Local 1320-Peterborough, ON, helped make the dream of one of its Handi-Van clients become reality. Russell Lake has been riding the Handi-Van service in Peterborough for years. His smile, sense of humour and happy temperament are qualities which have gained him many friends in the local.

Lake is a huge fan of The Price Is Right. He is quick to admit that his hero is host Bob Barker. Lake often dreamed of going to Hollywood to watch a taping of the show, but money constraints along with his confinement to a wheelchair made the dream seem unachievable. With the announced retirement of Bob Barker in June, Lake’s dream was quickly fading.

A Very Worthy Cause

Local 1320 was approached to see if it would make a donation to make Lake’s dream come true. The members agreed that this was a very worthy cause and voted unanimously to sponsor Lake for the entire trip. The local was very much encouraged in this project by International Vice President Larry Kinnear.

On April 19, Lake celebrated his 45th birthday at the Community Living Peterborough Centre. Although he knew that there would be a cake, he didn’t expect the extraordinary surprise brought by Local 1320 President Gary Sager.

Sager presented Lake with two round-trip airline tickets, tickets for the taping of The Price Is Right on April 30, and a cheque to cover the hotel and expenses for two people in Hollywood. Lake was also given several T-shirts to wear on the trip.

The Centre had asked the local media to record the event. Cameras flashed while the media interviewed Lake who was beaming his big patent smile.

Local 1320 Executive Board Member Bob Jackson said, “By being sensitive to the needs of others, we can give something back to the community we serve and validate that the ATU has a big heart. Helping to make Russell’s dream come true has given our membership a really warm feeling and a great deal of pride in being ATU.”