Lyndon Slewidge (born 1954 in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

) Indicates age 38 and birthplace of Sault Ste. Marie. Indicated age 42. is a retired

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...

officer. He is also a singer who specializes in national anthems. He was the official anthem singer for the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

ice hockey club between 1994 and 2016 and is familiar with at least 13 national anthems. Slewidge typically ends an anthem with a

salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

, a wink and a thumbs up sign (or, in the playoffs, with waving a towel). Slewidge spent his childhood in Sault Ste. Marie where at age 9 he won the

Kiwanis Music Festival The Kiwanis Music Festival movement consists of regional music competitions. These festivals are named after the Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in In ...

for his singing talent. His career in police work began there in 1975. Prior to moving to the Ottawa area, he lived in

where he first sang national anthems for the

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (often shortened to Soo Greyhounds) are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Greyhounds play home games at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The present team was ...

. He has last been stationed in

Smiths Falls Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes thr ...

at the OPP's Eastern Region Headquarters. He has received the

Service Medal of the Order of St John The Service Medal of the Order of St John is awarded to recognise both conspicuous and long service with the Venerable Order of St John, particularly in St John Ambulance, both in the United Kingdom and in a number of other Commonwealth countr ...

with 1 Bar. In 1992, astronaut

Roberta Bondar Roberta Lynn Bondar (; born December 4, 1945) is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. After more than a decade as head of an international space medicine ...

arranged for Slewidge to record the American and Canadian national anthems. She took the recordings aboard her flight on NASA's Space Shuttle ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' (mission

STS-42 STS-42 was a NASA Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' mission with the Spacelab module. Liftoff was originally scheduled for 8:45 EST (13:45 UTC) on January 22, 1992, but the launch was delayed due to weather constraints. ''Discovery'' successfully ...

). Bondar's home city is Sault Ste. Marie, where Slewidge was stationed at that time. Indicated age 38.

References

External links

Ottawa Senators: Game Experience - Lyndon Slewidge
* References Slewidge's effect on a

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

player. * * 1954 births Living people Canadian male singers Canadian police officers Ontario Provincial Police officers Ottawa Senators Musicians from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario {{Canada-singer-stub