Countless activities can be discovered in Golden Nugget newsletter
By Mark
Schadenberg
South
Gate Centre is a true success story in Woodstock as an activities
club for the 50+ age bracket.
A
few years ago – despite its terrific location at the gates to
Southside Park on Old Wellington Street South – South Gate was
struggling to maintain a strong membership total and an overall
presence in the community as a destination for all hobbies and
interests for people in our quickly growing empty-nester demographic.
In
2015, South Gate is one of the true focal points of the community as
can be quickly witnessed by flipping through the pages of their
18-page Golden Nugget newsletter at: www.southgatectr.ca
One
of the association's key attributes is a social place, which includes
meeting friends for cards such as euchre, pepper, klaverjas (Careful
though as Irene Vandersteen always keeps a card up her sleeve),
bridge and more. South Gate has a group of actors called Silver
Streaks Acting Troupe which is coordinated through Woodstock's
professional Enchanted Theatre Company. The gamut of activities
continues with games such as darts and billiards, plus wood working,
or dance/exercise or tai chi, or computer training, crafts or craft
shows, pickleball or badminton (At the Woodstock Badminton Club),
indoor carpet lawn bowling, or choir singing, or . . . simply for
lunch (Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 – 12:30).
South
Gate has an on-going daily lunch menu for only $7, which is open to
the general public as well. If you live on your own perhaps, and want
homemade-style cabbage rolls, lasagna, or chicken pot pie, be sure to
look at the menu for the month and plan your social gatherings around
the plate-of-the-day.
Actual NOVEMBER Menu
The
kitchen at South Gate has been modified in recent times and is now
operated by Patrick McMahon. The Sentinel-Review story below refers
to McMahon as the 'man in charge' and he is now introducing another
possible profit area to the South Gate operations budget creating a
catering company called Local Roots. McMahon is noted as saying he
hopes this idea will grow to become Woodstock's premier catering
group.
It's
an important flip here as at times South Gate was required to hire
outside catering companies for events such as birthday parties,
banquets, wedding receptions and even in-house gatherings.
From
Megan Stacey story in The Sentinel:
“(Events
were) happening here, but the revenue was leaving,” McMahon said.
“To see it happen here, see the numbers come in – we actually are
contributing back to the Centre, we’re paying our own bills in the
back, we’re paying my salary, we’re buying new equipment.
“We
don’t have a whole lot of people who cooked for a living. But we
have a whole lot of people who cooked for life.”
The
entrepreneurial spirit goes even further as kitchen staff for the
lunch menu days are usually comprised of many volunteers. This keeps
costs down, but there is now potential to reward the membership with
revenue dollars and possibly compensate the club's volunteers.
McMahon
recently received some good press when it was noted publicly that his
new solid-wood cutting board for chopping vegetables, but not
fingers, was produced in the wood-working shop at South Gate.
The
next time you're planning a large family function like an
anniversary, be sure to check out the facilities at the South Gate
Centre.
SOUTH
GATE
Located
at 191 Old Wellington Street in Woodstock.
At
the recent Woodstock Chamber of Commerce awards night, South Gate won
in the Community Service category. Centre manager Chris Cunningham
noted that it's a crew of about 300 volunteers which keeps South Gate
growing.
South
Gate is a non-profit charitable organization for membership over the
age of 50.
Call:
519 539-9817. Centre hours are 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Office Hours 9 a.m.
- 4 p.m.; Mon – Fri)
Membership
for 2016 is $165, but you can pay early for a discount. Membership
for 9 months for those who fly or drive south for the winter is $135.
Some
of the club's annual events include Christmas dinners and a bazaar,
and the famous Chillie Charlie breakfast party on groundhog day.
Fundraisers also include the 12 Days of Christmas lottery.
Annual
cruise night car show and a benefit golf tournament in honour of the
late Bob McFarland are also part of the calendar.
As a cooperative effort for all club members, South gate offers guest speakers on various subjects, plus one-time-only activities such as noted in the poster below.
In
April of 2016, South Gate has booked a 5-day group bus tour.
LINKS:
Facebook:
South Gate Centre
SGC Local Roots Caterer
Buying or Selling real estate in Oxford County?
Contact me today!
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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