Sports Hall of Fame

Rene Bourque
Category: Athlete
Year Inducted: 2017

Rene Bourque was born in Edmonton, AB on December 10, 1981. At the age of five, Bourque’s family moved to Lac La Biche, Alberta, where they have deep ancestral roots. His family remains here today.

Rene grew up playing the majority of his minor hockey years in Lac La Biche from Novice to Midgets, winning numerous league and provincial championships.

He made his way to the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and began his rookie season with the St. Albert Saints, earning a spot on the AJHL all-star team. Following his outstanding season, Rene received over eighteen scholarship offers from prestigious institutions including Harvard and Yale. After visiting Madison, Wisconsin, he accepted a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin where he played with the Badgers from 2000-2004, graduating with a degree in Business Finance.

Following his senior season at Wisconsin, Rene signed with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. However, due to the NHL lockout in 2004/2005, Bourque played in the American Hockey League (AHL) for Chicago’s farm team, the Norfolk Admirals. In his first pro season, Rene led his team in scoring as the AHL’s rookie of the year. That same year, he represented Team Canada at the 2005 AHL All Star Game.

He made his National Hockey League debut the following season on October 5, 2005 with Chicago facing off against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, scoring his first NHL goal. Bourque played three seasons with Chicago before joining the Calgary Flames for the 2008/2009 season. He later played with the Montreal Canadiens. In total, Rene played in 725 NHL games over 12 seasons, amassing 163 goals and 153 assists for a total of 316 points, including five hat tricks.

He represented Canada at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Germany and was again named to Team Canada during the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

It was always important for Rene to give back to his home town of Lac La Biche. Rene introduced the Rene Bourque Hockey Fund which raised money to help minor hockey programs, donating over 100 full sets of hockey equipment to local boys and girls. He organized and opened up a free hockey school to his home community and in 2009 initiated Bourque’s Buddies which awarded free Calgary Flames tickets to Indigenous youth who demonstrated positive contributions in their communities. Rene continues to make an impact in the community working with numerous local charities.

Barry Chwedoruk
Category: Athlete
Year Inducted: 2017

Barry Chwedoruk was born in Lac La Biche, AB on December, 18, 1965. He has been involved in curling for 39 years both on the ice and off. Barry competed in the Mixed Curling Provincials in 2001, the Men’s Curling Provincials in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and the Senior’s Curling Provincials in 2016 and 2017. His team won first place in 2017 and went on to win the 2017 Senior’s National Championship as well. In April 2018, Barry will be competing in the World Senior Curling Championship 2018 in Oestersund, Sweden.

Barry was involved with the Lac La Biche Curling Club Board of Directors for 20 years and is still a prominent figure on the Oilmen’s Curling Association Board of Directors. In addition to his curling contributions, Barry has coached junior soccer for five years and female minor hockey for three years. Barry enjoys outdoor activities such as ice fishing, boating, camping and spending time with his family.

Barry is very involved in his community and supports fundraising efforts with both his time and financial assistance.

Maurice Richard
Category: Athlete & Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2017

Maurice Richard was born on August 15, 1956 and raised in Lac La Biche, AB. Growing up he played numerous sports. He started coaching the J.A Williams High School (JAWS) boys volleyball team for over 25 years, going to provincials 13 times and medalling seven times. Maurice also coached the midget club volleyball team winning provincials in 1982 and 1985, provincial volleyball teams (winning the Can-Am and Western Canadian championships), and curling at JAWS and Portage College (with multiple wins and medals at the provincial level).

As an athlete, Maurice represented Senior A Men’s volleyball coaching and played for the Mad Dogs from 1976-1991. Maurice represented Alberta at numerous Senior A Nationals and, in 1983, his team won Senior A Men’s Volleyball Provincials.

In addition to his successes in volleyball and curling, Maurice has coached many other sports including football, basketball, track and field, soccer, baseball and badminton. He also enjoys swimming, cross-country skiing and cycling in his spare time. He was on the original Wow Pow tournament committee while in high school in 1972 and has been involved in the Wow Pow tournament as a player, coach, organizer and referee since.

