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The Soroptimist Club was formed in Oakland, California in 1921 for women who hold executive status in business, government or a profession. Membership was by invitation only and was limited to women with careers outside of the home. The aim of the Soroptimist Club was to provide service to the community, usually through fundraising and donations, to promote the advancement of women in business and to maintain high ethical standards in professional life.

The Soroptimist Club of the Sudbury Nickel District was chartered on January 29, 1949. It was founded by Margaret Kerr of Montreal. Elizabeth Soutar (Bess Soutar), head of the local Victorian Order of Nurses (V.O.N.), was the first President of the Sudbury Nickel District chapter. The club met twice monthly, on the second and fourth Mondays, the first only for business and the second to have a dinner meeting followed by business and/or a speaker. These early meetings were held mainly at Cassio's Motor Hotel or in members' homes.

During it's life, the Soroptimist Club sponsored many community projects, including providing a monthly allowance for three years to a nurse in training; Christmas dinners to elderly members of the community; sponsoring the Soutar Senior Citizen's Club; sending underprivileged children to summer camp; giving a clothing allowance to a secondary school student, which allowed her to graduate; providing rent for underprivileged college students during the summer months; donating $500 to the Centennial Project for trees in Bell Park; giving a donation of $1000 so a room could be refurnished at the Y.W.C.A. and putting on concerts.

The club celebrated their 25th Anniversary with dinner at Cassio's Motor Hotel in the Venetian Room on June 8, 1974. However, membership and participation in the club was declining. By 1975 meetings dwindled and only seven or eight women were taking an active interest, so in 1976 the club's activities came to an end after 27 years.

Club Presidents:
Bess Soutor 1949-1950
Kay Elliott 1950-1950
Allegra Walker 1951-1952
Eleanor Hambley 1952-1954
Lempi Johnson 1954-1955
Grace Wigg 1955-1957
Thelma Paulson 1957-1959
Ursala Black 1959-1961
Margaret Blue 1961-1962
Mary Brown 1962-1964
Florence Tomlinson 1964-1966
Myrtle Kennedy 1966-1969
Editha McLellan 1969-1970
Mary Brown 1970-1972
Myrtle Kennedy 1972-1974

John Frederick Nathanael Spady (1879-1947) was a musician and composer in Waterloo, Ontario. Taught by his mother, who was the organist at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waterloo for more than 30 years, Spady excelled as a pianist and violinist. He authored more than 600 pieces of music.

St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church was built in Garson, Ontario in 1913-1914. Prior to this time, mass was celebrated in Garson by a visiting priest from Ste. Anne's Parish in Sudbury with the first mass in Garson celebrated in 1906 by Reverend G.S. Lebel. In 1935 the mission of St. John's, which included the towns of Garson and Falconbridge, became a parish and Reverend John P. Coghlan was named the first Parish Priest, serving until 1964. In March of 1950 the original St. John's church succumbed to fire and another church was immediately built in its place, with the first mass being held there on December 17, 1950.

The Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.), affiliated with St. John's, was established in January 1944 due to the efforts of Father A.J. Sullivan. The C.Y.O.'s first meeting had twenty people in attendance and by 1946 had grown to include approximately fifty members, who were divided into 'junior' and 'senior' groups. It was a popular unit within the church and many events and programs were held for the benefit of the members. Events included dances, debates, quiz nights, holiday parties, roller skating parties and tobogganing outings. The C.Y.O. also took great interest in athletics and took part in a bowling league and a baseball league, as well as organized hikes, skiing trips and dart tournaments for members. By April 1946 the C.Y.O. was running its own news bulletin, which was used to relay gossip, local news and events within St. John's Parish and to advertise upcoming parties and events being held by the C.Y.O. The C.Y.O. remained in existence until June 1980.

The editorial staff for the years 1946-1947 were:
Editor: Lil Scagnetti
Assistant Editor: Mike Dudowich
Typist: Diane Scagnetti [Di Scagnetti/Diane Dellelce]
Printer: Abele Crisante
Sports Editor: George Morin
Poetry Department: Marg Lachapelle
Senior Reporter: Theresa Moreau, Claire Daoust
Junior Reporter: Rose Devuono, Bea Laliberte
Deliveries: Stan Hyduk
Social Editor [April 1946]: T. Egan

Jim Stapleton was a student at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University) from 1961 to 1965.

