Tudor and Cashel open new Seniors Active Living Centre

By Michael Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tudor and Cashel Township has opened up a new Seniors Active Living Centre. Councillor Elain Holloway contacted The Bancroft Times about this on Jan. 28 and they posted about it to their township Facebook page the same day. Holloway said that the announcement of the new SALC “was better than Christmas this morning.”

On Jan. 28, MPP Ric Bresee came by Tudor and Cashel Township during that mornings' Weekly Strength and Fun Exercise program, to announce the grand opening of the township's new Seniors Active Living Centre, located at their community centre in Gilmour. Deputy Mayor Bob Bridger, Holloway and CAO Nancy Carrol were present at the announcement. Mayor Dave Hederson, who was unable to be there, was quoted as saying that they are delighted to bring this initiative to their community.

“Our goal is to support seniors in leading active and fulfilling lives by providing a wide range of activities that cater to their interests and needs,” he says.

The Seniors Active Living Centre will offer a variety of activities, including fitness classes, educational workshops, and social events, serving as a valuable resource for seniors in their area. Older adults (55 years of age and older) and seniors (65 years of age and older) are the fastest growing demographic in the province, according to the Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility website. Ontario offers 80 per cent of the net maintenance and operating costs for SALCs, and the township is responsible for the other 20 per cent, either in cash or in-kind funding like providing space or services for the SALC.

Bancroft This Week reached out to Bresee for any further comments, but his executive assistant Anita Ramski pointed out that as of 4 p.m. on Jan. 28, the Ontario parliament was dissolved due to the forthcoming provincial election on Feb. 27, so Bresee could no longer comment on any news releases or make any further announcements.

“We do apologize for the lack of notice, but frankly we were in a huge rush to get out every news release we were sent in a very shortened timeline. We quite literally scheduled our stops while we were on the road headed to Tudor and Cashel,” she says.

Holloway told Bancroft This Week that she was still so excited for this fabulous news for their community and the opening of the SALC. She said their borders are wide open to their neighbouring townships as the Tudor and Cashel Township community centre in Gilmour is situated in the centre of a large geographic area between Madoc and Bancroft.

“We can look at expanding on the programs and services we've worked so hard to establish over the past couple of years which had been funded in part by the Ontario Seniors Accessibility Grant and always well attended. Much of the credit goes to our clerk, Nancy Carrol, she has been working so hard to make this happen for a long time with council's support. Our MPP Ric Bresee and his staff have shown great support to our community attending a number of our local events. His announcement about our new SALC came with applause and excitement among the mornings group of fitness "buffs" attending our Tuesday morning Weekly Strength and Fun Exercise Program. The calendar will be filling up with more and more activities and events over the next weeks and we encourage people to focus on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/share/15YNnVaMh8/  for updates,” she says. “I'm still so pleased that we've been able to accomplish so much for our community and know we're dreaming big, we have so much more we'd like to accomplish.”