Blog

The Single Seniors Social Club wish readers of this blog success and prosperity in this Lunar year of the Rabbit. “Gong Xi Fa Chai” Happy 2023.
Our club had a great 2022. Attendance at many events surpassed our expectations and Covid, although present, didn’t deter our members from attending pub functions, lunch and/or dinner functions and dancing at the Legion. All our club members are vaccinated and most have had their second and third booster shots.
SSSC gained twelve new members through our website in 2022 and we look forward to new members in 2023.
Our Club enjoyed an array of events including a wonderful Museum of North Vancouver, (Monova) tour where attendance overwhelmed the organizer of the event. We also travelled to Chemainus on Vancouver Island and enjoyed a stage production with eight members in attendance. How great was it to attend a backyard BBQ with twenty-five plus members? A boat cruise up Indian Arm has been a favourite with many, golfing, bocce, hiking/walking and picnics continued on our calendar of events in appropriate weather. Bowling will soon be back on our docket as well.
Our Christmas Luncheon held at the University Golf Course in December was a very festive affair, the dance floor filled to capacity with all members dancing as couples or singles and just having the time of their lives. This wonderful venue has been booked once again for our Christmas Luncheon in 2023.
In closing “Fu Lu Shou”– Happiness, Prosperity & Longevity!

And before we know it, fall is in the air and we wonder where summer went!

It was a busy summer with golfing at two pitch & putt courses as well as monthly games at Country Meadows in Richmond. Bocce continues to be well attended at Ambleside.

Horse racing enthusiasts are back at the race track since Covid restrictions have been lifted although all members continue to be very vigilant and staying as safe as possible.

Eight members ventured to Chemainus on Vancouver Island to enjoy their musical festival as this event has been re-introduced and proving to be extremely popular as previously.

Some new additions to our events have included “Come From Away” at the Queen E theatre, a tribute to Gander Newfoundland’s enthusiasm for welcoming passengers after all flights were diverted from NYC, the day of 9/11.

Some of our members continue to sponsor travel as great deals become available.

Our lunching and dining out continue to bring out the masses and an August BBQ had close to 29 attendees in a members backyard. This event was so well attended we hope our host will repeat it again in 2023.

Come and join us. We would love to meet you and welcome you to our club.

Our Single Seniors Social Club has had outstanding attendance at various functions since Vaccination Passports became mandatory in the fall of 2021.
While outdoor activities had high numbers (golf, picnics, Bocce Ball, walking/hiking as well as patio dining) it wasn’t until we had been double vaccinated that attendance increased two fold to twenty plus members at our dinner and pub functions. These functions were held in a separate room large enough to hold twenty plus members while other venues provided ample space for members to move freely visiting one another although, wearing a mask is now part of our apparel entering and exiting venues.
We had “reunion” type functions’ at Toby’s Pub, Jack London’s Pub and Cheshire Cheese Restaurant as members were anxious to once again socialize, feeling the protection of being double vaccinated.
Fifteen members gathered at Canada Place to view the magnificent Woodward’s Windows and Christmas trees followed by cocktails at the beautifully decorated Christmas themed Pan Pacific Hotel.
Our Christmas Luncheon held at the Beach House in West Vancouver was a wonderful celebration with thirty seven members in attendance and two guests, those being Musicians who have played for us over the years.
The Omicron virus has put a damper on events although we all look forward to the day Dr. Bonnie Henry tells the public we can once again gather indoors. Our January calendar held great promise of fun events but these have been cancelled with only Bocce Ball and walking slated, weather permitting.
Best wishes for 2022. Hopefully, we will open up to social events within a few months, and may the light at the end of the tunnel await us by spring.

What a great summer weather wise, perhaps a little too hot some days nonetheless, SSSC members had a full slate of activities. Picnics in the park, Bocce, lunches/dinners on patios along with golfing three Pitch & Putt courses including Ambleside in West Vancouver, Central Park in South Burnaby as well as Kensington in North Burnaby.

Pitch & putt games were played in Burnaby twice weekly and biweekly in West Vancouver with attendance averaging 8 – 12 players.

Our monthly golf game at Country Meadows has been a popular event drawing either two or three foursomes with dinner following along with a post mortem on the game played.

Bocce has proven to be extremely popular (averaging either 2 – 3 games monthly) at Ambleside Park after the lanes at the Vancouver Italian Club closed due to Covid with many members in attendance unless rained out.

The Van Gogh display at the Vancouver Convention Centre was well attended as an event although many members invited friends on their own as word spread how fantastic this immersive display really was. It has been held over two or three times.

Sea to Sky Gondola day proved to be popular with 10 members and 1 guest attending on a rather warm day but some easy trails were hiked and gorgeous photos taken.

A Lulu Island Winery Tour was very successful. Members were able to tour the winery, enjoy a cheese plate with their sampling as well as purchase their favourite Wine/Ice wine on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The most popular of all events on our monthly calendar have been patio lunches and dinners with the best attendance at The Northlands Golf Course where 21 members enjoyed a wonderful evening on the patio.

We look forward to our annual Christmas Lunch in December at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club. Unfortunately we were unable to hold this event due to restrictions in 2020. Another event most members attend is our Annual General Meeting and President’s Wine & Cheese Party in January.

Despite Covid variants, hopefully we will be able to enjoy various winter activities as Vaccine Passports become mandatory. We hope you will soon become a member of the Single Seniors Social Club making new friends along the way.

