When Steve Saleski, a technician with Aiello Home Services in Windsor Locks, Conn.,

signed on as a guide for a Cub Scouts rafting trip, he didn’t know it would make him a hero.

When one of the group's rafts hit rough water, one of the boys was thrown from the raft into

the cold water and struck his head on a rock rendering him unconscious.

   Saleski leapt into the freezing water to save the boy. He swam to him, pulled him to safety

on the shore and immediately began to administer CPR on the unconscious boy. Saleski kept

the boy alive until a medical helicopter arrived at which point he crawled into the helicopter

to fly to the hospital with the boy, who has made a full recovery.

   Saleski's actions were recounted recently during the Focus on the Future 2006 event for

contractors in Las Vegas. He received the first Focus on the Future Hero Award.

   The event, April 28-29, also featured a session where Rebecca Cassel, president of

franchise operations for Clockwork Home Services, gave Ronnie Lavenia of Rooterman/A Best Sewer

and Drain in Kenner, La., and each member of her team a weeklong trip to Orlando, Fla., with hotel

accommodations and passes to attend Disney World. Lavenia had said she wanted to do something

positive for her employees after the stress and devastation they had been through after Hurricane Katrina.

   Clockwork Home Services gave spa get-aways and a weeklong trip to Miami for the Super Bowl

to other contractors. Clockwork Home Services is the parent company of Ben Franklin Plumbing and

One-Hour Air Conditioning & Heating.

   In addition to the awards, Focus on the Future featured a lineup of motivational speakers.

More than 1,400 contracting business owners, technicians, call-takers, salespeople and others gathered

to hear:

• Headliner Les Brown, whose "It's Possible" message urged attendees to tackle their dreams and achieve their goals;

• Jim MacLaren, winner of the 2005 Arthur Ashe Award at the ESPY Awards, who related his story of perseverance in overcoming debilitating injuries;

• Team members from Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market, who demonstrated their fish-throwing antics while sharing their story of taking their goal of becoming world famous and making it a reality;

• Chip Eichelberger, who encouraged everyone in attendance to achieve more in life and maximize his or her potential; and

• Clockwork Home Services' John Young, who presented a segment on the power of metaphors, analogies, parables and similes, and Darren Dixon, who shared his personal story of success.

   Focus on the Future 2007 is being planned for next spring. Details will be available at www.focusonthefuture.org.