OSCC Newsletter - Oshawa Senior Citizens Centres

Ellen Oliver is retiring at the end of
June after 34 years at a job she says was
“always fresh, interesting, and enjoyable”.
Ellen was born and grew up in Port
Hope in the house where her 90-year-old
mother still lives. After her school years
there, she commuted to Peterborough to attend
Sir Stanford Fleming College and then
went to work for the YMCA in Cobourg.
When an ad for someone to plan courses for
seniors appeared in the paper, it
attracted her attention. She applied
for the job, had several interviews,
was hired, and moved to
Oshawa.
Ellen’s first two weeks at
OSCC were spent looking after
the Day Program while the staff in
charge went on holiday. “We used
taxis to bring people to John
Street at that time and instead of
learning names I knew the participants
by their address as I allocated
them to the taxis,” Ellen says.
The first program guide she produced
was on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, folded in half
and decorated with patterns she created on
the typewriter. Some of the courses were
macramé, fitness, and dance and, since the
school board sponsored them, the cost was
only $1 each. (The only teacher who was
there at the time and is still producing excellent
programs at OSCC is Donna Davidson.)
When the schools withdrew senior funding
because of the children’s needs, Ellen was
able to plan courses that recovered the cost
through payments by those who enrolled.
This is still the case today.
When the age of admittance to membership
dropped to 55, courses had to be
added to encompass a variety of ages and
abilities. The decision to add branches in
north and south Oshawa also made changes
to the Activity Guide mandatory giving Ellen
more challenges and requiring more of her
time. With style and grace she managed to
meet every challenge.
Ellen Oliver by Grace Stevenson
Ellen has seen many changes to the
John Street building over the years she has
worked here. The elevator was an important
addition, as was the improvement of the
lower floor from “just a basement” to usable
rooms. For 20 years Ellen shared a small office
downstairs with Lynn Muir, a very special
staff member who died far too young. Seniors
who loved Lynn contributed the cost of
the stained glass window over the ramp to
the basement in her memory.
There were only 6 people on the
staff when Ellen joined OSCC. Today
the staff numbers 36 and
membership has risen to over
6000. During these later years
Ellen has counted among her seniors
the daughters and sons of the
members she met when she first
arrived.
After June 30 th , Ellen will
have more time to indulge her gardening
and photography interests.
She’s also taken up dragon boating and bid
euchre recently and enjoys playing bridge.
She and her husband of over 30 years hope
to visit his family in various parts of the Maritimes
soon and plan other fascinating travels
in the future. (They have already been to Japan
and north of the Arctic Circle.) Fred is a
marathon runner and that will take them to
many places. Ellen power walks while he
does his running.
We wish Ellen all the best in the future.
She will be greatly missed at OSCC but has
wisely chosen to enjoy some leisure time
with Fred in the years to come.
HAPPY RETIREMENT, ELLEN!
OSCC Newsletter Committee:
Grace Stevenson - Editor, Fred Tan - Publisher,
Colleen Zavrel - staff.
Writers: Jean Walker, Carol Wilson, Zelda Armstrong,
Rosemary Spencer.
Contributors: Carol Mutiger, Julie Timms, Nancy Bone
We welcome suggestions and comments.
Contact Colleen at (905) 576-6712 ext. 2834
Page 8
www.oscc.ca (905) 576-6712
June 2012 OSCC Newsletter