Driving the Sea to Sky corridor with spectacular views of Howe Sound, this 45 minute drive approximately 100 kms. north of Vancouver is the perfect location to showcase just how beautiful our Province of British Columbia is. Summer is here and with vaccinations in hand with lessening of Covid-19 restrictions, this was a perfect get away for a eleven SSSC members. One had to be nature buff and not afraid of heights as we were elevating approximately 900 meters above sea level. Like most gondola rides, this day trip is not cheap but packing your lunch makes it a very worthwhile experience. Booking on line for seniors is $50.95 and at the ticket window $51.95.

The 10 minute ride is a journey like no other, just minutes from the town of Squamish with awesome vistas and once at the summit spectacular incredible scenery. The suspension bridge alone is worth its weight in gold to cross as it sways begging you to hold on to the rails otherwise a tumble awaits you.

We enjoyed three of the easier trails once at the summit including Spirit, Panorama and Wonderland Lake loop trails. Panorama trail was enjoyed by the majority of our hikers, Wonderland Loop Trail enticed five hikers as the day was warming up whilst Spirit trail was enjoyed by two of our members. Sparky’s Spin and Highline Trail have steep scrambles therefore we chose to forgo those!

Unfortunately, in 2019 vandals cut cables tumbling 30 gondola’s to the ground causing between 5 and 10 million dollars in damage. Re-opening in May of 2020 due to the Covid 19 shut down, the cables were again severed in September, 2020! Almost a year later, in early June of 2021 this adventure opened up once again. The RCMP are still investigating this sabotage and appealing to the public for help to solve this case.
With thirty new gondola’s, a new system is now in place where the cabins are taken off the cable and parked on ground level at the end of each night. A state of the art security system has been installed and we noted the cameras every 200 meters or so so this type of vandalism never happens again.

We enjoyed our awesome adventure. Some of our members experienced the Sky to Sky Gondola previously although, it doesn’t matter how many times one has been to the summit, it is always exciting to visit Squamish again!

In February, a group of SSSC members visited the Fraser River Discovery Centre along the waterfront in New Westminster. The idea behind this event was to visit a newer exhibition that we suspected few of us had seen. The Centre provides educational fare for people of all ages, and I think we all found it quite interesting.

On arrival in New Westminster, new construction was rampant throughout the area. Our familiar old parking places had disappeared, but we managed to find new ones. Although the FRDS permits a limited number of people during COVID, we had the discovery centre to ourselves – a definite advantage for museum visits during this pandemic.

The Fraser River Discovery Centre is witness to the cultural, economic and environmental life of the river. We learned that the Fraser River, the tenth largest river in Canada, requires different and frequent dredging methods to keep it passable. Another display simulated how to load ships by allowing visitors to balance blocks (in lieu of actual ship containers) onto a weight balance to gauge the tipping point – a fun, hands-on activity for the young at heart!

Unfortunately some missed the spectacle of John trying to disentangle himself from a fishing net in the Centre. Another member explained the debacle during our lunch that followed at the Old Spaghetti Factory. John had worn his golf shoes which have cleats, perfect for hooking the net that was hanging from a boat onto the back and front of his shoes. He almost had to call for extrication help. With a last desperate attempt, he managed to free himself to his great relief. It appears the oft-cited fish story of “the big one that got away” did actually get away this time.

Little did we realize when we hosted our Annual Christmas Luncheon at the Vancouver Lawn, Tennis and & Badminton Club Sunday, December 15, 2019; our Annual AGM and President’s Wine & Cheese  Sunday, January 26, 2020, and an invite to a Valentine Gala at the Italian Culture Centre on February 08, 2020, “large gatherings” would come to a complete standstill in the months that followed.

Popular events including our annual “Wearing of the Green” St. Patrick’s party and “Wine & Cheese Pairing” down by the Riverside were planned and cancelled to the dismay of our members.  Along with these popular events, Dancing at Bonsor Community Centre, Dinners at Medley’s Grill, Pub Nights, Bowling, Horse racing, and a Sea to Sky Gondola trip were put on hold.   We would soon be obeying Covid rules of social distancing, wearing a mask and continually washing our hands, now a “new normal” in our lives!

We coped!   Spring and warm weather brought us together as we were able to gather in small groups for some wonderful picnics hosted by members in various locations of our city.   Golfing was embraced by ten to fifteen enthusiastic members  playing our once monthly large course at Mylora and pitch & putt  twice weekly, weather permitting at Ambleside, Central Park and Kensington courses.  Patio lunches and dinners were also hosted and attended as events outside were deemed “safe”.  Indoor Bocce was introduced and members enjoyed this event until ICC had to close their doors.  Walking, as a group became more of a social event although, social distancing was harder than anticipated.  We enjoyed some virtual travel through the group scoop, keeping in mind these vacations and adventures await us when the timing is right!

We held two Executive meetings at John Lawson Park in West Vancouver and when the weather turned cooler, Zoom became part of our inner circle of contact.  We had a successful Zoom AGM January 24, 2021, thanks to our Past Acting President,  Kathleen who has become our expert with this relatively new technology.

We will hug one another when deemed safe and the club will once again host parties where we will greet each other like long lost friends.

Like Dr. Bonnie Henry states “this is not forever, this too shall pass but in the meantime, stay calm and safe but above all, remember to always be kind”.

Even though the world may be in chaos right now, I know we are all grateful to have a home, food, water, warmth and love.  May we never take these things for granted.