Outside of his athletic career, Maurice is an advocate of school athletics playing a significant role as President for the Northeastern Alberta Schools Athletic Association (NEASAA) from 2006-11, a member of the Alberta School Athletics Association (ASAA) and a founding member of the Alberta Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Board. He received the Xerox Legacy award for Distinguished Service in providing instructional services with Northern Lights School Division #69. More recently, Maurice was given the ASAA Award of Merit and was inducted into the ASAA Hall of Fame in 2016 for his contributions to the association and school sports.

Bonnie McDonald
Category: Athlete
Year Inducted: 2017

Bonnie McDonald was born in Medicine Hat, AB on January 10, 1983. Bonnie started bowling at the age of 5 years and won her first provincial Youth Bowling Canada (YBC) championship at 10 years of age. Her team won the 1998 Alberta Youth Challenge Team Champions and set a nine-game record score at Nationals that still stands today.

Bonnie earned a spot on the provincial team travelling to Nationals a total of three times, which is a remarkable achievement. She was the Alberta Singles Champion in Youth Bowling in 1999 and 2002 and then became the A5PBA Open Alberta Singles Champion for the 18+ category in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2017. She joined the Master Bowlers Association of Alberta in 2008, advancing to Nationals every year except for 2015 and was the Singles Champion again in 2010 and 2012. She has also received three gold medals, three silver medals and a bronze medal in the Master Bowlers Association Nationals since 2009. Bonnie has participated in the Canadian 5 pin bowling Championships as the Ladies Open Provincial Champion four times and received a bronze medal in 2017. Bonnie also appeared in the nationally televised TSN Pins Game Championship three times representing Alberta.

In addition to her athletic achievements, Bonnie is an active member for the North Zone board of the 5 Pin Bowlers Association where as President, she has helped to keep the North Zone from being disbanded and represents bowlers in the region. She encourages bowlers to compete and have fun. Off the bowling alley, Bonnie is also heavily involved in coaching and as an executive member for minor ball and hockey, Special Olympics Bowling and the Junior B Clippers hockey association.

Rene Schaub
Category: Athlete & Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2017

Rene Schaub was born here in Lac La Biche, AB on September 23, 1954. He has been involved in archery for over twenty years as a competitor, coach and official. Rene competed in his first provincial shoot in 1998 in the Portage College gym. He took his first team to the Alberta Winter Games in 2002. He has earned several prestigious awards and titles within his career, including national records in field, 3D and the first ever father/daughter scores in 2005.

But, Rene is better known for his dedication and desire to pave the way for young archers, and for the events he has organized or officiated throughout the years. In 2005, Rene completed his judging course in order to host shoots locally and held the first registered shoot in Lac La Biche in 2007. With his passion for the sport growing, he created and opened the “Herb Erickson Archery Range”, a world class facility to host field and target shoots in 2008. Rene coordinated an indoor target provincial in 2013 that was fit for a national event and then hosted the biggest 3D, field and target event in 2014. Rene has earned a reputation for holding the most organized and well-run shoots in the archery circuit, mostly due to his “can-do” attitude and willingness to accept just about any challenge.

Rene completed his national and continental judging courses in 2014-15 and was asked to manage Team Canada for the Worlds Competition in France in 2017. Most recently, Rene has submitted and won the bid to host the World 3D shoot in 2019 here in Lac La Biche. This is the first time Worlds have be held in North America and is a huge undertaking for our small community.

Rene has been an active member in the Lac La Biche Shooting Range Association since the 1970’s and has been the President of the Indoor Sports Association since 2002. He has been recognized locally, provincially, and nationally for his participation in and contributions to sport, including Athlete of the Year and World Championship title (2005), Small Town Hero (top 10) in 2008, Recreation Volunteer Recognition Award and Citizen of the Year (2010), the Greg Durward Volunteer of the Year (2015), and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Eugene Lebas
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2017

Eugene was born in Edmonton, AB on April 10, 1941. He was raised in Lac La Biche and returned to the area when he finished school in 1958. He has always been actively involved in community sport, scorekeeping for hockey games including the Portage Voyageurs for over thirty years.

Eugene was a hockey referee for 17 seasons, a Bantam hockey coach for two seasons and “A” baseball for three seasons. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Lac La Biche Golf Club for 25 years, including ten years as President. Eugene is always looking to improve things and spearheaded the idea to upgrade the course from sand to grass greens. He first collected $250,000 from local businesses and individuals, then supervised the project which took approximately 16 months to complete.

