Members are not defined by age

James Bay New Horizons

By Kim Dixon

As I write this I am looking out the window and watching little sprinkles of rain fall on the garden. Guess this is the beginning of Autumn but I am not giving up on sunshine completely. There are always rays of sunshine at New Horizons!

October is traditionally the month to give thanks and as we near the end of the year, I would like to pay tribute to everyone that has helped support the Centre this past year.

As I look at the Centre stats, it may surprise you to know that we average 135 people coming into the Centre on a daily basis. That doesn't sound like many but when added up to date (Oct. 15) the total is well over 21,000 over the past 10 months!

We have had a very successful year as far as membership. Enhanced by discounts to local business, our membership almost doubled this year. Thank you to Serious Coffee, Subway, Ogden Point Café, Cup of Joe and others who offered permanent or other means of support to our members. We have also been able to offer more diversified activities and programs which we believe have brought the zoomers out to our Centre.

We are certainly very thankful to Grilligan's at Fisherman's Wharf for their kind donation of a large pot of chili every week. What a way for members to enjoy a hot lunch while meeting others and socializing. We have served over 3,500 bowls of chili over the three years that Dave has been providing us with chili. Words cannot express our appreciation but you can show your support by stopping by and patronizing Grilligan's. PS. He also has the best ribs in town!

Our largest fundraiser of the year is the Silent Auction. Many thanks to all the businesses and private donors that gave so generously to support this important project. We raised over $2,500.00 which is exceptional.

Some consider us a Senior Centre, however, we do not have a definition of senior. A misconception that has been around is that you have to be old to be a member! In fact, James Bay New Horizons has never had an age limit. Since the beginning of time (did you know that we have been a part of the James Bay Community since 1974?) our constitution states retired, semi retired, spouse of someone that is retired or semi-retired or handicapped. (Another funny thing, we do not have definition of retired!) We hope you will drop in and see what we have to offer. New programs will be starting in January but feel free to come participate in activities until then.

As our year starts to wind down, we want to extend our sincere appreciation to everyone, members, community groups and organizations, businesses and individuals who have helped support us and keep us sustainable in times of budget cuts and financial constraints. We truly could not do it without your help.