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25 young people honoured for achievement at 25 Under 25 event

October 22, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Twenty-five young people who have made contributions to the community and have achieved a high degree of success in their individual efforts were honoured at the 25 Under 25 celebration event held at the Opera House in Orangeville last Saturday, October 13.

Sponsored by Theatre Orangeville, In the Hills magazine, and Museum of Dufferin (MoD), the event was a celebration of accomplishment for young people who have a bright future ahead of them.

They represent a wide variety of activities including music, volunteering, fundraising, sports, and the arts.

The concept and name of the event also refers to the 25th anniversary of all three sponsors,” explained MoD events, marketing, and promotion manager, Nanci Malek. “We got together after having our 20th anniversary at the museum and we thought, why celebrate us? We should celebrate kids. This whole community has the most amazing youth. They deserve attention.”

The young people are all from Dufferin County.

People were asked to nominate a person they knew, aged 25 or under, who have made a unique contribution to their community.

Twelve year-old, Ryan Hann raised $4,000 for the Orangeville Food Bank by swimming a whopping 200 laps per day for seven days this past summer.

“I’ve been swimming for four years with the Orangeville Otters Swim Club,” Ryan explained. “I showed up one day and they asked me if I wanted to swim competitively. We had a charity event at school and I had a lot of fun doing it. I really love swimming so I thought I could use that in a good way to help raise money and food for the Orangeville Food Bank.”

People around the community stepped up and supported Ryan’s efforts.

A 200 lap swim is five kilometres, meaning Ryan swam 35 kilometres in his fundraising effort.

Thirteen year-old Rylee McKenna is making a name for herself as the founder of the Strong Girls Club.

“It started off as an instagram page for inspirational quotes,” Rylee explained. “I’m doing it at my yoga studio. I started it in November and they offered it us, saying they like the idea and ‘would you like to do the club here.?’ We do crafts and inspire girls to connect with different girls in our community.”

Rylee said she hopes to expand the club to other cities and eventually to the international level so she can speak and be an advocate for girls around the world.

Emma Holmes is a long-time Shelburne Fair volunteer and ambassador.

“I was the Junior Fair Ambassador, Fair Princess, and Senior Ambassador. I volunteered at the fair, helping out with anything I could do there,” Emma said.

She’s a curler who played on the Centre Dufferin District High School team and they had a lot of success in competition.

The Melancthon resident is currently in her second year at Lambton College where she is studying sports management. She was a member of the TSN media team covering the 2018 Women’s World Curling Championships in North Bay.

“I love business and when I found out there’s a program that involves sports and business I decided to look into it. I love this program.”

Emma is currently working with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL as an intern.

For Mono’s Jordyn Pallett, his mission is to share what life is like being a non-verbal teenager with autism.

Fifteen-year-old Jordyn is not capable of communicating through speech, but with the help of his mom Kelli, he uses a letter board to get his message across.

“I have lots of things to say, but mainly I want people to know that people with autism are valuable members of society and have so much to contribute if they are given the support to access education,” Jordyn relayed through his message board.

He has already spoken at functions and plans to do more.

“I spoke in Illinois last April and am hoping to speak in Virginia next year.”

Jordyn also express his opinions on-line through a blog that he authors.

In addition to Jordyn, Emma, Rylee, and Ryan, 21 other young people were honoured at the event for their contributions to the community and excellence in personal achievements.

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