Matthew Aubie has graphic designs on ‘glitz and grit’ of being a Champion for Charity. By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca WATERLOO — Yonge Street was thick with impatient cars and impenetrable fog. A yellow billboard glow cut through the coming night. Toronto traffic was relentless, as always. For new parents Matthew Aubie and his wife Julie,…
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Esther Kong eager to add boxing and Champions for Charity to her list of extraordinary exploits KITCHENER — The wind pummelled Esther Kong’s face with a flurry of gusty jabs. Her goggles wobbled violently. Beneath them, her glasses almost tumbled 11,000 feet to the Ottawa River below. This skydiving adventure with her dear friend Kathy,…
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Champion for Charity Kim Dawson knows not to embrace the ref in the boxing ring By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca WATERLOO — Kim Dawson figured the referee deserved a hug. After all, she had just been walloped on the left temple in a Salmon Arm ring. A standing eight-count was just the breather the Wilfrid Laurier…
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Champion for Charity Jeff MacIntyre fights for the ‘care and compassion’ of McMaster Children’s Hospital By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca HAMILTON — The ambulance pulled into McMaster Children’s Hospital. Jeff MacIntyre, scared and disbelieving, followed close behind. His daughter Emily seemed intent on making an early entrance into the world. How early? Too early. Her mother…
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Nick Benninger, Champion for Charity, adds fundraising to the menu as full training begins By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca KITCHENER — Fish sticks baked slowly in his childhood kitchen. The battered-haddock odour wafted through a Stanley Park home. Young Nick Benninger, a belly full of teenage temerity, complained to his mom Bonnie. “What are we eating…
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Brian Collins gets a new kick as a Champion for Charity By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca KITCHENER — Brian Collins, after 30 years as a martial arts maven, knows karate. But boxing? Not so much. “Changing my approach is going to be a very difficult thing,” said Collins, a black belt in Goju Ryu Karate who will step…
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‘Comfort Zone’ Abandoned Christina Sibley, police detective and Champion for Charity, eager to grow in fundraising ring GUELPH — By: Jeff Hicks www.champsforcharity.ca Six words are seared into Christina Sibley’s brain. Growth happens outside your comfort zone. Her wife Donna, a former national champion boxer, spoke them years ago when the two police officers first…
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Henry Downie of Team Vincent Motorsports ‘ecstatic’ to be a Champion for Charity By Jeff Hicks champsforcharity.ca AYR — Henry Downie’s ankles and heels were shattered. His shinbone was broken. His right shoulder and knee were smashed. On one side of his face, the orbital bone was pulverized. “So I’m pretty used to getting beaten…
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20 community leaders and local business professionals become boxing Champions for Charity By Jeff Hicks Champions for Charity The squared circle beckons Kitchener’s Greg McBride. He will answer this charitable summons to the sweet science stage. He has no choice. “It’s a big pipe dream of mine to step into the ring,” said the 38-year-old…
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By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — Syd Vanderpool twirled around the ring like a boxing Baryshnikov. With a showman’s flourish, he delivered the final faux birthday blow to Nelson Leite’s burning midsection. “Fifty-four. Fifty-five. Fifty-six,” the crowd of prospective 1st-time community pugilists cheered. Twenty other Champions-for-Charity hopefuls counted out Leite’s considerable candle tally with…
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