The Runners of the Torch
Pelham
Marvin Junkin
I was born in St. Catharines in 1953, the same year my parents purchased a farm in Pelham. I am the youngest of 5 children, having one brother and three sisters.
My father purchased a number of milking cows and viola…we were a dairy farm! It was a great experience growing up on the farm, as we had many other animals; chickens, ducks, pigs and a white horse named Danny. There was always lots of work to be done and all of us kids had assigned chores to do. Upon graduating from high school, I obtained government funding, bought the farm from my parents, added a lot more cows and became a full time dairy farmer for the next 42 years.
During those 42 years, I married a farm girl named Candy and the two of us raised 4 children. The boys played hockey in Pelham and both myself and Candy got involved as either coaches or trainers, whatever was needed at the time. We sold the cows in 2012 as dairy farming is a young man’s game and I was no longer young! We continued to work the land and to this day grow wheat, corn, soybeans and hay.
In 2014 I successfully ran for Town Council and in 2018 was successful in becoming elected Mayor of Pelham.
Between politics, farming and grandchildren, Candy and I have very busy days.
Michael Jacques
Michael has been a Special Olympics athlete since he was 13 years old. He plays basketball and baseball. He has been to provincial games three times for basketball and won a bronze medal at one of them.
Michael also volunteers his time local for the Rotary Club and has been appointed to the Provincial MACSE committee by the Minister of Education. He also has been elected recently as President of Community Living Ontario.
Michael has an intellectual disability and autism. He cannot read or write but has written two books using technology. He was awarded Citizen of the Year for Fonthill in 2019.
Michael has received international recognition by the "Queens Commonwealth Trust" as a young adult making positive changes in his community.
Christina Picton
Christina just returned from the 2022 Beijing Paralympics! She has also been profiled many times on Sportsnet as one of our leading Canadian women athletes. She is known on the international and national stage for para ice hockey (Canada Women's National team since 2006, captain since 2014) and para nordic successes (4th in her last FIS race in Europe).
She is as dedicated to her community as she is in her personal sport goals. Working as a graphic designer in Welland after attending Niagara College, she finds time to coach a grassroots womens' para hockey program, play on the local Niagara Thunderblades team, support the Brock Niagara Penguins with their para ice hockey program and be a role model for other para nordic athletes.
She needs to be one of our celebrated torch bearers... coming off the Olympic and Paralympic high, our community needs to celebrate all her accomplishments and give her thanks for all she has done for our para sport community!
Eilea Given
I am a competitive and professional Jump Rope athlete with over twenty-five years’ experience competing at the regional, provincial, national, and international level. In 2019, I brought home to Canada six medals from the World Championships in Norway, including four gold, together with a bronze from the China Open Invitational. Although these are the stats I am encouraged to give in interviews, I am most proud when I am wearing the maple leaf and traveling nationally and internationally to compete and teach.
My true passion is passing on the joy and efficacy learned through sport. Sport has been such an avenue of resiliency for me, and I continue to draw of my this as I work to support my community through volunteer work with the Niagara Distress Centre, Victim Services Niagara, and coaching and judging within my sport community. Since becoming a new mom, I have been active in campaigns to promote body positivity and health in an inclusive fitness community. I have organized a recreational program for adults thirty years and older to build stamina, stay healthy, and fall in love with moving our bodies.
It is my greatest hope to contribute to fostering the confidence and resilience in our young athletes that will lead them to grow the boundaries of our sport and community. Sport changes lives, and the blessings that flow from this are invested throughout community. I would be honoured to follow in Roly’s legacy and to affect my community even a fraction as much as he.
Ava Colangelo
I have always loved the town of Pelham. From Grade 7-12, I was a part, and acting president in my final year, of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council. I worked with many external organizations, planned and executed many events such as a virtual youth forum with over 40 participants from across the town. Post-grad, I became a Town of Pelham Soccer coach,and went on to work for the town as a Summer Camp Counselor. I also became a team lead on an upcoming organization called inspireHER Niagara, where I planned an event that brought two McMaster university professors in to speak to youth about how COVID-19 functions.
Throughout these experiences, the importance of representing a place that I know and love became exceptionally important to me, but also knowing that I wanted to make this town a safe place for youth across Niagara. In the future, I hope to become a professor or teacher, as I want to help youth understand concepts so they can develop a passion for what they love. This idea has been knit into everything I’ve done, helping people to understand, and giving them the resources to find their passion. Youth advocacy has always been my passion, and by bearing this torch, I hope to inspire youth across my town to do as I do, strive to spread the love.
