The Central Ontario Art Association (COAA) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1954 as the Five Counties Art Association with the goal of bringing together artists and existing artist groups in Halton, Peel, Dufferin, Wellington, and Waterloo counties in order to provide greater opportunities in art instruction, encourage art appreciation, pool area efforts and resources, develop leadership in visual art, and foster inter-group cooperation and participation.

In the early 1950s, Lloyd Minshall, District Representative of the Community Programs Branch of the Ontario Department of Education, and Gordon Couling, art professor at the Macdonald Institute of the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, determined that it would be beneficial to foster cooperation among artists in the region. In 1954 they organized a series of meetings for art instructors that led to the formation of the Five Counties Art Association Teachers’ Council, which organized an exhibition and several sketching trips that year. In 1957, the organization became an open members’ association, with the teachers’ council responsible for instruction and learning opportunities and the jurying of exhibitions, and the association responsible for organizing activities and exhibitions. In 1964, the association changed its name to Central Ontario Art Association to incorporate an expanding membership, and in 1967, the executives of the teachers’ council and the association were merged to become one entity.

The COAA is administered by an executive consisting of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, past president, and committee chairs. Committees in existence over the association’s history include: Membership, Program (or Workshops), Exhibition, Nominating, and Bulletin/Newsletter. In the early years, district representatives (or advisory directors) were also involved in administration. The association was originally sponsored by the Ontario Department of Education, Community Programs Branch, and also received grants and assistance at various times from the Art Institute of Ontario and the Ontario Council for the Arts.

The main activities of the COAA have remained consistent over the years. These activities, through which the COAA accomplishes its goals, include workshops and sketching trips, annual juried and members’ exhibitions, and the publication of a newsletter. An annual weekend of workshops, as well as the annual general meeting, is held with the COAA’s sister association, the East Central Ontario Art Association, at the Geneva Park YMCA Conference Centre on Lake Couchiching. Today, the COAA encompasses over 300 artist networks.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a suffragist and women's rights campaigner who helped to lead the campaign for legalising women's right to vote in the United States - the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Iowa, Catt attended Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) graduating with a BSc. After school she worked as a law clerk and later as a teacher, and then superintendent of schools for Mason City, Iowa. In 1885 she married newspaper editor Leo Chapman and the couple moved to San Francisco. Chapman died of typhoid fever the next year buy Catt stayed on in San Francisco becoming the city's first female reporter. In 1887 she returned to Iowa and became involved in the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, as well as with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In 1892 she was invited by Susan B. Anthony to speak before the American Congress on the matter of suffrage. While a member of the NAWSA she was against the writings and influence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and pushed for the NAWSA to distance itself from her views. Catt became president of the NAWSA from 1900-1904 and after stepping down to care for her ailing second husband, George Catt, again from 1915-1920.

While campaigning for the vote Catt espoused racist and discriminatory views including arguing that Indigenous Americans and immigrants to the United States should not have the vote, as well as stating that giving women equal suffrage would strengthen the cause of White Supremacy. When the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920 Catt retired from NAWSA but continued to be involved in other organizations that she founded such as the League of Women Voters, as well as the International Women's Suffrage Alliance.

Besides campaigning for women's rights, she was also a peace activist working on and off on peace organizations during both the First and Second World Wars. Catt died in 1947 at her home in New York.

Elaine Maud Clark was a writer born November 14, 1889 in Bath, England, daughter of Frederick Charles and Annie Matilda (Whittington) Clark. Educated in private schools in Guildford, Surrey, Elaine married Sydney Charles William Catley in December 29, 1915. After he served in the Imperial Forces for four years they settled in Calgary, Alberta, in 1920, where they raised four children.

Elaine began writing verse when just thirteen, and won three prizes from John O'London's Weekly. In Canada her poetry and journalism regularly appeared in the Calgary Herald and other papers. Active in the Canadian Authors Association and the Canadian Women's Press Club, she included Nellie McClung, Laura Goodman Salverson, W.T. Allison and John W. Garvin among her friends. Her six volumes of verse span a career of 58 years. Elaine died in Calgary July 29, 1984.

