Another month has whizzed by, full of fun and activities. In last month’s ECHO I announced that the Board had decided that we have a dire need for a paid Office Manager to be a constant at the front desk during our open hours. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that as of July 17th Pam Demers was hired to fill that position. She will be a familiar face to those who use the Centre as she worked regularly at the front desk. As a volunteer she attended all the tutorials and web instruction to learn how to use the new MySeniorCenter (MSC) system and then took it upon herself to teach other volunteers. She was elected to the SSAC Board at the recent AGM but to take up the paid position, she had to resign. We were surprised and delighted when she expressed interest in this position as Office Manager. There could be no better candidate. She knows the MSC system thoroughly, is highly organised and has a very pleasant manner with both members and volunteers alike. Pam will be at the front desk 9am to 3pm as a consistent voice to the membership and minimising the stressful burden the MSC system had imposed on our wonderful office volunteers.
In the light of Pam’s move to the Office Manager position, we now have two Board positions available, one being for Maintenance Director and the other is the Director at large. If you are interested in joining the Board let me know at , and I can give you some insight into the requirements of the position.
Gill Smith has a redefined position as Manager of Operations & Engagement. She will be continuing her great work with activity and rentals coordination, and community outreach, but will not be responsible for MSC or front office operations. She works in the back office and will be posting drop-in and appointment availability times five days per week between 11 am and 3 pm. Elsewhere in this edition you will find details of our new office organisation and availability of services.
Sadly, I must report that we are losing an incredible volunteer to the SSAC, as Chris O’Brennan leaves us and returns to live in Squamish. Twice a Board member, Chris has been a tireless worker for the Centre. She was a regular office worker, and in addition, she was the major work horse facilitating our two successful Flea Markets last year. We had planned to hold a Flea Market in August, but now with the loss of Chris we sadly are not able to take on that challenge. You may also be aware of the embroidered and cut out greeting cards on sale from the display in the main corridor. Chris makes all of these and all the proceeds from sales she donates to the SSAC. To date that donation is approaching $1,500. We will miss her but are so pleased to see how happy she is to be surrounded by friends, whilst living in a modern top floor condo with a view of Garibaldi. We cannot thank her enough for her service. Our loss is Squamish’s gain.
Recent heavy rains have shown one thing, we had some leaky gutters needing repair. There needed to be some corner gutter repairs plus all gutters were recaulked. In addition, on the upper roof, extra flashing needed to be installed to ensure that all water was directed to the gutters and not allowed to continue getting behind the fascia. It was essential to get this taken care of once identified, and at a cost of around $1,700, is another example of the sizable ongoing maintenance costs that we incur. There is need however, for some vigilance concerning the state of the roof. We have a tin roof that requires a protective coating to prevent it from rusting away. There are large parts of our roof where the protective coating has weathered away, with some minor rust at the edges. We will be getting quotes for the cleaning and recoating of the roof. This may well cost in the order of $10,000 but is necessary to avoid complete replacement of the roof in the not-too-distant future.
With the changes in the office management and vigilant monitoring of maintenance issues and stable finances, we feel we are positioned well to continue to offer the best quality and economical services of the Centre to our members. As always, we want the SSAC to be a welcoming place for you to come to. “Your home away from home”.
