18 Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 23, 1987

_- Happy Gan

' TERRACE — When members

of Branch 73 of the B.C. Old

Age Pensioner’s Organization

(BCOAPO) gathered at the
Happy Gang Centre for dinner
and a social evening on Sept. 14,
it marked the seventh anniver-
Sary of the first real ‘‘home
away from home’”’ for seniors in
Terrace.

by Tod Strachen

‘ The original group of Senior
Citizens was first formed in the

- fall of 1958 under the leadership

of Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Griffiths,

Fred Fisher, Mrs. J.H. Walker,
Marianne Clark, Marion Ayres,
Mrs. M. Krumm, Ross and Rose
King, Vincent Sokoloski, Guy

' Taft, George Hipp and Alec

Olson as members: They were

' granted their Charter of Rights

as Branch 73 of the BCOAPO
on Dec. 15, 1958.
Mr. Griffiths was elected as
the first president, a-position he
held for 13 years until 1971 when
he passed away; Muriel O'Boyle
was elected as the group's first

’ secretary.

Following the first few
meetings in the United: Church,.-

‘Branch.73 members moved their
‘base'of operation to the Royal

Canadian Legion auditorium, _ The desire of the members of
and later to the original Terrace Branch 73 of the BCOAPO and
Community Centre where mem-' their New Horizons Committee
bers were given free membership for a céntre of their own led to
privileges on its completion,’ ‘the formation of a’ Building
The community centre was de: Committee in April 1978, with
stroyed by fire in August, 1971 Jane Greveling as chairman,
and meetings were again held in Emil Haugland as project ad-
the Legion auditorium while the visor, Gladys Oliver and. -sec-
Terrace Arena was being built, retary and Fern.Capling filling
The membership raised approx- - the position of treasurer...
imately $7,000 towards the cost The city returned the $7,000
of the Senior Citizens Room in which the membership had in-
the arena which they moved into vested in the arena complex and
in 1973, - ee the money was used to purchase
This was the first facility the
seniors could call their.own and
it served as a centre for meetings. Municipal Hall. Construction
and activities until the opening began in the spring of 1980. -
of the. Happy Gang Centre in- . ‘With the building completed
' 1980. ae - about six.months later, MP. Jim
. Although it was the best facili- Fulton, "MLA Frank Howard
ty the group had had to date, the and Mayor Dave Maroney cof-
Senior Citizens Room did have ficiated. at the. opening
its flaws. Concerns centred on’ ceremonies of the Happy Gang
poor ventilation, a lack of space, Centre on Sept. 13, 1980.
the lack of cooking facilities, . Through the determination
difficult access for some seniors and untiring efforts of the
due to the stairs and use of the building committee, and — the
room by other community willing cooperation of the entire
groups. Members moved. their community, Terrace Seniors

Kalum St., the site of the old

a piece of proparty at 3226.

g celebrates seventh '

finally had a building they could .

call their own. .

The many and varied activities
at the present centre include an
economical light luncheon every
weekday, daily card games, sew-
ing and quilting Tuesday morn-
ings and cribbage Tuesday eve-
nings, carpet bowling on Wed-.
nesdays, bingo _ every Friday

- afternoon .and bridge in the

evening, a pancake breakfast on
the first Saturday of every
month (open to the public), a
monthly dinner and dance, an
annual Valentine’s Dinner

‘(catered by the men), an An-

niversary Dinner every Septem-

_ ber, a Hallowe’en Pot Luck

Supper, a bazaar every
November with quality home-
made crafts, and_a Christmas
Dinner and Party in December.

In addition, on their own in-.
_itiative or in conjunction with:
other centers, tours are arranged
at nominal rates every year to .

destinations such as Whitehorse,
Yukon, and F va
Also, through these tours the

Reno, Nevada..

‘seniors trom areas as
as Edmonton, Alberta.

