March 20, 2011

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 18th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards!"

If you tune in to Shaw or aptn on April 9th, those words (and many more) are the ones you'll hear me excitedly pronounce to an electrictrified audience and our 14 incredible award recipients.

I've been working with this show for 5 years now in varying capacities, each year bringing me greater responsibilities and much more involvement. This year's show had me working not only diligently behind the scenes for a great deal of time leading up to show, but also in front of the camera for the first time. Another first for me this year was being afforded the added treat of narrating the recipient bio videos in addition to my traditional voiceover artistry for this program. It was a great honour for me to help share the stories of these outstanding individuals who are making a difference not only in their families and communities, but in Canada as a whole.

These are the stories our country truly needs to hear. This is no standard awards show, where the already-famous get extra pats on the back. These awards are for the truly deserving, unsung heroes who have overcome the hardest of challenges to make life better for all. They don't live in multi-billion dollar homes in unreachable, glitzy, gated communities. They could be your next-door neighbours. And the people you see innocently shoveling the snow from their driveways every week could be changing the face of Canada's health care, paving the way for child justice, or keeping a culture near extinction alive instead of lost in a history textbook.

(By the way, you can nominate that neighbour for next year's Awards by visiting www.naaf.ca.)

This year's show hits the air for the first time in HD, and trust me, it's worth it. The set is stunning. The artistry is amazing. And the entertainment is world-class... literally. Keep an eye out for our very talented Mongolian performers who bring an extra special internationally indigenous flare to the show.

Mark your calendars! Join us for the 18th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards on April 9th!

Holl

Aug. 16, 2010

Special Days... what to do for special days... sometimes it can be hard to determine. What does the heart truly want? Some people think winning the lottery is it, others some grand adventure overseas. What I've learned is that the heart truly wants what it already has, rekindled. Familiarity is key, but with an interesting twist.

I LOVE trees. I love nature. So when it came to deciding what to do for a special day in my life, it was an easy decision... "what can I do in nature that I haven't done before?" A friend told me of his ziplining adventure and I was instantly sold. Explore caves? Walk on tree tops? Sail with the wind above it all? ABSOLUTELY. And so I braved some of the scariest highways in Canada to spend a special day with the trees and the rocks and the wind under my harnessed backside. Here's a bird's eye view of an incredible moment you have to personally experience to fully appreciate. Enjoy the tease... and make a plan to live it for yourself.

Holl