Eugene’s long history of volunteering for several sport organizations also includes his involvement on the Lac La Biche Recreation Board and the building of a new arena from 1962-66, on Portage College Association from 2013-15 and was a founding member of the Lac La Biche Oilmen’s Association. Eugene was awarded the Medal of Canada in 1988 for his contributions to sport in the community.

Eugene’s most current and most commendable accomplishment comes from his contributions to the KidSport Lac La Biche chapter where he has made a profound impact on getting youth involved in sport. Eugene joined KidSport in 2010 and soon became President, a position he held until 2016, before stepping down to the Vice President role. Over the past seven years, Eugene has raised over $120,000 in fundraising efforts and has helped more than 330 kids to play registered sports by providing more than $60,000 in financial support for registration fees. Many of these kids would not otherwise be able to afford to play. Because of his passion, dedication and belief in the cause, Eugene continues to help shape the lives of each athlete in the community.

Edgar Ladouceur
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2017

Edgar Ladouceur was born in Lac La Biche, AB on July 25, 1935. He has been very involved in the community, keeping youth active, teaching responsibility, elevating self-esteem and instilling pride in the Metis heritage through sports, music and family loyalties. Edgar spent many years coaching, managing and inspiring athletes at all ages in baseball, hockey, broomball and volleyball. His teams won trophies and three of the athletes he coached went on to represent Canada in an Aboriginal Women’s Fastball team in Los Angeles. Edgar was a huge influence in many young lives, teaching not only good sportsmanship, but self-reliance, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Edgar was recently asked to donate some of his trophies and memorabilia from his coaching years to the Lac La Biche Mission Historical Society where he is an active volunteer.

Outside of his time as a coach, mentor and inspirational leader for young athletes, Edgar enjoys singing, playing guitar and the fiddle. He frequently plays at the senior’s lodge, extended care at the hospital and at various community events. Known and cherished by many as “Uncle Edgar”, his contributions in developing upstanding citizens and promoting pride in the Metis heritage is still visible in the community today.

Julius (Jules) Owchar
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2017

Julius (Jules) Owchar was born October 12, 1940, in Lac La Biche, Alberta.

He is a Canadian curler, curling, and golf coach and is best known as the longtime coach of Kevin Martin, and his team curling out of Edmonton, and Brad Gushue’s rink from Newfoundland and Labrador, coaching both men to Canadian, World, and Olympic championships titles. Kevin Martin’s team of the 1990’s was named the Team of the Century.

Jules was also the coach of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) golf and curling teams. Jules is a Level 3 certified curling coach by the National Coaching Certification Program.

Jules began his coaching career working in Lac La Biche at the high school. His career eventually led him to NAIT where he coached the curling team to 36 college championships with over 40 provincial and national championships. Jules has coached Kevin Martin’s team to 4 Canadian Championships, 1 World Championship, and an Olympic Gold medal. He then went on to coach Brad Gushue’s team when Martin retired, who also went on to won 4 Canadian Championships, 1 World Championship, and an Olympic Gold medal.

Jules has had appearances in 20 Briers, 9 World Curling championships, 4 Olympics, and 39 College Championships. In total, Jules has coached in 73 Championships.

Jules continues to be an active golfer and curler. He assists with the development of young curlers. He has won multiple coaching awards, including a 5-time winner of the Petro-Canada coaching award. He is a member of the Curling Canada Hall of fame. Jules isn’t as active anymore but continues to coach and keeps busy by enjoying the fruits of retirement.

André Contant
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2018

André Contant was born December 17, 1948 in St. Eugène, Ontario. His love for hockey flowed through his veins since that day, and continues today. In 1973, he moved to Plamondon, bringing his love of hockey with him. As there were no hockey teams in Plamondon at that time, he began by playing for various teams in surrounding areas until 1977, when he and a friend formed the Plamondon Cougars. It was then that hockey in Plamondon was born, and the sport thrives in the area to this day. As interest grew, the team split in two, including the Plamondon Nordiques. The Nordiques eventually became the Plamondon Mighty Bucks, later known as the Bucks. Throughout the years, these teams had great success and won championships. As time went on, André started an Old Mighty Bucks Club, and he still plays weekly!

