In this issue you will find:
- Message from the co-chairs
- September 8th, "Meet and Greet"
- Auction results
- Survey results
- GBCRA going forward
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Upcoming events - Treaty of Versailles, Piano Concert, AGM
- College news - GBC Food Court Social
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The weeks are speeding by and we are already in mid-October, with leaves turning colour and warm days alternating with crisp ones, depending on where you are. As you will see in this newsletter, September was a busy month for GBCRA, and, as usual, those activities carried on into this month. We hope that members enjoyed a good Thanksgiving weekend, celebrating the transition into autumn with food, family, and friends.
Thank you to everyone who completed the recent survey about our Association’s direction and activities. You can read the results in this newsletter and also see how they informed the board’s strategic planning session on September 21st. It is gratifying to see that most members like what we have been doing over the past while and would like such activities to continue. You can read a summary of that session in this issue. There were also suggestions for some other activities and directions. We look forward to members stepping up to initiate those and will be happy to help them get started.
Our annual auction was held over the month of September, ending on the 29th. Many members participated by donating items to be auctioned, making bids, and donating funds directly. All this helps to build our permanent endowed scholarship fund and as well as enabling us to give a bursary to a student who needs financial assistance. Thank you to everyone who took part in the auction, which raised our highest amount ever. Many people who had winning bids have already received their items and others should be getting theirs shortly.
As usual, we have interesting activities coming up, including some virtual travel and a live piano concert. Please remember to register for the events you want to attend and to mark the dates and times in your calendar. The concert is a new activity for us and will be our second in-person activity this fall. The book club and bridge club have been active and will be continuing. Remember that you can always check dates and details about upcoming events on our website.
Our Annual General Meeting will again be held via Zoom, as that seems to enable the greatest number of members to participate. Even though we are technically an informal organization, we have by-laws that guide our work and ensure some consistency and clarity. A hardworking committee from the board reviewed and revised our by-laws over the summer to bring them up to date. Their work was aided by suggestions from a few other GBCRA members who kindly volunteered to review the by-laws, bringing a broader perspective to this work. Watch your email for the revised by-laws as we get closer to the AGM, where they will be presented for adoption.
We hope you are enjoying this lovely season, which is especially colourful and beautiful in this part of the world. There should be some brilliant fall days before it is time to put the gardens to bed and remember where we tucked our gloves and boots. We look forward to seeing you online and in person in the weeks ahead.
Dianne and Georgia
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Back together again…
We go together like ra ma la ma la ma kading a dong
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After a few failed attempts where it seemed people weren’t quite ready to venture out to
face-to-face events, a great time was had by the 20 people who joined us for an informal meet and greet at the Brickworks Ciderhouse on September 8th. On the menu for the afternoon was good food, good conversation, old and new friends and an optional tour of the in-house cidery (including a 4 flight (rather large) sampling taster…including such delectable choices as Yuzo Lemon, Pineapple Agave, Blossomed Oak, and Pina Colada.). We started out small with reservations for 12 (given that we weren’t sure anyone would come). Almost instantaneously the first 12 seats filled up. We raised the reservation to 20 (the most the Cidery would take) and soon filled that up as well. While there was a wait list, as people’s plans for that day changed, spaces opened up and just about everyone was accommodated. If you weren’t able to make it, we hope to see you next time. For more pictures click here
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2022 GBCRA Auction Results
Our annual fundraising auction ended on September 29th and we are pleased to let you know that as a result of the auction we will be contributing an additional $3440.00 to our scholarship fund along with $700 of other donations that individuals have contributed over the year bringing our total 2022 contribution to $4100.00
There were 3700 visits to the auction site ad there were over 120 separate bids made by 28 active participants. We had 40 items at a fair market value of $4400 which included a wide variety of items - everything from a dinner for 6 prepared in your home by a professional chef to cookbooks and antique office memorabilia. It was quite a range!
In addition to money raised through bids, we also had a record 13 individuals who made cash contributions totalling $1615.00. As a comparator, when we began the auction 4 years ago, we raised $500 and there were three cash donations. We are excited by our year over year growth rate...Thank you!
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Survey Results
In August 2022 we asked members o help us priorize our programming by completing a short survey.
Below are the results. The survey consisted of 8 statements of “priority” and 3 open questions that each respondent was asked to complete. The respondents were asked to rate each of the statements of “priority” on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 meaning they considered the statement to be a very important priority and 5 meaning the statement is an unimportant priority.
For the purposes of this analysis, statements rated 1 and 2 (Very important and important) have been combined and rated as “important” according to the respondents answers. Number 3 is rated “neutral”, and numbers 4 and 5 are combined and considered “unimportant.” They are listed below beginning with the highest percentage from the most important “priority” to the least important “priority.”
Detailed survey results can be found in a separate spreadsheet, and the responses to the “open-ended” questions are not included here due to confidentiality issues.
