Tammy Armstrong

Having been raised on several Armed Forces Bases in Canada Tammy is now a permanent resident of beautiful Weston.  In 2022 she and her husband sold their business of 25 years and she is enjoying retirement by travelling and becoming a potter.  Tammy joined the ALL Advisory board to satisfy her insatiable curiosity in just about everything.  

Antony Berger

Antony Berger taught geology at universities in Canada, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, and worked for the NL and Canadian governments.  He co-led international projects developing tools for tracking rapid landscape change, building the new field of medical geology, strengthening artisanal mining in the Third World, and studying past human responses to natural change.  He has written many articles and books in the earth sciences, and, turning away from science, The Good and Beautiful Bay: A History of Bonne Bay to Confederation and a Little Beyond and  No Place for a Woman: The Life and Newfoundland Stories of Ella Manuel.  Tony and his wife, Carol Harris, now divide their time between Wolfville and Woody Point, Newfoundland.

Jill Davies

Jill has made Wolfville home for the past 32 years, where she raised two now grown children, tends an ever-expanding garden, makes music and generally enjoys life. She retired from Acadia in 2014 where she worked as a counsellor and academic advisor, the culmination of a 42-year career in education. Her 7-year membership with the ALL program is part of her commitment to the Wolfville community.

Linda Ellis

Linda grew up on the New Jersey coast, across the bay from New York City. She and her late husband, Stephen Slovenz, immigrated to Canada in 2008.

Linda earned BA in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry, in 1964 from Montclair State University, in New Jersey. In 1983, she enrolled as a medical student in St. George’s University in Grenada. These studies were interrupted by a coup and subsequent intervention by Caricom Nations led by the US.  She transferred to a Ph.D. program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where she earned a degree in Biomedical Sciences in 1991. Her research was in the field of Molecular Oncology.

Linda’s first career was as a teacher of Chemistry and Advanced Placement Biology in a public high school. After earning her graduate degree, she taught at Monmouth University, in New Jersey and at St. George’s University in Grenada, where she and Stephen lived for 5 years. Courses taught included Genetics, Developmental Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology and Forensic DNA Analysis. Linda served as Visiting Faculty at St. George’s until 2016, when she officially retired.

Since coming to Nova Scotia, Linda was involved in the Wolfville and Area Newcomers Club, St. John’s Anglican Church, and the multiple activities afforded to Wolfville residents by Acadia University, especially ALL. She served as Secretary of the Newcomers Club for five years, and its President for one year. Until recently, she sang in the choir at St. John’s, and served on the Parish Council as Secretary for 6 years.

Helen Harper

After attending Guelph (B. Sc) and Western (B. Ed) Universities, Helen embarked on a 35 year career teaching high school chemistry, physics and mathematics and coaching volleyball, badminton and basketball.  After completing an MA in Counselling at Durham University (UK), she served as her school’s university and academic counsellor for the 17 years, helping students select universities that suited their academic and career aspirations as well as their personal attributes and needs. She served as the Calgary liaison between University Recruiters and Guidance Counsellors for 10 years, spearheading the planning and implementation of week-long university fairs.  She also volunteered on the University of Calgary Medical School admissions committee.  Helen’s decision to retire to Wolfville was influenced by the presence of Acadia University and its recognized positive involvement in Wolfville and surrounding communities.

Richard Haworth

Richard was born and educated in UK.  He has a BSc in Physics (Durham) and a PhD in Marine Geophysics (Cambridge).  He conducted much of his PhD research on Canadian ships based at Bedford Institute in Dartmouth and emigrated after graduation.  He spent much of the next 15 years carrying out research based on marine surveys primarily conducted off the Atlantic coast.  He broadened his career with a few years as Chief Geophysicist of the British Geological Survey before returning home to Canada as Director General of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and then Assistant Deputy Minister in Natural Resources Canada.  On his retirement from the Public Service in 2003 he returned to Nova Scotia.  Since then, he taught Environmental Policy for 6 years in the School of Public Administration at Dalhousie, spent three years working with Pakistan to define its continental shelf, and was elected in 2012 as a member of the International Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the United Nations in New York.  Since completing his term at the UN in 2017, he has enjoyed his cottage in summer and multifarious activities in Wolfville year round, but has devoted much of his spare time to restoration of the ALL program after its interruption by Covid.

