25th Anniversary Gala Evening 1989 to 2014
On the evening of September 18th, 2014, the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB) was thrilled to host a gala event to celebrate its 25th anniversary of educating the public about the law.
The event was held in the majestic and ornate setting of Old Government House. The President of PLEIS-NB, Clea Ward, welcomed colleagues and friends from New Brunswick as well as representatives of public legal education groups across Canada. Clea gave a heartwarming account of her time working as a law student at PLEIS-NB and spoke of how that experience has influenced her social justice values for life. Clea then introduced The Honourable Graydon Nicholas, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick and his wife Beth.
His Honour welcomed all the dignitaries and guests, including Justice Patrick Ryan and Justice Brad Green, and former PLEIS Board President Judith Keating, as well as representatives from PLEI groups from across Canada. He then held the audience spell-bound as he related stories of his own legal career and the first time he ever encountered a self-represented litigant.
Afterwards, Executive Director, Dr. Deborah Doherty, thanked staff for their hard work and spoke of some of her memories from those early years, noting that as PLEIS-NB began to create self-help guides and annotated family law forms, they worked very closely with Beth Nicholas who at the time was the Deputy Registrar.
Deborah then introduced and screened a short “celebratory” anniversary video that had been created for the event, in both official languages, by Atlantic Media Works.
A reception followed which featured a variety of delicious hors d’oeuvres and a relaxing evening for exchanging best wishes for the next twenty-five years of promoting access to justice.
The ambience was completed by the beautiful music of Celtic fiddler Katherine Moller.
To view the anniversary video, click here.