Outside of playing hockey, André was involved in the application process to build the Plamondon Arena. This project was a coordinated effort by volunteers who worked with the Plamondon and District Agricultural Society, Improvement District 18 South, and the Village of Plamondon to make this idea a reality. Construction began in September 1987, and the grand opening occurred in November 1988.

André’s love of sports does not end with hockey. He has had a long coaching career in several sports. He coached the Plamondon Blue Belles from 1974 to 1991. The team won many local tournaments and league championships. He coached the Plamondon Ace Bantam “B” Boys baseball team from 1981 to 1982, and won the North East Zone Championships (’81). Andre was the director of the provincial tournament held the following year. His love of hockey brought him back to the ice where he coached his son’s Atom hockey team from 1993 to 1995 in Plamondon. André was a long-time coach for École Plamondon School in volleyball (1974 to 1989), winning North East Zone “1A” division championships four times in the senior boys and girls’ categories. They were ranked the 5th best senior girls team out of 110 teams in the province in 1983. André also coached high school track and field for École Plamondon School, and he brought many athletes to Zones in Fort McMurray, Provincials in Edmonton, Calgary and Peace River. In 2016, with the help of a few friends, he even started the Plamondon Pickleball Club which he continues to manage and play weekly.

Over the 30 years he coached, André has had a profound effect on his peers and athletes. They remember him as respectful and kind, always encouraging athletes to play for the love of the game and to value teamwork. He is appreciated and respected for his skills, passion, fairness and selfless dedication to building sports and volunteer initiatives in his community.

Grant Tkachuk
Category: Athlete
Year Inducted: 2018

Grant Tkachuk was born September 24, 1968 in Lac La Biche, Alberta to Stan and Helen Tkachuk, and is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the ninth round (169th overall) of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.

Tkachuk played major junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL) Easter Conference from 1984 to 1988. During those four years, he played with and against some of the biggest NHL starts of the 90s, including Wendel Clark, Joe Sakic, Theoren Fluery, Mike Modan, and Trevor Linden. During the 1987 to 1988 season, he scored 51 goals and was honoured for his outstanding play when he was named to the 1987-88 First All-Start Team. At the 1987-88 All-Star Game (January 12, 1988) in Kamloops, BC, Tkachuk scored the game-wining goal and was named the “First Star” of the game in the 5-4 victory over the Western Division Team.

Tkachuk began his professional hockey career in 1988 with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, registering 25 points and 26 penalty minutes in 64 games during his rookie season. He played the 1989 to 1990 season in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the Phoenix Roadrunners, where he scored 40 points and eared 66 penalty minutes in 72 games played.

After returning home to Lac La Biche, Tkachuk continued to play hockey until his final season with the Lac La Biche Senior Clippers (1992-1993).

Randy Wowk
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2022

Randal (Randy) Jules Wowk was born July 27, 1957 in Lac La Biche, Alberta. Randy’s love of sport began at a young age. He actively participated in all the usual school sports, which sparked an interest in some of his most recognizable roles in community recreation.

Working for and then being an owner of a family business spanning 70 years, Lac La Biche Transport and the Wowk family have had the pleasure of serving their community.

Randy’s greatest contribution to Lac La Biche is his 40 years of dedicated support for minor sports. “It’s about the kids.” Randy and his wife, Odile, wholeheartedly championed the athletic endeavors of their four children, Amy, Nicole, Joanna and Craig. In turn he has positively impacted the lives of generations of local youth and the success of our sporting community.

Randy has devoted years of service to Minor Baseball, Hockey and Soccer. He has coached, officiated, chaired, sponsored, fundraised, donated and mentored. As a member of the local Kinsmen Club he spends his Sundays travelling back and forth from Conklin to collect bottles for Cash for Cans. The proceeds go right back to kids programs in the community.

Randy’s love of sports, commitment to volunteerism and strong willingness to bettering the community are a treasure. He continues to participate in the next generation of minor sports both on the ice and at home plate. He enjoys the great privilege of wearing the stripes or the umpire’s mask as his grandchildren proudly represent Lac La Biche.

There’s a long-standing joke in Randy’s family that everywhere he goes he knows someone. You may know him as Randy, Mr. Wowk, Coach or that guy who is always at the Bold Centre or ball diamond. However you know him, know this, it is his great pleasure to get involved and help others. Randy’s own journey through sport has enriched his life and the lives of everyone around him. He leads by example and humbly encourages everyone to get involved in sports and recreation. “It’s worth it. Kids keep you young at heart!”

Ken Scullion
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2022

Ken Scullion has always been passionate about sport, in particular the role it plays in building community, resilience, and confidence in young people. In 1986 Ken founded the Lac La Biche Boxing Club with the intention of creating a space to encourage community members to build their knowledge of amateur boxing, but also to develop important life skills like discipline, determination, and commitment. The list of tasks requiring personal time and effort was lengthy – finding a suitable venue, acquiring operating funds, purchasing equipment, financial administration, fundraising, managing tournaments, travel arrangements, and the list goes on. Despite this effort, Ken managed to not only coach every athlete, but mentor them and develop life-long relationships. After years of evolution, the Lac La Biche Boxing Club went from a heavy bag in a school gym to a fully equipped gym at the Bold Centre.

Since 1986, Ken has received many accolades in the boxing community, including being selected to coach the Alberta provincial team at six National Championships, and coaching teams at the Alberta and Canada Winter Games. Internationally, he has coached team Alberta in the United States, England, Greece and Ireland. He was also selected to be a national coach at the World Youths Championships and was named Alberta Boxing Coach of the Year in 1992.

Alumni of the club have seen success at various levels. They rose, competed, and won at the provincial and national level all while hailing from a small, northern rural community – a true testament to the passion and professionalism of the coaching they received.

Ken had high expectations of all club members and worked alongside community partners such as KidSport to ensure the club was accessible to anyone who was interested, regardless of financial or life circumstances. The safe environment allowed the youth to feel part of a caring community, with hard work and good sportsmanship as trademarks of the club. Winning was always a goal but winning and losing with respect and dignity was far more important to Coach Ken.

Clint Trimble
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2023

Clint was born in Bowmanville, Ontario on July 31, 1956. He moved to Lac La Biche in 1978 with his wife Lynn, when she was offered a nursing job at the then McArthur Place Hospital. Clint quickly became involved with the local hockey scene, joining the Lac La Biche Clippers Senior “A” Hockey Club as a goalie. Through the years, Clint remained involved with local recreation hockey teams as an athlete.

Clint found a passion for coaching in the late 80’s helping out with various local teams. His Hockey Canada sports profile spans 30 years, from 1993-2023. In that timeframe, Clint has officiated games, coached, billeted, volunteered, and assisted with various conditioning camps, hockey schools and evaluation camps. During his tenure, the U18 Lac La Biche Clippers were Zone 2 champions in 2003-04, and 2016-17, and the Plamondon Bantam (U15) team won Zone championships in 2019-20.

In the inaugural season (2008-09) of the Portage Voyageurs, Clint was hired as the Assistant Coach. Clint took on this task whole heartedly, spending his time assisting in the recruitment process, coaching and as a board member. The Voyageurs made the playoffs, which was a first in the history of the ACAC. Clint remained with the Voyageurs club until 2013 and continues to coach and assist with Lac La Biche Minor Hockey teams to present day.

Clint has been a community leader, team builder, and a positive role model representing the community across the province and the country, providing a positive outlook and approach toward the growth of youth in the community. He provides leadership, life skills, and a helping hand to all ages and levels of competition involved in local sports. His dedication and contributions have played a pivotal role in Lac La Biche minor sport and promoted growth in the community.

In the process of nominating Clint for this award, he said “It was about all the kids in the community who wanted to play, and collectively the community of Lac La Biche, gave me the opportunity to coach”

MacDonald Brothers
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2023

Alex, James, Robert and Bernard MacDonald encouraged the growth of the sport of rodeo in Lac La Biche County starting in the 1960’s. They were known as the MacDonald Brothers Rodeo.

