A local seniors club is looking to expand its membership and re-engage in community efforts following the end of many COVID-19 health restrictions.
The Champlain Seniors Service Club, which meets at the Orillia Legion every Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 am, is a group of 60- to 90-year-old men who actively participate in community fundraisers for a variety of organizations.
“We're not a service club that has a particular fundraising objective in any year, but we provide assistance to all the different organizations that are doing fundraising,” board member John Morrison told OrilliaMatters.
Although a number of their community efforts have been put on hold through the pandemic, the club participates in various fundraising drives held by The Sharing Place Food Centre, the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign, Comfie Cats, the Canadian Cancer Society, and others, Morrison said.
They also volunteer their time to events such as the Scottish Festival or Music in the Park, and they have a band — the Champlain MusicMakers — which plays music for people in nursing homes and seniors homes, and at their own social events.
After meeting over Zoom through the pandemic, the club has been meeting in-person again over the past two months, but their membership levels are not as high as they used to be, Morrison said.
“We used to have meeting sizes of 45 or more,” Morrison said. “Two years is a lot to the life of a senior, and some people can't get out anymore or have more limited access, so our numbers are down. We're averaging about 30 to 35 per meeting right now.”
“We're trying to build that up again. There's a lot of folks our age in town who probably don't know about this club, and it does meet every week … so it's something to do every Tuesday morning.”
Aside from planning its community efforts, the club’s weekly meetings serve as a social event, featuring presentations by its own members and guest speakers from around the community.
“What I said when the pandemic started, was one of the biggest losses for young people is socialization,” board member Larry Smith told OrilliaMatters. “With gentleman our age, as well, being social, having that weekly get together is so important to their mental health. For them to go home and say, ‘You should have heard the story today,’ or you know, what happened … across our community, is very important.”
Morrison said that the club is currently not as involved with its community work as it used to be, but that everyone is ready to participate as everything opens back up and events take place again.
“We're waiting for the other organizations to ramp up, and once they are ramped up, we're ready to go,” he said.
He also wanted prospective members to be assured that the group follows all COVID-19 health protocols.
“We do follow all the protocols recommended by the government in terms of our meetings,” he said. “We try to make it as safe as possible for members when they do come.”
People interested in joining the club can show up at the Orillia Legion prior to 9:30 am on Tuesday mornings.
