Article posted September 30, 2011
We began our 2011/2012 season of activities with a very well attended Community meeting on September 27th. 72 members and their friends joined us for an informative and thought provoking evening. We were particularly encouraged with such good support, not only from our regular attendees, but also to see so many new faces. A quick show of hands indicated that about half of the audience were there for the first time. As we develop our plans for the year we hope we will have a program that you will continue to support and to find stimulating and worthwhile.
Tom Carrothers, our Chapter Chairperson, welcomed everyone to this our first meeting and outlined some of the things we are working on. We hope to continue to increase participation at our meetings, nothing we like better than having to find more chairs!
Tom introduced our Chapter volunteers It is through their untiring efforts that we keep our Chapter running. Needless to say we could use more help. Please consider becoming a Chapter volunteer. Any help would be very much appreciated. We would welcome anyone who would be willing to do things for our Chapter. In addition we are continually being asked to participate in a variety of Senior focused initiatives in Halton Region. With more people becoming involved we can ensure that CARP Halton Region has a strong voice in all of these activities.
Seniors are a very important demographic and through your CARP membership we hope to develop “Affinity Partners” across our region. Partners who for example would provide a discount on their products and services to CARP members.
We are also looking into the need for a “Care Giver Support Group” We feel that there is a large group of people providing care who could benefit from having a support group through which they could share information, talk about the issues they are facing and generally support each other through what can be very stressful circumstances. We will be exploring this and will keep you informed as this idea develops.
Tom also reviewed how our demographic is a major force in the upcomingOntarioelection. Halton Chapter has written to all of the candidates in the three main political parties asking for their response to questions we believe are most important to Seniors. You can see this letter later in this newsletter. We will publish each response on our website. We hope you will find this useful as you consider who deserves your vote.
In addition to interesting speakers at our monthly meetings we will also invite other non-profit groups with similar interests to participate. Through our website and monthly newsletters we will promote these groups and the services that they offer.
This month we were pleased to welcome Karen Robins from the Alzheimers Society of Hamilton and Halton. We hope everyone took the opportunity to speak with Karen and to take advantage of the materials she had available. In her brief address Karen highlighted how much things have changed in the past 10 years. We now have a much better understanding of brain health and how to treat and care for people with brain health problems.
Please call the Alzheimers Society at 905 529 7030 if you have any concerns or if you notice anything in either a relative or friend. This will get the ball rolling on your behalf. They can provide a whole range of help from education to support to counseling. For more information you can also visit their website at www.alzhh.ca
Please also watch this webpage as we will be posting information about a number of Brain Health Seminars that are coming up in November.
Our keynote speakers for the evening were Chris Boucher and Richard Atkinson. The following will briefly summarize their presentations.
Do You Want to Get Back Into Shape?
Chris Boucher of Custom Fitness gave a thought provoking and informative talk on the importance of fitness in our daily lives. Using a few simple and inexpensive items Chris demonstrated how easy it can be to improve and maintain personal fitness. The underlying theme of his presentation was to keep the body moving. This becomes more important as we age. The less we move the more we will stiffen up. We have all heard the expression, “Use it or lose it”. Chris basically explained how true this is when it comes to the human body.
He demonstrated how we should use a full range of motion in all of our joints and muscles as we go about our daily activities in order to get the maximum benefit. It is important to get the maximum movement in everything that we do. The range of motion we use is the range of motion we will retain.
One good example of this is the shoulders. If we do not lift our arms above our shoulders then very soon we will not be able to raise our arms any higher. Similarly when we walk if we take short steps then we will lose the ability to lengthen our stride and soon will be reduced to shuffling. Also we spend so much time in a slouched position that very soon we will be unable to straighten up.
Despite the warnings that Chris gave there are simple solutions for improvement. We do not need to enroll in an expensive gym class. In all probability we have the equipment we need right in our own home; we just need to know how to use it. This coupled with some simple behavioral changes will greatly improve our overall bodily fitness.
If you would like to know more about Chris and the services he can offer please visit his website at www.customfitness.ca You can contact Chris by email to [email protected] or by telephone at 905-516-5999
Custom Fitness offers private and semi-private training in the comfort of your own home.
They will give you the attention you deserve and understands that you’re unique, and your fitness goals are too. They will design a custom-fit exercise routine based specifically on you!
Contact them for a Complimentary In-Home Fitness Equipment Orientation and learn how to get the fastest results from the equipment you already have or try new equipment before you buy.
Don’t Just Retire – Live It, Love It
Our second speaker of the evening was Richard Atkinson. Living a happy and productive retirement was the theme of his thought provoking and inspirational presentation.
Richard is the author of “Don’t Just Retire – Live It, Love It”. This book, which is on CARP’s recommended reading list, is an in depth personal planning guide for enhancing your life after work.
After all retirement will be the second longest period in our life. It is vital therefore that we get the most out of it.
As a human resources specialist with over 35 years experience, Richard has observed thousands of people who retire from active lives only to take on inactive existences. The negative consequences can be, and often are, devastating.
Key points in Richards’s presentation were:
- The importance of a positive attitude
- Financial management
- Changing and enhancing relationships
- Personal pursuits
- Management of personal time
- Issues of Health
- Concerns about where to live
- Balanced health, leisure and wellbeing lifestyle
- Having fun
These are just some of the points that Richard discussed. In summary his presentation gave a clear picture of how we can live retirement to its fullest.
His book with its 26 easy to read chapters Don’t Just Retire – Live It, Love It! is not only great for planning but also a reference to keep you on track as you transition into retirement. Not just written for people planning to retire this book is for those already retired people who want to add a little sizzle into their retirement years
For those of you who may wish to buy his book it is available at Chapters/Indigo and McNally & Robinson stores.
You can also find out more by visiting Richard’s website at www.dontjustretire.com
With that a very successful meeting was brought to a close with the 50/50 Draw. Richard Slatter held the winning ticket and received $113.00. He very generously and totally unexpectedly requested that we retain these funds for future Chapter expenditures.
Future Chapter meetings will continue to be held in the evenings on the fourth Tuesday of the month at the Burlington Seniors Centre. The next meeting is scheduled for October 25th. We will be announcing the subject shortly both on our website and by newsletter.
For our November Meeting we will be holding a fun event as follows.
A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS
November 22 2011
Come and experience a Victorian Christmas with Carp Halton Chapter.Ireland House Museum is going to help us discover local history through the Burlington Ireland Family. Learn about pioneer and early urban life in Burlington spanning the years 1830 to 1910 through presentation and artifacts from the Ireland House Museum. We will also have refreshments that will bring back memories of Christmas past.
