When should you start thinking of yourself as a senior? Whenever that is comfortable for you. But there is no need to wait to join our SKY group, because we encourage participation to start at 55. With 41.7% of our population on-island being 55 and over, you’ll have lots of opportunities to meet new people. It is so important to establish friendships and benefit from being connected to members of our community.
SKY (Seniors Keeping Young) is a group of lively 55-plus Bowen Islanders enjoying social get-togethers, exercise programs, field trips, and each other’s friendship. Ever since Covid threw a wrench into our indoor activities, we’ve been concentrating more on the great outdoors.
Each Wednesday and Friday our walking group gets together for a hike on Bowen, geared to all levels of stamina and mobility. Each Thursday morning the yoga group meets up, led by our lovely Diana. On Mondays, we have Stretch & Strength sessions led by our lively Catherine. Tuesdays are lively with Marc on the piano for Musical Movements. Each of these activities offer options to accommodate differing ability levels.
On the first Wednesday of each month, a lunch party is put together, meeting at one of our local eateries, and the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, you’ll find many SKY friends at the Legion for the Community Soup Lunch that SKY helps with serving the group.
As we are becoming more comfortable with gathering safely again, we have switched from Zoom to in-person for yoga and cardio exercises. We’ve brought in guest speakers on topics of interest to seniors, such as “Button Music”, updates on the Health Centre operations, and “Magic Spoon” (vegan cooking for health). We’ve facilitated many exciting multi-week workshops, such as “Living Your Best Life”, “Personal Writing”, and “The Craft of Writing (fiction)”. We’ve learned Mahjong, and are gathering for some friendly board games and card games at our new Seniors Cottage on Cardena. We’ve even had artistic, cultural, and sometimes wacky field trips. . Since SKY is an organization managed by seniors, for seniors, our program offerings are continually expanding to offer a wider range of fun.
We don’t ask much of our members: to bring your best sense of both humor and kindness, and if you’d like to participate in one of our in-person activities, we recommend following medical advice for personal safety and/or being fully vaccinated. Guests at our activities are asked to contribute $5 for a “day-pass”, or JOIN SKY since membership dues are only $25 per person, or $35 for joint membership (same household) which gives unlimited access to our programs and helps fund our operations.
SKY has been operating quietly in the background of Bowen Island since 1994. Now, as we are celebrating our 30-year anniversary, we are taking a huge step forward by expanding our programs so that we can welcome more of our 55-plus Bowen Islanders to our active and friendly group. If you would like to hear more about SKY, please email us at info@skyonbowenisland.ca or call Lichen at 604-926-1842. We’d love to have you SUBSCRIBE to our monthly Tidings newsletter.
We hope to see you at one of our activities soon!
“Registered Charity #88785 1269 RR0001” “Founded in 1994”