Wayne Caston is a Professional Geoscientist, consultant in the aggregates sector, and a lecturer at the University of Waterloo.

William Herman Cartheuser was an American spiritualist. Born on January 19, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Herman Martin Cartheuser (November 12, 1862-May 4, 1926) and Ida Nemethy (1856-1933), he was raised alongside his siblings:

• Elvira M. Cartheuser: Born in Budapest, Hungary on June 1, 1887. Elvira married Carl Valta on March 17, 1906. She died in 1970.

• Louise “Lulu” Ida Cartheuser: Born in Chicago, Illinois on December 12, 1892. Lulu married George MacQuiade in 1917. She died in 1962.

• Arthur George Cartheuser: Born in Leipzig, Germany on April 15, 1895. Arthur married Hilda Vogel in 1916. He died on May 30, 1937.

William as well as his parents and siblings occasionally spelled their family surname as ‘Von Cartheuser.’

William’s father, Herman, was originally from Austria and he worked as a photo engraver. William’s mother, Ida, was originally from Hungary. Around 1887, William’s parents emigrated to the United States of America (USA) although they likely traveled back to Europe periodically in the following years.

William married Ruth G. Van Cise (December 9, 1901-September 7, 1970) on September 11, 1921 in Monroe, New York when he was 31 years old. William and Ruth had two children; Jacqueline Ruth Cartheuser (May 30, 1924-July 15, 1998) and William Roland Cartheuser (April 12, 1926-August 15, 1957). William and Ruth eventually divorced (year unknown).

William was a Spiritualist medium. He lived in Orange, New Jersey but traveled extensively across North America to hold seances and sittings. He is reported to have worked as a direct voice medium and also as a trumpet medium.

In September 1927, William met Jenny Pincock and was later invited to become the medium for her home circle in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 1930, Jenny and her sister Minnie as well as her brother-in-law Reverend Fred J.T. Maines formed a spiritualist church called the Church of Divine Revelation and a healing circle called the Radiant Healing Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario. During the early 1930s, William visited the congregation to hold religious services and sittings. William also provided lectures that were communicated to him through a spirit guide called LIGHT for the publication of 'Progression,' a small quarterly magazine published by Jenny Pincock starting in 1927. In 1935, Jenny Pincock ceased her connection with William and with the Church of Divine Revelation.

On a waiver certificate issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the U.S. Treasury Department, William claimed to be a minister ordained on September 6, 1930.

For a period of time in the 1930s, William resided in Lily Dale, New York.

On October 1, 1961, William married Berdiena “Birdie” Wolcott [nee Boomgaard] (April 20, 1896-September 11, 1986) and together they moved to Santa Barbara, California. Berdiena was previously married to Edgar Marle Wolcott (September 5, 1880-September 13, 1953). Berdiena and Edgar had attended sittings held by William in California until Edgar’s death.

William died on February 26, 1966 at the age of 76. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California.

Lannois Carroll-Woolery is the Manager of Data Analytics & Reporting for the Department of Institutional Analysis & Planning at the University of Waterloo, and current President of the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region (CCAWR).

Carroll-Woolery was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was primarily raised in Kingston, Jamaica but spent many childhood holidays in the rural area of St. Thomas, Jamaica. He did very well in high school majoring in STEM subjects and was class valedictorian. He was awarded a scholarship and attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts for two years. Due to financial restrictions, he left the college and moved to Canada joining his parents who recently immigrated to Canada.

Carroll-Woolery began studying at the University of Waterloo in 1992. He graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc), Mechanical Engineering. As a student, he was involved with the Association of Caribbean Students at the university. During this time, Carroll-Woolery met and married his wife and started a family.

Following graduation, Carroll-Woolery and his family decided to settle in Waterloo, and he found work in the Information Technology (IT) sector. In 2006, he began working for the University of Waterloo and has been in his current position since 2017.

Carroll-Woolery has been an active member of the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region and has been the association’s President since 2019.

In 2022, Carroll-Woolery received a Master of Applied Science (MASc), Data Science from the University of Waterloo.

