St. Jacobs Retirement Place celebrates Canada Day to cap Seniors’ Month

St. Jacobs Retirement Place hosted their first-ever free Canada Day and Celebrating Seniors Party on June 29. The inspiration for the event came from June being the 34th annual Seniors’ Month in Ontario.

“We want to connect the seniors in the community,” explained Krysta Cronin, life enhancement and resident services assistant. “We want to open our doors to any seniors in our community. And just to change the views on retirement living.”

“We just thought we’d give it a try for this year, host an event for the seniors within the community and see what kind of success it holds,” added April Allen, executive director. “If it is going to be a great success, we’ll try to do something annually.”

Featured in the event was a Nygard fashion show at 1:30, live music by the band Old Time Country Fiddle at 2:30, and finally a car show in the parking lot for the duration until 3:30. There were also raffle prizes, where various businesses donated the prizes in the community. Community Care Concepts was on site to discuss what they offer to seniors, as well as the Waterloo Central Railway hosting a booth at the event.

They aimed to receive 250 guests.

“So what we’ve done is gone to all the businesses in St. Jacobs, gone to the other retirement and senior homes and welcomed them to the event with the hope that we can build an ongoing relationship with the seniors,” said Allen. “Seniors continue to contribute to the community and we can all benefit from their wisdom, friendship, and experience.”

Seniors’ Month occurs in several provinces across Canada. The theme this year is “Now is the time to start something new.”

The Ontario Ministry of Senior and Accessiblity emailed out information about this event to related businesses.

“There’s a poster that they included in their email,” said Cronin. “And they encouraged everyone to celebrate seniors month by hosting an event in the community. And they give you a list of ideas for how to celebrate and such.”