There were a lot of familiar faces at Bonnyville Seniors’ Drop-In Centre for their 50th Anniversary luncheon in William McGregor Hall on Tuesday. William McGregor was of course one of them.
McGregor had a key role in getting the project started 50 years ago, as did many other volunteers. Ernie Isley was another who helped get things going.
Isley might have had the best line of the day after he was introduced by Drop-In Centre president Sherry Hennessey, who had been a student at the school where Isley was principal.
“When you’re introduced by a former student who is now the president of the seniors, that makes you pretty damn old,” he said. He went on to recount some of the history and some of the people behind getting the project off the ground.
MLA Scott Cyr brought greetings from Alberta seniors minister Jason Nixon, and Town of Bonnyville mayor Elisa Brosseau and M.D. of Bonnyville reeve Barry Kalinski told stories and offered their congratulations.
Hennessey says it takes a few things to sustain a community organization for half a century. “Volunteers, leaders, funds,” she said. “And community support.”
“Community support’s one of the biggest because if the community doesn’t back you, no matter if you have a lot of volunteers, you never get to where you need to get. When the community backs your projects and the volunteers are willing to work for the projects, you can accomplish miles.”
The centre has put a lot of effort into maintaining and improving their building over the years, and Hennessey says with some big projects out of the way they can focus more on programming. This, she says, will give them the momentum they need for the next 50 years.
“Hopefully we’ve upgraded enough in the building that we don’t have a lot of maintenance. And because we shouldn’t have a lot of maintenance, we should be able to fundraise and get grants and or donations to keep the doors open and the place running,” she said.
“To do that, you also need to keep it active so people are interested in coming here and volunteering, and are happy to come so they can socialize and learn and just have fun.”
Hennessey was pleased with Tuesday’s celebration.
“I think it turned out well. We had a great turnout, B & R did a fabulous job of cooking,” she said. “It was fun.”
The hall was full! JEFF GAYE