Alex (Alec) MacDonald was born on September 21, 1941 in Ashmont, AB. James MacDonald (Jr) was born on August 9, 1937 in Spedden, AB. Robert (Robbie) MacDonald was born on April 13, 1933 in St. Paul, AB, and Bernard MacDonald was born on July 27, 1934 in Spedden, AB.

The family ranched cattle and horses south of Hylo, AB and hosted rodeos and training at the ranch. The rodeos were held annually and brought thousands of people, near and far to compete and watch. They trailed horses from the ranch in Hylo to the Rodeo grounds in Plamondon in 1962 and were involved in other rodeos in the area such as St. Paul, Thorhild, Kinuso, and Colinton. Many young cowboys and cowgirls started their rodeo careers with the mentoring and opportunities to train offered by the MacDonald Brothers.

Although the four founding MacDonalds brothers have passed on, Bernard (February 25, 1977), Alex (May 8, 2009), Robbie (December 21, 2020) and James (November 30, 2023) respectively, the rodeo legacy lives on in the brother’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Many continue to ranch and rodeo. The family has now spread out across Alberta and Saskatchewan, although a lot of the family still resides in the Hylo area. The family name has changed slightly, but they continue to raise top quality rodeo stock which compete at some of the highest levels of rodeo in North America. Story goes, somewhere throughout the years, the “A” in MacDonald was dropped on birth and hospital records and is known today as the McDonald rodeos.

Rodeo is still a thriving community event in Lac La Biche County with annual events hosted by the McDonald family at the Arthur & Anita Cadieux Agricultural Grounds. Much like how it was in the 1960’s, the sport brings the community together to cheer on local talent.

Ken Staples
Category: Athlete & Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2024

Ken was born in Edmonton on December 13, 1944. He coached minor hockey for 10 years and played senior men’s hockey and fastball for a combination of thirty years. Ken has been involved in several boards over many years. These include Portage College Board of Governors, Community Futures, Lac La Biche Legion, Lions Club and Metis Child and Family Services. Ken has worked with First Nations and other Indigenous groups for over 40 years assisting them to advance business and community growth.

What most people know Ken for is his passion and dedication to racing and ice racing. His love of racing began in 1963 when he saw his first sports car race at Davidson, Saskatchewan when he vowed to do whatever it took to be in on the action. In 1965 he moved to Edmonton, competed in his first motorsport event and took 2nd place. Ken moved to Lac La Biche in 1983 and brought his love of racing with him. For over 40 years now he has been organizing and coordinating the Winter Festival of Speed, one of the County’s premier events. The festival has grown to where it typically includes a huge array of events. These include vintage sled rides, aircraft fly-in, trappers display, kids’ activities and of course the races, with car races, snowmobile drags and this year Mega trucks, drawing competitors from across Western Canada to come and compete. Ken received a recognition award from Lac La Biche County in 2023 for his ongoing contributions to the festival and economic/tourism spinoff it provides the community.

Ken is also an avid racer and has competed at both amateur and professional levels of competition at numerous racetracks throughout North America. His competition record spans from the 1960s to present day. In that time, he was won 21 Alberta Ice Racing Championships, 12 Western Canadian Ice Race Championships, 2 International Endurance Race Class Championships, 14 Western Championships in summer racing and is a two-time National Champion. Ken was recognized by the Western Canadian Motorsports Association with a Lifetime Achievement award in 2010. Ken was the 1st Road racer inducted into the Western Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2020.

This year Ken has turned 80, and as long as he can climb in and out of a race car, he will keep on racing. He will also continue positively contributing to the community through the various boards and events that he is actively involved with.

Etienne Vaillancourt
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2024

Etienne was born in Wotton, Quebec on November 30, 1977. He moved to Plamondon in 2001 and began assistant coaching the first volleyball team for Ecole Beausejour in 2003. That same year, Etienne and his coaching colleague created a Francophone provincial hockey tournament referred to as ‘Hockey en Fête’ which brought teams from across the province, caught the attention of CBC French Radio & TV and created involvement from teachers, students, parents and community members at large to help make this event a success. The main purpose of this event was to generate funds for the school sports program. Etienne continued to spearhead ‘Hockey en Fête’ until 2011, when he moved away for 1 year to complete his master’s in education and leadership.