The Carold Institute for the Advancement of Citizenship in Social Change was founded by Clare Clark (Clara Evelyn Clark) in 1989. Over its history, the Institute focused its efforts on creating spaces for conversations that advanced democratic participation in Canada; supporting leaders in the voluntary sector to reflect on, refine and share their practices and knowledge; and fostering innovative partnerships with like-minded organizations and individuals. Through a series of events and programs, awards and fellowships, and sponsoring of other institutions' programs, the Institute promoted adult education and democratic participation in Canada.

Throughout the years, the Carold Institute established several fellowships and awards. In 2007, the Alan Thomas Fellowship (in honour of Dr. Alan Miller Thomas (II), former president of the Carold Institute) was created with the intention of providing leaders at transition points in their careers with year-long sabbaticals to pursue research of importance to the sector. The Institute also established the Winifred Hewetson Awards in Community and World Service to assist undergraduate students of the Faculty of Arts or Environment at the University of Waterloo who participate in a work term or field placement with not-for-profit organizations providing social services locally, nationally or abroad with little or no remuneration.

In 2016, the Carold Institute partnered with the Community Knowledge Exchange (CKX).

The Canadian Obesity Network Student and New Professional University of Waterloo chapter began in 2013. From their constitution, the mission statement of the organization is to "1. To provide students and new professionals the forum to build, maintain, and refine networking and professional development skills that are integral in pursuing a career related to obesity in academic, community, and/or industry settings, as well as advance awareness of CON."

The Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain began in 1981 and for most of the 1980's was Canada’s largest environmental group. It played a central role in raising awareness of the acid rain issue, through advocacy, educational programmes and by lobbying the governments of both Canada and the United States for the passage of legislation resticting acid rain-causing emissions. With the passage of amendments to the U.S. Clean Air Act in 1990 the Coalition’s mandate was completed and the group disbanded. During the decade of its existence the Coalition was headed by Michael Perley and Adele Hurley, its executive co-ordinators and chief lobbyists. Starting in 1981 with 12 member groups representing tourism, naturalist and sportsmen’s associations, the CCAR maintained offices in both Toronto and Washington. Registered as a charitable organization in Canada, the CCAR was registered as a lobby group in the United States, and was the first-ever Canadian lobby group to be so registered in Washington. By 1991 the Coalition had grown to 58 member groups, representing over 2 million Canadians.
CCAR worked closely with the Canadian Acid Precipitation Foundation, a registered charitable organization created to carry out a variety of educational projects on the acid rain issue, and to support the educational work of the Coalition. The Foundation’s activities included extensive direct mail campaigns asking for private donations, the sale of merchandise, charitable dinners featuring such prominent speakers as Senator Edward Kennedy and Alan Gotleib (former Canadian ambassador to the United States), and the AirWatch monitoring project.

The Canadian Air Force (CAF) was established in 1920 as the successor to a short-lived two-squadron Canadian Air Force that was formed during the First World War in Europe. In 1923, the CAF became responsible for all flying operations in Canada, including civil aviation. In 1924, the Canadian Air Force, was granted the royal title, becoming the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is the department within the Government of Canada with responsibility for pensions, benefits and services for war veterans, retired and still-serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), their families, as well as some civilians.

The Campus Shop was a store open to all students on the University of Waterloo campus in the 1960s. The shop was run as a service by the Circle K Club and profits from the store were used towards specific projects on campus. The store was located in the Student Federation Building (also known as Annex I) that was located by Laurel Creek. Examples of items sold in the store include jackets, sweatshirts, running shoes, toiletries, candy, pipes, cigarettes, and cards.

William Wilfred Campbell was born in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario, on June 1, 1861. He was educated at the University of Toronto and continued on to the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1885, he was ordained to the Church of England ministry and, soon afterwards, was appointed to a parish in New England. Returning to Canada in 1888, he became Rector of St. Stephen, New Brunswick. He retired in 1891 from the Church and moved to Ottawa, where he began to write short poems in a village paper, after which he became a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, the Century and Harper's. He had a number of volumes of his poems published. He was a member of the Royal Society of Canada. Campbell died in 1918.

