Someone exclaimed today, “I just saw a robin!” Have you seen any woodpeckers or heard the murmurations of birds scavenging berries from the mountain ash? We start to feel it in our bones don’t we, heralding the changing season?
Our gang here is mostly happy for the warming and disappearing of snow and ice underfoot. We’re not prime candidates for snowy mountain downhill adventures, but we have good memories, although we get up to other forms of fun that keep us young at heart.
Change for the Therapuetic Activation Program for Seniors of course means the planned relocation to the Rotacrest Hall in the lower level, with the Creston New Horizons Seniors Society our upstairs neighbours. Preparations for this have been underway for some time and we’ll have more to report next month after we’re fully settled into our new digs.
Another change and addition is that Better at Home has an office in the same space and we look forward to having Ashlene as part of our daily connection. Watch for notices for a combined open house from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 25 at the Rotacrest Hall downstairs.
On the project and grant side of things, we were successful with two grants recently announced. From the Columbia Basin Trust social grant sector comes a 16-week program called Moving Along for folks affected by memory changes and their caregivers. We’ll be reporting on the details of that in future columns. The other grant is a federal one through New Horizons for Seniors; it is an intergenerational history and storytelling project, which will run as part of our programming over the next year.
The February calendar is filled with activities, including a Chinese lunch on the 19th with a China slideshow by Sharon Wesolowski.
TAPS has posted a School Works position for a student. The deadline is Feb. 20 and you can contact 250-428-5747 for more information on the posting. Past students have very much enjoyed their work with us and likewise been loved by the seniors and made a contribution to the program.
Valentine’s Day was a theme at TAPS last week and Frank Brummet, one of our participants, has given us one of his poems to share with you:
To Paint Love
I would paint love on a canvas of caring,
Mixing colours on a palette of promise.
The red of passion, the blue of longing,
The green of life in the meadow of hope.
I would depict mountains of joy,
A cool river bubbling with music,
Flow of laughter from happy children.
I would paint the tree of together,
With arms to embrace tender feelings.
A gentle breeze to blow sweet kisses
That stir the leaves of a joyful heart.
Beneath the tree: blossoming dreams
Sheltered from the winds of sorrow.
The canvas hung on a wall of faith
In the happiness of each tomorrow.
Our ongoing thanks to all who have and do contribute to TAPS financially and otherwise, including our volunteers who help with regular programs.
Maureen Cameron is the community liaison development co-ordinator for the Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors.