Stratton's pride, curler Angela Lee, inducted into hall of fame

By Jack Elliott
Correspondent

On April 29, at St. Clair College, Windsor, ON, Stratton native Angela Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA). Lee was honoured along with 88 other athletes, coaches and builders from colleges across Ontario for distinguishing themselves through demonstrated leadership and high standards.
During her years at Confederation College in Thunder Bay first as Third and then as Skip, Lee won three consecutive gold medals at the OCAA Provincials and silver at the Northern Ontario Mixed provincials. Twice at Con College Angela was awarded Female Athlete of the Year. In all three years her scholastic achievement earned her the OCAA All-Academic Award.
“I started curling at 7 or 8, and then competitively at 13,” recalls Lee, who like most great curlers started at an early age. Stratton’s reputation for promoting participation in curling has produced a clutch of outstanding contemporaries including Angela’s sister Andrea, Jackie McCormick (nee Bonot), Danielle Shrumm, Trevor Bonot and Lisa Bolen.
Lee credits much of her early interest, encouragement and curling lessons to community minded mentors like her father Terry Lee, Brian Bonot, and the late Dan Shrumm- all noted curlers in their own right. The Municipality of Morley of which Stratton is a village is only comprised of a few hundred citizens, but curling enthusiasm stretches back many decades. In the 1970s, Stratton replaced its old rink with a state-of-the-art curling arena featuring three sheets of artificial ice. The facility was built with the assistance of monies from senior levels of government and a mountain of donated materials and labour. Today it remains a hotbed of curling in the west end of the District.
Prior to college with Angela at skip, her team of Lisa Bolen, Danielle Shrumm and Sarah Boily, represented Northern Ontario at the Jr. Nationals in Kelowna, B.C., in 98-99 and later representing Rainy River High School won Gold at the OFSSA high school provincial championship.
Following graduation from Con College, Lee kept those rocks hot once as skip and twice as third for skip Ashley Miharija in the Scotties Ontario Women’s Provincial Championships. She has also won the Northern Ontario Provincial Mixed Championship and competed at the Mixed Nationals in 2006.
This coming year Lee will again be holding the broom, skipping her team of Alissa Begin – Third, Jenna Enge – Second, and Danielle Miron – Lead. Although it’s one stone, one end, one game and one bonspiel at a time, there is no doubt about Lee’s next curling goal- The Tournament of Hearts.
When Angela Lee, CA is not curling she holds down the position of Senior Accountant at Grant Thornton LLP, in Thunder Bay
Not bad for a kid who still considers home the little village of Stratton and fondly refers to it as ‘Hooterville.’