SSAI has just completed its seventh annual five-pin bowling tournament in Prince Albert. Nearly 300 people, bowlers and family, joined together in the Minto Rec Center to have a great time, both bowling and visiting friends. The winners of it all came from Canwood, second place went to a team from Prince Albert and in third place was Rosetown. A team from Rosetown has been placed in the top three I believe ever since the tournament started. The mayor of Prince Albert, Gregg Dionne was at his very best when he addressed the huge crowd at the evening banquet and the police chief, Troy Cooper graced it all by opening the tournament. He declined to throw the first ball so two ladies well into their 90s did the job for him and one of them produced a strike.
Responsibility comes in all phases of our lives and recently there has been a great deal of talk about education or lack of education and how it affects the lives of young people. Hearing about young people who are unable to obtain an education is really not good news, but at the same time its hard to reconcile that with seeing young people walking around the streets and the malls during the time they really should be in school. Are they all taking a break at the same time or are they not comfortable with the discipline required to attend school and to learn what they need to know in order to get on in life? Don't parents and the children themselves have a responsibility to take what is being offered, especially in large urban areas? Maybe they already have surrendered to the prospect of the easy life of social service handouts. Its quite a lot different from a seniors' perspective of their young lives when school was cut short when they were old enough or big enough to work on the family farm. What a prize graduation from Grade 12 was then.
There was promise of more low cost housing for low income people, but no talk about affordable and accessible housing for seniors in this year's provincial budget. This is a problem that will not be going away soon as more and more seniors are forced to vacate their homes in rural Saskatchewan because of the lack of health care and move into the larger urban centers. More so as STC has decided to remove some of the rural bus routes, stranding many people, including seniors, to find their own way to the medical services.
Convention is coming up soon in June and as of today there are no resolutions, at least not in my mail box. Which means we are all either satisfied with the governments efforts on our behalf or we are all just too busy to take the time to write them and submit them. Annual meetings are just around the corner and I have been invited to visit centers around the province. It will also be the time when elections for office are going to be held. We are no different from any other large organization who depend on volunteers to help run them, they are always hard to find. Every year we get a little older and every year we find it more difficult to remember our own names, never mind taking charge of a senior center, but we do need you. When you have decided who is going to be the lucky ones then please let the SSAI provincial secretary know so she can correct all the paperwork she has to do. Also don't forget to forward the membership dues to the provincial treasurer so she can make necessary changes to balance the budget
This year's guest speaker at the convention will be Ralph Goodale, MP for Wascana constituency and also the deputy leader of the Liberal Opposition. This will be the time to be able to hear from one of the real great orators presently in office ,so register as early as possible for a seat at convention. The other slots for speakers and presentations are filling up and I can promise you interesting speakers are lining up to chat with you all.
Its also going to be election time for some of the executive board, one of them being the president for SSAI, so this will be the year when you get to either raise your voice or your hand to help decide who is going to lead the association over the next two years. Whoever it is I am sure they will continue to work hard to ensure that the voices of all seniors across this great province will be heard.
Until then keep active and stay healthy and be kind to each other. Smile and the whole world smiles with you.
