We are collecting nominations for Lynn Valley’s Good Neighbour Award until Dec. 19, 2012. We’d love to hear, and share, stories about good-hearted folks who have gone out of their way to help you or their community, in ways large or small.  Nominees don’t have to be your ‘next-door’ neighbour, just a fellow citizen of the Valley.

This contest isn’t about deciding who’s ‘best’ – it’s about celebrating all those kindnesses that we know happen in our neighbourhood every day of the year. The winner of this year’s Good Neighbour prize package will be drawn at random, and announced on Dec. 23. Please send your submissions to [email protected].

THE WAARNES NOMINATE RENE VALEN

“I’d like to nominate Rene Valen as a GREAT neighbour!  He goes way beyond GOOD.

My husband and I live a couple of blocks south of him so we are relatively close.  We’re the type of people that like to go on vacation a lot.  Some long trips, some short, but all very frequently.  We’re also the type of people who adore our cat and treat her like a queen.  So needless to say, we want the best care for her while we’re away. Rene has gone above and beyond for us, as he has been easily the best cat-sitter of all time.  He’s Uncle Rene to our cat.

Rene has cat-sat for us on simple weekends away to three-week vacations.  He comes in the morning before he leaves for work to feed and play with her, and then comes in the evening after work to feed and play with her, and spend quality time with her.  He’ll have dinner at our home and watch television for a while, simply to provide company for the cat.  He even emails us pictures of her (curled up on his lap) so we know she’s OK!  We’re pretty sure the cat is very pleased with this arrangement, as are we.

Rene takes no payment for his services.  The best we can do is buy him some pot pies from the British Butcher and leave them in the freezer for some dinners or drop off a batch of cupcakes to his home once in a while. He is incredibly generous with his time.  What a fantastic neighbour!

We think he is the GREATEST NEIGHBOUR IN LYNN VALLEY!  We nominate him for the GOOD NEIGHBOUR AWARD.”

Nadine and Simon Waarne

PS – He’s also adopted plants of ours that have grown too large for their space!