Academy received a special education this morning (Jan. 10, 2010) when Sergeant Steve Gardiner and Warrant Officer Ed Sculthorpe showed up to inform and thank the kids.

Recently the students of BCA raised approximately $1000.00 for the Canadian Troops taking part in the Afghan mission. That money was converted into Tim Hortons cash cards and distributed among the men and women of our forces. As most Canadians know Tim Hortons is like gold to the average Canuck making this charitable gesture mean that much more.

Sgt. Gardiner and Warrant Officer Sculthorpe displayed pictures of the Tim's cards in the hands of the troops and relayed how much this sort of thing meant to the troops fighting daily battles.

CTS News was also on hand to cover the event. We'll keep you posted on broadcast times for the news piece and where to catch it.

All told the presentation took an hour with the senior grades, 6, 7 and 8, getting a photo opportunity with the two members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Our thanks go out to the students of the Burlington Christian Academy for their kind gesture and in turn to Steve and Ed for letting the kids know how important their role is in keeping the troops spirits high. Keep up the good works guys.

Check out our pics on Facebook

http://www.canadianheroes.com/

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=270568&id=520414727

Thanks to Our World Juniors for Entertaining Our Heroes

What can be said about the Canadian World Juniors?

They pushed as hard as they could, through adversity and injury, all the way to the gold medal game. They pushed all the way to the start of the third period of the final. As our Canadian Forces members know all too well becoming complacent can be a death sentence. That’s exactly what happened last Wednesday night at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo. The Canadians eventually went on to lose to the Russian team by a score of 5 to 3.

Let’s not dwell on the negatives. The Juniors provided our Canadian Heroes with a spectacle on ice and memories they will never forget. For two weeks we watched collectively as our young players pounded the competition by way of goals and heavy checking.

We at Canadian Heroes had the opportunity to meet many of the soldiers and front line personnel that keep us safe and fight for freedom across the globe. It was our honour.

Thank you to all members of Canada’s Armed Forces for all that you do. We look forward to working with many of you in the future.

Coming soon is a selection of pics from the gold medal game. In the near future look back here for a compilation of pictures from the start of the Tournament to the end, with pictures from all of Canada’s games as well as some of the other international competitions. Thanks again to our heroes, both young and old.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=349401&id=190791324553

Canadian Heroes Gear Up for Gold

Thanks to some stellar play in the first period followed by strong checking and a sound defensive strategy, the Canadian Juniors forced themselves into the gold medal game on Wednesday.

As always Canadian Heroes was well represented with many Armed forces members in attendance. They were treated to a bit of friendly revenge after loosing to the U.S.A. in the final of the World Junior Championship in Saskatoon in 2010. Our Canadian boys were all too happy to return the favor. This year when the buzzer sounded after 60 minutes of play the Canucks led 4 to 1, more than enough to go for the gold.

This win, coupled by the Russian victory over Sweden, gives our heroes a classic final to watch on Jan. 5. Both teams, Russia and Canada, failed to earn a by past the quarter finals but both managed to overcome the odds and battled for their shot at glory. Sweden and the U.S.A will face off for the bronze medal just before Canada and Russia play the final at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

We at Canadian Heroes do our best to serve our troops, they do our country proud. Canadian Forces members and civilians alike are proud of our World Juniors. Keep up the good work boys. Bring home the gold!

Check out our video of the Canadian National Anthem sung by the entire crowd at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Straight from the World Hockey Championship in Buffalo. O Canada!

Check out this link to see our pics from the Canada vs USA matchup.

Canadian Heroes continues to host soldiers at World Juniors.

The World Junior Championship in Buffalo has had it's emotional ups and downs but the entertainment has been there game in and game out. All of our Canadian Forces guests would agree, even though we lost the game, that the Canada vs Sweden match on New Year's eve was the best action on ice to date with only the Canada Russia game giving it a run for it's money.