In 2007, Etienne formed the Plamondon Volleyball Club, known as PVC, which is still going strong today and has players from across the region and beyond. In May of 2009, his U15 team won 1st place at Nationals in Calgary. In May 2010, he had the honour of bringing that same team, now U16 girls’ team to Nationals in Sherbrooke, QC. Every year he organizes a 4 on 4 Volleyball tournament which he likes to refer to as ‘The Family Reunion’ – where he gets to reunite with many players and parents that he coached and got to know over the years.

Etienne also coached the North Zone volleyball team for Francophone Alberta Games from 2004-2014 and was designated as ‘Chef de Mission’ at this annual event (2 of which have been hosted at the Bold Centre) since 2015 until present day. He was recruited to be the Francophone Alberta Volleyball Team Head Coach for the Francophone National Championships known as Jeux de la Francophonie Canadienne three times (2014 Gatineau, QC, 2017 Moncton, NB and Victoria, BC, 2020 which was cancelled because of Covid restrictions).

Etienne has been a director and held the role of treasurer for the Francophone Federation of Sports at a provincial level for five years (2004-2008) & (2018-2019). In March of 2020, he was awarded provincial recognition as a Sports Ambassador of Alberta.

In 2022, he had the opportunity to live one of his dreams when he was asked to be the Francophone Sports commentator for U Sports Women’s Volleyball Championships in Calgary, which was broadcasted on their dedicated sports channel.

Etienne has devoted endless hours, including early mornings, late evenings and weekends to coach and referee in numerous loud & busy gymnasiums around the province and across the country. Although this is clearly a passion for this very devoted man, his main driving force is to help children and youth have as many opportunities to stay active as possible, to teach core life values, to inspire them and hopefully keep them off screens & out of trouble as much as possible.

Thomas “Tommy” Lett
Category: Community Builder
Year Inducted: 2025

Thomas was born in Lac La Biche on April 27, 1951. For more than four decades, Tom has been a driving force behind the region’s arenas, pools, and programs that continue to shape generations of athletes and families.

Tom’s commitment to local sport began in the early 1980s, when he joined the Lac La Biche Regional and Recreation Board, representing Improvement District 18 South. Serving for an extraordinary 29 years, Tom helped guide the hiring recreation directors, supported the construction of outdoor skating facilities, and championed the creation of parks and spaces for youth activity. His leadership on the board set the foundation for what would become the golden era of recreation in the community.

In the late 1980s, Tom joined the Swimming Pool Committee, working tirelessly to bring a much-needed aquatic facility to Lac La Biche. Between 1988 and 1992, he played a key role in securing joint funding between the Town, County, and Portage College, ensuring that the project could move forward. The pool’s grand opening in 1992 was a direct result of his persistence and ability to unite stakeholders behind a shared vision.

Tom’s influence extended beyond infrastructure. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he organized and hosted NHL Alumni events to support community programs and youth development. His efforts drew national attention when Maurice “The Rocket” Richard declared on television that his visit to Lac La Biche was “the most fun [he] ever had.” Tom also helped bring the Flying Fathers charity hockey team to the community for what would become their final game, leaving an indelible mark on local sports history.

As Mayor during the 2008 amalgamation of the Town and County of Lac La Biche, Tom played a pivotal role in guiding one of the region’s most transformative projects — the creation of the Bold Centre, which stands today as a physical symbol of his vision for a unified, active community.

In collaboration with Bill Persley, Tom co-founded the Portage College Sports and Education Dinner Series, beginning with a memorable evening featuring Walter Gretzky and raising $50,000 for student-athlete scholarships. This initiative helped establish the Portage College Voyageurs Hockey Program, connecting sport and education in a way that continues to benefit young athletes.

Tom also dedicated years to coaching and mentoring Lac La Biche minor hockey and baseball teams to success, including a Pee Wee Provincial semi-final appearance. On the international stage, he served as Assistant Coach of the Western Canadian Representative Hockey Team, leading them to gold in Europe while overseeing special teams that went undefeated on the power play.

Tom’s lifelong commitment to sport and recreation has shaped Lac La Biche’s identity. His leadership, passion, and belief in the power of teamwork created opportunities for generations — a true builder whose legacy lives.