Athabasca & District Senior Citizens Society

Athabasca & District Senior Citizens Society
September 2026 Newsletter

Connection • Community • Participation

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We always look forward to welcoming members and guests to gather, participate, and continue building the strong sense of community that makes our Seniors Centre such a special place.

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The Board of Directors met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 8. In our August newsletter, we put a call out for volunteers for a number of initiatives and received two responses. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to cancel or postpone two events:

• The Fall Supper, tentatively scheduled for October 2, is cancelled for this year. We needed someone to lead a two or three person committee that would organize the cooking, volunteers, and purchasing aspects of the supper. The same people have been doing this work for years and decided to step back for various reasons. We still hope to have a spring supper, but we need fresh ideas and people willing to make them work.


• The cleaning bee, which had been scheduled for September 11, has been postponed until next spring. We realize that we may not have given people enough details of the tasks involved or an approximation of the time commitments, so we will plan a spring cleaning bee with more information.

We are excited to welcome back all of the seniors who participate in our weekly activities and encourage you to bring a friend to try out some of our fall/winter activities.

Start dates for the following activities have been confirmed. Memberships are available for purchase at each activity designated members-only.

• Floor curling starts in Athabasca on Monday, Sept 14, and will run on the second and fourth Monday of each month from 1:00 – 3:30 (no curling on Thanksgiving Day, Oct 12). We have received our new equipment and welcome anyone who wants to give it a try. There is a cost of $2 per person per session. (Floor curling is also offered by the Colinton seniors and is open to Athabasca seniors. Sessions are on the first and third Monday at the Colinton Hall from 1:00 – 3:30 for $2 per person per session.) Contact Kathy Ponto at 780-675-4035 if you have any questions.


• Line dancing will now be offered on Wednesday evenings starting September 23 at 6:15. Cost is $2 per session for members (50+) and $5 for non-members. No dancing on October 14. Contact Cammy Peden at 780-675-5665 if you have any questions.


• Art classes will be offered on alternating Wednesday afternoons from 1:00-3:30 starting on September 23 at cost of $8 per session. This is a members-only activity. Contact Kathy Ponto at 780-675-4035 if you have any questions.


• Yoga will be offered on Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:00 starting on, October 22. The cost is $6, members only. Contact Cammy Peden at 780-675-5665 if you have any questions.

Our regular activities continue as follows, but please note the closures due to Elections Alberta bookings:

• Bridge/Canasta games are held every Tuesday. Games start promptly at 1:00, so please show up at least 10 minutes early. Open to all members. No games on October 13 or 20.
• Billiards/Snooker games are held every second Wednesday and every Saturday from 1:00 – 4:00. No games on October 14 or 17.
• Exercise classes are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11:00 – 11:45. No classes on October 12 (Thanksgiving) or October 14, 16, and 19.
• Bingo is held on the first, third, and fifth Monday of every month. No Bingo on October 19.

Membership is currently at 200+. Some activities, such as floor curling and line dancing, are open to non-members, and we hold pancake breakfasts and bingos open to the entire community. There are no paid positions in our Society – it is run strictly by volunteers, many of whom put in significant time and effort to ensure that the Society is able to fulfill the needs of our seniors. We are very disappointed that we had to cancel two activities for this fall, one of which was to be a major fundraiser. Please consider stepping up when asked.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact us at atsenior@telus.net.

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“Together we create a welcoming community where
friendships grow, laughter is shared, and everyone belongs.”