Surveys started - 211
Surveys completed - 73
A. Concentrate on planning and delivering events and social activities. Total respondents - 73
- Important - 62 respondents 86%
- Neutral - 7 respondents 9%
- Unimportant - 4 respondents 5%
B. Work with the College to provide more benefits to retirees (email addresses, discounts, etc). Total respondents 72
- Important - 55 respondents 76.5%
- Neutral - 6 respondents 8%
- Unimportant - 11 14.5%
C. Actively advocate regarding challenges retirees face. Total respondents 72
- Important - 51 respondents 70%
- Neutral - 16 respondents 22.5%
- Unimportant - 5 respondents 6.5%
D. Develop ways for isolated retirees to support one another. Total respondents 72
- Important - 51 respondents 70%
- Neutral - 16 respondents 22.5%
- Unimportant - 5 respondents 6.5%
E. Help new retirees with their transition to retirement. Total respondents 69 respondents
- Important - 45 respondents 64%
- Neutral - 19 respondents - 27%
- Unimportant - 5 respondents 7%
F. Fundraising for the GBCRA Scholarship Fund(s). Total respondents 72
- Important - 43 respondents 59%
- Neutral - 17 respondents 25%
- Unimportant - 12 respondents 16%
G. Partner more closely with the Senior’s Association at GBC to access educational opportunities. Total respondents 72
- Important - 42 respondents 57.5%
- Neutral - 18 respondents 25.5%
- Unimportant - 12 respondents 16%
H. Establish a stronger presence with the Ontario College Retirees’ Association (OCRA). Total respondents 71
- Important - 35 respondents 50%
- Neutral - 26 respondents 35%
- Unimportant - 10 respondents 13%
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GBCRA Moves Forward
On September 21st, the GBCRA Board of Directors had a strategic planning session to consider our organization’s path forward for the next few years. The recent member survey was a key source of information for this, as were members’ responses to events and other comments and feedback we have received over the past few years. We want to be sure that our direction remains aligned with our mission statement and with members’ priorities as those have been expressed.
Our Process
We reviewed the survey responses in detail, noting written comments as well as overall preferences, added the other feedback we had, and went through a standard SWOT (Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; Threats) analysis process to identify priorities. We considered these both as an organization and from the perspective of our relationship to the College. As you will see in more detail in the this in this newsletter about the survey results, overall our members are happy with the mix of social, recreational, and educational events that we have been putting on over the past few years. The chance to connect with former colleagues and to get to know other GBC retirees continues to be our members’ highest priority for GBCRA. A few members expressed an interest in new clubs or activities. Members are eager for us to continue to advocate with the College to improve benefits for retirees, to address issues that affect people in their retirement years, and to provide opportunities for those who wish to support students through scholarships.
Our Strengths
Our organization is in a strong position financially and organizationally. Our membership has grown and members’ confidence in the future has been expressed by the number of people who have chosen lifetime memberships rather than paying the membership fee each year. Lifetime memberships have also had a positive effect on our bank balance. We are pleased to see that increasingly we are drawing members from different areas across the College. We have an engaged board, and our activities attract a range of members depending on their interests and availability. Our regular activities like our clubs, our annual general meeting, and our e-newsletter have continued and some new activities were piloted, such as the travel sessions. We remained very active by moving online quickly during a time when similar organizations, including retiree groups from other colleges, have reduced their activities or may even have disappeared.
Our Vulnerabilities
Like all volunteer organizations, GBCRA is dependent on members stepping forward to join the board or lead activities. All boards benefit from new members coming on and existing members changing roles and, eventually, retiring from the board. We have been able to improve communication with College staff as they retire, but some still don’t know that we exist or how to find us or lose track of the information in the flurry of retirement paperwork. While we are fortunate to have collegial relationships with many people still working at the College who are willing to help us, those connections fade over time as new staff join the College and our former colleagues also retire. Refreshing our relationships and continuing to engage recent retirees is important to our long-term success as an organization.
Going Forward
In planning our path forward, we will continue to offer a variety of social and educational activities. An unexpected outcome of the pandemic has been our ability to offer events online as well as face-to-face, and we will continue to do so. This has enabled us to better serve people who live outside the GTA or for whom in-person events are less accessible for health or other reasons. We will explore the possibility of hybrid events that combine both modalities. We have had further thoughts about focusing our relationship with the College differently and hope for more progress. We understand that some members are only interested in social events while others are interested in advocacy or in smoothing the path to retirement for others. We will endeavour to meet these needs over the next few years. We have a plan based on members’ expressed priorities. To sustain what we have been doing and to continue it, we look to more members stepping up for board, club, or event roles. Talk to any of our current board members to find out more about what’s involved.
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Up and Coming Events You Won't Want to Miss |
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Tuesday November 8
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Treaty of Versailles
Online with Circles Enrichment
presented by Dr. Gordon Bannerman
The treaty ending WW1 was supposed to bring lasting peace, but instead brought the eruption of WW2. What went wrong? Join us for this online presentation as we honour our war veterans later that same week.
