PORT HAWKESBURY: The Strait Area Evergreen Seniors Club celebrated its 50th anniversary with an open house, dinner, and dance on Oct. 22.
According to the club, it is long-time part of the fabric of our community and a place those 50 years of age and older to meet new people and enjoy organized activities.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, activities stood quiet for a period of time, the club said, noting that members are in the early stages of restarting the many activities which “bring fun and friendship.”
The club said activities include quilting, twice weekly drop-in afternoons for social gatherings, card plays, table games, pool, shuffleboard, darts, chair yoga, monthly potluck suppers with occasional speakers, themed events, bus trips, monthly community breakfasts, dinners, teas, fall fairs, bake sales, Granny’s Attic, summer lawn games, and many more.
The idea of a seniors’ group in Port Hawkesbury was the brainchild of Janet Gunn, wife of the United Church minister, and Irene Wildsmith, representative for the Strait Area Welcome Wagon, the club noted. They recognized a need for seniors to meet new people and gather together for organized activities, they said.
Along with Wildsmith’s husband, Fred, the club said the two women and nine others first met at St. Mark’s United Church Oct. 5, 1972, and on Nov. 1, 1973 the charter of the Evergreen Club was accepted and signed.
The club said Fred Wildsmith became president and remained in his position from 1973 until 1985. With his tireless ambition and determination, they said he was instrumental in raising much needed funds through grants and programs.
In 1975, the group purchased the old Walker Financial Building on Granville Street, officially opening in July, 1976, the club recalled.
Membership grew to over 100 people and the club said November 1984 saw the first sod turning ceremony for the present building at the corner of Embree and Napean Streets, which was donated by the Town of Port Hawkesbury.
The new building became the official residence to the present day Strait Area Evergreen Seniors Club, the club added.
The chair of the Evergreen Seniors Club 50th anniversary celebrations, Edie Fraser, presented the club’s president, Francis Lamey with photos of the buildings where the club was housed over the years. In 1984 the permanent building was erected in Port Hawkesbury.
