SUNDRE — Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society organized a parade last week in recognition of the annual Seniors’ Week, which was observed June 1-7.
Led by Kevin Heerema, the municipality’s peace officer, the June 3 procession had about half a dozen vehicles, which also included a couple of units from the Sundre Fire Department. It started off visiting the Mountain View Seniors’ Housing campus of care before also going on to make stops at Bearberry Condos, Foothills Terrace, Wildrose Court as well as Pioneer Lodge.
Renate de Bruijn, the society’s community outreach coordinator, expressed gratitude for everyone who joined the effort to salute local seniors, and said Heerema “was a great help in planning the route and getting the Sundre firefighters and RCMP on board.”
Bruce and Darlene Temple were driving a 1988 Buick LeSabre T-Type, while Bruce and Anne Brander drove a 1937 Ford Coupe and de Bruijn drove a 1968 Ford Mustang.
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The day before the parade, de Bruijn, accompanied by Lorey Marsden, the society's senior service provider, also spent some time at the IGA during the morning handing out flowers to seniors who were shopping.
“This year, we initially had an event planned at the Sundre legion, but that had to be postponed until further notice,” said de Bruijn.
“We hope that we can have this event in the fall.”
In light of being forced to delay its annual Seniors’ Week celebration as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, de Bruijn said the society came up with the alternate plans as a way to reach out, recognize and honour the past, present, and future contributions of the seniors in the community and throughout the province.
“Since we did not want Seniors’ Week to go by unnoticed, we decided that we would go out and let them know how much we appreciate our Sundre seniors,” she said.
“Hopefully this will bring a smile on their faces.”