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Thank You to All of Our Patrons of Lake Laurentian
Tessa Bonhomme
2012
Tessa Bonhomme is a 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist, a 2007 and 2010 IIHF World Champion and currently a member of the Toronto Furies in the Canadian Nation Women's Hockey League.Tessa was also a member and captain of the Ohio State Buckeye's Women's Ice Hockey Team in the NCAA, where she earned the prestigious title 'First Time-All American'.
Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario in 1985, Tessa was a member of the Sudbury Lady Wolves and was a leading scorer and league leader at Lasalle Secondary High School. Besides hockey, Tessa excelled at basketball, flag football and played competitive soccer for the Sudbury Canadians.Tessa's university career found her playing for theOhio State Buckeyes, garnering many hockey records and honors. During these years, Tessa 'red shirted' a year to take part in the Women's National Team program for Canada, setting her sights on the 2006 Olympics in Turin. And despite the rigors of sport, Tessa graduated with a degree in Speech Pathology!
Bonhomme was also selected by The Hockey News on its list of the 100 People of Power and Influence in ice hockey. She is on the latest cover this month's issue. Tessa starred in and won the popular Canadian show' Battle of the Blades' with her partner David Pelletier, the first ever female hockey player to take on that role. Together they shared the $100,000 prize, all of which went to the charity of their choosing. Tessa chose The CIBC Run For The Cure' in honour of her grandmother who is a breast cancer survivor. These funds were delegated to breast cancer research in Tessa's hometown of Sudbury.
Tessa is currently employed as an analyst and reporter for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and GOLTV with former Sudbury sports announcer Joe Bowen, covering a show called 'Gate 5 Live.' Tessa has taken on many other causes, promoting in particular, an initiative called 'At My Best', which promotes physical education for young people today. She is now the 'Scotiabank Hockey Ambassador' and now has endorsements by Nike and McDonalds. We welcome another Greater Sudbury native in becoming a 2012 Patron of F.O.L.L.
Alan Nursall
2012
Alan is a well known Canadian scientist and TV Personality for the Discovery Channel. He has a M.Sci degree in geography and meteorology. Sudbury has been Alan's home town since the early 1980's. His love for science and the outdoors is witnessed in his adventuresome career.
He has over 25 years experience in the science centre, museum and interpretive planning community.During his career at Science North he held a variety of positions and served as Science Director from 2000-2007 where he was responsible for the entire visitor experience at Science North & its companion facility, Dynamic Earth.
Since 2007, as the Principal at NEXT Exhibits, he has developed interpretive plans, full exhibitions and video productions for clients ranging from the Smithsonian Institution to the Canadian Space Agency and Science Centres across Canada.
Additionally, he is a skilled and experienced presenter with countless 'live' presentations under his belt. Since 1996, Alan has been a regular contributor on theDiscovery Channel's national science news program, Daily Planet and currently appears twice a week hosting a segment titled 'The Alan Nursall Experience'. Alan is very active in the Sudbury arts community and currently sits as the Chair for the Art Gallery of Sudbury. He is leading the organizations rejuvenation as the Franklin Carmichael Art Centrein a new purpose-built facility located in the center of Sudbury.
We are thrilled to have Alan Nursall accept our invitation as a Patron to our organization. We thank Alan for being such a participative 'Friend' for years to come.
2012
Major Meagan McGrath
Born in Toronto in 1977 and raised in Sudbury, Meagan McGrath enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1995. She is a graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelor of Science (2000).
Upon completion of her Aerospace Engineering training, Major McGrath serviced at CFB Comox. In 2001 she was posted in Ottawa where she worked as an Imaging Radar System Engineer, a subproject of the Aurora Incremental Modernization Project. She was posted in 2005 to the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre Ottawa Detachment, and the Air Force Experimentation Centre. May 2009 saw her working on the implementation of a Forces School of Aerospace Tech. & Engineering. She and her team maintain the standards for the technical training that technicians and Aerospace Engineers receive.
Her love of climbing began early. Since 2002 she has climbed many peaks throughout the world including Mount Everest in 2007 where she achieved her goal to climb the Seven Summits the highest peak on each continent (Kosciuszko version). Jan. 2008 brought her to the summit of Carstensz Pyramid becoming the first and only Canadian woman to achieve both versions of the Seven Summits.
Mountains are her passion but she has always had a fascination with desert environments, both hot and cold. In Jan. 2010 Meagan completed the first Canadian Solo Ski to the South Pole travelling over 1096 km's in 40 days hauling a sled weighing just over 200 lbs across a vast area of Antarctica.
Following this expedition, Meagan embarked on a 7.5 month journey to the Himalayas where she attempted to climb 5 great Himalayan peaks—a test of her skill, daring and humility. Her next expedition series is one she will endure with challenges of four extreme environments: desert, polar, jungle & high altitude.
Meagan sends to her Friends at Lake Laurentian a strong endorsement for our Patron program by saying, 'The bush around Laurentian was my playground when I was growing up. I agree that this is an important area to protect and I would be honoured to help in the ways that I am able."
FOLL thanks Ms. McGrath for her strong Patronage.
2012
Mike Grandmaison
Mike Grandmaison is an award winning Canadian photographer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and regarded as one of Canada's fine nature photographers. He graduated from Laurentian University with an Honours degree in Biology in 1976. Following a 20 year career with the Canadian Forest Service in Edmonton and Winnipeg, Mike launched a new career as a full-time professional photographer in 1996. He photographs for a broad range of corporate and editorial clients, in fields ranging from agriculture to architecture and from forest to factory.
His academic knowledge and working experience in the natural sciences, coupled with his passion for photography, technical skills and an artist's eye, make him a sought after photographer for outdoor work and has won him numerous commissions from clients across Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe. His images have been published worldwide by National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Geo, Audubon, Sierra, Ford, Loblaws, Canadian Gardening, Canada Post, Nature's Best and the Smithsonian Institute, to mention a few. His images have also appeared on six Canada Post stamp projects.
In 2004, Key Porter Books commissioned Mike to photograph a series of coffee table books. The first book, 'Canada' (2005) quickly became a national best seller; it has been reprinted and been published by Chapters / Indigo under the title 'Canada - Seasons of Wonder'. Mike has since published four other titles:
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'The Canadian Rockies' (2007),
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'Georgian Bay' (2008),
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'Muskoka' (2010)
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and his latest 'Mike Grandmaison's 'Prairie and Beyond', published by Turnstone Press in April of 2012.
He also collaborated with colleague Don Johnston, on an environmental book ('Healing The Landscape' (2001) for the City of Greater Sudbury, Ontario.
Mike has taught photography for many years, presenting lectures to a wide variety of organizations and conducting nature photography workshops across the country, including at the prestigious Niagara School of Imaging in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2010 and 2011 and at 'Focus On The Rockies' for the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alberta in 2007 and 2008. He also writes a regular feature for "Outdoor Photography Canada" magazine.
Mike states: "The natural environment is where I long to be. Although beautiful images can be made from every corner of the earth, I made a conscious decision very early on to focus on the Canadian environment to capture the essence of this land in beautiful images that speak to the heart'. As an artist, my focus is to capture the beauty of this great country and to share it with others to remind us all of the importance that a healthy environment brings to the richness in our lives". We warmly welcome Mr. Grandmaison to the 2012 Patrons of the Friends of Lake Laurentian. We thank you for your most generous donation of books towards our FUNdraising ventures.