Several community organiza- ~
tions and local. businesses. also °

add to the annual activities. _

- These include volunteers from
the Terrace Kinettes who -pro-
vide transportation to and from
meetings and host the’ annual
Sweethearts Dinner .and Dance:

every February; the Ladies Aux. -
iliary of Branch 13 of the Royal °

Canadian Legion organizes an
annual Christmas Dinner. and
Dance; the Ladies of the Royal

Purple provide a tea and social .° - ;
afternoon every June and assist.

with the Annual Tea and Bazaar .
in November; and the Terrace =:
Co-op holds an annual Christ-- .°.

mas Shopping Night. -

“Each of these events are very :

much enjoyed by us all-and we.
are truly grateful

Gang . Centres

activities into the arena banquet
room a few years later: and plans -
for.their own building began to |.
-emerge. . . -

y's

ee

"These building sites viewed from N. Eby St. are indicative of a revitalized
atmosphere in the local construction industry. Housing starts to date this

| J ust

following year.

» year in Terrace total 24.

“TERRACE — New housing
‘Starts in Terrace this year now

gotal 24 and, according to city
building inspector Gerry Lich-
tenféld, the trend is expected to

- continue‘ for the next: few years

and. the markef will be even
stronger in 1988.

Lichtenfeld said the estimated
yalue of new housing to date this
year is $2,015,045, and the total
for all residential construction
including renovations and addi-
tions is $2,625,092. This com-
pared with similar figures from
1986: of $920,214, and only

* $457,264 in 1985.

He said that in addition to
housing, commercial construc-

- tion now totals $1,349,498 for

the year, $723,400 of that for
new Office at Manuel’s Res-
taurant, about the same as the
previous two years combined.

Industrial construction now
totals $3,350,000, up
$3,027,080, largely due to the
new Skeena Cellulose mill. In-
stitutional construction totals
$1,012,300, about half that of
the previous year when the new
RCMP building went up.

The continued growth is

(including payment) to:

reflected in the total estimated
construction values to date of
$8.4 million for the year, com-
pared to $4.1 million in 1986 and
$1.5 million in 1985,
Lichtenfeld said Terrace is [4 }/[s
still shy of the $14 million all- J ((~ a =
time high in the area, but he said |.
that compared to the six to 10°. | 4m

abba baad EY Per hal AUNW RTA ato BM ee
houses built annually since 1981 fA} 4)" eat: eh ga yegt AE Att: F | a .
the present figures are encourag- y “th t caus ia y iN Oh | if aa ‘ j ee, HP i
ing, with “‘a lot of major com- ‘a sit Ad f P 4 , yi . My yh " Wy af
metcial expansion’? ‘predicted in Ceara NUTR E He ah 3
the near future. { i {tes acta i 3 7
“Everything looks very i? PUNTA WGAEN AY ATR Ah ONT ARAY sas iL Cay

“Terrace District & Thornhill residents can take advantage a
of fantastic savings offered by: ,

- $24,00

OT

Dd an ae a :

fi) Present Terrace Review. subscribers can also get in on this
spectacular saving by renewing their subscription for the

Happy Gang Centre has hosted

. .

\ " . . . . - — : | | }
The Terrace Review
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at _ Magazine at an outstanding price of:

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Imagine, local news and entertainment all in your mailbox —
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newsstand price), but only if you subscribe before

_ September 30, 1987

. Local constr uct ion | i Flin this order form below and drop it of ot mail it
_., fegaining health — {jt

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_ 4535 Grelg Avenue
Terrace, B.C, V8G 1M7

| But hurry, this offer
| _ ends September 30,1987.

“4
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a call at 635-9090.

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healthy,” he said. ‘‘We were |
lucky here. After everything
dropped off in 1981, we’ve been
Steadily increasing over the
years,”’

According to Northwest Real
Estate Board President Gordon
Olson, the real estate market has
been reasonably strong, and
even though there has been no
great increase in prices, the

wy ,{1 Cheque © Money Order

_ Subscription Order Form:
0 1 year - $24

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o Charge Card: MasterCard [) -

years - $45.

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market is ‘‘reasonably steady’’. Name
He said that a shortage in Address

housing in the area had sparked

new construction. ‘‘The last two

years have been reasonably

steady and we've slowly eaten up Phone

our inventory,’’ he said,

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Mail or bring this form to: .

’ Terrace Review
- 4535 Greig Ave., _
Terrace, B.C.
V8G 1M7

faraway,

to these-
organizations for their courtesy |. -
and kindness,’’ said one senior... - - -
Anyone: interested: in joining -
OF supporting any of the Happy: ;
( activities is...
welcome to-drop in or give them — - -

oe
ee |

Sr er former