Mounties head coach named

Mount Allion is pleased to announce that Kelly Jeffrey has been named the head coach of the Mount Allison University Football Mounties. Following an open national search Jeffrey was rehired without reservation to remain as full-time head coach and offensive co-ordinator of the team.

Hired as an interim head coach last season, Jeffrey led the 2008 Mounties to a playoff berth for a second time since 1999. His 2008 team was more than a legitimate contender in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference. His squad was guided by an explosive and exciting offence that thrilled football fans across the country, and in three contests this season the Mounties were edged out in just the closing minutes. This year’s Mounties also boasted the conference’s MVP, five AUS all-stars, two All-Canadians, and the AUS Hec Crighton Award nominee for the nation’s top player.

Jeffrey joined the Mounties in 2006 and was the quarterbacks coach, an offensive co-ordinator, and the special teams co-ordinator, before taking the head coaching reins this past season.

Jeffrey came to Mount Allison after being the head coach and offensive co-ordinator at Mayville State University (MSU) in North Dakota for four years (2002-2005). During those four seasons his team set numerous offensive records for most yards per game and total yards in a season, and he coached the all-time single season record holders for individual rushing, receiving, completions, and passing yards. Overall the school set nine offensive records while producing five Don Hanson All-Americans.

Before MSU in 2001, Jeffrey coached quarterbacks at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and at the University of San Diego (1998-2000), where he trained three all-conference quarterbacks in his three seasons and coached the all-time leading passer in touchdowns, completions, and yardage. He also coached running backs at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD (1996-1997) and wide receivers at North Dakota’s Dickinson State University (1994-1995), a team that finished with a perfect 10-0 season in 1995, and were conference champions in both 1994 and 1995.

Jeffrey has his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Dickinson State University, and his Master’s degree in health, physical education and recreation from Northern State University in Aberdeen.

Read more: http://athletics.mta.ca/

New Executive Director on PEI

Congratulation to Bill Bishop ('70), who has been named the new executive director of the L.M. Montgomery Land Trust Inc.

Bill has returned home to his native PEI to live full-time following his retirement from a career in the oil industry, working with Petro-Canada primarily in supply and logistics.

He and his wife Bev, also an Islander, have a summer home in Long River and have bought a condo in Charlottetown for the winters. They have two adult children, Megan and Ben. Megan lives in Calgary with her husband Shane and kids Zac and Ivy, and Ben lives in Toronto with his partner Melissa.

Bill has been involved in various volunteer organizations over the years including community associations, hockey and swimming clubs, and was involved with the alumni association at Mount Allison, serving two years as its president.

Learn more about the L.M. Montgomery Land Trust.

Grad wins at "Arctic Change" conference

Congratulations to Ryan Jameson ('07) who won first place in the terrestrial series for his poster “Moving In? Coniferous seed production and its role in treeline advancement.” at the Arctic Net “Arctic Change” 2008 conference held in Quebec City this December.

Ryan is part of both the Labrador Highlands Research Group and the PPS Arctic Canada network. He earned his BSc in biology at Mount Allison and worked in the Mount Allison Dendrochronology (MAD) Lab.

Learn more about the conference.

Writer wins Commonwealth prize

Congratulations to writer, psychiatrist, and Allisonian Julie Curwin ('86), who won the Commonwealth Short Story Competition.

Her story, World Backwards, came first among 1,700 entries from around the Commonwealth. The story had to be less than 600 words and Curwin says she wrote it mainly as an exercise to see if she could do it.

She came in at 526 well-chosen words and a surprisingly funny ending about an elderly lady accompanying her friend to Italy to spread her friend’s husband’s ashes.

To read more, see Sydney writer wins Commonwealth prize (Halifax Herald)

How Green Are You?

Mount A is celebrating the Year of the Environment, and we hope you are too. You will see on the Mount A home page that we have launched the How Green Are You? Video Campaign.

We invite you to take part and win some great prizes. It's open to everyone -- students, staff, faculty, alumni, and future students.

Just send us a short video (two minutes or less) showing us what you are doing to help the environment. Be creative, have fun, but think green.

