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I t Life-savers honored Stu Meeks, left, wife, Dagmar, daughter, Ginger and son, Shane, were honored Wednesday in Toronto for their 131 volunteer search and rescue activities on Lake Ontario last year. The family was named co- winner of the second annual Lemon Hart Safe Boating Awards at the Toronto International Boat Show. Meeks family praised - A&^/ for water rescues By HENRY BURY Staff Reporter Rescuing boaters from Lake On- tario waters has earned Stu Meeks and his family provincial recogni- tion. Stu, his wife, Dagmar, daughter, Ginger, 24, and son Shane, 21, were named co-winners of the second an- nual Lemon Hart Safe Boating Awards at the Toronto International Boat Show Wednesday. The other co- winner will be announced at the Van- couver Boat Show Feb. 9. "It was nice they made it a family award...It's nice that someone has finally recognized the effort my family has put into this," Meeks said today. The family owns LaSalle Am- bulance and Rescue, handles some are fire departments' calls and belongs to the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary. They voluntarily staff a marine radio service and own four rescue vessels. Last year, they participated in 131 volunteer search and rescue ac- tivities on waters from.Brighton to Kingston, "everything from saving people from sinking boats to kids adrift in boats. The Meeks' family was involved in nearly one-third of all 1983 rescue activities in an area including On- tario to Lake Winnipeg. "We belong to the central region of the rescue auxiliary and last year, the region handled 474 calls with its 88 vessels. We operate four of these vessels here and our 131 rescues represents 28 per cent of the total number of calls for all of On- tario... Across Canada, we handled 8.9 per cent of the total rescue calls confirmed by the Canadian Coast Guard," Meeks said. "It really is a family business. When we decided last year to buy a new motor for our smallest vessel, we had to do away with our vacation plans." Both their children also received certificates of merit. Shane saved the life of a boat racer when his craft flipped during the Molson Gold Cup Races, remaining under water for three-and-a-half minutes to cut the driver loose from his harness. Ginger was praised for several outstanding examples of seaman- ship and lifesaving.