Israel "Irving" Steinberg was born January 16 1919 in Peterborough Ontario. Shortly after his birth he moved with his parents, Joseph and Leah Steinberg and his sister Rose Steinberg, to Sudbury Ontario where his father founded Toronto Bargain Stores. The Steinbergs lived in Sudbury until 1932 when they moved to Toronto. Joseph Steinberg died on July 14 1963, and Irving Steinberg as executor of his estate retained property in Sudbury until 1968 when it was expropriated by the city as part of a downtown urban development project. Irving Steinberg passed away on March 1, 2011.

Robert Thomas Stevens [Roberto Tomaso Stefanizzi] was born in Cellara, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy on February 23, 1896 to Gaetano Stefanizzi and Gaetana Caliguiri. At the age of 6, he immigrated to Canada with his uncle Francesco Steffanzzi (aka Frank Stevens d. 1941 age 70) in 1902 while the rest of his family remained in Italy.

As a teenager during the first world war, Stevens operated a commissary at Nobel for the explosives plant employees. Stevens enjoyed being an entrepreneur and in 1918, he decided to venture into the film industry by opening his first theatre in Sudbury on Elm Street East. His theatre business thrived and over the years, Stevens expanded his business with the acquisition of additional theatres in Sturgeon Falls, Creighton Mine and Sault Ste. Marie. For a few years, Stevens also owned a theatre in Espanola. In August 1939, Stevens opened the large Regent Theatre on Elm Street in Sudbury. This theatre was well known for its size in Northeastern Ontario.

On December 4, 1923, Robert Stevens married Florence Boucher, a nurse originally from Whitefish, Ontario. The ceremony was held in Little Current, Ontario. They had six children; Joseph 'Robert' Guy (1924-1968), 'William' Alfred (1926-1988), 'Thomas' Joseph (1928-), Anne Marie (1930-2004, married name Ripley), John (1931?-), and Margaret Theressa (1934-).

During the second world war, Robert Stevens, along with many other Italian-born Canadians, was closely monitored by authorities. On August 24, 1940, Stevens was a patient at St. Joseph’s Hospital, suffering from a slight ailment. At 10 a.m. he was arrested on charges, under the Defence of Canada Regulations, for during August 14 to 20, 1940 “making statements intended to, or likely to, prejudice recruiting, training, discipline and administration of His Majesty’s forces,” and “making statements intended to, or likely to, cause disaffection to His Majesty.” He was escorted from his hospital room to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters for questioning. Afterwards, he was taken to the courthouse. Stevens was denied bail by the Magistrate and placed in a prison cell at the Sudbury District Jail until his trial three days later. Stevens plead guilty to the first charge and was fined $25. The second charge was dropped.

Robert Thomas Stevens became ill in January 1943 and passed away at St. Joseph's Hospital in Sudbury on February 13, 1943 at the age of 46.

Emily Howard Jennings Stowe (1831-1903) was a teacher and principal, a medical doctor, and a suffragette. Educated at home, Stowe became a teacher in 1846 and graduated from the Provincial Normal School in Toronto, Canada West in 1854. In 1865 Stowe applied to study medicine at the University of Toronto, but was denied entry because she was a woman. Unable to pursue her education in Canada, she attended the New York Medical College for Women. After graduating in 1867, Stowe returned to Toronto to practice medicine without a license. In 1870 she was allowed to attend the University of Toronto and was granted a medical license in 1880. In 1877 Emily Stowe organized Canada's first suffrage organization, initially called the Toronto Women's Literary Club, which later became the Toronto Women's Suffrage Club.

Ann Augusta Stowe-Gullen (1857-1943) was a medical doctor, a lecturer and a suffragette. She was born in Mt. Pleasant, Ontario, the daughter of John Stowe and Emily Howard Jennings. She married John Benjamin Gullen in 1883. She died in Toronto. Stowe-Gullen was educated at the Toronto School of Medicine, then at the Faculty of Medicine at Victoria University, Toronto, where she became an M.D. in 1883, the first woman to graduate from a Canadian medical school. Immediately after graduating she was appointed Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Woman’s Medical College in Toronto (from 1894 onwards known as the Ontario Medical College for Women). In 1890 she was appointed Lecturer on Diseases of Children, subsequently Professor of Diseases of Children. She also served among the original staff members of Toronto Western Hospital (founded in 1896). Stowe-Gullen was a member of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Ontario Social Service Council, the Senate of the University of Toronto where she represented women in the medical profession (1912-24), the Toronto Board of Education (1892-96), the University Women's Club, the Women's Art Association, the Women's Board at Toronto Western Hospital, and the Women's Canadian Club. She was also active in the suffrage, temperance and other social movements. She was among the founders of the National Council of Women in 1893, (President) of the Canadian Suffrage Association, (Vice-President) of the National Council of Women, and she succeeded her mother as President of the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association in 1903. In 1935 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.