Last week was B.C. Seniors Week, and Berwick Comox Valley celebrated its residents with a week full of fun and activity.
As a member of the British Columbia Seniors Living Association, Berwick Comox Valley planned a variety of events including bingo, a bocce ball tournament, a snooker tournament, trivia baseball and Happy Hour this week.
Staff also gave all the residents a copy of a photo taken recently that features about two-thirds of the residents.
"We're celebrating B.C. seniors because B.C. seniors are something to celebrate," said marketing manager Linda Rutherford. "We wanted as a company to let our residents know we don't see them as elderly; we see them as a very vibrant part of the community. We always tell them 'you're our role models.'"
There are about 154 residents ranging in age from 71 to 99 at Berwick. Collectively, they have lived more than 13,187 years.
"This lot love to have fun," said Rutherford. "They're still very actively interested in what goes on in the community."
The residents are very active, participating in exercise programs, doing activities on their own, singing in a choir, gardening, running a knitting group, playing bridge, crib, euchre and bingo, playing snooker, volunteering inside and outside Berwick, making jam and selling it to raise money for charity, and much more, explained recreation manager Lisa Moorhead.
"They're fun," she said. "They have coffee and laugh and tell dirty jokes. Just because you're 80-something doesn't mean you're not young at heart. You see a lot of good friendships. Being a senior, you have to have a good sense of humour because some things you can't change. My role models, what I've learned from them is you have to laugh at life. They're not afraid to try new things."
Moorhead says B.C. Seniors Week is all about having fun.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com