Our 10 seats in the lower bowl and the upper level box were both filled and overfilled with enthusiastic fans. Some soldiers, however, brought themselves to the game.

Sgt. Gerald Lefebvre managed to get himself to the HSBC Arena on the 31st of December, buying one of the last tickets online and coming all the way from Trenton to catch the action. Sgt. Lefebvre has been in the Forces for 18 years of service. Currently he is posted with TN-EME Squadron, having recently returned from overseas this past November.

Sgt. Lefebvre has served with Reservist Steve Gardiner, a member of our Forces mentioned in one of our last posts, starting in 2008. Steve Gardiner helped Gerald get from Hamilton to Buffalo after driving to the Steel Town from Trenton. Having served together overseas helping each other at home is second nature.

Unfortunately for Sgt. Lefebvre the last tickets were less than desirable. His ticket landed him beside a wall and behind the net obstructed by the safety screening. Not at all a seat befitting a hero and member of Canada's Armed Forces. As far as Canadian Heroes was concerned it wasn't good enough.

We airlifted Gerald from his trench seat and brought him onboard with our other veterans in the Canadian Heroes box at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

"It was fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat," said Sgt. Lefebvre.
"It's one of those things, it's almost a once in a lifetime opportunity," he added.

"It was awesome!"

Gerald also wanted Canadians to know the results of their efforts abroad as part of the Afghan mission.

"They (Canadian Armed Forces) are doing really good work over there. Canadians have helped bring a better way of life (for Afghans citizens)," said Lefebvre.

"I've noticed a huge improvement. Shops are open, kids are out playing. We are doing some good," added Lefebvre.

One of the only positives drawn from the Sweden loss was the potential for an additional Canada game. One more chance to show our Canadian Forces how much they matter and how much we appreciate all that they do for us.

Check out our pics from the game.

That next chance to host our vets came in the form of the Canada vs Swiss game on Jan. 2. The Canadian juniors started slowly but came on a bit late in the second, not disappointing our heroes watching the game in person.

As with every game, our seats were all filled to capacity with avid hockey fans, all rooting for our country.

This time out Canadian Heroes was fortunate enough to be able to bring Corporal Shaun Arsenault of 430 Squadron to the game. He has been involved in the Afghan mission since July 12th 2010 and is returning to active duty overseas as of January 5th. His first tour in Afghanistan is slated to end April 17th, finishing off his 9 month tour.

Cpl. Arsenault ended up at the game thanks to our Canadian Heroes Facebook group. His wife Kimberlee saw the announcement online for free tickets and she emailed right away. It was our pleasure to bring Cpl. Arsenault and his wife out to see our Juniors play the Swiss team.

"This is amazing," said Arsenault.

"I never miss the Juniors on TV, but to see them in person, and with (other Canadian Forces personnel), is great. Its like pulling teeth to get tickets to these games," he added.

Arsenault is passionate about hockey and the progress the Canadian Forces have made in Afghanistan.

"What I've been seeing is that we are giving the locals (Afghan citizens) work. We are paying them (for that work). Over there, that (wages) is very valuable," added Arsenault.

"We've been pushing the Taliban back and giving the locals a chance to rebuild," he said.

Our soldiers are providing the basic freedoms that we take for granted in Canada every day. Arsenault went on to say that the support from home is half of the battle.

"The support that we see daily (from Canada) is absolutely amazing. That is what is keeping the soldiers alive," said Arsenault.

Canadian Heroes plans to keep the support coming. Our Junior team did their part on the ice to keep Canadian spirits high.

Our young guns starting firing a little better in the third period by finally taking their first lead of the game and quickly increasing that lead to two goals. They closed the game out with an empty net goal to put the final score at 4 to 1 for Canada.

Canada and the U.S. Will face off in the semi finals on Jan. 3, at 7:30 pm at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo to determine who gets in to the gold medal game on Jan. 5. and as always we will take as many of our heroes with us as possible. To all Canadian soldiers and juniors, we are proud of what you do.

Check out our pics from the game.