Petal-pushers rise to the occasion

Tammara Bondesen is a passion expert.

The Winnipeg florist helps the lovestruck, the optimistic and the sorry improve their chances.

"Flowers are special to people. They are a symbol of so much," says the bubbly 55-year-old. "They're always the right thing to give someone."

This year, she was very popular with people who missed Valentine's Day.

He couldn’t afford to be a vet

Jim Baxter was 14 when he decided taxidermy would be an interesting hobby.

This isn't one of those creepy stories where the neighbourhood cats started to disappear and no one noticed little Timmy was missing until it was too late.

The teenager signed up for correspondence classes. He bought books and studied techniques. He purchased pigeons for practice. Young Baxter soon discovered he had a knack.

"People would ask me to try a small bird for them," says Baxter, 69. "It was something very interesting."

Faith makes her seek generosity in others

Courtney Marshall doesn't think of herself as a Christmas elf.

She doesn't wear green tights. She doesn't make presents. She doesn't hang out with a fat guy in a red suit.

Instead, Marshall openly declares her faith in God, believing she is doing His work every time she staffs a Salvation Army kettle, smiles at strangers and thanks them for their donations.

In our secular world, it's increasingly rare to meet a young person who believes in organized religion. It's rarer still to find one who will stand in a mall or grocery store for hours on end to display her faith.

Grandmother loves taking care of people, at home and school

Angela Di Pietro came to Winnipeg in 1961.

The young Italian immigrant spoke no English, knew nothing about the city and had no idea how she'd make a living.

The 19-year-old knew one thing: This was the city chosen by her beloved Mario, the boy she'd fallen in love with on the streets of her home town.

She was 15 when the sparks flew. Mario was 20.

He’ll really open doors for you

Opening locks without a key doesn't require the magic and mastery of Houdini or the finesse of an old-time safe cracker.

You've just got to be patient and skilled and own very expensive tools, says local locksmith Darren Ingleson.

"The nuts and bolts of it is basically learning how to pick locks," says Ingleson. "It's tactile.

"In Canada it's kind of like the wild, wild west. There is no real formal locksmith school. It's sort of like a secret cabal. You learn by practising."

A duck and a bulldog…

Bob Vanstone wanted to be a machinist. It was a solid, reliable job for a young man just starting out. He was engaged. He had plans. He was a blue-collar guy and he wanted skills that would see him through life.

Helping kids breathe easier

Todd Mortimer has always found his job as a respiratory therapist challenging.

Now, with a second wave of the H1N1 pandemic upon us, Mortimer and his co-workers in the Health Science Centre pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are girding themselves for what could be a tsunami of young patients.

On Thursday, there were three suspected and one confirmed case of H1N1 in the pediatric ICU. The children were all under the age of five.

"It's new and definitely catching our attention because of the newness and because the way it presents itself in different ways," says Mortimer, 42.

Happiness is just a dance step away

When Jennifer Grayda describes her work as a dance instructor, she speaks in exclamation points.

"I love it here! I'm just so happy here! I love getting up in the morning!"

The petite 25-year-old, shimmering in a black bustier and a flowing skirt that clings to her curves, was an unlikely hire for the venerable Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

She'd taken a few dance classes as a kid and was able to follow a simple choreographed routine. She was never more than adequate at hip hop and salsa numbers.

All dressed up, ready to laugh

Most Winnipeggers know Bob Sweet simply as the crossing guard with the goofy costumes.

He regularly stops traffic in front of St. Ignatius School with his orange flag and the wacky outfit of the day. He makes transit drivers laugh and people detour to the corner of Harrow Street and Corydon Avenue to see what he's got on.

Sweet ensures the first day of school and all the others that follow are fun for kids heading to school. He knows their parents get a kick out of him, too.

Sweet is a south-end fixture whose childlike love of dressing up has made him a neighbourhood celebrity.

Always showtime for server

Michele Wood was a carhop in the golden age of carhops. Thirty-some years later, she tends bar and waits tables in the shabbily elegant Palm Room at the Fort Garry Hotel.

Sometimes she wonders how she ended up where she did.

"I recently realized, 'Oh my God. Pretty soon I'm going to be a 50-year-old waitress,' " she said, sipping coffee in the hotel's breakfast room. "How did this end up happening?"

She was 14 when she started running trays of Teen Burgers and frosty mugs of root beer out to waiting cars.

39 years and still loving it

For decades, parents have wrapped a question around a threat.

"Want to spend your life asking 'Do you want fries with that?' " they'll snap at their unmotivated teens. "Keep it up and you'll spend your life working at McDonald's."

Thelma Roider has done exactly that.

‘Where people say goodbye… ‘

Dave Watts comes face-to-face with death every day.

The lanky 43-year-old is a groundskeeper and maintenance man at the Shaarey Zedek cemetery, a sprawling Jewish cemetery in the North End. In plain terms, he's a gravedigger.

Shoe Guy’s craft a family affair

Most of Gary Kozussek's loyal customers don't know his name.

To them, he's just the Shoe Guy. In an era where most of us have accepted planned obsolescence, he repairs things.

Sometimes they end up better than new.

King of meet and greet

Jim Woo is not a doorman. He is not a bellman. He is not some anonymous uniformed service guy at one of this city's finest hotels.

He is the "lobby ambassador" at The Fairmont. His job description includes customer service, an almost magical knack for fulfilling guest needs and a nature so gentle that even the most bull-headed guest will ask for and take his advice.

Yes, occasionally, he still swings the heavy glass front doors open.

But Woo generally takes his position near the front desk, hands crossed, ready to help if he's needed, greeting guests and making himself available to grant most wishes, no matter how unusual or trivial.