May 2019 issue small revised

5
What Happened to the GWSA Board?
On March 25, the GWSA Board of Directors held an emergency meeting where they decided to cease
management of GWSA’s Community Support Services (CSS) programs. These popular programs serve
approximately 500 of Guelph’s most vulnerable seniors. They are funded by the United Way and two years
of funding remain.
Board representatives met with the United Way and asked them to find a new home for the CSS programs.
The Board said they would not accept the last two years of funding. Their stated rationale was that
they did not have the skills or experience to manage the CSS employees.
A collection of GWSA members and CSS volunteers were upset by the Board’s decision. They argued
that a fundamental shift in an organization’s priorities should not be done without membership input. They
criticized the Board for not making a transition plan that would keep the programs intact. Some formed a
group that called themselves ‘Save CSS’ and began a grass-roots campaign asking the Board to reverse
their decision.
Guelph Today, Guelph Mercury Tribune and CKCO all covered the story. Board members received dozens
of emails about cutting the programs. Other members signed petitions. Hundreds wrote to the Board
sharing personal messages of support for the CSS programs.
GWSA President Dorothe Fair postponed the April 17 Board of Directors meeting by one week. She told
the Board the April 24 meeting would focus exclusively on the CSS decision. Instead of coming to the
April 24 meeting, Fair and five other Directors (Ken Chupa, Jennifer Blackie, Nick Harris, Ross Coulter
and Margaret Waldron) abruptly resigned.
The remaining Board members do not form a quorum and cannot conduct the GWSA’s business. One of
their first orders of business is to nominate and elect several Directors to join them. They have scheduled a
special members’ meeting on Monday, May 13, at 1 pm to do exactly that. Please plan to attend. Visit the
GWSA website for more details about the special membership meeting.
Meanwhile, the remaining Directors are working to recapture the United Way funding; making plans for
the special members’ meeting; meeting with prospective Board members; preparing to welcome their new
colleagues to the Board; planning for the Annual General Meeting in June; and setting priorities for the
coming year.
I’M FINE, THANK YOU
I’m fine, thank you.
There is nothing the matter with me.
I’m as healthy as I can be.
I have arthritis in both my knees.
And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze.
My pulse is weak and my blood is thin.
But I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in.
Arch supports I have for my feet,
Or I wouldn’t be able to be on the street.
Sleep is denied me night after night,
But every morning I find I’m alright.
My memory’s failing, my head’s in a spin.
But I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in.
The moral is this, as this tale unfolds,
That for you and me that are getting old,
It’s better to say “I am fine” with a grin,
Than to let folks know the shape we are in.
How do I know that my youth is all spent?
Well my “get up and go” has got up and went.
But I really don’t mind, when I think with a grin,
Of all the grand places my “get up” has been.
“Old age is golden” I have heard it said,
But sometimes I wonder as I get into bed
With my ears in the drawer, my teeth in a cup,
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
Ere sleep comes over me, I say to myself
“Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?”
When I was young, my slippers were red,
I could kick my heels right over my head.
As I grew older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night through.
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Pick up the paper and read the obits.
If my name is missing, I know I’m not dead,
So I get a good breakfast and go back to bed.
(This poem appeared in the June 2007 edition of
the Sentinel, submitted by Ron Ferrier)
T S - M 2019