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John Baxter “J.B.” Nelson was a graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College (1924). He later served as Agricultural Representative in Grey County, Huron County, and Peterborough County, and was also active on the Milk Control Board, Farm Products Marketing Board, the Ontario Credit Union, and the Farm Economics Branch.

Christopher Newton was born June 11, 1936 in Deal, England. He attended university in the U.K. and U.S., graduating from the University of Illinois with an MA (1960). His first professional acting performance was as Cassius in the Canadian Player's tour of Julius Caesar (1961). Throughout the 1960s he appeared in productions in Vancouver, Winnipeg, New York, and at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

The founding Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary in 1968, he formed a small acting company which served as the core performers of the company--these included Neil Munro, Dana Ivey, Pat Armstrong, Eric Donkin, Kenneth Welsh, and William Hutt.

When he moved back to Vancouver as Artistic Director of the Vancouver Playhouse in 1973, he established a core company (as opposed to jobbing actors for each season) as well as an acting school. The Shaw Festival saw what he was doing in Vancouver and courted him to bring the same passion and vision to Niagara-on-the-Lake as Artistic Director. After some considerable persistence, the Shaw Festival got its way in Winter 1979 when Newton finally took the reins of the Shaw Festival. With the assistance of Cameron Porteous as Head of Design and Jeffrey Dallas as Lighting Specialist, who both came with him from Vancouver, they managed to turn the Shaw Festival around. One of Newton's most notable contributions was that "He sought out talent, to be sure, but he passed if the talent showed the slightest hint of arrogance. He insisted the cast participate in all rehearsals and never tried to draw crowds by importing marquee names."1 He encouraged younger actors and playwrights by establishing a philosophy of the ensemble of creators rather than company of actors. In addition to acting and directing, Newton also wrote plays, including Slow Train to St. Ives (Manitoba Theatre Centre, 1966) and The Sound of Distant Thunder (Vancouver Playhouse, 1977).

Between 1980 and 2002 he developed the Festival's international affiliations, created and encouraged its ensemble of creators, and directed such productions as Pygmalion and Candida, even though his initial reaction to joining the Shaw had to do with his dislike of Shaw (Scott, "Newton's Law")! He retired from Shaw after 23 seasons in 2002. After some 30 years as an artistic director, he is widely considered the foremost artistic director that Canada has ever produced. Newton is a member of the Order of Canada and has received numerous awards including the Governor General's Award, the Molson Prize, the Chalmers Award, all the Jubilee Medals, five doctorates (Brock University, University of Guelph, Wilfred Laurier University, University of Toronto and New York - S.U.N.Y.) and two fellowships (Ryerson University and the Royal Conservatory of Music). Newton continued to act and direct on a freelance basis until his passing on December 20, 2021, aged 85.

Sources:
Scott, Alec. "Newton's law: when he joined the Shaw Festival, Christopher Newton pledged to build a troupe where actors--not egos--would be the thing. Twenty-two years later, the outgoing artistic director leaves behind one of the finest ensembles in North America. (Arts)." Toronto Life, vol. 36, no. 12, Aug. 2002, pp. 59+. Gale OneFile: CPI.Q, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A94078783/CPI?u=guel77241&sid=bookmark-CPI&xid=2797f6bb. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Raymond and Violette (Loner) Johnston, Marie Annetta Nightingale (1928-2014) was one of Atlantic Canada’s most prolific and well-known culinary writers. She began her career in radio as a women’s commentator on Halifax’s CHNS and CJCH radio stations, as well as Windsor, Nova Scotia’s CFAB Radio. She married Laurie Atherton Nightingale in 1951.

Nightingale ventured into the culinary world when she published Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens in 1970, which became the most popular cookbook ever produced in the province. Including both food history and local recipes, Nightingale’s book was one of the first to focus on regional cuisine while also highlighting how the Mi’kmaq and successive waves of French, Loyalist, Black, German, Irish, and Scottish settlers influenced the culinary landscape of the East Coast. The book’s success led to her becoming a celebrated newspaper and magazine food columnist; she was a regular contributor to Halifax’s Chronicle-Herald and Mail-Star and was the founding food editor of Saltscapes magazine.

