June marks Seniors Month in Ontario and Thorold is getting ready to celebrate.
That’s why a flag raising ceremony was held at the Thorold Seniors’ Centre on Friday morning.
“Older adults continue to make the City of Thorold the best place to live, work, invest and raise a family,” Mayor Terry Ugulini told the gathered crowd. “The month of June is a province-wide celebration of the invaluable knowledge and experience that seniors pass on to all ages within all communities.”
A special ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the chat bench which was installed at the centre last year.
The bench features a banner that indicates that whoever is sitting on the bench is open to conversation. The project is supposed to combat loneliness in older adults, and help inspire inter-generational conversation.
“I’m very pleased to be here with the Mayor and all of you to dedicate this chat bench today,“ said the chair of the city’s Age-Friendly Committee, Jean D’Amelio-Swyer, in a speech. “[I] encourage that it is used in the spirit of friendship, connecting, and remembering both current and past Thorold Seniors Centre members and friends.”
The bench also features a special memorial plaque designed by Thorold Senior Citizens Association member Laurie Hughes.
“I thought about the spirit of this place,” she explained to ThoroldToday. “I wanted to honour past, present, and future, but in a little plaque it’s kind of hard to word that nicely so I thought the word beloved kind of captured that.”
In the spirit of Seniors Month, there are several exciting activities, for and by older adults, happening in the city in the coming weeks.
The City of St. Catharines is hosting a wide variety of events at the Canada Games Park, and all older adults in Thorold are invited to participate.
On June 1, the Thorold Age-Friendly Committee is organizing an Older Adult Forum, centered around the theme of this year's Seniors Month: 'Working for Seniors.'
The event is a collaboration between the Thorold Community Activities Group, the Thorold Seniors' Centre, the Thorold Public Library and the Age-Friendly Committee, and is supported with a federal New Horizons grant.
“It’s fun because we’re co-operating,” said D’Amelio-Swyer. “We’re all working together.”
The forum is the kick off to a series of free events, aimed at older adults in Thorold, that will culminate in major final event in June 2024.
The Thorold Seniors’ Centre will also be holding a Spring Bazaar this Saturday, May 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will include refreshments, a penny sale table, flea market, craft table, grocery baskets, and plenty of other activities.
Every other week, starting June 10, the centre will also be putting on a Trunk and Table Show between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., in their parking lot.
“We’re hoping that we can get a parking lot full every couple of weeks for people to sell their stuff,” said the president of the Thorold Senior Citizens Association, Brenda Bator. “I think this is a good thing and it’s great for us.”
It will cost $10 per car or truck to participate, or if you want to rent a table it is $10 for a large one and $5.00 for a small one. For more information on the event, call the Thorold Seniors' Centre at 905-227-2161.
