The following article was published in the York University Legacies Newsletter.  What a great story about a legacy left by Mary Lyons, one of our former members,  ​Mary Lyons will be well remembered by many of our members as she was a long time active member of many of our interest groups and much loved by many. This article reflects her many achievements and the value of her continuing legacy. 

Mary Lyons leaves a legacy of athletic excellence
When you watch world-class athletes performing feats of outstanding strength, dexterity and strategic thinking, the excellence you witness is the culmination of superb coaching, dogged practice, and often financial support that frees them to concentrate on perfecting their skills. This certainly is the story of recent York Kinesiology graduate and outstanding athlete Alexandria Town (BSc’18).

"Receiving the Mary Lyons Award lifted a huge weight off my shoulders” — Alexandria Town

One of York’s most decorated women’s athletes, Town honed her wrestling skills figuratively standing on the shoulders of a woman she never met — Professor Mary Lyons, one of York University’s Athletics builders.

In 1967, York hired Lyons as the inaugural Coordinator of Women’s Interuniversity Sport. Through her leadership she grew the program from six to 14 sports by her retirement in 1993, and helped York establish one of the best reputations in women’s university sport.

Jennifer Myers, York’s Director of Sport and Recreation, says “Mary’s work formed the basis of the sport system we have in place today. She will always be an integral part of the fabric of sport at York.”

​During Lyons’s tenure, she was the academic advisor, coach and confidant to thousands of student-athletes. Later she reflected, “I recognized how many students made sacrifices to complete their education, fitting in academics, athletics, and often part-time jobs.”

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​After Lyons retired, she wanted to continue to have an impact on students’ lives. With assistance from a financial advisor, she bought a $87,000 life insurance policy and made York its beneficiary.  Upon her passing in 2014, her policy had grown to $144,365. Following her wishes, the funds were endowed to form the Mary Lyons Excellence Award in support of high performance student-athletes.

​Alexandria Town is one of many Mary Lyons Excellence Award recipients. She is an outstanding wrestler on Canada’s women’s wrestling team, winning multiple international medals including Canada’s first gold at the U23 World Championships. “The training and support I received from York’s athletic community was exactly what I needed to reach this elite level of competition,” Town admits.
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“Having to finance my own education was extremely taxing, so receiving the Mary Lyons Excellence Award lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and allowed me to focus on my training. I’m extremely grateful for this help. I hope to repay Mary’s generosity by representing Canada at the 2020 Olympics!”

​  4 Scholarship winners from the following high schools were chosen:

• St.Joseph S.S.             To attend University of Toronto-Humanities
• Glen forest S.S            To attend McGill-Health Sciences
• Port CreditS.S.             To attendQueens-Kenesiology
• St. Francis Xavier S.S. To attend Western- Mechanical engineering

We welcome members who can give a little of their time  to the Scholarship committee

Next year's winners will receive $2,500 each.

Card night will be in April again and the scholarship committee is looking for volunteers.This is our biggest fundraiser.

Berit Weyland, Scholarship Chair

Plans are well underway for this annual fund raiser. Thanks to  Janet McBride for agreeing to convene this event. Tickets will cost $20 and will be available at the February and March meetings. Janet will be looking for prizes for the raffle so keep those unwanted Christmas gifts for us. Please also consider requesting prizes from establishments that you patronize. We have found that merchants are much more willing to donate if they know you. Janet will have letters ready early in the new year. Janet will also be looking for help as the event gets closer. Please say yes when she contacts you.  

The recipient of our scholarship is Emily Studzinski, a first year student. She received $2000 this year and the scholarship is renewable for another three years as long as she maintains her academic standing.

Please read the letter of thanks from Emily.   Our contact at the university has also added her thanks.

​Thanks to Lorna Murphy and Nice Things Crafters for their support of the Scholarship fund. Their donation of $400 was much appreciated.

This morning we received a donation of  $2500 from BMO Financial Group. We thank them for their ongoing support of our Scholarship Fund. Thanks to Lucille Deegan for maintaining this contact. 

Linda Krokker
Chair, Scholarship Fund

     A very successful card night was held on April 9, 2015 at Christ Church on Mazo Crescent. We sold 150 tickets for the event. 
     The evening started early as card players arrived to nab their favourite table and enjoy the assortment of cake, cookies and squares. 
     Serious competitive bridge and euchre games followed although I did hear rumours that some people only played for fun. Hard to believe!
     During the evening we sold raffle tickets for prizes that had been donated by our members, friends, and local businesses. There were also many door prizes. These draws added to the fun of the evening.
     On behalf of the Scholarship Fund, thank-you to all the club members who worked so hard to make the evening run so smoothly. Many of you sold tickets, solicited prizes, wrapped gifts, baked, helped set up, delivered card tables, worked in the kitchen, helped at the door, cleaned up, etc.  Your willingness to help was very much appreciated. We could not have done it without you. 
     Our profit for the evening was $3979.81. This money will be used to fund to our scholarships for next year. 

Linda Krokker
Chair, Scholarship Fund

 Across Canada, CFUW Clubs and members contribute over a million dollars annually to scholarships and fellowships and in 2019, in celebration of our 100th anniversary, the goal is to add an additional $100,000.  Our scholarship programs demonstrate the commitment that CFUW members make to empowering women and girls through education.  I would like to share the scholarship program and initiatives in Mississauga and our plan for 2019.

 Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city but lives in the shadow of Toronto and, for much of its history, modern Mississauga was a series of small, independent communities in Peel County, each with a distinct character.  CFUW Mississauga began in 1953 in Port Credit, the most southern of the villages and became CFUW Mississauga in 1970.  Mississauga has a university, technically a campus of U of T, and a satellite campus of Sheridan College.  CFUW members were involved with the university from its inception and annually sponsor a renewable four year scholarship for a first year student.  We also sponsor a student at Sheridan College and award four scholarships of $2000 each to four outstanding Mississauga high school graduates.  But our most recent and most interesting project has been fundraising for the Charitable Trust.
 
The villages of Peel County had a long history well before the city of Mississauga.  A few years ago, one of our members returned from the AGM excited about the prospect of raising money for the Charitable Trust and thus supporting post-graduate studies.  From her enthusiasm grew 'our book':  Extraordinary Lives: Inspiring Women of Peel.  The book showcases the lives of 36 women over a 200 year period.  They represent the arts, sports, technology, social justice, politics, environment, and business - all facets of life.  The book production involved many members of our Club as writers, researchers, editors, fundraisers.  We published the book through funds raised and all proceeds have been directed towards the work of the Charitable Trust. In September 2012, we donated $3000 which was used to support the CFUW Creative Arts award that allowed Anna Pidgorna, a composer and media arts student to participate in a creative residency at the Banff Centre.   In the spring of 2013 $10,000 was given to the Charitable Trust: half was used to increase the trust fund and half allowed the CFUW Fellowship program to give an additional scholarship in 2014.  In January 2015, Lynn Franklin, Project Leader of the 100th Anniversary Scholarship Project was invited to our general meeting where we presented Lynn with a cheque for $6200.
 
This is CFUW Mississauga's first contribution to the 100th Anniversary Scholarship Project.   We still have books to sell (you can check our website!) and all proceeds will go towards the 100th Anniversary Scholarship fund.