SHAWNIGAN COMMUNITY Notable achievements 2021–2022

SHAWNIGAN Community

Notable Achievements 2021–2022

L-R: Junu Dimdung ’19 (Kaye’s), Tenzin Lama ’21 (Strathcona)

Tenzin Lama ’21 (Strathcona)

“Currently, I am studying at Simon Fraser University, where I received a full-ride scholarship (Uggla Family Scholarship), and I am in the education faculty. Before I started university, I wanted to take business, but after much research and looking at the situation in my village, I ended up taking education because I thought this field would help me a lot in the future as I will get to help my people back home in Nepal and make their lives better, especially those young girls and boys. Education is the critical factor that will help my villagers to have a better life and a promising future for generations. My villagers’ lives depend on people like me as we are the first generation to receive an education, so I believe it’s my responsibility to make a better life for the upcoming generations and change their lives.”

What is she up to?

“Currently, I am on summer holiday and working at the Flying Beaver restaurant in Richmond, BC (first job in Canada). I really love working in this restaurant because it is such a positive environment to work in. All the staff members are very friendly, kind, and helpful to each other like at Shawnigan.”

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Academic

1. Alumnae and sisters Naokah ’18 (Renfrew) and Jasmine ’21 (Kaye’s) Bailes were recently featured on CBC and in Nunavut News for having both received the Sahtú

Renewable Resources Board’s Environmental Studies

Scholarship, as well as for their respective studies and pursuits related to the Sahtú region in Canada’s Northwest

Territories.

2. Nyah Miranda ’18 (Groves’) graduated from the

University of Guelph with an Honours Bio-Medical

Science degree in spring 2022. She was accepted into four optometry schools and has chosen to attend the

New England College of Optometry, in Boston, MA, in

September 2022 for the four-year doctorate program.

1. Congratulations to Shawnigan staff member Laura Russell, who has earned an incredible 50 caps with Canada’s women’s rugby team and has been selected to join the team at the 2021

World Cup (held in fall 2022) in New Zealand.

2. In August 2022, Jamin Hodgkins ’20 (Lonsdale’s) and Ted

Champion ’21 (Ripley’s) played for the Rugby Canada U20 team in a test series held at the University of Guelph against

Chile, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe. 3. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah, where he was a significant part of the men’s golf team, Tristan Mandur ’17 (Copeman’s) started his professional golf career in June 2022. Tristan, who is also the 2020 BC

Amateur Champion, won his first start as a professional! A highlight of his debut tournament was achieving a hole-inone in the final round. Congratulations, Tristan!

4. Sophie Miranda ’20 (Groves’) was featured as a U SPORTS upcoming soccer player to watch as she plays with the

Victoria Highlanders Football Club in the newly formed

League 1 BC. Sophie was recently selected as the team’s

Player of the Year (fans’ choice). She is joined on the team by

Shawnigan staff member (and accomplished soccer player)

Mariel Solsberg. Sophie is currently enrolled at Queen’s

University where she plays midfield on the women’s soccer team.

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1. Matt ’07 (Copeman’s) and Stephen ’09 (Copeman’s) Sager are starring in a new TV show Lost Car Rescue on the History

Channel, which premiered January 13, 2022. This series is launched on a long-standing passion of Matt and Stephen’s: their love of old cars. When employed in Alberta for a job that had Matt flying his own planes to bring equipment to remote locations, he noticed from this aerial view a number of old cars that were abandoned or out of use. He would note the GPS coordinates of these cars, and, come summer, would travel out to these remote locations, meet their owners, and purchase these cars to be refurbished and sold.

In their first summer they rescued and sold 150 cars, and in the second they reached 200. When a fellow alum Alex Taye ’05 (Lonsdale’s) filmed a clip of them rescuing these cars, they realized that they had a fantastic opportunity to highlight their work. After creating a promo trailer, they pitched their show to multiple companies in California and elsewhere and ultimately secured a deal with Toronto’s Boat Rocker Media and their production company Proper Television.

