Here’s a bit of trivia: Sean Connery, a.k.a. James Bond, played in the 1964 movie Goldfinger and he is currently 81 years old. Unfortunately, on the subject of things golden, he is not old enough to enjoy the status at the Community Complex of a Golden Guest, which is reserved for those 85 years and older.
What does being a Golden Guest get you? Basically everything a regular membership would get you except it is absolutely free — who says age doesn’t have its benefits? If you have reached that milestone and want to stay physically active, we will provide the tools, whether it is the walking track, swimming pool or skating rink, and, not surprisingly, we actually have a good size group that has that status. The bad news is, someone has to tell Mr. Connery that he still has to pay senior rate; hopefully he has a few movie residuals coming in to help with the finances.
While it is a good feeling to see the amount of use the community complex now gets, it is especially nice to observe how many of our older citizens take advantage of the benefits as this was a demographic that we did not notice a lot of previously. I’m not sure if it is just Creston, but there seems to be a lot of high numbers when it comes to ages; in fact you are left with the impression that being say, three-quarters of a century old, some might regard you as a youngster or slightly mature.
You have to attribute some of that to how well people take care of their health — staying physically fit, eating proper nutrition and keeping hydrated. I know how hard it is for me to get out and go for a vigorous walk or exercise, I can only imagine the fortitude it takes to come in three or four times a week to stay fit. I’ve mentioned before how it would be interesting to poll the medical community to see if they are noticing overall better health in our senior population as a result of more physical activity. I know we see it everyday.
As we ramp up to the end of the year, we are in full proof mode for the next leisure guide due out in December. We are changing our format slightly; this guide will reflect more programming and will be published four times a year and we are starting a facility guide, which will cover the nuts and bolts of the operation and be published once a year. The facility guide will contain information that was tending to be repetitive in the original leisure guide, such as room descriptions and pricing, standard aquatic information, general policies — important stuff but perhaps not as gripping as a Danielle Steele novel.
This December will also be the last individual mailout we will be doing, as we look at more efficient ways of distribution at various outlets around the Creston Valley. One way or another, we will make sure you have access to know what’s going on at your community complex!
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.