QUARTER CENTURY CLUB

Robert McIntee

Few people can have the volunteer impact on a community that Robert McIntee has had in Mount Forest. Long before his retirement, Robert was deeply involved in the affairs of his community, providing service to numerous organizations. The adage “If you want something done, ask the busy man” comes to mind as you consider his many and varied activities.

Since 1993, Robert has served as both a Director and Past Chair of the Louise Marshall Hospital Foundation organizing events and activities – raising money for the purchase of hospital equipment.

For the past ten years, he has been a Director of the Mount Forest Food Bank, personally canvassing localfood outlets and companies for food to be offered through the food bank.

The Big Brothers and Sisters of North Wellington also benefit from Robert’s time and abilities. Since 2002, he has been deeply involved as a Director of the organization. In this role he not only helps set the policy of the agency but also serves as the Chairperson of its “Bowl for Kids” committee which encourages community participation and raises funds for a variety of services including the matching of Big Brothers and Sisters with children and activities such as in-school mentoring, group activities and a camp for the children.

History and genealogy are particular passions for Robert. He is a volunteer of the Mount Forest Historical Society, staffing the Society’s Archives Building and providing historical information about the local area to residents and visitors. For many years, Robert was a volunteer with the Genealogical Society of Grey and Bruce Counties. Robert transcribed information from cemetery headstones and provided a computerized data bank to local libraries and the Ontario Genealogical Society that allows people to make a tangible connection with their ancestry. Robert has been the Volunteer Editor of three books: the first, a history of the Mount Forest Police Department was published in 1979; the second, a history of St. Mary’s Parish Church was completed in 1984, and the third was an updated history of the Parish prepared for the millennium and published in 1999.

Robert’s devotion to St. Mary’s Parish Church is evident in the variety of volunteer activities that he performs in service to it. For thirty years he has served as President, Treasurer and aMember of the St. Mary’s Holy Name Society, contributing not only to the upkeep of the church but also to the moral fibre of the young men with whom he serves. For twenty-five years, Robert has been a member of the parish choir, enhancing the services that measure peoples lives – from weddings to funerals – as well as the weekend mass. Robert also served as the Chairperson of the St. Mary’s ChurchCemetery Board, serving the needs of the bereaved in Mount Forest and fulfilling a number of necessary administrative tasks.

Several times each month, Mount Forest’s St. Mary’s School was brightened by the readings that Robert McIntee provided to Grade 4 students and he currently assists with the student breakfast program. Robert was also an active member of the Mount forest Kinsmen for over 24 years.

Robert McIntee’s volunteer efforts don’t end there. Having served for over twenty-five years, he continues a volunteer canvasser for thecounty Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Kidney Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society. For a time he served on the Board of the North Wellington Heart and Stroke Foundation, and acted as Treasurer for 6 years.

“Ask the busy man… “

R.J. (Jack) Hedges

Given the tremendous range of Jack’s voluntary service it is likely that almost everyone in the Woodstock community has been touched in one way or another by his efforts.

Personal interest in history – and a history degree from the University of Western Ontario- led Jack to join the Oxford Historical Society in 1978 as a member. The Society is one of Ontario’s oldest having been established in 1897 to preserve and promote the history of Oxford County. Not long after joining, Jack was asked to serve on the Board, first as Vice-President then President and ultimately, he went on to serve for many years as Treasurer.

Jack Hedges’ commitment to his community not only demonstrates his administrative abilities but also has provided an enduring link with the heritage of the area. Through his participation in the Oxford Chapter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, Jack’s presentations on residential architecture and County churches have had broad exposure.

Jack and his family were recipients of Special Recognition by the Oxford Historical Society in 2004. His commitment to the organization continues to this day.

Many young men had the benefit of Jack’s presence in their lives when, in the late 70 and early 80’s, he spent countless hours as a volunteer for Woodstock’s Big Brothers organization. A number of years after serving in this mentoring capacity, Jack was called on by the National Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization to assist them as an “agency reviewer”. This monumental task involved reviewing the case files, Board minutes, financial statements – and conducting extensive interviews with clients, parents, staff, Board members and representatives of other community agencies. For a decade Jack travelled from one end of the country to the other performing these agency reviews in order to ensure local compliance with national standards. During his years with the Ministry of Community and Social Services he used his vacation time to meet with agencies that required review.

Until very recently Jack was a member of the Board of Directors of Oxford County’s Maplewood Counseling Inc., and was central in the organizational review of the agency.

Jack Hedges was a founding member of the Elgin Oxford Legal Clinic in 2001 and the result is a Clinic that provides free legal services to lowincome and disabled residents of the two counties. Jack continues to spend an enormous amount of time as a volunteer. He not only is the Treasurer of the Clinic but has also been involved in the Quality Assurance Office Advisory Committee for the past two years. Jack’s abilities in this area were acknowledged during the year he served on the Executive of the Association of Legal Clinics of Ontario.