2. Building on his success in marketing and global partnerships,

Peter (Pete) Beeney ’95 (Copeman’s) has made the exciting career move back across the Atlantic to become Vice President,

Global Agency Partnerships at The Washington Post.

3. The last few years have been unpredictable for Fiona

Dalrymple ’03 (Renfrew), now an established painter. She says, “I became a mum of two, I completely changed careers, and we began building our new home and business space.

Throughout all of this, I painted. I thought back to my much anticipated fine art afternoons and found the courage to share my work with others through social media and, gradually, my website.”

4. Lisa M. Grover ’90 (Kaye’s) was one of the first 36 women to attend Shawnigan in 1988 and has actively been involved in the community since. She currently sits on the Board of

Governors and chairs the Alumni Engagement Committee. Lisa has been practising law in Banff and Canmore, Alberta, since 1997, and she currently runs a law firm, Grover-Froese Lawyers and Mediators, with her husband, Rod Froese.

5. Brendan Tang ’93 (Lake’s) was the 2022 recipient of the City of

Nanaimo’s Excellence in Culture Award for his contributions in visual art. He is primarily known for his sculptural ceramic work, through which he often expresses a love of both futuristic technologies and ancient traditions. This fall,

Brendan starts his second year as an Assistant Professor at

Emily Carr University in the Audain Faculty of Art.

6. Since graduating, Stefanie von Westarp ’92 (Kaye’s) has been working in the field of international development.Stefanie’s career has led her to work in countries such as Madagascar,

South Sudan, and Haiti, leading up to her most recent work in

Venezuela organizing the International Donors’ Conference in

Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in June 2021. Photos courtesy of HISTORY

7. Arthur Chang ’03 (Ripley’s) recently rang the Nasdaq opening bell to celebrate his company’s IPO. Sonder (NASDAQ:

SOND) is revolutionizing hospitality through innovative, tech-powered service and inspiring, thoughtfully designed accommodations combined into one seamlessly managed experience. He joined Sonder in 2015 as Employee No. 8 and hasn’t looked back since. He currently lives in Montreal with his wife and soon-to-be three kids.

8. Grover-Froese, a law office in Banff and Canmore, Alberta, had the pleasure of hiring Annika Belireau ’19 (Strathcona) as a summer intern last year. Annika is interested in pursuing a career in law, and Grover-Froese was delighted to have her on board for the summer. With her keen interest, Annika brought her dedicated work ethic and creative solutions to their firm.

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Life Updates

1. Alex Macintosh ’09 (Lonsdale’s) married Melissa (Missy)

Mullins in a ceremony on the Shawnigan campus in July 2022.

In attendance were nine alumni and three staff members, including best man Lachlan Macintosh ’09 (Duxbury), sister of the groom Amelia Macintosh ’19 (Kaye’s), and groomsman

Alex Housser ’08 (Duxbury). Additionally, Maylies Lang ’10 (Groves’) was the wedding photographer! “As is usually the case with Shawnigan, it was the people who took it from a great weekend to an exceptional weekend,” shares Alex. “Our friends and out-of-town family were blown away by how kind and thoughtful everyone was in the Shawnigan community.” 2. In a ceremony in August 2022, Lachlan Macintosh ’09 (Duxbury) married Alexandra Little. They were joined by family and friends at Stonewall Estates in St. Catharines,

Ontario.

3. Ian Manly ’06 (Copeman’s) married partner Abby at Brew

Creek Centre in August 2022. Many alumni as well as current and former staff were in attendance, including groomsmen

Michael Wilding ’06 (Copeman’s), Michael Berg ’06 (Ripley’s), and Struan Robertson ’06 (Copeman’s).

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4. In October 2021, Thea Klubi ’11 (Renfrew) married partner

Mallory in Las Vegas and shared the following with us: “We decided to skip over an engagement and eloped to Las

Vegas! When you know, you know, and why not go big! After thinking about being in the spotlight and all the planning a wedding entails, we decided that it was just going to be the two of us. We booked a photographer and videographer from Vancouver, and off we went. We wouldn’t have changed a thing – from our drive-thru wedding to our sandstorm photoshoot!”

