BOYLE — A dedicated group of community volunteers is celebrating a major win this summer after paying off a large loan for a community facility two decades before the total was due.
Members of the Boyle and District Senior Citizens Association are happy to announce they’ve repaid the entirety of the $500,000 loan from the Village of Boyle for the creation and construction of the Seniors Drop-In Centre.
“We are super happy, really extremely elated by the support we’ve received from the community,” said association secretary Mary Coleman. “It’s like a big load come off our back, and we’re looking forward to providing more activities and whatever the community would like.”
The half-a-million dollar loan was due in full 30 years after council approved it, carrying a deadline of June 15, 2045. And while it was always the association's plan to eliminate the debt as soon as possible, Coleman said the milestone is still a sweet one.
“I do know that there were comments, ‘Oh the seniors will never be able to make that much money,’” she said. “Some of those people have to eat their words now because we’ve paid it off so much sooner. Our board has been a very dedicated board to the cause.”
In November of 2016, the Boyle Seniors Association officially moved into the new Drop-In Centre, located in Boyle Municipal Centre along with the Boyle Public Library. Coleman said demand for a new Drop-In Centre amongst the association board began as early as 2008, and discussions with the municipality began four years later.
“Memberships were rising and there was an increase in the usage of the Centre,” said Coleman. The building that formerly housed the centre had been a bank, a church, and a youth centre before the Seniors Association took over in 1972, according to reporting from 2011.
After initiating an engineering review of the building and learning of a potential $200,000 in repair costs, the association approached the village in late 2012 with their plans.
In 2015, council approved the building loan for the association, in addition to the $275,000 in funding previously granted for the creation of a new centre in 2014. Athabasca County’s contribution to the centre amounted to $250,000.
Other major sponsors for the project included Al-Pac with a donation of over $50,000, and the Boyle Legion gave $26,000, according to Coleman. The association also received $100,000 from the Community Facility Enhancement Program by way of a hand-delivered cheque from former MP David Yurdiga and former MLA and Seniors minister Jeff Johnson.
Funds were also donated by ScotiaBank, the Grassland Greek Orthodox Church, the summer villages of Bondiss and Mewatha Beach, and the Whispering Hills Country Music Association. Coleman said a number of other corporate sponsors and individual donations, including from association members were received.
Lasting legacies
Coleman noted in the 10 years since the loan was granted and the new centre built, the same core crew of volunteers has remained on the Seniors Association board. Although some members, like former president Bob Bourassa have left the community, their passion for the work is still apparent on return trips for community events.
“In my recollection, it was the brainchild of Bob Bourassa to get a new drop-in centre built. He thought, ‘Why are the seniors in such an old building?’ And so he just pushed and pushed.”
Coleman herself has served 16 years as the association secretary, first joining the organization upon invitation.
And although the most recent association president did not make it to see the day the loan was paid back in full, Coleman said long-time association volunteer Peter Golanski, who passed away in May, would approve.
“We do know that he would have been so happy to see it paid off, and that was our main objective,” said Coleman.
“He was quite involved, he was the go-between between us and the Village of Boyle,” she added. Golanski was the treasurer of the Boyle Seniors Association in 2015.
She said now the association doesn’t have to make the bi-annual loan payments, the group hopes to put funds towards engaging and educational community programming, such as CPR and first aid training sessions, as well as creative and crafty classes.
