CELEBRATE
VOLUME 24, NUMBER 12, APRIL 2016
Volunteer Week April 10-16
Free!
Published by Oncore Seniors Society A non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of seniors
Introducing the board:
Gary Grono — Proprietor and sports enthusiast
Strongstart brings generations together Every second Friday of the month, parents and children from the Arthur Hatton Elementary Strongstart program set out on a morning field trip to visit the residents of The Shores retirement home.
Oncore Seniors Society This month we’d like to introduce Gary Grono, a seven-year member of the board who has been living in Kamloops for more than 30 years. Originally from Edmonton, A.B., Grono’s family moved to B.C. while he was still in high school. He graduated from Peachland’s George Pringle Secondary in 1975, before finishing Okanagan College’s engineering technology program four years later. The next year he finished a carpentry apprenticeship program and he has focused his career on residential contracting with a
Gary Grono, Board Member Oncore Seniors Society concentration on renovations. In 1979 Grono married his wife, Wendy, with whom he has three children. In 1984 the family moved to Kamloops. In Kamloops, Grono was the proprietor of both Grono Interior Finishing for 20 years, and the Racquetor Squash Club for five. He also worked as a Sun Rivers construction manager for three years. Sports have always been a big part of Grono’s life.
See "A passion for sports” p.21
Story and photos by Veronica Kos It is a morning full of songs, stories and fun activities for everyone to enjoy as the different generations come together. The trips first started in February of this year when Mary Anne Sheppard, head of the Strongstart program, suggested the children visit with seniors. The Shore’s staff loved the idea, according to Delena Smith, life enrichment coordinator at The Shores.
“We like to have intergenerational interactions. Many of the seniors don’t have families or grandchildren of their own, so we were very interested when Mary came to us with this proposition,” said Smith. Although each visit is a little different, many include reading stories, singing songs, arts and crafts, and for this month in particular, an Easter egg hunt.
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