Starting South Okanagan Newcomers Group

Are you new to the South Okanagan area in the last couple of years and interested in meeting others looking to make connections with others in the community? If yes, read this article, because the content is for you.

Max and Janet Uhlemann moved to Oliver in late August of this year, and rented a small house so they could get a sense of community before buying a home. They moved from Victoria where they lived for 33 years working in that community as teachers. With two grown children in the Oliver area and their first grandchild due in November, they decided a move to the South Okanagan was a great idea.

They looked for ways to make connections with others in the community and found the Community Recreation Centre and Oliver Senior Centre in addition to other welcoming organizations. Max and Janet believed the existing organizations were great, but they were looking for additional ways to connect with other people new to the South Okanagan community with the same needs as they, being new to the area. They remembered hearing from Victoria friends about the Sydney community on Vancouver Island having a thriving organization for new people to that community called the Peninsula Newcomers Club. Two old friends from Ontario who moved to Victoria reported this Club was the best connection to the new community they had made.

Max and Janet, with the support of the Oliver Senior Centre, volunteered to start a South Okanagan (SO) Newcomers Group with social and educational goals and the same purposes as the one in Sydney. These purposes are the following:

• welcome individuals and couples new to the South Okanagan;
• provide them with useful information about the area;
• meet in friendship with other Newcomers; and
• provide social events for members.

The SO Newcomers Group will build on the activities existing at the Oliver Senior Centre and will develop new activities based on the interests of the members. Example activities at the Peninsula Newcomers Club currently include hiking, bowling, walking, golfing, pencil and painting, investment, three types of book groups, biking, potluck lunch, scrabble, quilting, dining out, bridge, dining in, dog walking, tours, exercise, wine and apps, and stretch and chat. The SO Newcomers Group can be as active as its members choose for it to be. The options are limitless.

Join us for the first meeting on January 10, 2013 at the Oliver Senior Centre from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm for the first meeting and on subsequent 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. The Oliver Senior Centre address is 5876 Airport Street and is located just behind the RCMP station.

If you want more information before the January meeting, contact Max or Janet Uhlemann: at- 250-498-2121

See you there.