EDITOR’S NOTE: For the next several weeks, this column will feature this year’s recipients of the Order of Collingwood and the Companion to the Order of Collingwood.
From the rugby pitch to the classroom, Sean Rennie wears many hats.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Rennie, recipient of the Order of Collingwood.
Q: For how long have you lived in Collingwood? If you weren’t born in Collingwood, when did you move here and why?
A: I have lived in Collingwood for 47 years. We moved to the bottom of Blue Mountain in 1976 so my dad could set up his business.
Q: Where did you go to school?
A: I went to grade school in Thornbury at Beaver Valley Community School. I attended Collingwood Collegiate Institute for high school. I have an honours degree in environmental studies from the University of Waterloo.
Q: What do you do as a career?
A: I am currently an elementary school teacher at Mountain View Elementary School in Collingwood. I am teaching a Grade 4/5 split class this year.
Q: Can you please outline your volunteer efforts, and your role within those efforts.
A: I have been involved with the Optimist Club of Collingwood and Southern Georgian Bay for the past 10 years. During this time, I have been involved in many events to raise much-needed funds for youth programs in our area.
I started up the Canada Day kids’ bike parade in town and have been running it now for the past eight years through the Optimist Club.
I was part of the first group of individuals that started the Georgian Bay Titans Rugby Club in 2004. Since the club’s inception, I have volunteered my time coaching every year and over the past seven years, I have been the president of the club.
I also started up the co-ed elementary school rugby program for Simcoe West in 2008. I continue to coach elementary rugby at Mountain View Elementary School and convene the year-end rugby tournament every year.
I have been involved with the GTAA (Georgian Triangle Anglers Association) for the past few years and have taken on the role of school liaison for the in-school hatchery program. This program has grown this year to three more schools (now total of four schools in Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Stayner) thanks to the hard work of GTAA (Rick Baldry and Nick Alfano) and Richard Elliot from the Lake Huron Fishing Club, who was able to get us the fish tanks and chillers from Bruce Power.
Q: What made you choose to lend your time to these causes in particular? Why are they important to you?
A: I choose to lend my time to these clubs because I have seen first-hand how they have positively affected the lives of children in our community, and to me that makes it totally worthwhile. I have also met so many great people volunteering and they have helped me to understand the importance of giving back to your community.
It is also such a great feeling when you are able to help out organizations that are doing such great things to help youth in our area.
Q: How did you learn you had been chosen as a recipient of the Order of Collingwood?
I was informed I would be a recipient of the Order of Collingwood when I received an email from Mayor Yvonne Hamlin.
Q: How did you feel when you heard you had been chosen?
A: I was very surprised and shocked at first, but I mostly felt honoured to be a recipient of the Order of Collingwood.
Q: Do you have other hobbies outside of your volunteer efforts, and what are they?
A: I have many hobbies outside of my volunteer efforts and they are cycling, skiing, hiking, boating and anything to do with the outdoors.
Q: What does the future hold for you?
A: I would like to continue with my volunteering and travel as much as possible. You can really learn a lot from travelling.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