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Friday November 18
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Noon Hour Piano Concert at St. Andrew's Church
PROGRAMME
Franz² = Poetry, Drama and the 19th Century Piano
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Impromptus, D.935 [1827]
No.2 in A-flat Major (7:00)
No.3 in B-flat Major (9:30)
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Piano Sonata in B Minor, S.178 [1852-53] (28:00)
Lento assai - Allegro energico
Andante sostenuto - Quasi adagio
Fuga: Allegro energico - Andante sostenuto
From the poignant, expressive and delightful late Impromptus of Schubert to the monumental structure and virtuosity of Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, this program captures the Romantic Era at its peak.
The Pianist
Rudin Lengo’s piano playing has been described as “profound, imaginative and exceptionally communicative”. As a soloist, he has recently performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the Georgian Bay Symphony conducted by François Koh and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3 with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra and maestro Kristian Alexander. Other engagements include performances with the University of Toronto Symphony and Choir, Hart House Orchestra, West Coast Symphony, Deep River Symphony, Toruń Symphony, Greater Toronto Philharmonic, Royal Conservatory Orchestra and Orchestra London.
Mr. Lengo has traveled and performed across Canada and the United States, and has also appeared in concert halls in Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Albania, North Macedonia and the Netherlands.
He has been the recipient of over 50 awards and scholarships for his musical and academic accomplishments. In 2008, he completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance at Western University on a National Scholarship. Mr. Lengo received his Master’s Degree in 2010 from the Manhattan School of Music on a President’s Award and completed an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School on a prestigious Ihnatowycz Emerging Artist Scholarship.
Winner of the 2017 DMA Competition at the University of Toronto, the 2012 Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition, the 5th Knigge Music Competition and the 2010 TD Elora Competition, he was also the 2nd prize winner at the 40th William C. Byrd International Competition and winner of the Mary Winston Smail Memorial Award for Best Pianist at the 2011 WAMSO Minnesota Competition.
A recipient of a Performance Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Simmonds Graduate Fellowship, and the John and Barbara Vivash Scholarship in Piano Performance, Mr. Lengo is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Toronto with Enrico Elisi. He maintains a piano teaching studio in Toronto and is also a senior examiner with the Royal Conservatory. Rudin Lengo is an active adjudicator in provincial as well as national and international festivals and competitions.
Mr. Lengo will be joining us following the presentation for an informal lunch and a question & answer session.
Cost: No charge for the concert, pay your own lunch and refreshments.
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Friday December 2nd
11:45 am - 1:45 pm
GBCRA 2022 Annual General Meeting
Please join us for this year's AGM. The highlights new bylaw approval, new Board of Directors approval, and a special presentation welcoming the 2021-22 GBC retirees to GBCRA, and a private "real-time" virtual tour to Europe - exact destination to be determined soon!
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The Food Court Social
The George Brown College Foundation generously gifted the GBCRA Board of Directors with four tickets to the annual "Food Court Social," which took place the evening of October 13th at George Brown College’s Waterfront campus. With Toronto’s top chefs lending support to this experience, it turned out to be an evening to remember! This year’s Food Court Social included access to curated food stations hosted by Toronto’s top culinary talent; cocktails, wine, and beer pairings; interactive event activations; and an intimate experience with an audience of about 475 supporters!
All 100% of proceeds raised go to the George Brown College Augmented Education Program, supporting students with mental health and addiction histories. This program is run in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and, through education and training, helps these students prepare for, find, and maintain employment. To date, over 1000 students have enrolled in the program and received training in culinary and construction craft worker programs that have changed their lives.
Representing GBCRA were retirees Bill and Millie Ferguson, Gayle Takahashi, and Gillian Johnston. Gayle and Gillian report, "... it was spectacular but overwhelming! Sooooo many people! It was difficult to move thru the crowd while balancing plates and drinks but we managed.....Unfortunately, did not get a photo ☹️. Hands were just too busy I guess!" Bill and Millie add, "The food and drinks were amazing, as was the organization. Not sure how the thing works but they announced they had raised 2 million over the years."
The Board, on behalf of all retirees, thanks the Foundation for thinking of us and giving us the opportunity to participate!
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If you have something that you would like to share with other retirees, find out how to contact individuals, or how to become involved with your retirees' association, contact us.
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This Newsletter is compiled by a Board Committee of Bob Cox, Jennifer Cooke, and Joan Reynolds.
Various members of the Association write articles for the newsletter and we encourage member participation. This month we thank Georgia Quartaro, Dianne Diniz, Bob Cox, Bill Ferguson, Gayle Takahashi, Debbie Plested
Please feel free to contact our Communicatons Director, Bob Cox, to provide us with feedback, suggestions, and articles by clicking here
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GBCRA 2146A Queen St E, Unit 46, Toronto, ON M4E 1E3 | www.gbcra.org |
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