A 96-year-old motorcyclist. A counsellor helping inmates in the Northwest Territories. More than 100 stuffed animals found hidden in a wall. A man visiting every Nelson in North America in honour of his late husband.
Those are just some of the good news stories Black Press Media reporters across Canada wrote about in 2024. Scroll through this list of some of Black Press Media's good news stories of the year.
Ribbon skirt gown a show stopper at Williams Lake grad
For Williams Lake teenager Kaden Napoleon, her search for the perfect grad dress wasn鈥檛 just about finding the right style, it was also about making a statement about her cultural identity.
Mountie mom and son share shift before she retires
Trailblazer Corporal Madonna Saunderson caps off 38 years of dedicated service by working with her son in Terrace.
In every Nelson he visits, Jeff Truesdell finds the man he loved
How do you live with the loss of a loved one? For Truesdell, it means visiting every Nelson in North America.
Vernon hockey heroes bring fallen teammate back to life
If David Hampton was a cat, it's safe to say he's enjoyed two of his nine lives. In those two cases, 11 months apart, Hampton nearly died of cardiac arrest. He was brought back to life by people who knew CPR and with the help of an Automated External Defibrillator.
White Rock woman adds peak of Africa to accomplishments
The mother of two reached an entirely new height 鈥� literally. She summited Mount Kilimanjaro.
Secret society steals, restores Kelowna gnomes
A mysterious secret society stole, restored and returned a Kelowna man's gnomes in a mischievous act of kindness.
Langford elves save the holidays with pop-up Santa letter postal service
Two friends and their team of helpers are working to ensure the holiday tradition stays alive.
Food drive: Disability-advocacy group in Chilliwack collects 900 lbs of food
A recent food drive for the Chilliwack Salvation Army, created by users of the very same food bank, raised more than 900 pounds of food, plus financial donations.
After a four-year hiatus, Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation gala returns
Patty Olexin-Lang was lost for words when first asked how last weekend鈥檚 gala went for the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation.
Cultural significance of Haida basketball subject of film being shot at ANBT
During the dark, rain-filled months of winter, the Skidegate Community Centre on Haida Gwaii becomes a hub for not only basketball, but also a gathering place for the entire village.
Abbotsford D-Day vet presented France鈥檚 highest honour
Joseph Vogelgesang, who is 99 years old, went to France along with 14,000 other Canadians, in what would be the start of the liberation of Western Europe.
A tale of 2 Simons: Oak Bay family embarks on rare disorder awareness campaign
The three Oak Bay kids 鈥� Spencer, 9, and twins Isabel and Simon, 6, 鈥� are also pretty comfy with the term mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) though the family uses the specific term Morquio. It is part of the standard lexicon for the three Willows Elementary students.
Opportunities Yukon chipping in to make downtown more accessible this winter
Brendan Gregory鈥檚 first week in his new job has been filled with shovelling and chipping away at snow and ice to make downtown Whitehorse more accessible this winter.
Red Deer woman wins overall wellness category at provincial fitness competition
Red Deer's Kristina Kotowich recently entered her first-ever fitness competition and came home with three trophies.
Sylvan Lake business owner puts fighter jet on display
On display at The Driftwood in Sylvan Lake is one of two of the only Harrier Fighter Jets in Canada.
Big Valley鈥檚 Harden family gives back
Fundraisers brought in more than $81,000 for a local girl with kidney failure from E. Coli and now the family is donating the excess funds to local groups.
Maskwacis resident lands modelling stints in New York and Paris
Sometimes life can bring about unexpected - but totally joyful and exhilarating - new experiences. Maskwacis resident Janine Peigan's life has changed pretty dramatically in the last several months in ways she hadn't dreamt possible.
Former British spy couple lived out their days under the radar in Ponoka County
Real-life British spies Pete and Pru Mason lived out their days in quiet anonymity right here in Ponoka County.
Lacombe dance troupe off to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage
A troupe from the Lacombe-based Dancer's Edge Studios jetted off to 'Music City' to take part in Dance the Magic! Nashville.
Vernon card collector taking hits for mental health
A Vernon man is taking his love of hockey card collecting one step further in helping to raise funds for mental health.
'Everyone had a sense of purpose': New Denver rallies to feed firefighters
Supporting firefighters and evacuees was a Silverton-New Denver collaboration.
Voice from the past found light in darkness
Surrey man horrifically stabbed in 1996 shares what he鈥檚 learned about life.
Recycling hero makes big haul of Williams Lake butts
Wilber Saunders is showing Williams Lakers their butts.Cigarette butts, that is.
Father and son happy to be safe after capsized boat rescue at Crescent Beach
"You feel a little ashamed when you do something like this but everyone, all the responders, were just so positive, they were all outstanding," said Greg Monroe, the man rescued from the Crescent Beach Marina.
Teddy bear surprise: B.C. couple find 115 stuffed animals hidden in wall
Serial killers? Drugs? Money laundering? Just some of the wild theories a former-Sooke couple has been sent by the general public after they made a rather strange, but cuddly discovery hidden in the walls of their home.
First fish found in 70 years at Oak Bay鈥檚 Bowker Creek spawns hope
On Nov. 5, a member of local non-profit the Friends of Bowker Creek Society discovered a salmon carcass near the creek's estuary in Oak Bay.
100-year-old model totem pole returns to B.C. carver's family
Kwakwaka鈥檞akw artist Lou-ann Neel has been reunited with a rough cut of a model totem pole carved almost 100 years ago by her grandmother, Ellen Neel.
Local business delivers water to Kelowna鈥檚 Tent City
A Kelowna business teamed up with local advocates and took matters into their own hands because 鈥渆verybody needs water.鈥�
St. Patrick High School lends a paw to animals in need at NWT SPCA
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon outside their shelter came a truck packed with four students from St. Patrick鈥檚 High School. John White was the man behind the wheel and the teacher of those four students. He explained they were at the shelter donating animal houses his students had been building for the past couple of weeks.
Fraser Valley wood turners donate handmade wig stands to cancer patients
Members of the Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild accepted a challenge by club president Barry McLean who read about the idea in a magazine. Guilds around the world have been making them for decades.
Gatineau Ski Club enjoys a great exchange week in Iqaluit
It was recently the Aniirajak Ski and Adventure Club鈥檚 turn to host what will hopefully be the first of many exchanges in Iqaluit with their Gatineau Ski Club counterpart.
'They break down into tears': What counselling looks like inside a jail
It's a bit of a walk to get to Brad Steyn's office at North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC). There's a flight of stairs, plenty of doors 鈥� all of which are locked, either someone will buzz the person through or they have a key 鈥� and a couple turns before making it there.
But it's worth the trip for some of the inmates at the jail, it seems. Steyn, a counsellor at NSCC, said that counselling here isn't quite the same as it is for the outside world.
Red Deer's Glenn Turple is still motorcycling at age 96
Glenn Turple feels it's the most natural thing in the world to be out on the road on his motorcycle at age 96.
