Who We Are
Left to right: Cindy Caines, Operations Manager; Jeff Shearer, Publisher & General Manager; Tara McLellan, Ad Designer; Bill Anderson, Host of Bill’s Classical Jukebox; Susan Holden, Sales Manager; Anita Hunter, Proofreader; Holger Meiche, Art Director; Janet Lees, Editor; Sheila Johnston, Listings Coordinator; Rick Gordon, Media Advisor; Shauna Burke, Media Advisor. Absent: Peter Gibson, Distribution Coordinator.
Jeffrey Shearer, Publisher, On The Bay Magazine
General Manager, The New Classical 102.9 FM
jshearer@onthebaymagazine.com
The founder and visionary of On The Bay, Jeff is proud of the magazine’s pull-no-punches approach to local and regional issues, from wind turbines to quarries, water taking and healthcare. Prior to launching On The Bay, Jeff played a major role in magazine and newspaper publishing in Canada, serving as VP Marketing of The Toronto Star, Publisher of Saturday Night Magazine, and President of Telemedia Publishing, where he oversaw some of Canada’s finest magazines, including Harrowsmith, Equinox, Vancouver magazine and Canadian Living. Jeff has served as a Trustee of the Collingwood Hospital, past chair of the Collingwood BIA, past director of The Georgian Bay Association and is a former director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He is also a founding director of a newly-formed think tank, The Institute of Southern Georgian Bay. He has a long history of environmental advocacy, having served as President of the Canadian Coalition On Acid Rain, which culminated in the successful signing of the US Clean Air Act in 1991. He was a recipient of the highest award from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists for his work on acid rain.
Janet Lees, Editor
janet.lees@me.com
The founding Editor of On The Bay since its inception in 2004, Janet ushers each issue of the magazine from initial story idea through to final product, working closely with the writers and the Art Director to ensure that our pages celebrate life in Southern Georgian Bay as no other local magazine can. Janet has also written several of the major features for On The Bay, including in-depth articles about local visionaries, cycling, real estate, the future of our waterfronts, and our annual Grassroots Heroes feature. Janet also coordinates local content and social media for The New Classical 102.9 FM and is a member of the Management Committee of Zoomer Media, Georgian Bay Division. She is a Carleton University Journalism grad who began her career as a newspaper reporter and has since written articles for prominent Canadian lifestyle, sports, food and business publications. Janet co-owned a Burlington-based PR and marketing agency for 10 years before making the lifestyle choice to move to Thornbury in 2000. Immediately prior to joining On The Bay, Janet served as editor-in-chief of a Collingwood-based trade magazine publisher specializing in the outdoor, sports and lifestyle markets.
Holger Meiche, Art Director
holger@surfaced.ca
Holger has worked with On The Bay since 2005, holding the position of Art Director since early 2006. Holger is responsible for the layout and design of the entire magazine, giving every page the “wow” factor readers have come to expect from On The Bay and working with local photographers and illustrators to ensure the best images help tell the stories. Over the years, Holger has also spearheaded several redesigns of the magazine, including a major cover redesign in 2014. He brings an international perspective to his talent and skills as a graphic designer and art director, having produced work in print as well as online for a number of major corporate clients both in Canada and England. Since arriving in Collingwood in 2000, Holger has built a roster of local and regional print and web-based clients.
Susan Holden, Sales Manager
s.holden@classical1029fm.com
As Regional Sales Manager for both On The Bay and The New Classical 102.9 FM, Susan leads an experienced team responsible for advertising sales in Southern Georgian Bay, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Barrie, Midland, Orillia and Muskoka. She also sits on the Management Committee of Zoomer Media, Georgian Bay Division. Susan attended McMaster University and started her career in the education sector, serving an 11-year tenure with Hamilton Wentworth District School Board as Program Consultant – Special Education. With her innate passion for business improvement, Susan moved from the public to the private sector, first as an Operations Manager for Summit Learning Centres, and then Director of Operations for Grade Learning, where she was responsible for over 55 franchised locations, driving enrollment through her marketing and sales expertise. After moving to Collingwood in 2010, her daily commute to the city ended when Susan accepted a position with MZ Media in 2014 to support the launch of The New Classical 102.9 FM, and was promoted to Regional Sales Manager in 2018.
Cindy Caines, Operations Manager
admin@onthebaymagazine.com
Cindy joined On The Bay in 2007 with a strong background in office administration, and worked her way up to the position of Operations Manager. In this position, Cindy wears many hats, responsible for all accounting functions as well as coordinating production and circulation. She also serves on the Management Committee of Zoomer Media, Georgian Bay Division. Prior to joining On The Bay, Cindy worked as an office administrator for local businesses including John Brown Custom Sports and Blue Mountain Chrysler.
Rick Gordon, Media Advisor
rgordon@onthebaymagazine.com
As Media Advisor for On The Bay and The New Classical 102.9FM, Rick enjoys working with clients to build relationships and help them reach their marketing goals. Rick joined our team in 2018 from the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin newspaper. He brings an extensive background in print and digital display advertising along with a strong focus on sales and marketing, logistics, and customer service. His newspaper career spanned over 30 years, during which he won several national awards for sales and marketing.
Tara McLellan, Ad Designer
tmdesigns@rogers.com
Tara is a graphic designer and the owner of TM Designs, her own graphic design firm, since 2010. Prior to starting her own company, Tara worked as Production Coordinator for Metroland Media Group, which published the Collingwood Connection, Stayner Sun, Meaford Express and Blue Mountains Courier-Herald newspapers.
Anita Hunter, Proofreader
Anita.elizabeth.hunter@gmail.com
Anita joined the On The Bay team in 2010 as proofreader. Her proofreading experience goes back many years, starting with her decade-long career in the newspaper industry and then into marketing for a hardware manufacturer in Meaford. In 1992 she co-founded Tri-namic Printing Inc., a commercial printing business in Collingwood. Anita became the sole owner of Tri-namic Printing in 2005 and sold the successful venture in 2011. In 2004 Anita won the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce’s “Business Woman of the Year Award.”
Sheila Johnston, Listings Coordinator
sjohnstonsga@rogers.com
Sheila joined the On The Bay team in 2014 as listings coordinator, researching and developing the magazine’s buying guides and listings, including the New Homes & Condos and Home Improvement guides. Sheila is also the administrator for the Men’s and Women’s Canadian Senior Golf Associations. She was employed for more than 20 years with a Collingwood-based trade media publisher specializing in the outdoor, sports and lifestyle markets where she managed sales, distribution, research and production.
Peter Gibson, Distribution Coordinator
Peter has been On The Bay’s Distribution Coordinator since 2015, managing the distribution of the magazine to scores of retailers as well as many public and private outlets in Southern Georgian Bay. Prior to joining On The Bay, Peter had many years of valuable retail management experience in the Collingwood area.
Bill Anderson, Host, Bill’s Classical Jukebox
b.anderson@mzmedia.com
Since 1995, Bill has been an on-the-air host for The New Classical FM radio serving Southern Georgian Bay listeners from the studios of 102.9 FM in Collingwood. He currently hosts the program, “Bill’s Classical Jukebox,” where he takes requests for listeners’ classical music favourites. Bill also regularly interviews guests from the area’s thriving artistic and cultural community. In addition to 102.9 FM in Southern Georgian Bay, the show is also broadcast over 96.3 FM in Toronto and 103.1 FM in Cobourg, reaching a huge Southern Ontario audience. Bill is a veteran Canadian broadcaster (over 50 years) who spent many years at CFRB in Toronto and also hosted award-winning national programs.