The deadline is February 15, 2009. All you have to do is create the video, upload it to YouTube, send the URL to Lesley Johnson at ljohnson@mta.ca, and starting March 1 you can go online to vote for your favourite.

All the details can be found at www.mta.ca/environment/howgreenareyou

Allisonian among winners at Canadian Investment Awards

Congratulations to Chancellor Emeritus Purdy Crawford ('52) for winning the Person of Influence of the Year award at the Canadian Investment Awards on December 3.

Read more in the Financial Post (December 4).

Canadian Heritage Quilting: Quick Creative Designs

New tools and techniques have brought new life to the traditional craft of quilting. This has revived interest in the many attractive designs which are part of Canada's cultural heritage.

Authors Karen Neary ('77) and Diane Shink ('63) are both knowledgeable quilters with a special interest in the quilting history of Canada's Maritime provinces. They are also experts in the new techniques which make quilting a more enjoyable and less time-consuming activity.

In this book, they provide the patterns and instructions which allow quilters to sew many attractive heritage quilts -- and explain how to create innovative variants on traditional patterns.

Karen, who lives in Amherst, Nova Scotia, specializes in original interpretations of traditional patchwork patterns aimed at contemporary quilters. A prolific designer since 1989, her work has appeared in books and magazines.

Diane is a retired teacher who divides her time between Montreal and Nova Scotia. Diane is a certified quilt appraiser. She lectures on all aspects of quilting and gives trunk shows of her quilt collection.

Book Signings:

December 5 & 6: Country Quilter, 3444 McBean, Richmond ON; Book Signings: Saturday Dec 6th 10:00-12:30; 613-838-5541; countryquilter@hotmail.com

December 13: Quilt Classique, 63 D Donegani Ave, Pointe Claire QC; From 12:00-1:00; 514-630-8885

January 23: Leeds County Books and Picket Fence Quilts, 73 King Street West, Brockville ON; From 11:00-2:00; 613-342-5728; jennifer@picketfencefabrics.com

January 28: Museum of Costume and Textiles of Quebec; 349 rue Riverside, Saint Lambert QC; 1:30 appraisals 3:00 book signings; 450-923-6600

February 8: Aux Delices, La Maison de Calico, 324 Lakeshore Pointe Claire QC; Tea and scones with Diane Shink at 2:00. Trunk show. Buy a book and get it signed; Cost $10 +$23 for the book if desired; 514-695-0728

Order the book on Amazon.com

Allisonian in the running for CBC's Canada's next Great Prime Minister

Camille Labchuk ('05) is one of 136 contestants in CBC-TV's "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister" contest. With your help, she could be one of the eight semi-finalists with a chance to move on to the televised finals.





Check back for updates soon as Camille will be posting new videos on the CBC web site in response to candidate questions.

Camille has been the Green Party of Canada's press secretary for the past two years and is now employed as the public relations specialist with Humane Society International. She was a federal candidate in 2006 and worked on the campaign for proportional representation in PEI. She has a BA in psychology from Mount Allison.

Are you an Allisonian or do you know one who is also in the running for the next Great Prime Minister? Let us know!

Vote for Camille: http://www.cbc.ca/nextprimeminister/candidates/camillelabchuk.html

Alum finds meteorite fragments

Fragments of a huge meteorite that lit up the skies across Alberta and Saskatchewan at the end of November have been found near the border city of Lloydminster.

University of Calgary planetary scientist Dr. Alan Hildebrand, and graduate student (and Mount A alum) Ellen Milley ('07) announced Friday morning they located several meteorite fragments.

They believe thousands of meteorite bits are strewn over 20 square kilometres near the Battle River. They led a group of reporters to the site — a region called Buzzard Coulee, about 40 kilometres from Lloydminster.

Meteorites fell near Buzzard Coulee, Sask., about 40 kilometres southeast of Lloydminster. There, close to a frozen pond, numerous small rocks and pebbles could be seen that the scientists said were from the meteorite.

No large chunks were spotted, however. The fireball that streaked across western Canadian skies on Nov. 20 was witnessed by thousands. Researchers believe it was a 10-tonne fragment from an asteroid.

It was also captured on video by a number of people. Reporters were told those observations, combined with the physical evidence, give scientists a treasure trove of data that could give them a better understanding of the solar system.