The Parksville Golden Oldies Sports Association just turned 25 years old.
The sports and recreation group that started out as a hockey organization in 1993 celebrated its quarter-of-a-century anniversary at its annual summer picnic that was held at the Community Park in Parksville last Friday.
The celebration was attended by Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre and Parksville-Qualicum MLA Michelle Stilwell as well the Parksville RCMP officer in charge of community policing, Cpl. Jesse Foreman. Lefebvre made the announcement that July 20 is now “PGOSA Day in Parksville.”
“What you do in the community is fantastic and now that I am retiring I probably will join PGOSA,” said Lefebvre, who announced recently that he is not running for another term in office in the upcoming municipal elections.
Stilwell said she’s always advocated for PGOSA to newcomers to the area, raving about how great this group is in fostering sports, healthy recreational and social activities.
“Twenty-five years is a big event to make it that long to have a group who is so committed to healthy, active living, ” Stilwell told members of PGOSA. “I commend you all. Maybe in 11 years, when I am 55 I’d be able to join you all. How’s that?”
The celebration featured a lunch, performances by Rainbow Stew Cloggers, belly dancing and a variety of games.
PGOSA vice-president Jim Powell said when the group started in 1993, no one expected it to grow to become one of the most active senior organizations on Vancouver Island and across Canada.
“We’re about 1,300 members by the end of the year and we usually have about eight to 10 physical activities that members can participate in,” said Powell.
PGOSA also offers not only sporting activities but also social events. The average age of their members is around 75 years old.
“We have quite a number of activities people can be involved in and it really fits our community well and I believe that’s why it’s growing so fast,” said Powell.
