Not only were runners duking it out for fun and glory in the first Thunderwolves’ indoor marathon, they also did it for a cause, working with the Children’s Centre Foundation to raise funds for the organization.

The fundraiser had runners separated into 3 categories; the full marathon, half marathon, and 10k run. Proceeds of the event were donated to the Children’s Centre.

According to Laura Meisner, who serves as the public education coordinator for the Children’s Centre Foundation, the idea of organizing a marathon was first put on the table by John Friday, an avid runner who also works as the director of management services for the Children’s Centre.
Meisner said that she and fellow organizers thought that holding a marathon would draw in athletes in Thunder Bay, as well individuals who live an active lifestyle. She noted that the city has a strong community of runners and joggers, so they hoped they could tap into that crowd to raise funds for their cause.

She added that she was very happy by the turnout of both competitive and non-competitive runners from all over the city. Some runners from out of town even came over just to compete, she said.
Close to a hundred runners came to participate in the marathon, which was held at Lakehead Athletics last Sunday.

One Thunder Bay resident joins the ranks of some of the Province of Ontario’s most elite and distinguished circle of people.

Fraser Dougall recently received the Order of Ontario at a recent ceremony held at Queen’s Park. The Order of Ontario is the highest possible honor given to a person who has made significant contributions to the fields of science, medicine, art, education, philanthropy, politics & law, and media. First started by Lt.-Gov. Lincoln Alexander in 1986, the Order has been awarded to candidates each year since then.

Past winners of the prestigious honor include golfer Mike Weir, former premier David Peterson, astronaut Roberta Bondar, and jazz musician Oscar Peterson.

Dougall’s win makes him the 8th person from the City of Thunder Bay to receive the honor. He commented that’s he didn’t expect to be nominated, much less to actually win the award.

Dougall started out as a technician for his father’s station, CKPR. After the untimely death of his father, he started a television station.

Although broadcasting took up most of his time, that didn’t stop Dougall from putting up the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium by raising funds and calling for support from the community.

He’s done more things for the community, but we’ll leave you to find out more about him.

If you’ve caught yourself using a cell phone—sending a text message or calling—while driving on the road on more than one occasion, then you might want to be more wary of doing it again, as a new and heavier fine will be given to violators caught by Thunder Bay’s Police Force.

According to Sgt. Glenn Porter, the time for discussion when it comes to using a cell phone when driving is over. After hearing the experts debate on whether using a cell phone when driving is safe or not, Ontario’s legislators have passed a new law. Now it’s time for enforcement, Porter said.

Starting on the 1st of February, violators caught using their cell phones when on the road will be fine a $125 penalty.

Back then, all police did was warn drivers about the hazards of using a cell phone when driving. Porter said the force didn’t keep track, but he guessed the warnings given out must have numbered in the hundreds.

Porter added that the new law should have been implemented a long time ago. With the number of drivers getting into collisions due to being distracted with their phones and handhelds, it’s amazing how long Ontario on the problem, he said.

It was a musical lunch hour for those in the cafeteria of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on Tuesday, as members of Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra came to visit the hospital to play classical music. Some members even came dressed to match the location – the 9 members of the wind ensemble were dressed in surgery bonnets and performed for the audience composed of doctors & nurses, patients, and their watchers.

According to Colleen Gibson, who started playing the oboe when she was in the 9^th grade, playing in public is the orchestra’s way of thanking the city for all their support. They knew those who worked in the hospital rarely got a change to see them perform, so she was more than happy to give them that opportunity. Gibson has played her instrument for 27 years now.

Thunder Bay District Hospital’s director of communications, Don Edwards, comments that over 4,000 people —many of whom came all the way to the hospital just to watch the orchestra perform—were in attendance on Tuesday. He said the mini-concert—if you can still call it that, with the big audience and all—was successful, and that he saw many enjoying the performance.

The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra will have a full orchestra concert at the Lakehead University on Friday noon.

With the Olympic fever in the air, one Thunder Bay restaurant organized a great send-off for the community’s residents who are headed to Vancouver in a few days.

Thunder Bay McDonald’s, located along Arthur Street, set up a send-off party complete with friends, family, cake, and music from a DJ. All this was an idea of Kathy Bukovey, who works with the local McDonald’s public relation team in Thunder Bay. Bukovey is also one of only 14 McDonald’s workers from all across Canada, who will be sent to Vancouver to represent the company.

According to her, she organized the party so that all of those in Thunder Bay heading to Vancouver for the games can have a place to have fun and celebrate before leaving the city. She found out only 2 weeks ago that she would serve as a hospitality ambassador in Vancouver’s downtown district.

She thought it would be a terrific idea to hold a party not just to celebrate her achievement, but for everyone else headed to Vancouver as well.

Talk about unselfish eh?

For Thunder Bay transit operator Stephen Kusznier, he can’t wait to be part of a huge gathering of nationalities from all over the world. He will be one of 13 local bus drivers shuttling people to and from events in Vancouver.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver from February 12 to 18. For details and information on the event, logon to www.vancouver2010.com.

