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The 30th annual Strawberry Social event was a real hit with all our guests. Over 160 seniors and their care givers congregated at the Knights of Columbus hall in Oakville this afternoon where they partook of a special Strawberry shortcake. The added scoop of ice cream made it that much special especially on this warm afternoon.
The weather gods were with us and all the iced tea and lemonade we got as donations, went down easily on this hot Sunday afternoon.
It was delightful see so many seniors hit the dance floor and dance away to tunes from days gone by. Tim Allan, our entertainer has entertained our guests for several years and with sing sheets in hand, many sang along.
Our incoming Rotary president, Karen Milner welcomed our guests and our final speaker, the Mayor of Oakville, Rob Burton welcomed our guests and handed them each a pin representing the town of Oakville. That was a nice touch.
Some of our guests won raffle prizes and, everyone went home with a goody bag with items donated by two fabulous corporate citizens - Shoppers Drugmart in Oakville Place and Husky Foods in Mississauga. Our cake was donated by Monastery Bakery and the lemonade and iced tea came from Fortino’s on Lakeshore. The beautiful flowers that our guests took home were a gift from Fortino’s on Dundas and our ice cream was donated by Metro on Rebecca. The raffle items were donated by Sobeys on Upper Middle Road and Maple Grove Mall. We handed out special cupcakes to those who celebrated a birthday in the past month and, we have to thank Cupid’s Cupcakes for their generous donation. Every year, all our corporate donors make our event that much special and for this we are truly grateful.
Vanda ,
Many, many thanks to you and the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar for making the Strawberry Social such a wonderful event. I thought it was a very successful 30th anniversary celebration!
Our clients and volunteers all enjoyed themselves and the feedback was very positive. It was great to see that conga line!
We at Acclaim Health are very grateful for the partnership we have with your Rotary Club. Your members make everyone feel so welcomed and special.
Thank you again for all of your hard work to make this such a successful event.
Testimonials
One of the coordinators gave me some stories and feedback that she received and I wanted to share it with you.
From a daughter:
Dad had so much fun at the social. I was as surprised as you were that he got up to dance but it was amazing to see. I told my Mom and showed her the pictures I took (client and wife amicably divorced) and she was delighted to hear how open he was to meet people and to have fun. It's been so long since we've seen him like this. This is just another way that you (Joanne) have made our lives better and helped me to keep Dad at home with me.
From a volunteer:
My client was so happy to be there and to see me and to see you. Everyone was so happy and she was too shy to dance and me too but I think she might next time. She was so happy she came and her daughter said it was very special that we invited her. She thanked me so much for being her special friend and to taking her to such a special event. She felt much younger in her years again at and after that party.
From a client:
Thank you for inviting me to the social. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, going without my husband for the first time. Many first times at things without him have been very difficult. Here, everyone was so happy to be there and happy to be with other people and I felt so welcome and so included that there was no room to feel alone. It was a wonderful afternoon and I think it may be a sign that I'm doing okay without (husband) - not perfect, not my old self, but okay - so thank you for that.
These are just a few examples of how the Strawberry Social really makes a difference in our clients’ lives.
Thank you again for 30 years of support!
Patricia Blakeley
Director, Community
Acclaim Health
AND MANY THANKS TO ALL OF OUR CLUB VOLUNTEERS, SOME OF WHOM ARE PICTURED BELOW!