Frank Adamson
I am the Immediate Past District Governor of Rotary International District 7090 and working with the Canada Summer Games Torch Bearer committee. A fitness facility owner and operator. Actively involved in humanitarian causes here and in foreign countries. Active runner and cyclist using this to raise money for charitable causes.
Dave Hunt
David is an active sports enthusiast participating in cycling, walking, hiking, pickleball and snow shoeing. He instructs cycling courses to groups ranging from young school children to senior citizens. He actively supports the Pelham Active Transportation Committee through advocacy letters, holding mini-rodeos at Summerfest and as an instructor at the town's Summer Bike Camp and has received many Recognition awards from the town for his efforts.
Since 2009, he has been a CAN-BIKE instructor under the Niagara Region Public Health Dept CAN-BIKE program. He raised significant funds for the Niagara Big Move Cancer Ride, the Ride for Refuge and Ride for Heart. He has even arranged for new immigrants to Pelham to receive a used bicycles free of charge. David is active in the Share the Road Cycling Coalition which advocates for new hiking and cycling trails and bike lanes on major roads in Niagara.He has been a member of the Pelham Historical Society since 2000 and the Pelham Horticultural Society since 1997 and engaged in community projects ranging from planting flowers to beautify the town gardens to erecting Christmas decorations on light poles.
David is a recognized, humble and active volunteer for the Pelham community and should be rewarded for his efforts.
Robert Lucchetta
I have been an active member of the community of Pelham for many years with many sizable donations and actively participating in the many town cultural and social events.
I am a founding member of the Pelham Amici Cycling Club. We are an avid and active group of Pelham residents of varying fitness who enjoy the sport of road and mountain cycling.
I would like to do 1 km of the torch relay together with the members of the Amici Cycling Club. We have also volunteered our time and resources for the Canada Games road race.
Jim Chalcraft
I have actively participated in most major sports and was an umpire for youth baseball for many years. I continue to hike, skate and cycle on a weekly basis. I was a member of the Welland Jaycees serving as Treasurer for several years and the Welland Rotary Club for many years (co-chairing the Easter Seals campaign one year) and I am currently an active member of the Probus Club of Pelham. I was a member of the Promote Welland Task Force and was the co-author of the submission that resulted in the LEAD Corporation (now Venture Niagara) which continues to provide government funding for small businesses in Niagara and the creation of many new jobs. I was a member of the Economics Faculty of Brock University from 1974 to 1986.
Sharon Greenwood
My life has embodied sport. From competitor in skating, synchro skating, rowing and golf I am all about team, sportsmanship and respect. All participants are winners in my eyes when they support and respect others from coaches other athletes and officials to name a few. I am volunteering at the Games and I would be honoured as a Senior to carry the torch.
Natalie Anderson
I am currently a Grade 12 Student in Pelham and engaged in my town. I have been a part of Pelham's Mayor's Youth Advisory Council for many years, and am the Prime Minister of this council this year. Our job is to get other youth involved in our town and I am dedicated to working hard to achieve this mission. I am also Pelham's Representative on the Niagara Regional Chair's Youth Advisory Panel and play an active role as being a positive youth leader in my town. I also promote the arts and was involved in a team of students chosen to paint the Marlene Stewart Streit mural in Pelham.
I maintain a positive spirit and am also engaged in sports such as swimming, curling, horseback riding and dance. I am dedicated to making our town a better place, and even as a young resident I think it is important to demonstrate what youth can do! I should be considered as a torch bearer for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games because I am well known in my community and am very engaged and passionate about my town. This would feel like a celebration for me, ending off my high school career and the work that I have committed to my town through MYAC and Regional Youth Council, and volunteering in many ways.
Shellee Niznik
I have lived in Pelham for over 50 years and have participated in volunteer positions throughout my life here.
I am a volunteer for the Canada Games and would enjoy promoting the events and experience with others that I have thus far experienced with the Games.
Rhys Evans
My name is Rhys Evans, I am a 30 year old man with Cerebral Palsy who uses a wheelchair and I live in Pelham. I am a graduate of Niagara College with diplomas in Recreation And Leisure Services, Recreational Therapy, and Social Service Worker. I believe we all need the opportunity to be active. I have had an interest in accessibility issues from an early age. In 2007 I campaigned for accessible seating at the Pelham Arena so that everybody in the arena could have a proper view of the hockey games. The eventual success of this campaign led to a new seating area, an automatic door and a new awareness in the town about challenges faced by people with disabilities.
I currently serve on two municipal committees. I joined the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee representing The Town of Pelham in 2015. Our main focus is improving accessibility and inclusion within our communities. Within the last five years my fellow committee members and I launched a campaign called ‘We Are Accessible’ acknowledging local businesses for their efforts to be inclusive for all.
It is an honour to be selected to participate in such a prestigious event.