Alice Chan went to Silver Harbour seniors’ centre for the watercolour classes and stayed for the two-stepping.
“They said they have a watercolour painting class and I’m always interested in watercolour painting,” says Chan, who followed in the footsteps of her friends to Silver Harbour five years ago and has since become one of centre’s most active members.
Chan fell in love with watercolour painting in high school but life’s responsibilities got between her and the canvas. She picked up the paintbrush again at Silver Harbour, which offers a variety of art classes.
“First, I like to paint flowers, because I find flowers so beautiful,” says Chan, who is now trying her hand at landscapes.
Chan packs her week by attending programs at Silver Harbour, located in the central Lonsdale area.
Tuesday she does weaving, Thursday is oil painting and on Fridays Chan creates her watercolour masterpieces. Afterwards, she does line dancing.
“I like it so much because you can exercise yourself,” describes Chan of the country western choreographed dance.
Chan worked extra hard on that two-stepping to jump up to the level two line dancing class, where her friends are.
“It’s easy now,” she says.
Using a loom at Silver Harbour, Chan weaves strands of thread and in front of her eyes watches her projects take shape – a shawl, table runner, placemat and scarves. The activity keeps Chan’s mind sharp as there is calculation involved with the thread count for each pattern.
There’s a social atmosphere at Silver Harbour where you can even just stop by for coffee or lunch, says Chan, who also appreciates how affordable the programs are. She pays approximately $20 for an eight-week painting session, but attendees bring their own materials.
A few Silver Harbour programs are free and open to the public, but most require an annual membership ($30) and charge a small seasonal or drop-in fee.
Silver Harbour offers a range of programs and services for seniors, approximately 70 in all, including exercise programs such as yoga, dance and table tennis, creative activities like choir, pottery and woodworking and mental fitness activities like bingo, book club, bridge and language classes.
If you can’t make it to Hawaii this winter, there’s always hula dancing at Silver Harbour to get those hips moving – albeit gently.
Chan says she is inspired by seeing people in their 80s and 90s taking part in programs at the centre.
“They are still very energetic and doing lots of good stuff,” says Chan.
