On Sunday, July 9 many guests and volunteers met in the Park to enjoy the Bagel Loop: Walk/Run/Roll event in support of the Centre’s programs and services. It was such a fun day!
Registration started at 10a.m. with coffee, tea and a variety of delicious pareve muffins, baked by our chef Daniella Drisdell. Then our amazing fitness instructor Bonnie Austen, who has been keeping our members fit and healthy for more than 25 years, led a warm-up and our new yoga instructor Ashley Blackwood, who has been sharing yoga secrets in weekly classes at the Centre, helped everyone to stretch and prepare for the walk
At 11:00 a.m. more than 100 guests started to walk with loud, inspirational support from our volunteer-cheerleaders. Many balloons in the hands of walkers, runners and rollers made our walk very celebratory and cheerful! Our youngest participant was 1 year old and our oldest one – 95! So, now you know why we have rollers and runners!
The balloons held by the adults were part of our Balloon Pop Raffle. At the Finish line the incredible prizes were displayed on a table and all participants popped their balloons with excitement to find out what amazing item they had won (the tickets were hidden inside the balloons). Every balloon was a winner!
Prizes included: two portable BBQs, diamond earrings, opera tickets, Lunch card (for the Centre’s famous lunches), thermos bags and many gift cards for our neighbourhood businesses. Thank you to all the amazing sponsors who provided prizes. We will publish a full list of our supporters in the upcoming issue of our “Schmooze & News” Newsletter. Thank you also to our event co-chairs Barb Mickelson and Hans Pilz who knocked on many doors to collect such beautiful items.
Special thank you to our second chef Elie Adylova who surprised our participants with elegant and enjoyable picnic food options. We all enjoyed kosher beef dogs & veggie dogs, potato salad and coleslaw, chips, and a remarkable variety of parve pastries and fruits. The Centre will be happy to cater your next event – just call us!
We are sure you will notice many youngish participants who came to support us. Thank you to the “Connecting Seniors with Care” UofA students’ group who volunteered for the event. Eric Kotlyarov and Chester Lau were an essential part of our organizing committee. If you want to connect with this great group that implements wonderful projects connecting youth with seniors, please email them at csc.ualberta@gmail.com.
The fun games and beautiful multicultural entertainment were provided by our friends from the Kyrgyz Association in Canada who support the Bagel Loop event every year. Our guests had so much fun trying to knock water bottles over – no hands – using a potato in pantyhose worn on your head (see the photo to envision this unique game) and creating toilet paper mummies! All our devoted team of volunteers made every moment of our event smooth and entertaining.
The Jewish Senior Citizen’s Centre breaks stereotypes and unites different generations through educational, entertaining, and fun programs and events. Don’t wait until you are 120 years old because you think you are too young now, – join our vibrant and warm Centre and you will add so much enjoyment into your life!
Please call 780-488-4241, follow us on Facebook @JSeniorsCentre or email programmer@jdicseniors.ca