Nightingale went on to publish three more cookbooks: Marie Nightingale's Favourite Recipes (1993), Out of Nova Scotia Gardens (1997), and Cooking with Friends (2003). In 1998, she received the Edna Staebler Lifetime Achievement Award from Cuisine Canada. She was inducted into the Taste Canada Hall of Fame in 2011, and in 2013, she was presented with a Canadian Food Hero Award from Slow Food Canada.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to an Algonquin mother and an Irish immigrant father.

Pat Noonan was born November 11, 1930. She was raised by her mother who was widowed one year after Pat’s birth. Following high school, she joined the order of the Ursulines of the Chatham Union in 1948. She was involved in the Young Christian Students Union, a movement dedicated to empowering high school students to take faith-based action on social inequalities. Taking the name of Mother Raphael, she remained in the order till 1971. During her time in the order, she obtained her undergraduate degree from Western University and took graduate courses in sociology from Notre Dame. Pat also taught students in Mount Carmel, Parkhill, Chatham, and Calgary.

After she left the order, Pat taught in a high school in Windsor, as well as at St. Clair College. She was regarded as a pioneer in Windsor for women’s rights, was a co-founder of Women’s Liberation in Windsor, and was involved in the Women’s Place, a drop in centre setup in the 1970s offering programs for women. Pat was also involved in Hiatus House, House of Sophrosyne, the Well-Come Centre, and Women for Sobriety.

In 1980, Pat started the Windsor Feminist Theatre, using the arts as a means to raise awareness about women’s issues. Her husband at the time, John McDonald, worked alongside Pat on many of the plays and performances. In addition to WFT, she was also a founding member of many groups and organizations that focused on equity, rights, and justice. From 1991-1997, Pat was appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of Windsor by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

In addition to her involvement in social issues, Pat was also an advocate for the environment and was a founding member of Windsor on Watch (WOW). This group supported residents in southwest Detroit and the Aamjiwnaang community near Sarnia, to address the environmental issues affecting the communities health.
Pat’s involvement in the community was publicly recognized, being named the first recipient of the Windsor Woman of the Year Award in 1983. In 2015, she received the Activist of the Year award, and her story and impact was documented in the video “This is what a Feminist Sounds Like”, which premiered at the Windsor International Film Festival in 2013, to a sold out audience. Pat died on August 11, 2018, after a quick health decline.

Alan Richard Nunn was born March 3, 1920 in Birmingham, England. After World War II he pursued his interest in theatre through The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His work as an actor took him across England and North America, performing with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, British Arts Council, The Old Vic, the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, National Arts Centre, The Red Barn Theatre in Jackson’s Point, Ontario, and the Crest Theatre in Toronto. He served as House Manager for the O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts from 1963 to 1970 and Administrator of the National Ballet School from 1970 to 1982. Nunn taught at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in the Master in Theatre programme. Upon retirement he moved to Peterborough, Ontario, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts at Trent University. Nunn founded the Lakefield Readers Theatre, directed and appeared in many plays, and taught Shakespeare to adults. He died November 3, 2004.

Born in Winnipeg, Margo Oliver (1923-2010) was a well-known food editor, cookbook author, and employee of General Mills. She earned a degree in home economics from the University of Manitoba in 1950 and then relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota for graduate work. There, she began working with General Mills in the Betty Crocker Kitchens. When General Mills expanded into Canada, she was appointed the country’s first Betty Crocker spokesperson. In this role, she travelled across Canada, educating cooks on various radio and television programs. Oliver was the food editor of Montreal-based Weekend Magazine from 1959 to 1979 and later worked for Canadian Weekend and Today until her retirement in 1982. She also produced seven cookbooks, including Margo Oliver’s Weekend Magazine Cookbook (1967), which was a bestseller. Oliver was posthumously inducted into Taste Canada’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

Cecil O'Neal was Director of Productions at Stratford Festival from 1975 to 1985 and went on to teach theatre at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in 1988. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 2011.