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Sheila Piercy was an opera singer, voice teacher and philanthropist, who supported aspiring artists and the performing arts in Nova Scotia and across Canada. Born on 18 November 1933 to Lilian MacKinnon and Reginald Piercy, she began singing at a young age under the tutelage of her mother. She attended Halifax Ladies College and toured with a ballet company and skating show before studying at Dalhousie University from 1951-1954, where she was active in sports and the Dalhousie Glee and Dramatic Society and King’s College Dramatic and Choral Society.

After studying voice in Halifax under Leonard Mayoh, she moved to Toronto in 1956 to take up a scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto opera program. Mentored by Ernesto Vinci, she began life as a professional soprano with the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in 1958, where she stayed for the next 13 years. In addition to her work with the COC, Sheila Piercy performed regularly on the CBC and at the Banff Centre, Stratford Festival, Rainbow Stage and Charlottetown Festival. After retiring from the COC in 1971, she moved back to Nova Scotia, and from 1977 -1982 she taught voice at Dalhousie University. She was a key supporter of Dalhousie's Performing Arts Campaign, and her gift of $1.5 million honoured some of her mentors through the naming of the Ernesto Vinci Studio and Leonard and Doris Mayoh Studio. A third studio, the Sheila K. Piercey Rehearsal Studio, provides a rehearsal space for students. She died on 20 May 2019.

The Pictou Literary and Scientific Society was established by a group of Pictou residents on December 8, 1834 with the aim of improving the members' knowledge of science and literature through weekly lectures and discussions. The officers of the society, as stated in the 1836 "Rules of the Pictou Literary and Scientific Society," included a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary and treasurer, and a four-person management committee.

The society’s lectures covered a range of topics reflecting the knowledge and interests of its membership, with the exceptions of religion and politics. Among the notable speakers welcomed by the society were Dr. Thomas McCulloch and a young William Dawson.The society drew to a close due to waning interest and held its last meeting on April 12, 1855.

Stephen Phillips is a clinical and research neurologist widely regarded as a leader in stroke care in Nova Scotia and across Canada. Born and raised in southwest England, he was educated at King’s College, London, before receiving his clinical training at St. George’s University of London (Class of 1979). He emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1981 and served for 33 years on Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine before retiring in December 2021.

In 1999 Dr Phillips helped to found the Canadian Stroke Network, collaborating with Heart & Stroke to develop the Canadian Stroke Strategy, which led to the first evidence-based guidelines on stroke care in Canada. A regional and national advocate for the adoption of coordinated multidisciplinary team care provided on dedicated stroke units, in 2002 he published a study showing the positive impact of this approach on patient outcomes at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

An avid photographer, his artwork decorates the walls of the stroke unit at the QEII hospital and has been reproduced and sold to support fundraising for stroke unit staff professional development. Among other honours received in recognition for his research and clinical work, Dr Phillips was invited to present the 2021 Hnatyshyn Lecture ‑- Canada's most prestigious annual lectureship in the field of stroke.