Camp Columbia was a summer camp program established by students at the University of Waterloo and run under the Federation of Students (now the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, WUSA) in 1968. The program was intended to be a philanthropic, non-profit organization for underprivileged children selected from applications distributed by the local Children’s Aid Society.[1]

The first camp program was financed with $8000.00 in student and private donations and accepted approximately 100 campers.[2] Future programs were financed through the federal government’s Opportunities for Youth (OFY) grant, and donations from the Federation of Students, local businesses, university administration, faculty and through student sponsored activities at the university.[3]

The camp operated at Lake Columbia (also known as Columbia Lake), a man-made lake near Westmount Road and Columbia Street close to the University of Waterloo.[4] The camp program ran in bi-weekly periods for typically eight weeks during the months of July and August and was available to children between the ages of 8 and 12.[5] The camp intentionally offered participants a less structured environment with few rules, except those for safety. Campers travelled by bus to have meals at the Waterloo Cooperative Residents on Philip Street, enjoyed cookouts each Sunday and went for daily swims at the Grand River Conservation Authority’s Laurel Park. Campers were not able to swim in Lake Columbia as health inspectors reported it had an unhealthy bacteria count. The children also took bus trips to various attractions including the Ontario Science Centre, Elora Gorge Park, and the African Lion Safari farm at Rockwood.

The camp also provided summer jobs to university students who could work as camp counselors.[6]

After five years of operation, the camp was notified in August 1973 that they were no longer going to receive the OFY federal grant and would have to find financial support through donations from the local community. It’s unclear if the camp operated past 1973.

More than 1000 children attended Camp Columbia between 1968 and 1973.[7]

Alexander Cambridge, earl of Athlone, was Governor General of Canada from 1940-1945 while William Lyon Mackenzie was Prime Minister. See the Dictionary of National Biography for full biographical details.

Dion Calthrop was born May 2, 1878 in London, England, the son of actors. He was introduced to the stage while still a young child. He wrote a number of books, but he is also known for his paintings. He died in England, March 1937.

Dr. Murchison Callender is a Professor Emeritus with the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Waterloo known for research in the microbiology and physiology of the eye in contact lens wear and the clinical applications of contact lenses, and the investigation of the the anatomical and biochemical mechanisms associated with the refractive changes in the developing eye. In addition to an active research agenda, Callender is known for a long-standing clinical teaching practice and vision care programmes in the Caribbean.

Callender was born in the village of Sainte Madeleine in Trinidad and Tobago to George Elton Callender (1908-2008) and Dorothy Orgato Wilson Callender. His father worked as an accountant for the Usine Ste Madeleine Sugar Estate and later for the Trinidad and Tobago government, and his mother taught at a business school in San Fernando before opening her own business school. Callender attended primary school and high school in San Fernando and excelled in science. After completing high school, he worked for the Trinidad Texaco Oil Company as a Research Assistant.

Immigrating to Canada on September 5, 1958, to attend Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) in Montreal, Quebec, as an undergraduate student, where he received his B.Sc. (Biology). Callender completed postgraduate work at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and developed an interest in the optometry, going on to join the College of Optometry in Toronto. In 1967, the College of Optometry moved to the University of Waterloo and Callender was part of the first graduating class from the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo in 1968. In addition to optometry training, he also holds a M.Phil (Vision Sciences) from the University of Aston in Birmingham, England.

After graduating from Waterloo, Callendar worked as Assistant Optometrist at the School where he was involved with teaching and clinical aspects of optometry. His appointment as a full-time faculty member is believed to have been the first such appointment of a Black faculty member in optometry in Canada, and perhaps North America. Prior to retiring from the Waterloo, Callendar served in various administrative roles, including the Director of the Contact Lens Clinic and Admissions Officer, and spent several decades managing vision care programmes for people of the Caribbean in both Waterloo and on location, including in Jamaica.

Betty Caldwell was a feature reporter for the Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado.

Violet Marie Byers was born November 15, 1908 in Missouri to John Lester and Sarah (nee Murray) Boyers. She married Harry J. Byers on October 21, 1929 and together they had four children: Robert John (May 12, 1932), Jean Mildred (October 20, 1933), James Allen (January 20, 1942), and Shirley Marie (April 3, 1943).

