Nord-Bridge kicks off Seniors Week celebration

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 4, 2024.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman An ensemble of musicians help kick off Seniors' Week during a jam session in the Dunford Diner on Monday at the Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre is celebrating its members with multiple activities during Seniors’ Week. The celebration kicked off Monday with a jam session in the Dunford Diner.

Ashley Kern, program coordinator, told the Herald on Monday the centre has been celebrating Seniors Week for almost two decades as seniors are very important to them.

“Seniors for us are not only our members, but also our volunteers. We have lots of seniors that help us out and without them some programs wouldn’t be able to run, so we like to celebrate them and give them time to relax and enjoy the festivities this week, ” said Kern.

She said the celebrations are a way to show them how much they are appreciated, not only as members but also as volunteers.

With some activities being open to he public, Kern said they are providing everyone with an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions that seniors have made to the community.

“Since our building is open to the public, we’ve always celebrated Seniors Week to get more of the community involved and to bring awareness of seniors contributions to the community during this week,” said Kern.

Those grabbing a bite to eat Monday morning had the opportunity to listen to a variety of musicians taking part in the jam session to kick off the week-long celebration.

“There’s quite a few there today playing guitars and singing and all that kind of stuff so that’s kind of the kick-off and then we also have our fun darts tournament this afternoon,” said Kern.

She explained that even though darts is an activity that takes place at Nord-Bridge on a weekly basis, they have a fun tournament during Seniors Week as a way to leave the competition aside and simply have some fun together.

“We get about 20 to 25 dart players, we use pretty much all of our dart boards in that room that we’re go into, they don’t keep score, they just play for fun and at the end receive prizes from a draw,” said Kern.

She said some prizes are for teams while others are for individual players.

“At the end of the tournament their names are put in the draw and they get drawn for gift cards that range from stores to grocery shopping or gas cards, just a little something to make it fun,” said Kern.

To continue the celebration, Kern said they offered one of their two annual toonie Tuesday pancake breakfasts during this time. The other one is offered during Whoop-Up Days.

“It is open to everyone and for the $2.00 they get pancakes, sausages and their choice of coffee or juice,” said Kern.

She said everyone is welcome to come at that one from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. today. And after resting on Wednesday, the celebration continues with their annual barbecue picnic on Thursday.

“This one we limit to only members and their invited guests, because we only have so much food and so much space in the place that we rent for it,” said Kern.

The barbecue will take place at the Rotary picnic shelter at the North Lethbridge Sports Park and tickets are required to be purchased in advance.

“For this year we are expecting around 350 of our members to come, which would be awesome. We have had a lot of new members so I’m hoping they come down and meet others,” said Kern.

She said the barbecue will take place from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., but she warns there might be a limited amount of food after 1 p.m.

To close the week and end the celebrations, Nord-Bridge will be hosting a night jam session from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. offering seniors an opportunity to party like they used to do.

“They will have some snacks and refreshments and it’s a chance for people to dance because a lot of the older generations miss the dances they used to go to,” said Kern.