Thompson Rivers University

2005 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to the Community

October 12, 2005

This award is given to a graduate who demonstrates significant service or contributions to the welfare and advancement of local, national or international communities.

Larry Read

Larry Read studied Business at the University of Calgary and the University of Saskatchewan, as well as Broadcast Journalism at BCIT, before completing the Marketing Management Diploma at UCC in 1993.

Larry is well-known in the community in his role as a broadcaster at TV-7, hosting the Midday program as well as Week in Review and Sports on the Evening News. He has been voted the “Favourite TV Broadcaster” in the Kamloops Daily News poll for the last four years. Larry is also a committed volunteer in the local community. He has been involved with the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association and is currently a coach with the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association. He is the honourary chair of Habitat for Humanity, and a board member of the Kamloops Hospice Association. Larry often contributes his talents as an emcee of community events, such as the Miss Kamloops Pageant and TRU Alumni Association Homecoming events and sings in the Beattie School of the Arts Parent’s Choir.

He is married to Bonnie (a UCC alumna) and has three children, Max, 12 , Kayla, 9, and April, 6.

For more information, please contact Larry Read at 372-5199 or 372-3322, or by email.

Indigo Sweetwater

Indigo Sweetwater completed a Nursing Diploma at Cariboo College in 1988 and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1991 from the University College of the Cariboo. She is currently enrolled in graduate studies in Advanced Nursing Practice at Athabasca University and has also completed graduate courses in Transcultural Nursing at Wayne State. A life-long learner, she has also completed many professional courses and certifications and she plans to continue her studies to earn a doctoral degree.

Indigo’s professional focus has been in the area of Indigenous Health Care and she has spent the majority of her career working in the North. She has worked as a Community Health Nurse, Nurse Educator and a Nurse Manager in variety of remote locations, including Grise Fiord, Iqaluit, Cape Dorset, Rankin Inlet and Fort Resolution. Indigo also does consulting work through her business Winterbeach Indigenous Health Care, and has conducted projects on Hepatitis C, Home Care Needs, and Respiratory Illness in Inuit Children.

Indigo is a Registered Nurse in both BC and the Northwest Territories & Nunavut and is a member of several organizations, including Aboriginal Nurses of Canada. Indigo is a regular contributor to The Aboriginal Nurse and has made many conference presentations on issues related to Inuit and Aboriginal health.

For more information, please contact Indigo Sweetwater at 851-8889, or by email.