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servants

serve seniors

Eleanor

vintage year's

GOOD GRIEF, what a
stouffie.

My husband's mother, who was
Scottish to the core, used that word
to describe chaos of one sort or
another, mostly domestic, I'm using
it to describe this last three weeks of
frustration as I attempted to get
some straightforward information

_for us old folks. | wouldn't have
believed it could be so difficult to
procure a comprehensive list of
seniors’ residences and recreation
centres in this province.

I must have talked to 20 people
— North Shore people, Vancouver
city people, people in Victoria, all of
whom could give me bits of infor-
mation all of which entailed yet
another telephone call. Nowhere

66 Nowhere could |
pin down names and
. addresses of facilities
in our province that
serve senior people. 9F

could | pin down names and
addresses of facilities in our
province that serve senior people.
Surely they have to register with the
provincial goverment? Someone
-has to be able to bring to bear. if
necessary, investigation or correction
should difficulties srise on one side
or the other?

Finally there came the break-
through. Lorna Lioyd-Jones, bless
her heart, who co-ordinates informa-
tion for North Shore Community
Services;-sent along a copy of the
only edition of such information for
the North Shore, and gave me num-
bers to call to get similar informa-
tion in the rest of the Lower
Mainland. But her really prize reve-
lation was the telephone number of
the Senior Resources and Research
Society in Vancouver: 732-2310, Put
it down in your book.

The young person | spoke to
there promised to send all 120 pages
of just what I wanted, with the bili,
of course. She expects it to be in the
$50 range, and the relief is worth it.
I also found out — from an obliging
telephone operator — that there is,
in Victoria, an Office for Seniors,
which comes under the aegis of the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry
Responsible for Seniors, Did you

. know there were all those people
“concerned on our behalf? Frankly, }
don’t know whether to be reassured
or start looking over my shoulder
more often. :

So what's all this in aid of? Well,
actually, I'm doing it on behalf of
CARP (the Canadian Association of
Retired People) but of course it's

nL

going to be useful information for
all of us. Why CARP? Well, they

have become aware in the last while -

that their emphasis up to now on
eastern senior activily gave no incen-
tive (Oo mast westerners to take any
interest in it. They do the job well. If
we're going to ake Ben Swankey's
road to beeling up our Grey Power,
it will give us better muscle if we
unite across the nation. We'll show
‘om.

There was a side benefit to all
this talking and pamphieteering —
because I had to start somewhere |
started with the local agencies, the
ones | knew about, that is. Boy, for
an old lacy who sets herself up to
write a column for her peers there
was an awful lot of stuff [didn't
know. Still don’t, but at least f now
have the means to find oul — we all
need a refresher once in a while.

That Community Resource
Directory for Seniors is a great tool.
I didn’t know that house-bound city
people can get books and tapes
delivered from the library twice a
month. Nor that the District library
folks deliver big bunches of books to
seniors’ facilities every month, as
well as offering the same home ser-

vice that the city has. I didn't know jg

about Neighbourlink, either, involv-
ing many of our churches, whose
members will do household repairs
and help with baking and shopping
if you’re feeling mouldy.

People are nice, ch? And Quick
Response — | thought it meant the
ambulance was on its toes. Really,
it’s a service offered all of us on the
North Shore that for as tong as five
days will assist people suffering
from a sudden change in health or in
their support network. lt comes via
this partnership between our magnif-
icent hospital and the North Shore
Health folks. Call the hospital or
986-7111.

The book has a bunch of ads, too,
about all the thoughtful stores that
have a discount structure for seniors.
Autoplan, of all people, have seniors
discounts and will come to your
house without extra charge.

The book is free and can be .
found at all library branches and
cemmunity centres as well as
seniors’ hang-outs and the Chambers
of Commerce.

[t's 4 peach.

Ada Leung

Pharmacist

CAPSULE COMMENTS

Obesity is becoming a real problem in
most industrialized nations. In
Canada, it’s estimated that 35% of
men and 27% of women aged 18-74
are overweight enough to be called
“obese”. This problem causes many"
increased health risks.

When you are trying to lose weight,
don’t weigh yourself. every day. A
moderate acceptable weight loss is
about 2 Ib per week or 4.6 07. per day
which doesn’t register on most home
scales. So you don’t get discouraged,
weigh yourself weekly.

DAVIES PHARMACY
1401 St, Georges 985-8771
145 W. 16th, St. 987-4411

NOTICE TO MOTORISTS
SEA-TO-SKY HIGHWAY 99
PORTEAU BLUFFS SLOPE STABILIZATION
TRAFFIC DELAYS

The Ministry of Transportation and Highways advises that there will be 20
minute delays on the Sea to Sky Highway 99 at Porteau Bluffs, 25 km north of
Horseshoe Bay from April 18 ta May 8. The delays are needed for slope
stabilization work and will be in effect as follows:

Monday - Thursday
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon

Note: There will be no delays on Friday afternoons or weekends.
The Ministry thanks motorists for their patience and cooperation.

Province of
British Cotumbia

Ministry of Transportation
and Highways

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