Byers died April 15 1943 in Listowel, Ontario as a result of complications from childbirth.

Harry Byers was born in Brodhagen, Logan Township on July 31st, 1896 to Andrew Byers and Caroline Graul. Byers married his wife, Violet Boyers on October 21, 1929 in Burlington, Iowa. Violet was born to John and Sarah (nee Murray) in Missouri on November 15, 1908. Together they had four children before Violet died April 15 1943 in Listowel, Ontario due to complications from childbirth. Their children were: Robert John (May 12, 1932), Jean Mildred (October 20, 1933), James Allen (January 20, 1942), and Shirley Marie (April 3, 1943).

After serving in WWI for both Canada and the United States, Harry was honorably discharged for medical reasons in 1918 due to arthritis in his left knee. After the war, Harry worked as an instructor at the Kansas Sweeney Automotive and Electrical School in the 1920's. He was then employed by the Grain Trust to go to the USSR from 1930-1931 to instruct Russians in the operation of large machinery, as part of the First Russian Five Year Plan. Violet went to Russia with him and the two kept a diary of events of their time in the country. Byers lived and worked in Grozny, Moscow, and Nikolsk (now Ussuriysk) among others. The couple returned to the United States and lived in Iowa until 1938 when they returned to Canada to settle in the Waterloo Region.

Byers lived his final years Kitchener, Ontario where he worked as a City Cab Company dispatcher and was a member of the St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. He and his wife Lorraine (nee McKay) lived at 27 Onward Ave. Byers died on July 13, 1957 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital after a short illness. He was buried in a soldier's plot at Woodland Cemetery.

Caroline Byers (nee Graul) was born December 18, 1860. The daughter of William and Louise (nee Nordemann), she married Andrew Byers on August 30th, 1881 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Ellice Township, Ontario. Together they had seven children: John (1883-1956), William (August 1, 1885-August 13, 1921), Helen (1888-?), Elizabeth (September 4, 1887-?), Frederick (February [3 or 4], 1892), Catherine (November 7, 1893-?), Harry (July 4, 1896- July 13, 1957), and Susannah (November 5, 1899-?). Byers died May 2, 1942 and was buried at the Redeemer Lutheran Cemetery in Monkton, Ontario with the family surname spelled Baier.

Andrew Byers was born in [1849] to John Beyer and Anna Hauenstein.

Dame Clara Ellen Butt was a British contralto singer. She performed in operatic productions, as well as in popular concerts with her husband Kennerley Rumford. During the First World War many of her concerts were fundraisers for service charities. She died in 1936 in Oxfordshire.

Paul S. Burtness was a professor at Northern Illinois University when, along with Warren U. Ober, he began researching the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific. Both men are U.S. Navy Veterans of World War II. Letters were written to a number of prominent military figures who were in power either at the time of the attack or shortly after America entered into the conflict. The letters, and subsequent research, have lead to a variety of publications over a fifty year period. (From GA 261 and http://english50th.uwaterloo.ca/faculty/profiles/WOber.html).

Alida Burrett (nee Schriel) (1944-2011), women's rights and environmental activist, was born August 26, 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. At the age of six she immigrated to Canada with her parents and siblings. Alida attended Trent University for her B.A. (class of 1974) and Brock University for her B.Ed. (class of 1976). Alida met George Burrett while at Trent and the two married in 1971. Alida worked for B.F. Goodrich where she became involved in expanding the role of women in the company, and later as a teacher. Her passions were in women's rights and environmental protection and she became active as a student in the 1970s, helping to produce an early environmental magazine, and shortly after graduation as a champion of female equality in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Alida was involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo Status of Women Group in the 1980s and in 1997 she founded the Citizen's Advisory Council on Air Quality.

George Burrett is also politically and professionally active in environmental protection as well as peace, particularly in terms of nuclear disarmament. George was a member of the Waterloo Region Peace Network and performs home energy audits in the Waterloo Region.

Alida Burrett died March 25, 2011.