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Achievements

1. Marius and Andrea Felix, on a trip to Vancouver Island, came to visit Shawnigan and caught up with many staff as Marius was awarded a lifetime achievement award at Brentwood

College School (his alma mater). Marius was a former House

Director of Lonsdale’s, a rugby and rowing coach, and a socials teacher, and Andrea had worked at the School as a counsellor.

The couple are happily retired and living in Ottawa close to son Ben and daughter Tessa and their five grandchildren.

2. Darrell Oswald ’78 (Lonsdale’s) and spouse Robin visited

Shawnigan in order to receive a gift from Head Larry

Lamont on behalf of the School for many years of service to

Shawnigan’s Board of Governors and Foundation. Thank you

Darrell for your outstanding service to the School!

1. In October 2021, the School had the opportunity to engage with our alumni online and in person through a combination of virtual programming and regional gatherings for our annual Founder’s Day celebrations. Highlights included a livestreamed Chapel service with an address from Harriet (Guard) Klumper ’09 (Renfrew) and a musical presentation by Amelia Macintosh ’19 (Kaye’s) and in-person gatherings in cities across the world: Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle,

Washington DC, Celaya, London, Seoul, and Hong Kong.

2. In early 2022, alumni from the class of 1979 had a class reunion in the mountains! Patrick MacLachlan ’79 (Lake’s) shared the following: “Three of us recently spent five days ski touring in the Coast Mountains (Upper Callaghan Valley). In the photo are (L-R): Gavin Fitch (Lonsdale’s), Pete Postuk (Ripley’s), and me, Patrick (Pat) MacLachlan (Lake’s). Pete is also father of

Sam, Christopher, and Jerek (all Lonsdale’s ’17). Three years ago, after many intervening years since graduation, we rekindled doing backcountry trips together starting with a fun (but unsuccessful!) attempt of Mt. Elkhorn on Vancouver

Island with Tim Fairbank ’81 (Copeman’s). It should be noted that Tim, unencumbered by us old guys, has subsequently summited that peak a couple of times. And we all have Mark

Hobson and Rick Reeve to thank for getting us started in this direction.”

3. Another alumni meetup took place on a mountain this past winter, as a number of alumni gathered in Whistler, as pictured at the bottom of the mountain. In attendance were

Ed Steidl ’91 (Copeman’s), Graeme McGee ’91 (Lonsdale’s),

Jason Wilkinson ’91 (Groves’), Dan Zybutz ’91 (Groves’), Bill

Robertson ’91 (Copeman’s), Steve Quinn ’90 (Groves’), and

Russ Quinn ’64 (Groves’).

4. In April 2022, Shawnigan returned to both Vancouver and

Langford Rugby Sevens! We were thrilled to welcome back alumni, parents, current students, and wider community members to our Shawnigan suites for two exciting weekends of rugby. In particular, we appreciate those attendees in

Vancouver who participated in our theme, Canadian Actors in Their Roles, with Head of School Larry Lamont leading the effort as Christopher Plummer’s Captain von Trapp. A special thank you to our sponsors and all those who came out to enjoy rugby and reconnect!

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5. Shawnigan was delighted to gather the Class of 2020 together in May 2022 for a special graduation celebration in Whistler.

After their own graduation gala was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic, this event served as a resolution of sorts.

It also gave the 60+ attendees the chance to have an early reunion just two years after leaving the School.

6. Over the weekend of July 15–17, 2022, more than 150 alumni, families, and past staff came together on campus to reconnect and re-experience Shawnigan. Our first

Summer Reunion was a big success, making up for the grad classes that missed their Founder’s Day reunions because of COVID-19. Those who attended could be spotted in a rowing shell on the lake, skating in the arena, playing rugby on the fields, staying in the dorms, taking an art class with

Don Rolston, singing in Chapel, or simply enjoying a meal all together in Marion Hall. Everywhere we looked, we saw alumni and their families reconnecting on their old campus.

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