Come sing along Victoria Philharmonic Choir joins community in song Page A7
NEWS: Bank robbery suspect arrested /A3 BOOKS: Page-turners to enjoy this December /A8 SPORTS: Big weekend of basketball at Oak Bay /A14
OAK BAYNEWS Friday, December 18, 2015
www.oakbaynews.com
Shannon Oaks team of elves cover Christmas
Drivers: don’t make that one ‘stupid decision’
Wrapping party in Oak Bay helps seniors be a Santa Christine van Reeuwyk Oak Bay News
Gifts pile on chairs and floors, more are tucked in boxes, and bags and bows adorn table tops at Shannon Oaks retirement village in Oak Bay. Here, Santa’s elves are busy putting the wrap on Christmas. Peggy Hancyk, chief executive elf at Home Instead Senior Care, bustles around the room making sure all tags are accounted for, gifts are lumped together and everyone has basics: tape, ribbons, paper and scissors. Louise Rose is expected on the piano any minute, but holiday classics fill the air thanks to charter resident Darlaine Bagshaw, a regular pianist at the residence. The atmosphere is the norm for the annual Be a Santa to a Senior wrapping party in Oak Bay. Home Instead Senior Care partners with local non-profit and community organizations to identify seniors who might not otherwise receive gifts for Christmas. Hancyk works with local businesses and stores to
purchase and distribute gifts. Some are purchased through donations, some by kind souls who take a senior’s gift request written on a Be a Santa to a Senior tree ornament. “It’s a way for seniors to help other seniors,” says Hancyk, adding it’s the 11th year of the program in Greater Victoria. “We contact agencies and facilities in the city, sometimes people call us about a neighbour or a friend that is isolated or disadvantaged,” she said. “They tell us the size and what they might need. Many have no family, nobody to supply them with things … I put that information on ornaments and hang them on trees in different places.” The trees show up in Walmart, the Quadra Street London Drugs and the Tillicum Save on Foods. It’s not unusual for requests to include food or pharmacy gift cards. “Shoppers can pick one up or two (ornaments) and I’ll have several (gift) suggestions on there. PlEASE SEE: Santa to Senior, Page A6
Christine van Reeuwyk News Staff
Christine van Reeuwyk/Oak Bay News
Resident Dorothy Evans wraps gifts at Shannon Oaks retirement village for the Home Instead Senior Care program, Be a Santa to a Senior. The program collects and distributes gifts to seniors in the community who might otherwise not receive gifts at Christmas.
Officers are on the lookout for all impaired drivers this holiday season. That means those impaired by alcohol and drugs, as well as the ongoing attack on those driving impaired by bad habits. “(Immediate roadside prohibitions) have certainly decreased deaths, but people still do it,” said Oak Bay Const. Mike Klein-Beekman. This year he’s taken 42 drivers off the road as a result of some form of impairment. That includes both immediate roadside prohibitions (IRP) for alcohol and drug impairment and impaired driving investigations. To the end of November, Oak Bay Police Department handed out roughly 50 IRPs. Klein-Beekman is also a drug recognition expert, the result of extensive training and testing. For him it included two weeks of theory in Vancouver in May 2011, followed by nightly studying for the seven-hour final and practical in August. PlEASE SEE: Pot and driving just as dangerous, Page A3
Call for a personal tour today and learn more about move-in incentives. 250.812.3818 trilliumcare.ca • Long-term residential care • Short-term stay
• Friends & family are always welcome