Homecoming celebrations…

pancakes, tailgates, hockey, volleyball, alumni awards and lots of fun Homecoming weekend has ridden off into the sunset for another year.

The annual weekend celebration has quickly become a highlight on the Nipissing University calendar. This year, Nipissing kicked the festivities off with a pancake breakfast on Friday morning, serving up 400 pancakes with all the fixings.

The Tailgate Party, one of the jewels in the Homecoming Weekend crown, was sold out for the second consecutive year. The university sold 600 tickets for it, attracting alumni and students to Thomson Park for pre-game partying in advance of the Lakers hockey team taking on the RMC Paladins in OUA hockey action. The Lakers did not disappoint, dispensing RMC 5-4 in front of a raucous Memorial Gardens crowd of more than 2,000 fans, including a sold-out Pond section, typically the domain of Nipissing students.

Saturday morning started bright and early at the crack of 11 a.m. with the President’s Homecoming Barbecue and Carnival at the Robert J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre. Next up, Homecoming fans were treated to the Lakers women’s Volleyball team taking on the Cambrian Golden Shield, earning a 3-1 victory to close out their pre-season.

Following the Lakers volleyball victory, the university held a sweet opening ceremony for the expansion to the Robert J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre, inviting the Surtees family for a rededication of the facility. Dr. Surtees, one of Nipissing’s original seven faculty members and a believer in the power of athletics, was remembered fondly in speeches and on video. The ribbon cutting ceremony was unique, with the ribbon draped over a basketball hoop and no golden scissors in site. Dr. Surtees would surely have been proud of his daughter, Sarah Surtees, who cooly “cut” the ribbon by draining a foul shot in front of a large crowd.

Saturday night featured the Alumni Awards ceremony in the Harris Learning Library, where Nipissing recognized the achievements of four graduates with alumni awards, and celebrated five individuals with honorary alumni status.

Distinguished Alumni Awards were given to Paul Heinrich and Dr. Glynn Sharpe. Marianne Berube received a Dr. James Jamieson Influential Alumni Award and Leah Symington was awarded a Rising Star Alumni Award. Honorary Alumni Awards were given to Gerry Foster, Sandy Foster, Cheryl Kelley, Colleen Miller and Ted Thomson.

Stay tuned … Homecoming 2013 is coming soon. You won’t want to miss it!?