Every year, CBC Hamilton reporters meet some of the most interesting people in the city and introduce them to you.

2019 was a great year for finding stories about remarkable people in Hamilton and the surrounding area doing remarkable things. Here's a look back at just a few of Hamilton's most interesting people in 2019.

Alan and Lauren Tomlinson — the tourists Alan Tomlinson and his daughter Lauren were evicted from their hotel in Niagara Falls after joining a strike protest at the nearby Rainforest Cafe on April 13. (Lauren Tomlinson/Facebook)

Alan Tomlinson and his daughter Lauren were visiting Niagara Falls from the U.K. when they were evicted by the hotel where they were staying because of their support for striking workers at the city's Rainforest Café.

The Tomlinsons were kicked out of the Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls hotel back in April. The Crowne Plaza is operated by Canadian Niagara Hotels Inc., which also manages the Rainforest Café. At first, officials said the hotel had followed its "security protocol for legally evicting a guest."

After media attention grew, hotel management changed their position. Spokesperson Sarah Vazquez blamed hotel security for kicking out the Tomlinsons, saying staff "failed to make the significant distinction" between union demonstrators and the two tourists on vacation showing support for them.

Alan Tomlinson, 61, said in an email to CBC News, "It does not make me feel any better. My holiday was spoiled and we were thrown out on the street. I told them we were guests!"

Hotel management said they wouldn't charge the Tomlinsons for their stay following the "unfortunate situation."

Aidan Gilmore — the hero Grade 10 student Aidan Gilmore steered a moving school bus to the side of the road Monday after the driver collapsed on the way to school. (Adam Carter/CBC)

A group of students from St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton may have saved lives back in March when they brought the school bus they were in to safety after their driver collapsed from a medical emergency.

It happened on a Monday morning. The bus full of students was heading to school for the first day back from March break.

"All of a sudden, the bus driver started having convulsions, and I realized he was having a seizure," student Aidan Gilmore said. The Grade 10 student — too young to drive — got up and rushed to the wheel. The driver's foot was on the brake, but the bus was still veering off course.

"In a split second, I knew I had to do something," Gilmore said. The 15-year-old had never driven a car, let alone a bus. Still, he managed to ease the bus off to the side of the road.

In a moment, four other students that included Keven Brennan, Logan McCorquodale, Rachel Watson and Kennedy Couture sprang into action. Some with first aid training rushed to check on the driver. Others called 911 and the school to tell them what had happened.

McCorquodale managed to put the bus in park and turn it off. In the end, the driver was OK, said Sarah Vala, regional manager for Sharp Bus Lines. He was taken to hospital, and doctors are ran tests to figure out exactly what happened.

Aicha Smith-Belghaba — the chef Aicha Smith-Belghaba served up a traditional Haudenosaunee feast during a Facebook live event with the CBC in September. (CBC)

Back in September, with our friends at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, we headed to the kitchen at Our Sustenance in Six Nations of the Grand River for a live cooking demonstration with a master chef preparing traditional Haudenosaunee food. Members of the public were invited to attend in person or watch live on Facebook as Aicha Smith-Belghaba used traditional Haudenosaunee ingredients to make a sweet corn mush and a meal of wild turkey and wild rice. It was a nod to Thanksgiving, Smith-Belghaba said, but without all the processed white breads.

Smith-Belghaba also served a roasted red pepper and tomato soup. It's not traditional, but the chef says there's a value in knowing many cooking styles.

"It's important in this day and age to be able to do both," she said. "[To] have your traditional foods and know how to make those, but also take those traditional ingredients and be able to put them into other recipes that you would normally have."

Tyler Berglund — the metalhead Tyler Berglund, a fan of heavy metal music, says that sponsoring a Syrian refugee family is "the most metal thing I've ever done." (Adam Carter)

Tyler Berglund has built a home for fans of heavy metal music in Hamilton at The Doors Pub on Hess Street. But it's his willingness to act as a sponsor for Syrian refugees looking to build their own home in the city that lands him on this list.

