Community leader Dennis Chippa was invested into the Order of Ontario by the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario this afternoon.
The Order of Ontario is the province's highest official honour. It recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence and achievement in any field benefiting the people of Ontario or anywhere in the world. Appointments to the Order of Ontario are made on the recommendation of an independent advisory council based on public nominations.
Chippa was humble in explaining his community involvement to BayToday last week.
"The highlight (of his community work) for me is just helping the folks and what I learn from them. In 10 years with Special Olympics you learn so much from the athletes about dedication, hard work and achievement. Even the work that I do with the Warming Centre or Community Living, these are great people. I think what I learn from them is about just how lucky I am and my family is and how even though people we kind of ignore, those folks are fabulous people and that's one of the highlights, being able to work with the people I do, plus all the other volunteers. Nobody does this in a vacuum."
The Lieutenant Governor bestowed the honour to the 25 new appointees during an investiture ceremony at Queen's Park at 4 p.m. today.
Chippa is also a frequent contributor to BayToday, and was a long-time reporter for MCTV.
See the complete list of appointees here.
See related story: Local man invested into Order of Ontario.