Saralee Lewis

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Saralee Lewis studied at McGill University and worked in journalism and arts promotion prior to moving to Wolfville in 1971. Lewis was co-founder of Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia in 1972, was the company’s first administrator, and served as Managing Director from 1991 to June 2015.  Her subsequent role as Public Affairs Consultant prior to retirement in 2020 focussed on the development of export markets, and the promotion of unique entertainment for very young children. Mermaid now ranks among North America’s most respected family audience theatres.

During her long career in arts management, Lewis has served with regional, national and international organizations in related fields, and she remains active in film, literacy, health and arts initiatives in her community. Among other honours, Lewis was named a Member of the Order of Canada in April 2000, received a D.Litt. (honoris causa) from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax in 2001, Nova Scotia’s Merritt Legacy Award in 2009, and was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Windsor, NS.  

Susan Markham-Starr

Susan lived in Saskatchewan for the first two+ decades of her life and moved to Nova Scotia in 1974 – supposedly just for a few years to see what life was like on the east coast. After a brief interlude in Alberta in the 1980’s she returned and has not left.

Susan retired from Acadia University in 2011 after 24+ years and was appointed Professor Emerita in 2012. She has also been a provincial park planner in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and recreation planner for Halifax. In retirement she continues to contribute to the Community Development program’s graduate courses and honours and graduate thesis reading.

Over the past several decades she has helped with policy and publication duties for national and local organizations such as the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies, the Leisure Information Network, Physical and Health Education Canada, Ken-Wo Golf Club’s Women’s Division, and Acadia Lifelong Learning. She works backstage and out of sight for the annual productions of Fezziwig and Women of Wolfville.

In her life outside of volunteer organizations Susan golfs enthusiastically with occasional moments of brilliance; gardens a bit; grows many, many sunflowers; reads stacks of mystery novels; plays with her digital cameras; and loves travelling. Most of those travels involve sampling food and beverages and riding trains. Her latest challenge involves continuing efforts to train Jack the dog, a five year old Wheaten Terrier.

Howard Williams

Armed with a Ph.D. in Geology, during the period 1970 to 1992 I worked as a geologist in Greenland, Sierra Leone, U.K., and Ontario during which time I was interested in structural geology and regional tectonics and their use in mineral exploration.  I have taught at tertiary institutions in Sierra Leone, U.K. New Zealand and Canada and was Chairman and Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at Brock University from 1984-1986.  I have also worked for the Ontario Geological Survey as a Senior Scientist. I was a Chartered Geologist in the United Kingdom and a Professional Geologist in Ontario.

In 1992 I changed course.  I went back to school, gaining an M.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering (Hydrogeology) from Dalhousie.  Armed with this I undertook water-related work in Canada and New Zealand.  I was employed by Canterbury Regional Council, consulting firms such as Golder Associates, and ran my own consulting businesses in U.K., Canada and New Zealand.  I trained also as an Environment Court Commissioner in New Zealand, was a Member of the New Zealand Hydrological Society (2002-2014).  During that employment I was primarily interested in water resources management, especially relationships between groundwater pressure in and discharge from large and small aquifer systems, and adaptive management of water use to climate.  While in New Zealand I produced reports on issues related to individual water abstraction consents, catchment to subdivision-scale water management for regional councils, and groundwater issues associated with the mining industry.  In Canada and UK I was involved with research into the use of groundwater and rock as heat / cold storage media as part of a carbon dioxide emissions reduction program.

I have been board member of over a dozen community organizations in Canada and New Zealand, including currently being on Acadia University Senate.  Oh, and I love dogs, birds and native plants.