During their Summerfest 2009 tournament, Owen Sound Ringette presented a special “Volunteer Appreciation Award” to both Fred and Wendy Cathrae.

          Fred and Wendy are admired and respected for the energy and commitment that they have devoted locally to the sport of Ringette, to the players, the parents and the executive members. They have been there watching the practices and games, attending all the Owen Sound events, coaching, serving on the local executive and supporting the other executive members as they performed their duties for almost 30 years. Their love of the sport, understanding, knowledge and participation at the Western Region Ringette Association and Ontario Ringette Association has provided leadership and earned them respect as “Builders” in the community.  In recent years, both Wendy and Fred have been inducted into the Ontario Ringette Association’s Hall of Fame. 

          Wendy and Fred have been a very positive force in the promotion of Ringette in our area. Thanks to their hard work and leadership, Owen Sound has a strong and active Ringette program with many enthusiastic participants.

The Nancy Heathers Award has been awarded for many years and was originally presented to a player to recognize their sportsmanship. In more recent years, the Nancy Heathers Award has been presented to a player or former player who has contributed to our organization as a volunteer. This year’s award recipient has been both a sportsmanlike player and a valued volunteer.

This year's recipient is Chelsea Deyell.

Chelsea started playing Ringette in Novice and played Ringette to the end of her Tween years. While she was a player on a team, Chelsea was a dedicated player who was dependable, worked hard and was a positive team member. It is unfortunate that we were unable to field a team in Chelsea’s age division last year as she is a talented player and we know that she loves Ringette. She showed that by staying involved with the sport as a volunteer.

Chelsea has shown leadership and teamwork while helping Owen Sound Ringette in a number of different ways. Both last season and this past season she was a helper with our Bunny team. In the spring, we had a Try-It Gym Ringette P.D. Day Camp and Chelsea was there to help run the program. This past summer, Chelsea helped both on ice and off-ice with our Ringette Camp. She volunteered to help with Powerskating and was ready and waiting if we were able to run another P.D. Day Ringette Day Camp in the fall. In some cases, Chelsea rearranged her personal work schedule to be available.

Over the past few years, Chelsea has been a wonderful ambassador for Owen Sound Ringette. Always positive, always cheerful, always reliable, enjoying Ringette, enjoying the children and putting their well-being and safety before her own, Chelsea has been there for us and we certainly hope that we will see her back again next season.

As a token of our appreciation for her contribution and dedication to our organization, Owen Sound Ringette presented the Nancy Heathers Award for 2008 to Chelsea Deyell. Congratulations Chelsea!

Congratulations to Wendy Cathrae, a valued member of our community and association who has received the Ontario Ringette Association Volunteer Recognition Program Community Builder Award for 2004. She was presented with the award at the Western Region meeting in Stratford on September 16^th. She has now become a member of the Ontario Ringette Association Hall of Fame which was established to recognize the efforts of dedicated volunteers like Wendy. Wendy’s contributions to Ringette in Owen Sound span two decades.

Wendy became involved in ringette in 1982. Like most of us, her initial involvement was that of a parent. Wendy’s duties began to expand in 1983, when she first helped to manage her daughter’s team. In 1984, Wendy became part of the Owen Sound Executive as fund-raising chair person. In 1986, Wendy sat on the committee that set up the Constitution and By-Laws and was instrumental in the Association’s incorporation.

Since that time, Wendy has continued to be very involved with ringette in our community. Her duties with the Owen Sound Ringette Association include many years serving on the executive. She was President 1987-1989 and 2002-2004, Past President 1989-1991, Vice-President 1986-1987 and 1991-1993, Fund-raising director 1984-1986 and 1999-2000 as well as being a team manager 1983-2004.

She has given many hours of her time not only as an executive member and team manager but also as a volunteer for the many activities that our association has been involved in such as food booth, garage sale, bottle drives, skate-a-thon, gym ringette program at the YMCA, used equipment sales, bingos, registration and much more.

In 1997-1998, Wendy helped to set up the Bunny program in Owen Sound. It started out with 10 children and has increased to 28 children in 2003-2004.

Over the years, Wendy has had many encouraging words for developing players. Wendy not only gave her time and organizational skills to the team but also many special "touches" far beyond the expected job description. She has helped to foster a very positive feeling about the sport of Ringette and the people involved.

Wendy is admired and respected for the energy and commitment that she has devoted to the sport, the players, the parents and our executive members. She is there watching the practices and games, attending all the Owen Sound events and supporting the other executive members as they perform their duties. Her love of the sport, understanding and knowledge of the Western Region Ringette Association and Ontario Ringette Association have provided leadership in our community.

Wendy Cathrae has been a dedicated community builder for Ringette for many years. During Wendy’s involvement, registration in Ringette for our association has increased from 40 to 120 participants. Wendy has been a very positive force in the promotion of Ringette in our area. Thanks to her hard work and leadership, Owen Sound has a strong and active Ringette program with many enthusiastic participants. She is a very worthy candidate for the Community Builder Award.

Heartfelt congratulations are given to you, Wendy, for your well-deserved induction in the Ontario Ringette Hall of Fame.