September 22-28, 2013 Active Aging Week 13
Bob and Pat Migliore don’t have time for boredom. They’re too busy volunteering and having fun doing it. Photo by Darcy Finley
Get Cultured You don’t have to love the nightlife to enjoy Winnipeg’s vibrant arts and cultural scene. Daytime is a great time to catch concerts, art lectures, plays and other events. Attend on your own, or ask your area senior centre about group excursions. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra offers several matinees, including a Friday-morning concert series. Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Wednesday afternoon performances cater to older adults and the Winnipeg Art Gallery has a series of Arts for Lunch lectures. Most arts groups offer discounts on tickets or season subscriptions for seniors, and if you sign up as a volunteer, you may enjoy free tickets and other benefits. Prairie Theatre Exchange volunteers get two tickets to a play for each shift they log as an usher or ticket- taker. Help out at the WAG’s Jazz on the Rooftop performances or West End Cultural Centre concerts and enjoy the free show. Or sign up with MTC, where volunteers get the inside track on plays with invitations to special dress rehearsals. MTC outreach manager Jennifer Cheslock says many older adults return to MTC’s Winnipeg Fringe Festival every summer because they enjoy the camaraderie and excitement of the festival buzz. And there are year- round opportunities to help organize special events or lend a hand with theatre administration. Whatever your interest, chances are there’s a volunteer opportunity for you. Spend more time at the Assiniboine Park Zoo as a goodwill ambassador, help out at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s thrift store or volunteer with your senior centre to arrange group trips to special attractions. Volunteering is a great way to get to know your community, support local organizations and expand your social horizons.
Time Well Spent These volunteers enjoy fun fringe benefits
see dozens of Winnipeg Fringe Festival plays during the summer festival, for which Pat has worked as a volunteer for 25 years. “We totally enjoy it. Every once in a while we’ll say, ‘OK we’ve got to sit down and we’ve got to start cutting something.’ Last year we were sort of thinking about maybe we’ll start cutting down on stuff. We ended up taking on WECC and CJNU,” Pat says. “There’s going to come a time when there’s a possibility we can’t do it any more, so while we still can and we’re enjoying it, why not?” In fact, staying active and involved in the community contributes to good health, and it may prolong their volunteer careers. Pat says that all the groups she’s involved in, such as her Beta Sigma Phi sorority chapter, are finding it’s a challenge to recruit new volunteers. She says some people don’t want to make a standing commitment, but they’re missing out on great opportunities. “I just can’t understand why people aren’t volunteering big time,” she says. “It certainly doesn’t allow any room for boredom — it definitely doesn’t. As long as it’s fun and you enjoy what you’re doing, go for it, especially if you’re healthy enough to be able to do it.”
By Pat St. Germain For the Free Press
P at and Bob Migliore are getting a lot of mileage out of their retirement years. They go to plays, attend concerts, take part in league bowling, enjoy the outdoors and participate in service clubs — and that’s just for starters. As volunteers with a wide range of groups, they’re constantly on the go, and they enjoy a rich and varied social life as a result. “We know so many different people from so many walks of life because of all the volunteering,” Pat says. The Migliores have an exhaustive list of commitments — they volunteer with CJNU nostalgia radio, the West End Cultural Centre (WECC), the Optimist Club, their bowling league, Shakespeare in the Ruins, Naturist Legacy Park nudist group and more. “We did a lot of it while we were working and I don’t know how we did,” Pat says. Bob, 72, retired from his job as a University of Manitoba lab technologist 14 years ago, and Pat, 66, left her job as a part-time administrative assistant about five years back. Retirement gave them more free time, and they’ve decided to spend it on activities that are fun and rewarding. “We like to give back to the community and since we don’t have that much money the way to give back is to volunteer our time,” Pat says. “My criteria is if we’re not enjoying it, then stop doing it, because we have that option.” But it’s not an option they’ve felt the need to exercise. As volunteer key ushers with Manitoba Theatre Centre, the couple see every play at the mainstage and at the Tom Hendry Theatre warehouse. If a country, folk or Celtic music act is playing at the WECC, they can catch the show as volunteers at the door or the bar. And they
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As volunteers with a wide range of groups, they’re constantly on the go, and they enjoy a rich and varied social life as a result. “We know so many different people from so many walks of life because of all the volunteering,” Pat says. { }
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