A trophy in the name of former Lake Hāwea school teacher Andrew Sloan, who died on Saturday, will be introduced at next year’s Lake Hāwea Epic. Mr Sloan, an avid mountain biker, was diagnosed with a brain tumour eight years ago. Mount Aspiring College principal Nicola Jacobsen said the father of three had “a really immense impact on his colleagues”. “There’s a lot of the school community that is thinking of the great times they’ve had with Andrew but also thinking of Cherie and the three boys. “What always struck me about Andrew was there were never any boundaries to what he wanted to do. “Whatever the challenge was or whatever the adventure was, he had such an immensely positive approach to everything.” Lake Hāwea Epic event director Dougal Allan said Mr Sloan’s main focus was “being a dad” to his three sons. “He loved being a dad, he prioritised them every day.” He said the avid mountain biker “loved Lake Hāwea, he loved riding his mountain bike”. “One thing he was always known for was his desire to help other people. “He was the guy that would be quite competitive in an event but he would be happy to step aside from that to help someone that had a puncture or to fix a broken chain. “We thought it was appropriate that we would get some stories at the finish of next year’s event and every year thereafter and choose someone that represents Andrew Sloan’s values and give them an award. “I talked about it with Andrew and he was quite happy for that to be part of his legacy.” Mr Sloan will be farewelled in a ceremony at Lake Hāwea Station on Saturday.
