Sheilah Sweatman (HANDOUT)
A new under construction gymnasium for Queenston School will be named in memory of a local hero.
Sheilah Sweatman, 29, lost her life tragically during a volunteer mission with Nelson, B.C. Search and Rescue during the summer of 2011. Sweatman was dragged overboard into fast-moving water and became entangled in cables being used on the mission.
“Sheilah grew up in River Heights and was an outstanding student, athlete, artist and community volunteer dedicated to serving others,” said Colleen McFadden, chair of Queenston School gym committee. “Naming the gym in Sheilah’s honour will provide our students and young people with inspirational messages of community service and living life to the fullest. The naming of the gymnasium may also be unique in the School Division.”
Sweatman, a University of Manitoba graduate, was also an accomplished artist with a growing reputation for her unique and creative style. She donated her best work, a piece made out of 256,000 puzzle pieces entitled Finding Me, to the Children’s Hospital Foundation. It now hangs in the John Buhler Research Centre.
A fundraising campaign was launched in April to raise $450,000 for the new gymnasium before June 30. Individual and corporate contributions of $500 or more will receive recognition on a wall plaque placed in perpetuity in the Queenston School foyer adjacent to the gym.
