Greetings to Vintage Characters. I hope you are enjoying this wet, but largely pleasant summer. Some Vintage matters in the summer of ’26.
The Board of Directors
As most of you know, the Society of Vintage Characters is managed by a Board, consisting of 7 members, a President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary (the Executive) and 3 Directors, Casino, Event Coordinator and Membership. The Executive positions are elected to 2 year terms and the Director positions are appointed by the Board to a one year term. None of these positions are paid.
Over the years, individuals have served, resigned and been replaced. It has been a seamless process. It is important to note, however, that we have always had individual Vintage members step forward to fill vacancies. We will have at least 2 significant openings on the Board this year, President and Membership Director. These are important positions. It is for this reason that we want to give the Membership advance notice of these opportunities to serve. Please consider whether you have the interest or background to be a member of the Board and offer your names for consideration of these openings.
The Board meets about 6 times a year. Meetings are about 2 hours in length. I have been a member of the Board for many years. It is a harmonious and efficient group. Most members find it a reasonable workload and an enjoyable experience. More information to come in the next few months. Please consider.
For more information, contact me:
Dave Colburn - President, Society of Vintage Characters
Welcoming and caring environment
The Board has recently been discussing the importance of reaching out to new members attending their first events, and making them feel welcome and comfortable. We are considering a formalized process to accomplish this but recognize that all of our members can make a difference. If you become aware of a new member experiencing a Vintage event, we encourage you to welcome them and ask if they have any questions. We can make a difference for new members!
Volunteerism
Our volunteer activities at the Food Bank and Hope Mission are going well. Both are very popular and well supported. We have a monthly volunteer session at the Hope, alternating between downtown (food service) one month and Girard Rd (sandwich making) the next. We volunteer at the Food Bank every 6-8 weeks. If you are interested in volunteering be sure to register promptly after you receive the invitation.
The Board recently underlined the importance of volunteerism for Vintage Characters by creating a new position of Volunteer Director. This appointment will be filled at the January, 2027 AGM.
Event Planning
With a growing membership, event planning has become a full-time job. Previously, Vintage had an Event Director who handled all event planning (tip of the hat to Gerry Hofs who did yeoman’s work). Now, we have a 3-person committee managing events.
Still, it is complicated work. Events have to be selected, scheduling has to take place, costs assessed, invitations sent, the Board advised, registrations tracked and event hosted. Whew! I’m exhausted simply talking about this.
As membership increases, it becomes an increasingly delicate process to balance the number of tickets purchased vs estimated cost. We have a limited budget based largely on our casino fundraising. The event committee has to estimate interest and cost and buy tix accordingly. We usually purchase between 25-50 tickets per event, occasionally more, for popular events (eg. Winspear Xmas concert). We know tickets are not always available for members. Sometimes the event committee can purchase additional tickets at the last moment to accommodate high interest. Sometimes not. A tip of the hat to the Event Planning Committee for their excellent work selecting unique, diverse and engaging events.
For more information or suggestions, contact:
Roberta Babcock - Event Planning Committee, “Society of Vintage Characters”
rb_babcock@hotmail.com
Communicating with our members
Recently, members received their first “Vintage Voice” newsletter. A huge thanks to Roberta Babcock, past Board member and current member of the Planning Committee, who agreed to create and edit this newsletter. The intent is to distribute the newsletter quarterly.
In the near future the Board will be sending out a questionnaire to members on a variety of issues. Both of these initiatives are designed to deepen the dialogue between our membership and the Board.
Short snappers (as in Jeopardy’s short snappers)
Enjoy the last days of summer,
Best wishes
Dave Colburn
President
Society of Vintage Characters
President’s Blog
It has been a good year, culminating with the AGM, Jan 31, attended by 40 members. I like to think it is always a good year when you are a member of Vintage Characters.
In 2025 our membership experienced an orderly increase from 137 to 160 members.
This and That
Charitable donations continued, reaching almost $10,000 in total. A highlight of this activity occurred when we discovered a matching grant program that doubled any donation made to the Food Bank within a 2 week period. We made our donation within that period and voila, our $6,000 grant became $12,000! A reminder that members are able to make recommendations for organizations worthy of a donation. Details of this process are on our web site, under governance. Recommendations must be submitted by April 1.
We have introduced a few new policies in the past year. For an update on Vintage Characters policy changes please visit our website, under governance.
Events, events events…We could talk about events for a long while but a few highlights of the year…..lawn bowling, CKUA tour and Leeroy Stagger concert, A Very Merry Xmas Winspear concert, a visit to Metis Crossing, an Elks football game, volunteering at the Food Bank and the Hope Mission, and many, many more. In the words of one member, Vintage Characters offers a variety of events that most members would not normally attend. These events allowed members to interact, mingle and share.
Volunteerism and Hope Mission
Our Food Bank volunteer activity has become very popular. Every 6-8 weeks, we have 20 Vintage members volunteering at the Food Bank warehouse. The success of this initiative prompted the Board to reflect on the potential of doing more. In August/2025, 2 Board members were given a tour of the Hope Mission and surroundings. The need of the area and population was clear. Following discussions with the Volunteer Coordinator of the Hope Mission, 2 opportunities for Hope volunteerism were identified. One, in an industrial area on Girard Road (sandwich making and bagging lunches for city wide delivery) and the other working at the downtown Hope Mission in the area of food delivery.