In support of Jack Hedges’ nomination for the Quarter Century Club Honours Awards for Community Service, the Executive Director of one of the agencies which Jack volunteers with wrote “He always made himself available for additional work… he cheerfully gives of his time on behalf of those in need in this area, and for that he deserves our appreciation and our thanks”.

Jack Hedges has endowed his community and province with his generous spirit and tireless effort. He has set a very high standard for community service in Woodstock and Oxford County.

Lucinda Sloley

For over twenty-five years, since participating in it’s founding, Lucinda has been a driving force in the United Achievers Club of Brampton. The Club was established to raise the profile and consciousness of the Black and Caribbean community in our wider society. To fund its mandate, Lucinda has been a member of the fundraising committee and also been a personal contributor. She brings her calm demeanor and great leadership abilities to all the tasks she is involved in.

Lucinda has served in every possible role with United Achievers, serving currently as Treasurer. As a member of the Board she has set the policy of the organization, while keeping and circulating minutes, developing agendas, maintaining and publishing the Club calendar and newsletter and keeping the official membership list. She also worked on club events – especially bingo, the main source of club funds – where she was a Bingo Runner, selling tickets to patrons, paying winners and even calling numbers.

When United Achievers Club built a 152 unit nonprofit housing development, Lucinda joined its board, making decisions on purchases, maintenance, repairs, employees issues and just about everything the corporations does. She also participates in a variety of events, from an annual property clean-up to the children’s Christmas Party. Lucinda Sloley is one of the volunteers that make Brampton’s Carabram happen. This celebration of multiculturalism is one of Ontario’s fifty top festivals. As a volunteer for twenty-five years in the United Achiever’s Caribbean Pavillion at the festival, Lucinda is a mainstay in the event – doing it all – baking and preparing food, decorating, setting up props and developing Pavillion themes. In 1997, Lucinda served as Chair of the Pavillion, sharing her administrative skills with the people of Brampton and the 60,000 visitors who attended Carabram.

Since 1999, Lucinda has served as a volunteer of St. Anne’s Catholic Church at Peel Manor Home for Senior Citizens, escorting residents from their rooms to the chapel and returning them after services. By assisting church Deacons, Lucinda enables the Priest to reach out to parishioners who otherwise would be unable to attend mass.

She also serves the people of Peel Region as a volunteer with the Peel Children’s Aid Society. Each month, Lucinda staffs the Family Visit Centre, writing her observations of the interactions of children and parents that occur there.

Lucinda’s outstanding volunteer achievements have been recognized many times. United Achievers Club of Brampton selected her for its Recognition Award in 2003 and chose her as its Member of the Year in 2005. On behalf of the City of Brampton, Mayor Susan Fennell and the Citizen Awards Selection Committee unanimously selected Lucinda for an LTS 25 Award, which will be awarded to her in May.

Lucinda Sloley is described as “dignified, quiet, self-assured and determined”. The shining qualities and tenacity she has constantly displayed make her volunteerism worthy of the acknowledgements she is receiving.

William Ward Sulston

There are many residents in countless communities across Ontario, and indeed across the country, who sleep comfortably without knowing they have Bill Sulston to thank! Bill’s tireless commitment to the Ontario Crime Stoppers program, has made him one of their most respected and valued volunteers.

After a distinguished 32-year career as an OPP officer Bill retired at the rank of Superintendent, and immediately took on a leadership role with the Ontario Crime Stoppers program, and has been involved with the organization at a provincial, national and international level ever since.

Crime Stoppers is the well-known community crime fighting organization that depends on anonymous information from the public to assist police services in solving local crimes. It goes without saying that the Ontario Association of Crime Stoppers (OACS) was delighted in 1997 when Bill agreed to lend his extensive field and management policing experience to the organization - serving on the Executive Committee, first as Vice President and ultimately, President.

Bill also took a lead role in fundraising and was instrumental in helping the organization obtain $2 million to sustain the after-hours telephone answering program. In addition to his leadership roles with the organization Bill also took on the responsibility of preparing and producing a comprehensive operations manual. This manual established guidelines, policies and procedures to ensure the operational effectiveness and consistency of Crime Stoppers programs.

Paramount for the organization is the need to conduct business in a way that will ensure anonymity for the tipster, and guidelines needed to be developed around this premise.

Bill literally “wrote the book” on Crime Stoppers programs and the manual has been utilized and replicated by Crime Stoppers programs across Canada and internationally. Further, it is now available on-line.

It has been noted that Bill commits to Crime Stoppers what for most of us would be a regular workweek, and he does so willingly, as a dedicated volunteer. Frequently, Bill travels across the country to attend conferences for Crime Stoppers, in addition to maintaining a leadership role on the Board of the Ontario Association.