Tina Derksen
Special to the Tribune
My daffodils are poking up through the soil, and it’s snowing huge candy floss flakes! Frost, mud, and new buds. Spring is such a crazy time in the Cariboo.
Our group has worked for weeks and has had so many wonderful volunteers come to help us prepare for our semi-annual Gently Used Clothing and Yard Sale April 1 and 2. Thank you to all of you.
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits for us to think about.
Hospital pay parking: This, according to information requested from the government’s Freedom of Information records by the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of B.C. The income generated from pay parking forms only 0.28 per cent of the total provincial health budget (or one quarter of one per cent).
Paper Victory: A ruling by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission states that all telecommunications service providers are now required to provide seniors and some others with paper bills, free of charge. You can contact your service provider and request a paper bill.
A reminder that the Senior’ Advocacy office, located in the Seniors’ Activity Centre is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. They are more than happy to help you with financial questions, assist with filling out forms, or just chat about your concerns.
Happy New Year everyone! As John Lennon said: “Let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear.”
I hope you have enjoyed the Christmas decorations at the Centre. We have a lot of fun putting them up and getting in the holiday spirit.
Our Christmas “Dinner out the Door” was once again a great success! We had so many wonderful volunteers who came to peel and chop 80 pounds of potatoes, 50 pounds of carrots and do all the other prep work needed to feed 175 people. Thank you to all who came to help. We were also very happy to have the Lakers Car Club deliver meals to those seniors who needed the dinner brought to them. They did a great job and enjoyed doing it. So, thank you to them as well. By the way, Rod and Pricilla Voth drove in to pick up their dinner and I was thrilled to see the big smile on his face! So glad you’re getting better Rod.
A new runner for the front of the lunch order window was purchased by the OAPO last month at a cost of $900. It has now arrived and been installed.
In our “Elves for Elders” project we delivered 32 Christmas gifts to needy or lonely seniors in Cariboo Place, Deni House and Seniors Village. Each gift contained a new comforter, pillow, and a quilted lap blanket, which was handmade by our senior stitchers. Each facility recreation dept. also received a parcel containing mp3 players, headphones, crafts and other cheerful items.
At our next meeting on April 13th we will install our new officers and get our new year underway. The meeting starts at 1 p.m., so come join us and let’s see what we can do safely in this Covid time.
Tina Derksen is the president of the OAPO.
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