Buble croons at the Super Bowl

Buble croons at the Super Bowl
Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 29, 2003

Burnaby's favourite crooner is getting ready to hit the big time in a very big way.
After performing in San Diego last weekend for the huge Super Bowl Tailgate Party, Michael Buble is now setting his sights on the Valentine's Day release of his new, self-titled CD, produced by B.C.'s own David Foster.
Buble, a 25-year-old with a voice that has been compared to Frank Sinatra, also garnered a mention in the New York Post newspaper when gossip columnist Cindy Adams told the tale of his landing influential media rep Liz Rosenberg, Madonna's former publicist, to help hype the recording.
Buble's tale is as well-known to Burnaby NOW readers as it is inspirational.
The young kid got his start singing old swing standards on his grandfather's lap, and at the age of 17 recorded a CD for his friends and families and won a national talent contest.
The contest propelled Buble into the national limelight, and Buble was soon invited to sing at the wedding of former prime minister Brian Mulroney's daughter. That's where he was introduced to his future producer David Foster.
Life has been hectic for the young Burnaby native who once worked on his father's fishing boat. Today, he's living in Los Angeles, waiting anxiously for the Feb. 14 release date of his much- anticipated recording.
THE NEW MISS TEEN CANADA
Kudos to Lorenza Sammarelli for her recent elevation to the post of Miss Teen Canada.
Sammarelli is the young woman who graced the front pages of the Burnaby NOW over a year ago while she was helping paint the community mural on the side of the Dolphin Theatre. She is a Vancouver resident who teaches aerobics and skating at the Canlan Ice Sports 8-Rinks facility and she has a very proud grandmother who lives in Burnaby.
QUEEN'S MEDAL RECIPIENTS
We promised to bring you more names of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Commemorative Medal winners, and we've got them.
Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Patty Sahota held her presentation ceremony in the solarium at Edmonds community centre, where she handed out the medals to the following:
Norman Amundsen, a leading seaman in the Naval Reserves, and volunteer in the junior ranks mess committee;
Andrew Chatwood, of the Canadian Pension Commission and Veterans' Review and Appeal Board, the George Derby board, and the Burnaby Multicultural Society;
Asha Lohia, past president of the Burnaby Multicultural Society and founder of the Pandit Jasraj School of Music Foundation; and
James Morrison who helped merge UFCW workers into Local 40, helped establish the union paper The Mixer, and is a member of the British Columbia Regiment, the Duke of Connaught's Own.
Vancouver South-Burnaby MP Herb Dhaliwal handed out another 27 medals in a ceremony at the Langara Golf Course Clubhouse over a week ago. Among the recipients were the following people with noted Burnaby connections:
Alan Emmott, the former Burnaby mayor and reeve, and now a city freeman who recently had a community centre named in his honour; trooper Jose Blanco of the Canadian Forces Reserves and a student in the BCIT structural engineering program;
Francis Earl Blatherwick, who was the longest serving warrant officer in the history of the Royal Canadian Armed forces, a volunteer with Burnaby Meals on Wheels, and original recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation medal, which was handed out in 1952;
Ronald J. Joyce of the Naval reserve, Burnaby community policing programs and the Burnaby Judo Club; and
Jason Vargas of the Canadian Army Reserves, Fair Haven Homes, and South Burnaby Metro Club.
Dhaliwal also handed out medals to the following: chief warrant officer Mark Arden; Alex Wang Tat Chen, of St. John Ambulance; Dr. Hsin Kan Chen; Sgt. Baltej Singh Dhillon; master corporal Alan S. Dunlop; Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Gagne; Avtar Gosal of the Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple; Herman H.C. Ho of St. John Ambulance; former reservist and UN peacekeeper Thomas Houghton; Vancouver Police Inspector Keith Hutchinson; Indian Cultural Centre of Canada founding member Bakshish Singh Johal; Pritam Kaur Johl of the Khalsa Diwan Society; trooper Ron Ranvir Kang of the B.C. Regiment Duke of Connaught's Own; Mukhia Sardarni Sahiba Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa of the Khalsa Credit Union; Corp. Helen Lam of the Canadian Forces Reserve; Lt.-Col. Howe Yet Lee, a founding member of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum; Amar Singh Mattu, of the Khalsa Diwan Society; Satwant Ginder Sangha of International Punjabi Society; naval veteran Douglas Haig Sturch; warrant officer Kevin Walker; and warrant officer Robert G. Wishnicki.
Scouts Canada also offer up 51 medals in a ceremony at the Ismaili Jamatkhana Centre presided over by former Lieutenant- Governor Garde Gardom and B.C. Senator Mobina Jaffer, QC. The Burnaby recipients were Verna Adamson; Richard Barr; Robert Gourley; Keith Martin; Kenneth McAteer; Alamin Pirani; Natalie Rosecky; and Jaffer Valiani.
Phew....