Berglund isn't the average refugee family sponsor. And he's probably not the average fan of heavy metal. But he sees a deep connection between his act of kindness and the music he loves.

"It's the most metal thing I've ever done," Berglund said. "I was just moved to contribute because of the luxuries we have in Canada."

Berglund and a group of family and friends were matched with a family last June through Refugee Sponsorship Training Program. Gol Bahar Muslim Hamo was fleeing Syria alongside her husband, Dalil, and their children, 8-year-old Noursin and 7-year-old Brojista.

The family escaped ISIS militants fighting to establish an Islamist state near Aleppo, Muslim Hamo said through a translator. "I didn't want to lose my daughters," she said. "We were terrified. We heard horrific stories and [stories of] women kidnapped."

Berglund said he got some negative reactions over refugee sponsorships from "a--holes," but on the whole, most are supportive. "I've even managed to change a few minds of bigoted people," he said.

Maurice Powell — the bus driver Maurice Powell has driven Hamilton city buses for 50 years. He's the first bus driver to reach the 50-year employment mark, and only the second city employee in general. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

In August of this year, Maurice Powell became the city's longest-serving bus driver.

He's the first driver in the city's history to reach the 50-year employment mark, and only the second worker in any city department to reach that mark.

Powell moved to Hamilton from Jamaica in 1968 and was hired a year later by the HSR. He starts every day at 4:30 a.m. and drives the 27 Upper James and 35 College routes. The city celebrated his service and gave him a certificate, and Arkells frontman Max Kerman give him an Arkells jacket with his name on it.

CBC Hamilton asked Powell what he liked about his job. His answer: "The people are pretty good. They say good morning. They call me 'boss.'"

And his advice for a young person considering a career in Hamilton as a bus driver? "Yeah, go ahead."

Wayne Etmanski — the deer whisperer Etmanski takes a smoke break while searching for a deer herd. He said he's usually able to locate the herd within 15 minutes of showing up in the woods. (Haydn Watters/CBC)

The CBC story about The Deer Whisperer began with the image of Wayne Etmanski standing silently over the carcass of Maybelle, his favourite deer. He had gotten so close to her over the past 17 years that he was even there when she gave birth.

Etmanski, from Brantford, better known as the "deer whisperer," spent nearly 30 years living in the woods — for days, weeks, even months at a time — documenting and living alongside wild white-tailed deer. He figures he's spent more than 200,000 hours in there.

"For the most part, they treat me like another deer. They treat me like a buck deer," Etmanski said. "It's surreal is what it is. It's so hard to describe. It's like I'm in a world I shouldn't be."

Etmanski has given his life to deer. He quit his job as a social worker, left behind family and friends and ended relationships. "I was told straight out, 'I don't want to play second fiddle to a deer,'" he said. "When you're in the bush with deer, you're doing nothing else and that's all I did. I did nothing else."

Lachlan Holmes — the city planner In 30 years, says Lachlan Holmes, "I'd hope that we have a signature building." (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

16-year-old Lachlan Holmes thinks it's time for Hamilton to grow up. The teen has become a passionate and knowledgeable advocate for the building of very tall buildings in the city.

By the time he's 30, he hopes "that we have a signature building. I would hope that there is something Hamilton can look at, and be proud."

His group, Hamilton Forward, had its first meeting in September 2018 and has been growing since then. Tall buildings, Holmes says, hold a promising future. They're cheaper for taxpayers because they use existing infrastructure. They're eco-friendly since its residents live on transit lines.

"There's years of evidence that shows sprawl isn't good socially, environmentally, economically, from a health perspective," he said. "It's time we focus more on creating an environment that allows us to grow upward, closer to existing amenities, on existing infrastructure."

Matthew Green, former Ward 3 councillor, had read Holmes online. In person, he expected "a middle-aged academic."

"Lachlan is an outlier as a resident," Green said. "For a young person, he's a super outlier."