Here we are more than halfway through January, and it feels as if Christmas and New Year were so long ago - never mind my December report! Anyway, I hope you are all over the celebrations and are anxious to get into 2016. The Centre has been open for two weeks now and our members have been out to take part in all areas of our programs.
On Jan. 21, we held our first business meeting of 2016 and an interesting one it was, too. We had an “alert notice” from Gordon Berdan about a letter which many of us may already have received, telling us that we may be eligible for tax rebates because of some disability. What is not mentioned in the letter is that there is a cost to this of a percentage of what is gained, whereas you can pick up the same form from Gordon, get it filled in and send it off for no other cost. It seems there are always some new scams being thought of, to separate us from our money!
We also had a most informative description of the progress of WHAC, how it is working and what has so far been achieved (fingers crossed!). There is a long way to go, but now there are the beginnings of progress on the horizon and, as you will read in their article in The Journal, things are beginning to look up, with the two new doctors starting here on March 1. We had a question and answer session afterwards and were glad to be able to get answers as far as is possible. Where bureaucracy is concerned, we are lucky to have such a tactful person working for us!
The various activities have been going ahead, with five tables out for Bridge (including 12 men!) on Mondays, 12 or more for Carpet Bowling, and the usual lively crowd out for card games. We even had visits from Victor and Gail Koop before they left, and it was great to see them again. Good luck in your new home! On Saturdays we had 18 and 20 players for Bingo. As cashier last Saturday, I have to say thank you to all our players who come with the exact money for their cards, especially when they have change instead of notes! There is some working out that has to be done with the money to get the various amounts sorted out for the games, the float, the supplies (like hydro!) etc. and every little bit of time and coin makes a difference. Our very busy lady, Kathy, is also a great help delivering things like cards and prizes around the room, always with a smile. Thank you all!
The photographs for 2015 are due to be taken down and put into our archives, to make room for the new ones for 2016, so I’m hoping anyone who has any new pictures will get them to us. If anyone would like any of the existing ones, just ask!
Joyce West