‘Fun begins at 50’ at Simcoe Seniors’ Centre
- Lisa Timpf
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Simcoe Seniors’ Centre vice-president Wayne Inglehart (left) and president Linda Cumisky pose near a banner at the Simcoe Recreation Centre. The centre offers a number of activities, including card and other games, fitness activities, crafts, and the highly-popular pickleball.
By Lisa Timpf
Advocate Contributor
On the wall near the Dogwood Room in the Simcoe Recreation Centre, a banner proclaims that “fun begins at 50.” It’s a bold motto, but it’s one that the Simcoe Seniors’ Centre lives by.
Founded in 1974, the Simcoe Seniors’ Centre is older than some of its prospective members. The Seniors’ Centre is open to individuals 50 and older, and offers a range of fitness, social, crafts, and game-playing activities.
Prior to Covid, the Seniors’ Centre was housed in a Pond Street building. In 2021, they relocated to the Recreation Centre. The Pond Street building felt homier to some members, as it consolidated most of the action in one general area. At the Recreation Centre, some activities take place on the upper levels and some down by the multipurpose floor.
However, the Recreation Centre venue allows the group to provide a wider range of offerings than was the case on Pond Street. Seniors’ Centre president Linda Cumisky cites pickleball, which is now the group’s most popular activity, as a case in point.
Walking is popular during the winter months. The Recreation Centre offers a smooth walking surface, and Wayne Inglehart, Seniors’ Centre vice-president, notes that this is particularly important for members who use walkers as mobility aids, or those who have a tough time navigating snowy or icy sidewalks.
A Wednesday afternoon tour of the Recreation Centre with Cumisky and Inglehart provided a look at a number of the Seniors’ Centre activities taking place that day. The clacking of tiles could be heard near the Dogwood Room, where chicken foot dominoes was on tap. Next door in the Norfolk Room, a floor shuffleboard game was underway.
At the former arena mezzanine level, billiards players gathered around a table, while nearby, tables set up for craft activities awaited the next session. A folded-up table tennis apparatus stood next to a wall, ready for action.
Music wafted from the multipurpose floor, where a line dancing group rehearsed their moves. In a lower-level room, we visited a well-stocked library that included the works of popular authors like James Patterson, Michael Connelly, and Sandra Brown.
The Seniors’ Centre’s weekly activity schedule includes card games like bid euchre, cribbage, and bridge. Fitness activities such as walkabouts, pickleball, strength training, “sit and fit,” and yoga are offered. Times are also set aside for crafts, singing, cornhole, darts, knitting, and creative arts. And that’s just a shortlist drawn from the Seniors’ Centre’s weekly activity schedule.
Cumisky and Inglehart noted that involvement in various activities fluctuates with the seasons. Walking is more popular in the winter, and some of the card-playing slows down when the weather warms up enough to allow for golf and gardening. Nonetheless, the Seniors’ Centre offers programs all year round, including the summer months.
The Seniors’ Centre runs special events, like a Strawberry Social and a November Christmas Bazaar and Wellness Fair. There’s also a monthly newsletter to keep members up to date on schedules, upcoming events, and other information.
Cumisky notes that often members start with one activity and then find themselves interested in others. She visited the Seniors’ Centre in 2009 to take a tai chi class, and hasn’t looked back.
“You come here for one thing and it tends to mushroom,” Inglehart agreed.
Both Cumisky and Inglehart feel that the Seniors’ Centre serves a valuable purpose.
“It’s like family,” Cumisky says.
Inglehart adds that the Seniors’ Centre “keeps people from being isolated in their home.”
Friendships are formed, and some members pick up others on the way to the Centre, providing access to those who might not be able to get their on their own.
Thanks to the range of activities provided, the Simcoe Seniors’ Centre has seen membership rise from around 600 when they were at the Pond Street facility, to over 1,200. Currently, they’re sitting at around 1,255 members. New members are always welcome to join, says Cumisky.
The Seniors’ Centre’s membership year runs from September 1 to August 31. Membership costs $45 per person, and membership forms can be picked up during the Seniors Centre’s operating hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
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