Raptors ring artist among St. Clair honourees

A jewelry designer who helped create the True North NBA championship ring and a Juno Award winning comedian are just two of this year’s St. Clair College Alumni Awards of Distinction recipients.

The list of 2020 recipients includes: Will Bigelow, a 2006 graduate of animation tradigital; Dave Merheje, a 2003 business marketing graduate; Flora Dimenna, a 1980 graduate in interior design; Lori Kempe, a 1991 graduate of the sign language interpreter, deaf studies program; Anita Riccio-spagnuolo, a 1999 personal support worker graduate; and Elizabeth Moses, who graduated from CNC precision metal cutting in 2017 and pre-apprenticeship general machinist in 2019.

Bigelow is a concept artist with Baron Championship Rings, the Windsor-based company that earned the right to design the 2019 NBA championship ring for the Toronto Raptors. He started at Baron seven years ago as a graphic designer and is now the company ’s technical art director. He was instrumental in designing the Raptors’ championship jewelry.

Merheje won a Juno Award in 2019 for comedy album of the year and is considered one of the most original standup acts today. He has made appearances on Comedy Network’s Match Game, MTV Live and CBC. His comedy special, Beautifully Manic, can be seen on Netflix as part of the Comedians of the World, and he currently costars in the Hulu comedy series Ramy.

Dimenna is the president and principal designer of Toronto-based FDM Designs. She garnered an award for best international design at the International Interior Design Awards 2017 held in London.

Kempe is the executive director of Children First with a strong history of working in the non-profit sector.

Riccio-spagnuolo is the co-ordinator of fund development/ mental health promotion with the Canadian Mental Health Association. In 2018, she was elected as a Lasalle town councillor. She is also a childhood cancer survivor and has served on the T2B Action Committee for 15 years.

Moses works as a machinist apprentice at Windsor Mold. She has been described as a trailblazer for women in the trades and is a mentor for young women with the Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc.