Pancake Breakfast - mark your calendars

 

Darling White Lake Road Study Report

As many of you are aware, Larry Paquette has been heading up an initiative to get the Township to take our concerns regarding the roads in our area seriously. He and his team have done a ton of work in preparing the attached analysis for presentation to Council  (currently scheduled for January 23, 2024). You can read the report here.

Welcome to 2024!

Wait a minute! Wasn't Y2K just a couple of years ago? And it's 2024 already? Yup.

Now here we are, entering the second year after the Centre re-opened following an extended COVID closure.

Many of the old activities are back up and running - Coffee Hub, Knitter-knatter, Yoga, Darts - but some succumbed to the extended shutdown, activities like Euchre, Birthday Breakfasts, and regular Live 'n Learn sessions.  As we all work at getting back to pre-COVID 'normal' (whatever that may have been), we're hoping to see some of those return to the Centre this year. You can help support your Centre by coming out and enjoying some of these activities, or perhaps suggesting some new ones that might be of interest to your friends and neighbours. New ideas and volunteers to run them (the Executive Committee can help) are always welcome. 

And so the new year begins, and to all of you, we wish a happy and prosperous 2024. See you at the Centre.

Crafty White Lakers

Well those crafty White Lakers were at it again last week, with Debbie King organising a session to make these cute seasonal decorations. Great work everyone!

President's report

Following text is the President's Report for 2023. 

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President’s Report - 2023

It’s great to be back. 

With the pandemic lockdowns now in the past, 2023 saw your Centre back up and running. Many of the popular activities have returned to the Centre; Yoga, Knitter-Knatters, Crafts, Coffee Hub, Friday Darts, and our Take-a-Book-Leave-a-Book library is being well used by readers of all interests. And Live ‘n Learn returned in November with a very informative session on sleep apnea, with more to come. However, volunteers are still being sought to organize/assist with Euchre, Cribbage, Movie Nites and the monthly Birthday Breakfasts.

There were several major events held during the year. February’s Pancake Breakfast was the first post-COVID event to welcome many community members back to the Centre. In June, the Strawberry Social was a great success drawing over 100 people and raising $877 for the Ukraine Relief Fund. Along with the August Corn Roast, these events brought neighbours and friends together for the first time, in some cases, in years.

Financially, the Centre is in a good position. We were able to weather the lockdown and associated lack of income by having a healthy cash position prior to 2021 and with the assistance of Township and Provincial grants. On an ongoing basis, the annual Township Grant covers approximately half of our operating expenses with rentals and participation fees covering the rest. 

Our Centre was the host for the first luncheon meeting of the HNN (Highlands North Network), a grass-roots organization that represents community halls in the township. At this point I must mention how all of the other representatives were amazed by our Centre; new, clean, efficient and accessible. Discussions will continue on how best to leverage and share the capabilities of all our respective centres for the betterment of our communities.

All the aforementioned activities are the result of hard, sometimes thankless work done by volunteers, your neighbours and friends. On behalf of the Executive Committee I thank and applaud all of you. More volunteers and their ideas are always welcome. This is your community centre. Please use it. 

The Committee would like to thank Nancy Burrows for her service to the community over several years as a Committee member and for doing the advertising posters for the many events. The Committee would also like to welcome Jacqueline Cairns (no relation) who brings her organizing talents to the team.

On a sadder note, I would like to acknowledge the passing of long-time board members and community supporters, Elaine Pasch, Brian Roberts and Angus Davidson.

We are all looking forward to 2024.

On behalf of the Committee, I wish you all the best of the holiday season, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Brian Cairns

President

Save the Date!

The White Lake Property Owners Association (https://wlpoa.ca/) will be hosting their annual Merry Mingle at the Centre on December 10. Stay tuned for more details as they come available, or follow the WLPO on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/100982146727194/.

Everything you wanted to know about sleep

After a lengthy COVID-induced delay, Live 'n Learn is back. The first session, held yesterday (Thursday), featured an excellent presentation by Melissa Gourley of the Renfrew Victoria Hospital's Sleep Disorder Clinic. 

The event began with a hearty lunch (thanks to all who contributed!), followed by Melissa who spent an hour and a half talking to a very attentive audience about sleep disorders, symptoms, long-term health impacts, and so on. Even in the hour after lunch (prime nap time for us seniors) no one was nodding off as Melissa shared her expertise on a very complex and poorly understood subject, and answered a variety of questions from the audience.

All in all a very interesting and informative session.

Thanks to Melissa for coming out, and a special thanks to Brenda Guiney for arranging her visit. 

And if you have any ideas for future Live 'n Learn events please let us know.