To date we have had 2 volunteer sessions at Girard Rd and one downtown. I have hosted all 3 and would like to share some thoughts. Girard Rd is in an industrial area, easily accessible, pristine clean, well managed, has adequate on site parking, and is staffed by friendly and helpful Hope employees. There are no concerns about safety.
Our inaugural volunteer session at the downtown Hope Mission went very well. Parking (3 hr) was plentiful. Time flew by and the kitchen staff were especially hospitable and supportive. Serving meals was fast paced and rewarding. Polite thank yous and warm smiles were commonplace from the clients being fed. It was rewarding and uplifting to serve so many hungry and appreciative people from the inner city. The line up seemed endless. Mass feeding started at 10:30 and lasted until 11:40.There is no concern about safety. Most of our Vintage volunteers (8 of 9) attended our “coffee and a bite” gathering following our session. We visited the 104 Ave & 112 St Tims and parking was ample.
The individuals who have volunteered at both locations have been very positive about their experience. All Hope volunteers are invited to a post Tims gathering for coffee and conversation
I urge members to consider joining us at the Hope Mission and making a small contribution to improving the lives of our vulnerable population. We can make a difference.
Summer of 2025 … Message From the President
Some of you may remember the Bryan Adams song, “Summer of 69”. In it, he sings “these are the best days of our lives”. I would not suggest that these, your senior days, are the best days of your lives but we hope that they are good days. We are committed at Vintage Characters to, in some small way, making them good days. Listen to Bryan Adam’s song. It rocks.
Food Bank
The Food Bank volunteer session continues to be one of our most popular events. The Food Bank has advised us to limit our numbers to 20 volunteers in order to efficiently manage their warehouse work. We always have our 20 volunteers and a few people on the alternate list. In fact, member response has been so strong we are looking for ways to expand our Food Bank work and/or add additional volunteer opportunities in other environments. Stay tuned.
One item I should bring to your attention is a clarification on our Brewsters gathering, following a Food Bank volunteer session. Food purchases have been varied. This has created some issues in managing our funds. The Board recently decided to limit these purchases to $25 per person for food and non-alcoholic drink. This will be a minor guideline that will not diminish the social aspect of the moment.
This and that
An enthusiastic welcome to three new members on the Vintage Characters Board, Roberta Babcock, Member at Large, Gerri Tabak, Secretary, and Kim Franklin our new Casino Director. There are now 8 members on the Board of Directors.
We currently have 133 members, up from 125 in February.
Thanks to all members who took the time to make recommendations for charitable donations. We are currently working our way through the paperwork of this world. We will finalize our charitable donations in the next month or so.
The Board has decided to purchase/create name tags for members. There will be no cost to members. Stay tuned.
We are raising money for the Hope Mission No Child Hungry Walk, June 7th. Join our team (Vintage Characters) and walk or donate, please. You will find more information on that on our website under Volunteer Events.
The events planned this summer will have a decided “outdoors” feel to them. We hope you will find something that appeals to you. Enjoy, and have a great summer.
Go Oilers Go!!!!
As the year winds down, we have many reasons to believe that it has been a good year, indeed, for the Society of Vintage Characters. Our membership continues to grow, we had a successful casino in September and, at the risk of being immodest, we continue to offer an excellent array of events to our membership. Most events are fully subscribed.
I am pleased to invite members to our AGM, scheduled for January 25, 2nd floor, Bellevue Community League, the Centennial Room, 2-4 PM. This is an early heads up to "mark your calendar". In addition to year end reports there will be an election of officers. More information on this election will follow in early January. For the time being consider whether you have an interest to join the Board and participate in the management of our organization. The time commitment is modest and we value "new blood."
I will see many of you at our Winspear concert event, Dec. 21. To all of you, however, I extend the very best holiday wishes and a Happy New Year.
Looking forward to 2025.
Seasons greetings,
Dave Colburn\
I hope you have had a good summer and I hope this summer lasts another two months.
In addition to creating an array of activities for our membership. the Board of Directors is committed to encouraging seniors to be active, connected and contributing to community. The Society of Vintage Characters contributes thousands of dollars annually to charities and volunteers regularly at the Food Bank. On July 26, 15 Vintage Characters volunteered their time for the Christmas Bureau at The Taste of Edmonton. It was a fun time, but more importantly, their efforts made other people's lives a little better. The email below is an eloquent and informative testimonial of appreciation from the Christmas Bureau.
Seniors making a difference!
Best wishes,
Dave Colburn, President, Society of Vintage CharactersEmail: davecolb@yahoo.com
This has been an eventful year for Vintage Characters. We have experienced considerable change at the Board level. Two members who continue to play important roles on the Board, Gerry Hofs, (Event Director), formerly President, and Michael Rezko (Casino Director), formerly Treasurer, continue to play key roles in Vintage Characters.
Michael and Gerry not only contributed countless hours developing Vintage Characters over the years but co-founded our organization. To Michael and Gerry, a sincere thank you for your past and ongoing work. To the new members of our Board, welcome and onward!
The Society of Vintage Characters has had a very strong relationship with Edmonton's Food Bank since our creation in 2018. We make a significant annual financial contribution and commit to a volunteer session in their warehouse every 6-8 weeks. We are proud of this partnership. Seniors making a difference. Please share the importance of supporting the Food Bank with friends and family.
It is half way thru the year and we have already had several successful events. Many more to come. Our events are well attended. Members are urged to register early for activities as we are often fully subscribed.
If you have questions/comments or ideas please do not hesitate to contact me.
