By Dave Thomas
Published in June 2013
More than 900 guests were on hand to celebrate the accomplishments of community leader Ron Schlegel on April 6 at the 26th Annual Mayors’ Dinner at Bingemans.
Schlegel, whose many roles include business owner, farmer, land developer, professor and philanthropist, was celebrated for a wide range of accomplishments, including the founding of the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging (RIA) and Schlegel Villages, a group of retirement and long-term care homes throughout southern Ontario that are based on a social model of senior care.
As a professor in applied health sciences at the University of Waterloo for 20 years, Schlegel helped establish the health studies and gerontology department. His growing commitment to promote new and better ways of providing service for older adults led to the founding of RIA, as well as the recent acquisition of Homewood Health Centre in Guelph. The “village” concept underlies the projects of Schlegel Urban Developments.
Governor-General David Johnston provided greetings by video at the community dinner, hosted by Mayor Carl Zehr and Mayor Brenda Halloran. Other speakers commemorating Schlegel included: Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of the University of Waterloo; John Tibbits, President of Conestoga College; Ron’s three sons and business partners, Rob, Brad and Jamie Schlegel; Mike Sharratt, President/CEO of RIA; Bob Kallonen, Vice-president and COO of Schlegel Villages; and Jagoda Pike, President/CEO of Homewood Health Centre.
This year’s dinner was one of our most successful, thanks to the support of many, including Bell as the major sponsor, Van-Del Contracting Ltd. as the inaugural Innovation Sponsor, along with 16 Patrons, 28 Community Group Sponsors, and the many Contributor sponsors. The live and silent auctions helped us to raise over $21,000 and the event itself raised a total of $62,000.
