REPORT TO REGIONAL SPRING MEETING
April 10, 2017, held at the TRAIL SENIOR CENTRE
GREETINGS FROM KASLO
Good morning to you all. I present this report, in absentia, as the newly retired president of the Kaslo Branch.
As mentioned in last year’s report, our hall with its membership of 57 is probably one of the smallest in the region. That being said, it is still the go-to place for many of our community organizations. Our art club meets on Mondays; the community services senior peer counsellor holds an open house Tuesday mornings with the Community Response Network facilitator on Thursdays. As always we hold our weekly open house Friday mornings for members, visitors and patients from the Victorian Hospital of Kaslo who wish to attend.
The rest of the time the hall is rented by community groups including the village, RDCK, and various other charitable and not profit organizations. Our location and reasonable rates make us a very attractive venue for everything from luncheons to yard sales.
As usually happens over winter the carpet bowlers among us took to their sport on a new green purchased last year. Due to the size of our hall, it is necessary to rent space from the local Royal Canadian Legion to facilitate the weekly games. This is usually followed by coffee or lunch at a local eatery.
We still hold a monthly lunch followed by a meeting the first Tuesday of each month. Rob Clarke, the chef at JBs Restaurant at Woodbury, volunteers his time and some of the goods from the restaurant to provide us with a lovely lunch at a cost of only $8.00 for members which we have this month raised to $10.00. It is a favourite with the membership and always seems to fill the hall to capacity.
Again this year, the branch is sponsoring the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP). Last year we provided this service to 110 Kaslo residents. It was our 3rd year and although it may not seem much in a bigger centre, for a community with a population of 968 (2016 census), that isn’t bad. This year’s numbers should exceed last. We also took the opportunity to request a reconditioned laptop from CRA to be used in our clinic and were happy to receive one a week ago. This will actually enable us to provide the service from our hall in future years rather than off site as we have been doing. Undoubtedly the computer will provide other uses for us other than just tax prep.
As with other community organizations with a tired ageing demographic, this last year has been a challenging one for me. Due to various considerations including age, health and general fatigue I found myself taking over the tasks of others including hall rentals, bookkeeping, memberships, setting up for the monthly lunches and staying to clean up, attending Age-Friendly Advisory Committee Meetings held quarterly in our hall and, when I could, the Moving Together Transportation Project meeting held in Nelson. With the help of our wonderful member Margaret Popow, who could not make it here today, and Jean Cousins, who could, we managed to make it through the last year intact. Thankfully, newer member Louise de Pape has stepped forward to replace me as President and a familiar face, Molly Semenoff, formerly Past President, has provided a new perspective and direction for our branch. With expertise in grant applications, she has already put forward requests for funds to enhance the enjoyment of our members. I have very much enjoyed my two years as President and I leave the position knowing it is in the most capable of hands.
All in all, I do think Kaslo has enjoyed a pretty good year and with the injection of new leadership, we look forward to the next with equal enthusiasm. As always, we welcome you to visit our lovely little community anytime.
Respectfully submitted:
Lynda I Beddow, President, Branch #81