The Kiwanis Club of Nipissing is planning to close nominations for the 2017 Kiwanis DIA Walk of Fame by Monday, August 7. The club is preparing an upcoming ceremony and needs to close off nominations by the end of next weekend.
Club President Ralph Celentano, says the club annually accepts nominations of any local or former citizens of the City of North Bay who have had provincial, national or international success thus they usually have brought positive recognition to the City of North Bay or have made significant contributions to the community.
2012 (program inception plaques Installed intersection of Main and Ferguson Streets) recipients have included:
- Michel Dupuis, creator of the Franco Ontarian flag,
- Bruce Goulet, former Mayor of North Bay and leader of the Golden Mile waterfront development
- Lynn Johnston, internationally known cartoonist
- Susan Hay, national media personality
- Giles Blunt, national author
- Sam Jacks, creator/inventor of Ringette
2014
- Michael Harris, Premier of Ontario
- Scott Thomson, Comedian, Kids In The Hall
- Jack Burrows, Mayor North Bay
- James Rankin, national journalist
Celentano states ‘We wish to recognize and induct a few more persons including our community’s diverse ethnic backgrounds who have demonstrated the values of this program during our country’s sesquicentennial CANADA 150 year’. There are citizens who have achieved impressive accomplishments but their name may or might not be synonymous with their North Bay ‘roots’. The club will look to select the new inductees by the end of summer. A dedication ceremony and homecoming reception will occur late September or early October.
2017 Nomination Form can be emailed to President Ralph Celentano [email protected] or through the Kiwanis Club of Nipissing website [email protected] or visit their Facebook page Kiwanis Club of Nipissing.
2012 Kiwanis DIA Walk of Fame honouree author Giles Blunt, who wrote a series of novels based loosely on the North Bay area, which has seen Blunt’s stories become made-for-TV series and filmed across the community last month for the second of three seasons. “It’s been a happy circumstance to ‘celebrate one of our own’ and witness a significant economic benefit to see his work come alive as the City is fortunate to host the Cardinal TV series crew as many more people are talking about North Bay, Ontario” claims Celentano.
An example of a former citizen who recalled living in North Bay, ON
A month ago, on Thursday June 28, Governor General David Johnston recognized several Canadians with distinction. One honouree, actor Michael J Fox, received his lifetime artistic achievement award and in his speech, he acknowledged living in North Bay, Ontario. Within a day or two, there were over 2.3 million views on a Global TV report and the views have since doubled to 4.6 million views by July 28. You can see his acceptance speech by viewing https://www.facebook.com/GlobalNational/videos/1427406167307144/
