Society of Vintage Characters Presidents Blog

It's Been a Good Year

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 20:40:50 GMT

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.

A footnote on events. Due to increased membership, the Board of Directors has shifted event planning from a single Event Director format to a 3 person event planning committee. The complexity of this work requires additional energy.

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 ...

Thu, 29 May 2025 16:10:40 GMT

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 7^th. 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!!!!

Dave Colburn

President

Society of Vintage Characters

A Good Year Indeed !

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 05:45:17 GMT

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\

President

Society of Vintage Characters

Greetings Members!

Yvette Cioran — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 23:36:16 GMT

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 Characters
Email: davecolb@yahoo.com

AGM Update

Yvette Cioran — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 23:45:24 GMT

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.

Best wishes,

Dave Colburn, President,
Society of Vintage Characters
Email: davecolb@yahoo.com