2. Castlegar Seniors – Branch 46
CASTLEGAR SENIORS BRANCH #46
Report to West Kootenay/Boundary Regional Meeting – Balfour, B.C.
April 3, 2018
GREETINGS FROM CASTLEGAR
Current Membership is 228 (39 new for 2018) including 10 Life Members. I want to give kudos to Lorraine Bradford for posting the current updates for the association. Very helpful and an excellent way to keep us informed. It reminds us we are part of a bigger picture. I also appreciated receiving the reports given at the fall meeting. I posted them all in our Newsletter so our Membership can be informed about our region. Most of them do not even know you exist.
Since the spring meeting 2017, the following has transpired in Castlegar.
APRIL
Late in April, we offered the COSCO Workshop “Learn about Life Without Driving”. The presentation gave thought-provoking information about how to prepare for and transition to a life without a car. Also, Dana Burgess, West Kootenay Transportation Coordinator, attended and shared some helpful information. What a tremendous advocate for our transportation needs in the Kootenays. You can find out how to contact Dana on our website under Services – Transportation. The Lions Club held their convention at the Castlegar complex. They asked to use our lounge for coffee and refreshment breaks. We were happy to oblige.
MAY
May was the AGM in Houston. A well-organized event. We enjoyed the scenery driving there and back prior to the tragic events of flood and fire. We had our annual appreciation tea for members who have reached 80 years plus. A Murder Mystery was presented by several very energetic people who also acted as servers. I think some attendees found it too mysterious to fathom (possibly because they found it too hard to hear – not all the actors used the microphone effectively) but everyone enjoyed the food and camaraderie. There were about 80 people in attendance including the actors. I did jokingly mention I thought there were getting to be too many people in this age group so we would have to raise the age for the party to 90+. Of course, no one believed me. The COSCO workshop “Staying Fit At Home” was sparsely attended. Perhaps this topic did not appeal too many or, it was the timing. Many enjoyed our Afternoon Dance with music by Don Hollis on May 18th. A motion was passed at our May 11th General Meeting that the Executive can spend up to $200.00 without bringing it before the membership for prior approval.
JUNE
The big event for June was the Spring Fling Dinner Dance. As usual, Anne and crew set the SPRING FLING mood with the decorations on the tables and the walls. Music by Peter Makortoff. We had a COSCO Workshop “Healthy Eating “scheduled but cancelled due to lack of interest. I think it was too close to summer activities for people to be thinking about workshops.
JULY/AUGUST
No meetings for the summer months. Regular weekly activities continued such as Floor Curling, Crib, Darts, Whist, Crafts, Carpet Bowling, Rummoli, and Crib. Line Dancing and Bingo were suspended for the summer but will start up in the fall.
SEPTEMBER
At our General Meeting September 7th, a notice of motion regarding Travel Reimbursements was presented to be voted on October 5th. We held a moment of silence for two of our members who passed away during the summer, Kay Bate and Fred Houghton. There were many participants from Castlegar in the 55+ BC Games in Vernon. We congratulate Elmer and Elvina Monk who brought home a Bronze medal for Crib.
OCTOBER
For the month of October, the Nidus webinars were held at the Castlegar Library as part of a province-wide attempt to bring attention to end of life matters. Being held at a public library compared to the Senior Centre, people may come to realize that these topics are not only for seniors but everyone. Halloween Afternoon Dance October 19th with the wild and raucous Kootenay Old Time Fiddlers. Amendments were made to the Travel motion to be voted on at the November meeting.
NOVEMBER
At our General Meeting on November 2nd, we finally passed the motion for reimbursement of expenses. It is hard to believe that having been incorporated since 1953 we could not find a single word in minutes or anywhere else regarding this matter. It is now a procedure. The last Afternoon Dance for 2017 was November 19th with All Aboard. Anne Burla and John Gibson have devotedly taken on the responsibility for organizing these Afternoon Dances for which we are so grateful. They tirelessly organize the music, advertise, provide the refreshments and decorate. The dances bring pleasure to so many. One of our members, Persis Hauffe, took on the responsibility of organizing a White Elephant Sale to be held in our lounge.
DECEMBER
We held our annual Election where all positions were filled. Christmas Dinner Dance was held on December 8th music by Don Hollis. We conducted an Inventory of possessions that started in January 2017. Why was it important? Insurance. We discovered that we are considerably underinsured. It was also an opportunity to clear out junk. Our Crafters held a Christmas Craft and Bake Sale in our lounge. Even though there was little advertising, and the newspaper ad created confusion, it was a success. As was the White Elephant Sale.
JANUARY
Installation of officers was conducted by Mayor Lawrence Chernoff. My goal for 2018 is to help each board member be as knowledgeable as possible about our organization. Education is something that is continuing. You cannot indoctrinate the board for 2018 and think the job is done. What happens to new board members for 2019? There is so much to learn that an education component should be part of what the Board does at meetings. Afternoon Dance January 19th Claybrick Boys. At our January General Meeting, the membership approved $1000 donation to Castlegar Hospice, $1000 to Selkirk College Nursing Bursary and $500 to the 55+ BC Games.
FEBRUARY
Our board started their education process at ground zero with the Constitution and our Policies and Procedures. We scrutinized these documents word for word and discovered many areas that need to be addressed. Plus we learned things we had never heard of before and discovered areas we were not following the constitution. Good start. Valentine Dinner Dance February 16th.
MARCH
We did not have a General Meeting in March due to extenuating circumstances. Too many globetrotting Board Members. We did squeak in an Executive Meeting on March 23rd. We talked about changing our General Meeting Date from the first Thursday of the month to the second so that our Treasurer can prepare a Financial Report to be presented at each General Meeting. We will discuss and vote on this matter at our General Meeting April 5th.
UPCOMING
Tech Learning: In collaboration with Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, we host a series of TECH LEARNING SESSIONS. For two hours, once a month, people are encouraged to bring their devices, laptops, ipads, phones, tablets and our two – three techs help with problems. The sessions are drop in and they are FREE. We have two left for the season April 4th and May 10th. We look forward to the continuation of this program.
Cosco Workshops: April 25th OSTEOARTHRITIS with facilitator Theresa Buchner of Trail.
Afternoon Dance: (2:00 – 4:00) April 26th music by All Aboard
As a point of interest, there is a new program in Castlegar called IRIS (Increased Recreation Involving Seniors) They host coffees, speakers and workshops. Many of our members attend as do seniors that we have never met. We promote their schedule as best we can. It relieves some pressure for us to provide a similar platform with our limited space and resources. They are also affiliated with the Age-Friendly movement.
Respectfully submitted
Beverley Kennedy, President
bev.kennedy@telus.net