The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® held its 2011 Annual General Meeting today at the London Convention Centre. On hand were special guests Lois Langdon, Executive Officer, and Shellie Chowns, President, London Home Builders Association; Brenda Davidson, Administrator, and Emma Sims, First Vice-President, London Property Management Association; Paul King, Ford Keast, Chartered Accountants; Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Ontario Manager, Survey Ken Sumnall and District Manager Judy Binder; and the Canadian Sales Manager for Supra, John Fancy.
Representatives from the Canadian Real Estate Association included Laura Leyser, President-Elect, and Gerry Weir, Regional Director. Representing the Ontario Real Estate Association were Phil Dorner, President-Elect; Costa Poulopoulos, Director-at-Large; and Western Area Director Anna Vozza, while the Real Estate Council of Ontario was represented by Registrar Allan Johnston, CEO Tom Wright and Directors Peter Hoffman and George Lavallee.
This year's Quality of Life Award, intended to recognize and honor an individual's outstanding contributions to the community in accordance with one or more of the five Quality of Life Principles espoused by LSTAR – ensuring economic vitality, providing housing opportunities, preserving our environment, protecting home owners and building better communities – was presented to Past LSTAR President Mike Carson. “You don't need to have contributed to the community under each principle to win the award,” explained LSTAR's 2012 President Barb Whitney. “Not many people could. But Mike did . . . in spades. From being active in Keep London Growing, to advocating for affordable housing, to raising awareness about the dangers of asbestos-tainted vermiculite insulation, to chairing the 2001OHF Provincial Hockey Championships . . . and more, Mike hit every mark and then some. His is a remarkable record of service and achievement and we are very proud of him.”
REALTORS® Ken Topping and Joe Hough received the Association's prestigious "Lyn Coupland" Outstanding Service Award.
“We all know the kind of difference a great teacher can make not only in his students' lives, but also the contribution he can make to their future success,” says Whitney. Ken Topping is just such a teacher.” In addition to being a REALTOR®, Topping has served as an Ontario Real Estate Association certified instructor for over a quarter of a century, helping thousands of students to naviage the ends and outs of residential real estate.
As for Joe Hough, “an early adopter and ardent technophile, Joe feels right at home with technology,” explains Whitney. “Not only has he been an avid supporter of our Association's every effort to embrace technology for the past twenty six years, he has also been willing to put his time and effort where his mouth is to make that happen.”
LSTAR Bonspiel Committee Chair Glen Gordon was on hand to present Mission Services of London's Executive Director Peter Rozeluk with a cheque for $14,429.74. Including this cheque, the total raised by LSTAR for Mission Services since 1992 stands at $269,696.20.
His presentation was followed by the one of Stacey Evoy-Smith, Chair of the Association's Christmas Gala Committee, who presented a cheque for $15,911 raised by last year's Gala to the Unity Project's President Silvia Langer and its General Manager, Chuck Lazenby. To date, including REALTOR Care Grants, LSTAR has donated $86,109 to the Unity Project.
The pictures taken at the event can be found on the Association's Flickr channel, as well as on LSTAR's Public Page on Facebook.
