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Alumni
Samantha Robichaud
She's used to big crowds by now,
but when Riverview fiddling sensation Samantha Robichaud
took the stage on Friday night, about three billion people from all corners
of the globe were watching her every move on their television sets.
The Canadian
Press
Acadian fiddler,
Samantha Robichaud, right, performs at the Vancouver Olympic
opening ceremonies Friday.
"No
pressure," Samantha laughs.
Samantha was one of the featured
fiddlers during the opening ceremonies of the Games of the XXI Winter Olympiad,
taking centre stage -- solo, at one point.
It was perhaps the crowning
achievement for an internationally heralded musician who has accomplished
so much despite being only in her early 20s.
"It was kind of a little
overwhelming, but your adrenaline is just pumping, and the cast was so
awesome, like one big family. It sounds corny, but you could feel the love.
We just went out there and we did our best."
Samantha was stunned when the
telephone rang a few months ago, with the producers of the Olympic opening
extravaganza looking for an exceptional fiddler with an Acadian background,
and might Samantha be able to squeeze in the gig? There was one caveat: she
could tell no one.
After that fateful call came trips to Vancouver
to get fitted for costumes and to rehearse, not only the music but the
intricate choreography for the segment in which she played such a large
part, highlighting different fiddlers and fiddling styles from across the
nation, with the requisite step dancing.
Then, after a trip home for a
break, Samantha returned to Vancouver
about 10 days prior to Friday's show for more rehearsals and costume
duties, almost nightly. It was a lot of hard work, but of course it was
worth every minute, she says.
"It was more the dancing and
the choreography that was the harder part," she says.
About 60,000 people crammed into
B.C. Place to watch the show, the biggest live audience yet for Samantha,
not to mention the vast television audience tuned in on every continent.
Back at home in Riverview, her mom
and dad did a fine job of keeping the secret that their daughter was about
to offer the performance of a lifetime, inviting all her friends to a
private party that they absolutely "must" show up for, but
refusing to disclose the reason for the party. Her friends were stunned to
see her emerge atop centre stage, which had risen into the air about one
storey high.
Then on Sunday night, Samantha
performed at Atlantic Canada House, which promotes Atlantic Canadian
culture, cuisine and lifestyle on the west coast during the Olympics.
"It was great -- a great big
party atmosphere," she says.
And Ashley MacIsaac,
the star of the fiddling portion of Friday's show and an old acquaintance
with whom Samantha performed at about age 10, showed up to take part in the
fun.
"I was really, really happy
about that. I just love him."
Thursday she leaves for Memphis, Tenn., for
the 22nd Folk Alliance International Festival and Conference, before
jetting off to Texas
for an Irish festival.
All of which are just great, but it
will be hard to top Friday's night's "experience of a lifetime,"
she says.
From the camaraderie of the
performers, to the military-like secrecy, the interaction with the massive
crowd, performing before one of the largest audiences in television
history, the technological wizardry that went into the show, it was all
simply "awesome," she says.
"It was just the coolest
experience ever."
Curtis Thompson
Established in 1999 by Donald and
Rob SObey, alumni of Queen’s University, the
D&R Sobey Atlantic Scholarship is open to
students from Atlantic Canada applying to their first year of the Comemrce program at Queen’s School of Business.
The scholarship is presented to six individuals annually and is valued at
$60 000 per student over 4 years. Recipients are selected on the basis of
academic excellence, as well as demonstrated leadership ins chool or community activities.
Travis Jayner
Olympic Athlete!
Riverview native is the only New Brunswick representative at the games, though he
is competing for the United
States team, we wish him ALL the best of
luck, and are cheering for a win!
 
Jordan Saule – Riverview High
School Graduate deployed to Afghanistan
This article is taken from the Times & Transcript.
Three members of the Canadian
Armed Forces recently found out that home is never that far away, even if
you are stationed half way around the world.
Although they finally got to
meet each other for the very fist time, they discovered to their pleasant
surprise that they all had a very common bond with each other.
And that bond was Moncton.
It turns out the three Canadians,
each of whom is currently deployed in Afghanistan, are all working at the
same police sub-station in that country.
However, in relating this
incredible instance of coincidence, Capt. Jennifer Kellerman
of the Canadian Armed Forces said the trio -- all of whom are from
different organizations within the forces and had never met before -- recently
sat down for supper one night and began discussing the kind of day they
had.
Their conversation quickly brought
them around to talking about their home, she said, and they soon realized
that all of them had a direct link to Moncton.
Cpl. Jordan Saule
of the Police Monitoring and Liaison Team was born in Newfoundland
and now resides in Moncton; Capt. Andrew
MacDonald of the Construction Management Corporation was born in Moncton and now lives in London,
Ont.; and Chief Petty Officer second class Norman Bourgeois of Civil
Military Corporation, was also born in Moncton
but now resides in Victoria,
B.C.
Kellerman
noted each of the three went all the way to Afghanistan to have supper with
two fellow Monctonians.
"It is a
small world," she said. "All three are counting the days to their
safe return to Canada."
Shannon Parlee - Basketball
Mount Allison's Athlete of the Week (Jan.
31 - Feb. 4, 2008)
Atlantic Colleges Athletic Associtation Athlete
of the Week
Five-foot-eight forward, Shannon Parlee,
of the Mounties' basketball team has won Athlete
of the Week honours at Mount
Allison for a great
effort in two victories last week over ABU and NSAC. The Mounties dropped ABU by a 76-60 score and then easily
defeated NSAC, 70-45.
Parlee scored 34 points over the two games,
with 27 of them coming in the ABU game. Also over the two contests, Shannon played some tight defence pulling in 10 rebounds
and capitalizing on five steals.
A Riverview, NB resident, Parlee is a
former all-star provincial high school MVP from Riverview High School.
An NBIAA all-conference player and Governor General Award recipient in her
final high school grad year, Shannon went on to become a first-team
all-star, and the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association (ACAA) Rookie of
the Year. She also won a rookie honour at Mount Allison
in 2005-06. A two-time Academic All-Canadian and Deans' List student,
Shannon was her team's MVP and a league second-team all-star last year as
well. She is currently in third-year Commerce and plans to pursue a career
in law.
Also nominated this week were Andrea Switalski
(hockey), Lori Joyce (volleyball), and Scott Yorke/Brent
Barkhouse (badminton).
Michael LeBlanc - Sprinting
"Sophomore
sprinter Michael LeBlanc will be one of
three student-athletes to represent the Orange at the NCAA Outdoor Track &
Field Championship this week. LeBlanc automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship by placing fourth in the 100m dash at the
NCAA Regional. LeBlanc will look to finish what has been a highly
successful season.
At
the Penn State National Open, LeBlanc won his first collegiate event and
set a school record for the 60m dash prelims, clocking in a time of just
6.67. That was not the end of the LeBlanc’s record-shattering season. He
broke another record in the BIG EAST Indoor Championship. LeBlanc ran a
6.71 in the 60m dash prelims on his way to a fifth place finish. He
continued his success at the IC4A Indoor Championship, winning the 55m dash
and shattering the championship record. At the NCAA Indoor Championship,
the sophomore sensation competed in the 60m dash and finished 13th.
In
outdoor competition, LeBlanc won the 100m dash at the BIG EAST
Championship, claiming his first conference title. He also took home
all-conference honors in the 4x100m relay.
LeBlanc will compete in Round 1 of the 100m dash Wednesday at 4:40 p.m. The
semi-finals will take place at 6:40 p.m. and the 100m dash championship
will begin at 6:15 p.m. on Friday."
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