August 18 BofD Meeting Highlights

Your Board of Directors met at St. Albert Legion on Monday, August 18.

There were a couple of highlights you should know about.

  1. Rick Meunier has been appointed as our interim Vice President to fill in until the next AGM.
  2.  As I said in the previous post, we were considering closing our Saturday pool sessions due to very poor attendance.
    • This is now confirmed as the city has amended our contract. We will no longer have the Saturday 4:00 pm pool time
    • We as a society have pledged access to water therapy as part of our mission, therefore we will be subsidizing individual memberships at pool facilities of your choice. (City of Edmonton, YMCA. St. Albert or Sherwood Park rec centers, etc)
    • The value membership for seniors at City of Edmonton small to medium sized recreation sites (includes the ACT Center) costs $442.00 for a 1 year membership. Therefore we will subsidize individuals for their pool fees up to a limit of $442.00 per year. Receipts will be required. This subsidy will not count against your $1500.00 reimbursement limit. This will go into effect as of September 2, when the new contract with the city begins.
    • We will continue having the Tuesday sessions with a qualified exercise therapist present to lead the workout routines in a safe, adaptive manner. Here is the link to the Swim Program page for complete details
  3. Please take advantage of this opportunity to get out and to keep moving if you are able to do so!

ACT POOL SCHEDULE

Please be aware that your board is considering eliminating the Saturday scheduled pool time at the ACT center. The final decision will be based on the fact that the time slot is not being utilized. There appear to be only 2 people using the pool on an intermittent basis.

Following up on the above statement, the new pool contract with the city comes into effect September 1 and our Saturday time slot is now officially eliminated. Stay tuned for more news re some form of reimbursement for individual recreation center memberships to help us carry on with our water therapy.

If you have any thought regards this policy change please do get in touch with the office and voice your feelings.

780-428-8842

Lester Campbell

It is with heavy heart that I have to inform you that our long time WPSS member and friend, Lester Campbell has passed away. We send our heartfelt and sincere condolences to Donna and the Campbell family. Donna, know that the WPSS community is there for you.

Lester MacNeil Campbell of Edmonton, AB, passed away on Friday, August 15, 2025 at the age of 87 years. Left to cherish his memory are his wife Donna; children Beryl Clement (Ken Hanlin), Neil (Leanne), and Roxanne Wilson; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; his sister Shirley Stensrud; and numerous nieces and nephews. Lester was predeceased by Albert Campbell, Donald Campbell, Tommy Campbell, Margaret Pike, Doreen Haugen, William Campbell, George Campbell, Bob Campbell, Stuart Campbell and their spouses. A service will be held at 11:00 am, Thursday, August 28, 2025 at the Round Hill Hall. To send condolences, please visit www.burgarfuneralhome.com.

Picnic in the Park

August 8 we will be hosting our annual Picnic in the Park at Emily Murphy Park, Site #1. We start at 10 AM and close it at 2 PM.

We’ll have the fire burning!

Hope to see many of you there

Metis Cultural Experience

July 11, 2025

We met at the St. Albert Legion for a soup and sandwich luncheon and visiting with members. We had about 30 people attending. Following the social time we were privileged to have a metis elder speak about their unique lifestyle and about their use of nature’s resources, specifically fish. We learned about their fishing methods, and their use of the scales and bones as well as the rest of the fish body.

After the talk and slide show we were led through an artistic activity making a small flower out of dyed fish scales. This was a lot of fun and the excellent artistic skills of some of our members really stood out. Some of us not so much… I for one won’t be quitting my day job. Ha!

Casino – June 28-29, 2025

WPSS once again volunteered at the Yellowhead Casino to raise the money which funds our society’s operations for the next year and a half. Thanks to all our volunteers! Extra thanks to those who stepped up to fill in gaps left by the sudden passing of George Kunec. Pat Murray took care of organizational logistics, Val Hitchen filled in as night shift General Manager and Bernie Hornung acted as the lone chip runner on Saturday night. I believe he had the toughest job of any of us, so, hats off to Bernie!

Our sincere condolences go out to Marie and her family as well as to Georges friends here in WPSS.

We should find out what our income for the two days was sometime in August.

 

Picnic in the Park

Friday, August 8, 2025 WPSS will be hosting the annual Picnic at Emily Murphy Park from 10:00 to 2:00 PM. Check the events page for details.

Métis Cultural Experience

On Friday, July 11, 2025 WPSS will be having a luncheon event at the Legion in St. Albert featuring a Métis knowledge keeper giving us a cultural experience. This will include a hands-on activity creating fish scale art!

GROOVY GANG – A MUSICAL PRESENTATION

Please join the Wildrose Polio Support Society for a light lunch of
soup, sandwiches, dessert, tea & coffee, where the ‘Groovy Gang’
will give a presentation of a fantastic way to stay young at heart
through singing.
All seniors (60+ years of age) and their attendants are welcome.
Cost: $5.00 per ticket for members, $15.00 per ticket for
non-members.
Tickets may be ordered by calling the office at 780-428-8842
or emailing us at wpss@polioalberta.ca by Feb. 14, 2025

 

Date:                                         Friday, February 21, 2025
Location:                                Royal Canadian Legion Branch 271
6 Tache St.      St. Albert, AB       T8N 2S4

Registration:                          11:30 – 12:00
Lunch:                                       12:00 – 1:30
Presentation:                            1:30 – 2:30

Groovy Gang Poster

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year!!

Here’s wishing everyone all the best for the holiday celebrations, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other cultural festivities! May we learn to understand each other and to live in peace and harmony.

An outline of the WPSS activity calendar for 2025 is posted in the EVENTS page. Full details will be posted as they become available.

Caregivers Conference

Caregivers Alberta is sponsoring a “Caregivers Conference” in person and on line Nov 1-2. Details in link below.

https://www.caregiversalberta.ca/get-involved/caregivers-conference/