I’m going to deal with business first in this report. First I would like to remind everyone that the Annual General Meeting will be held at the Centre on June 14th, at 1:00 PM. The AGM agenda will be posted on June 1st on the bulletin board at the Centre and on our website. Hard copies will also be available at Reception. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person you will be able to watch it virtually. See our website for details.
Following the meeting, there will be a B.B.Q. hosted by the BBQ committee. It’s a great opportunity to mix and mingle with your fellow members and enjoy a tasty lunch. The cost is $2 per person. I hope you can join us to see how the Association works for you.
We have recently held elections for the ASA Board of Directors for the upcoming year 2023 – 2024. The results are as follows: Elected to three-year terms are Glen Sharpe, Vern Cunningham and Rob Gaby. Affirmed for two-year terms are Louis Gambino and Rob Ishoj. Affirmed for a one-year term are Percy Surti and Dave LeGallais. Jim Abrams and John Scherrer will continue their current terms.
On the morning of June 14th a caucus meeting of the “Directors elected” will be held to elect the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Board. That afternoon during the AGM the 2023 – 2024 Board of Directors will be ratified by our members. At this time I would sincerely like to thank Joyce Latimer and Kevin Griffiths for putting their names forward to run for the Board. Although they were not elected we are confident they will continue to be valuable members of the association as both volunteers and participants.
I would like to also thank all the members of the 2022 – 2023 Board of Directors as well as all the ASA volunteers for all their hard work and dedication to our Centre throughout the year. I would also like to thank Karie, Andrew, Brandy, Bill and John. They are an indispensable part of the Seniors Centre and we can’t thank them enough for all they do.
Unfortunately, we will be losing four of our present board members. Carol Hedenberg, Cheryl Rines, Ann Overington and Nick Senick will be stepping down. Their commitment to the ASA has been invaluable.
Over the past year, most of our activities have returned to the Centre and member participation continues to grow. We have introduced a number of new activities with more to come in the future. We are continually exploring ways to improve our members’ experience at the Centre. If you have any ideas for new programs or have thoughts on how to improve existing programs please come out to an Operations and Activities meeting held the second Tuesday of each month, to share your ideas.
Finally, in closing I hope you will indulge me as I take the time to express some personal thoughts in this my last President’s report. My tenure as President of the Board of the ASA is coming to an end after five exciting years. It has been a genuine honour to serve on the board and as President, but now it is time for me to step down. The past five years have been a very satisfying and rewarding time for me. I have worked with some wonderful, dedicated people. We have faced lots of challenges, not the least of which was the Covid 19 pandemic which resulted in several shutdowns of the centre. The folks on the Board along with the great Town Staff worked very hard to keep the ASA intact. At times it took some real creativity and a willingness to “think outside the box”, but we did it and now we can look on with real satisfaction as the Centre is in the swing again with membership steadily growing back to the old numbers.
I’ve met some great people and a few characters as well. Coming from my background as a Veterinarian I was not as experienced as some on how a BOD functions so it has been a very rewarding learning experience for me as well. I look forward to this final year serving on the Board and will do all I can to help in the transition and to support the new Board. It is time for new people with fresh ideas and I have no doubt that we have exciting times ahead. I want to thank all my fellow Board members, our amazing Town Staff and all of our members for the incredible support I have received over these past five years. I truly believe we have one of the finest Senior Centres in Ontario and I hope you are as proud of that as I am.
In closing, I will just say thank you to everyone and I’ll see you at the Centre.
Sincerely…. Dave LeGallais
