The West Vancouver Seniors‘
‘Activity Centre enters a new era
| with its eagerly anticipated
expansion and the members
| want you to come and celebrate
with them. After three years of
| hard work and fundraising over
F $1.5 million, the OPEN HOUSE
f | week of October 23rd - 28th has
; special significance. —
| This expansion is an oppor-
} tunity for current members and
| new members (age 60+) to be
accommodated in programs of
| their ‘choice. Many of these
f 100+ programs will be. high-

j lighted during their OPEN |

| HOUSE (see the ‘daily program
4 available ‘at. the © Seniors’
| Cenize). Some. of these pro-

~ [grams include: dance, exercise,”

sports, arts, adult education,
music and social games such as
-} bridge.and cribbage. ‘The pro-
grams are accented as well by
‘f workshops in such areas as
| massage, gardening, cooking,
health management issues and
much, much more.

‘Not to. be overlooked at the
f Seniors’.Centre ‘are the trips,
| These outings are a great way to
' reconnect with old friends and

. - When West Vancouver
j Seniors’ Centre began . bulging
! at the seams a few. years back-in

| 1994 ‘alone attendance leaped -

“12 per cent to almost 110, G00 -

ithe: obvious solution. was’ ‘sim--
‘ple. Write a few polite letters to.

} governments, asking them to
: | Pay the bilis for an expansion

‘to look after, the deserving gen-

eration.

| But. the Centre meinbers
‘decided otherwise. They’d raise
their own share of the cosi. No
| paid fund raiser. No project
-manager. Just’ volunteers and

f- tremendous support from the |

4 3,000 members.
- First, a careful evaluation of
1 growth rates showed a need for
h more space in virtually all areas
J since activities and classes were
j overflowing. And extended
catering was needed, since ade-
{ quate nutrition is often difficult
for the elderly.
“The initial estimate for
| expansion: $1.2 million. The
‘minicipality undertook to put

| up $600,000 and the Centre the

rest: ‘Fundraising began in
|earnest in mid 1991 under a
committee of half a dozen tire-

cless volunteers: Bill. King, Neil |

to meet new friends. The seniors
travel all over Washington, BC
and the Lower Mainland.

If all this seers a little over-
whelming at first, we have a
couple of programs to help you
ease gently into the centre. The
first is called “Coffee Talk”,
where you can meet new people
in a relaxed, informal setting
over a cup of coffee/tea. The sec-
ond program is for “Men Only”
and provides an opportunity for
men to get together and listen
to various speakers. For more
information, please call and the

volunteer receptionist will be

happy to fill you in.

While hopefully all this talk
of: programs has you excited
about coming to our OPEN
HOUSE, it’s also important to

know that starting the week of.
our OPEN HOUSE, (Oct. 23rd -"

28th), memberships at the
Seniors’ Centre will be available
for $16.00. These memberships
take effect immediately and
carry through to December
1996. This means more than two
months freel

Don't pack a lunch when
you come to visit. during our

eer ,
Come Celebrate with us ......

OPEN HOUSE - we have a won-
derful new cafeteria ready. to
serve you. As an added bonus
for the OPEN HOUSE week we
have daily musical entertain-
ment in the cafeteria (see the
schedule below for the outline
of performers). Free coffee will

be served all through the week —

and there will be many door
prizes to try your luck on.

The OPEN HOUSE activities
culminate on Friday October
27th, 2 p.m. with the Official
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
Mayor Mark Sager will cut the

ribbon after the greetings of |

some very important people
who assisted us greatly in our
expansion. The afternoon will
be kept flowing smoothly with
the talents of Ted Reynolds,
Master of Ceremonies. After the
ribbon cutting ceremony there
will be ample time to have a
tour of the facility, mingle with
the very active Advisory Board,
members and_ staff, enjoy
refreshments, and listen to
beautiful harp music.

While you are marking the
dates of our OPEN HOUSE in
your calendar, it is also impor-

low grey power raised

“The Governments declare their suppo:

Gray, Jack Gallagher, Jack and
Nancy Cameron and Frank
Kurucz.

They spoke to service clubs,
businesses, foundations, gov-
ermment departments - and
tapped into their members’
energy and ingenuity.

Seniors: went working as
movie extras and donated their
pay. Mary Falconer’ arranged
cleaning, bagging and selling of
bulbs from the municipal nurs-
ery. Carvers carved and chipped
in the cash. Quilters quilted and

made a down payment.
Volunteers rounded up end-
less items from basements,
friends and businesses and auc-
tioned them off. Dinners raised
funds and the workers found
local businesses and service
clubs more than willing to help.
Even as they went about rais-
ing the capital funds, they were
absorbing more of the day-to-
day operating costs themselves.
Through higher fees and special
projects to raise operating
funds, members were soon pay-

We've “Raised the Roof” and now we're celebrating! Pictured ;
above is the very active Advisory Board comprised of (L to R) Vi
Roden, Frank Kurucz, Bill King (chair), Wilf Olson, Len
Goodman, Mary Maude, Barbara McMechan, Eric Caldicott.
Absent is Gertrude Gibson and Bruce Scott. ~

tant to take note that this week,
Oct. 23 - 28, has also been pro-
claimed Seniors’ Appreciation
Week by the Mayor and Council.
of the Corporation. of. the
District of West Vancouver. The
word “Appreciation” allows all
citizens in our community to
consider the many contribu-

tions our seniors have given i
and continue to give towards
the betterment. of West
Vancouver. ‘

So, please come and cele-
brate with us, and share the |
appreciation we have for our}.
newly expanded Seniors’

e greenbacks

) ‘ing:half of the Centre's operat:

ing budget.

.. The membership raised more
than the $600,000 to pay their
share of Raising the Roof. But

- suddenly the roof went higher.

When the tendering process had
finished, the bill went from $1.2
million to $1.5 million.

They were faced with the
prospect of cutting out a num-
ber of the impravements. Last
January, the committee decided
to avoid that by raising another
$100,000 and tossed the bull to
Frank Kurucz. Naturally, he ran

with it! This young senior of 65 |

teaches (as a volunteer) excer-
cise classes and runs up to a
half marathon. ;
He did another lap, particu-
larly among the Centre’s mem-
bers, asking them to put their
hands into their own pockets
one more time. In little more

than a month, $125,000 rolled

in.

Now the expanded Seniors’
Centre is up and running - a
lasting tribute to the efforts of
people old enough to take it
easy, but young enough in spir-
it to jump in and look out for
thernselves.

* Tours daily from 11am - 3pm
* Daily entertainment
from 12-1pm:
Monday - Pat Dixon
Tuesday - Ken Gibson
Wednesday - Chairmain
Valentine
‘Thursday - The Tunemakers
* Demonstrations
See program for
daily demonstrations
* Displays - Thursday, 1-3 pm
Stained Glass
Silversmithing
Lapidary
Pottery
* Opening Ceremony
Friday, October 27th, 2pm
Ribbon Cutting -
Mayor Sager
Master of Cerernonies -
Ted Reynolds
Remarks from Local
Dignataries
Entertainment by harpist
Llewellynnee Adam
Refreshments by
David Langmuir
* Daily draws
* FREE COFFEE