After Haiti was devastated by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean country on January 12, it seemed that all countries around the world banded together to provide help to the victims left without homes and necessities.

Residents from the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario, certainly did all they could to pitch in. Local businesses also held special promos to help those in Haiti.

For Terra Nova Salon and Day Spa, cutting hair was their method of lending a helping hand to. On Sunday, the salon and spa offered haircuts for donations going to the nationwide Haiti relief effort. Proceeds of the special event were sent to Thunder Bay’s Canadian Red Cross branch. Normally closed for a break on Sundays, the salon and spa opened at 11 in the morning, cutting hair until 4 in the afternoon.

According to Steve Scaffeo, co-owner of Terra Nova Salon and Day Spa, they raised over $1,500 an hour after opening. And although they stuck to the basics and didn’t dry hair or whatnot, things worked out fine and customers continued to pour in.

He added that it’s only right that he and his team of stylists did all they can to help. Kids out there are throwing in their savings, it’s a must that his business does something as well, he said.

Habitat for Humanity is in a major bind this year, and needs one last push to make it to its goal.

The charitable group, which has provided help to the community by constructing homes for less fortunate families in the City of Thunder Bay, as well as other parts around the globe, is short of its goal of selling 12,000 tickets for its yearly $100,000 cash lottery fundraiser. This development has caused some worry for Habitat for Humanity’s regional CEO.

According to Diane Mitchell, they still have to break even. If they can’t make the 12,000-ticket goal, then the number of houses they can build this year will also be affected. The need to build homes has never been more important than now, she added. She points out that Thunder Bay has a long waiting list of families that needs homes from Habitat for Humanity.

But as other charitable groups in Thunder Bay have learned, the city’s residents have a tendency of pitching in at the last minute. Mitchell hopes that the same thing happens for her organization’s cause

If you want to help them out, you can score your tickets at Habitat for Humanity’s head office for only $20 apiece.

A handful of graduate and student nurses from the City of Thunder Bay recently took part in a seminar that taught them leadership values that undoubtedly will be valuable in the workplace.

According to representatives of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), leadership skills are necessary in their line of work.

Around 20 individuals who graduated from nursing as well as a few students participated in a recent workshop hosted by the RNAO. The workshop, which had the theme titled From Surviving to Thriving in the Work Environment, helped Thunder Bay’s future nurses build the leadership skills needed in the hospital.

Leigh Chapman, manager of the RNAO’s Centre for Professional Nursing Excellence, comments that leadership is especially crucial when dealing with patients. She adds that oftentimes, patients look to nurses to provide them with instructions and the like. From taking medication, to being reminded when to rest, a nurse often takes the lead during a patient’s stay in the hospital.

Aside from lessons on the importance of leadership, speakers and lecturers from the RNAO also discussed what to expect when making the transition from the classroom and learning institution, to a real medical facility or healthcare setting.

With these lessons in mind, these future nurses look to be on the right track to helping the city provide healthcare to those in need.

The workshop also focused on the students’ transition from the classroom to a real health-care setting.

Nursing student Alyson Hill said it was a big change for her to go from practising on simulation dolls to helping real people. Chapman said that she hopes participants gain an understanding of the challenges graduating nursing students face.

Shelter House Thunder Bay, an organization that provides the city’s less fortunate with a temporary roof over their heads, as well as other necessities like food and clothes, recently released its final figures of donations collected from its fundraising drive which took place on Christmas last year.

In spite of the organization’s worries about not making the 2009 target, officials from Shelter House Thunder Bay said that the fundraising campaign was largely successful – their collections exceeded the $145,000 mark significantly.

According to Shelter House Executive Director Cal Rankin, the donations will help them meet the annual overall goal of $400,000. A large chunk of the donations will be used in maintaining operations, he added.

Aside from monetary donations, Shelter House Thunder Bay also amassed plenty of other donated items, such as canned goods and other non-perishable food items, as well as clothes, both new and used. The food items will go a long way in keeping their shelves stocked, Rankin said.

Shelter House Thunder Bay depends largely on donations from the community to provide services needed by the cities less fortunate families. The shelter is especially needed by many during the winter, as most of the city’s homeless can’t find a place to get warm.

Thunder Bay might not be the biggest or the fastest growing city in Ontario, but residents in the area certainly didn’t care one bit, giving over $20,000 to Thunder Bay’s Red Cross branch in just one day. This by far is the biggest amount collected by the organization’s branch in the city in the span of one day.

The donations will be sent to the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Aside from money, thousands of residents dropped by the Thunder Bay Red Cross branch to deliver supplies needed by the victims ranging from canned and other non-perishable food items, to clothes, to shelter, to medicine, and other necessities.

Since efforts began to raise funds for Haiti, Red Cross Canada has so far collected close to $40 million in donations from all regions across the country.

Indeed, Thunder Bay residents are doing all they can to pitch in that the local Red Cross was forced to extend its operating hours this week, due to the number of people willing to make a donation.

However, the Red Cross isn’t alone in its efforts to raise funds for Haiti. The local Salvation Army has raised another $4000 this week, and they look to be sending even more funds to Haiti as the days go by.