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THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2007 THE NEW TANNER 21 Beat the rush! ORDER NOW!! For all your cabinetry needs. Custom woodworking, Kitchen Cabinets, Entertainment Units, Bars, Furniture, Office Furniture, Residential, Commercial. Tel: 519-837-1333 Fax: 519-837-8357 Owner: A. Marchesano 7878 Hwy. 7 East, Between Rockwood & Guelph Full & Partial Dentures Precision BPS & Implant Retained Dentures Same Day Service for Repairs & Relines The denture that fits their lifestyle. Present, Past & Future Respected by his Caucus and Opposition colleagues alike, Ted Arnott, the unassuming Waterloo- Wellington Conservative MPP, has long been known as one of the most decent politicians at Queens Park. National Post Trusted Experienced Dedicated ARNOTT Provincial P.C. Candidate in Wellington-Halton Hills Authorized by the C.F.O. for the Wellington - Halton Hills Prov. P.C. Assoc. Frances Hogenbirk is the final Member of the Acton Seniors Centre I will be introducing you to this year. I hope you found it interest- ing to learn a little about some of our very busy, ac- tive members of the Acton Seniors Centre. People 55 and over often say they arent Old enough to en- joy the Centre, but as you can tell from the different people I have written about, age is only a state of mind. Francisca (better known as Frances) was born in Montrea l , Quebec on Boxing Day, so she was a belated Christmas Gift to her parents. She tells me her parents Mathias and Rynaldina Mersel were wonderful people who came to Canada in 1923 from Rotterdam Holland (now the Netherlands). They came with very little, but a determination to make something of their new lives, especially for their six children who were all born in Canada. F r ance s was the fifth child, and a l t h o u g h t h r e e o f her siblings have passed away, her oldest sis- ter Pauline and her hus- band Bruce live in the B e a c h e s area of To- ronto. And her younger brother Pe- ter and his wife Doro- thy live in N i a g a r a Falls. She attended Bannatyne Public School, and Verdun High School. Which is a suburb of Montreal. While at High School she decided to take a commercial course which she felt would stand her in good stead in the working world. When she left school at 17 she worked as a stenographer for an Ice Manufacturing Company and stayed with the company for five years. Her next position was with Northern Electric Company in Lachine, Quebec, and she was there for 12 years. In 1954 she met her hus- band Jan Hogenbirk at one of the Dutch events she enjoyed attending. He was living with his sister Dina who had lost her Cana- dian husband that year. Jan and his sister were born in Laren, Hol- land and he immigrated to Canada in 1952. They were marr ied i n 1957 at the Verdun Unit- ed Church. and lived in Verdun for one year, then they moved to St Lau- rent. In 1965 they bought a house in La- val West, and lived there until 1974. Jan worked for Bell Canada, and in 1974 the company moved many of their em- ployees to Toronto. Although it took her hus- band one hour to drive to work each day they never regretted their move to Acton, and loved living in such a friendly town. Francess husband passed away in 1986 after almost 30 very happy years of marriage. Their children were all born in Quebec, and sad- ly their first child Nancy passed away when she was only six weeks old. John her oldest son and his wife live in Sudbury with their two sons and one daughter, Tom lives in Barrie with his wife and three boys. Her daughter Barbara remained in Quebec and is a doctor in Pointe Claire, Quebec. Frances has always lead a very busy life and worked as a volunteer at the Y.M.C.A when she was in her teens helping in both the library and the Ladies swimming classes. In 1947 she was a Brown- ie Leader in Quebec, and continued with the Brown- ies until they moved to Acton. She has been very in- volved with the Trinity United Church. (Where she has been Treasurer for the Trinity Activity Group (Tag) for the past 10 years). In 2004 in recognition of the many volunteer hours spent at her Church, she was very proud to accept a certificate recognizing 25 years of vol- unteering from the Ontario Volunteering Committee Several years ago she even managed to find time to be a Red Cross Visitor for five years. She also volunteered at the M.Z.Bennett school, until she started working part time at the Georgetown June is Seniors Month- Celebrate A photo of a sweet sixteen year old Frances taken the year before she left school. Frances has helped Elma Braida with the Spring and Christmas bake table sales at the Acton Seniors Centre for many years. It never takes very long to clear the table. Public Library. Wednesday mornings she helps at the parent/child center, and has done so for the past twelve years You will see Frances on the front desk at the Centre every other Wednesday afternoon. Jan enjoyed showing Frances his homeland in 1977 and again in 1986. They also visited places where her parents grew up, and some of her relatives who still live in the Nether- lands She enjoys traveling and enjoyed five vacations in Bermuda with her sister Pauline and brother in law Bruce. She has been on seven cruises, and in 1999 was chosen as Ms Rotter- dam when on a cruise of the Mediterranean where they visited Italy and the Greek Islands. More recently she joined the Leathertown Red Hat Ladies and enjoys their vari- ous activities. You might wonder how she finds time for herself, but Frances still enjoys golf- ing four times a week in the summer (weather permit- ting), bowling, swimming and darts. Until a few years ago she also enjoyed play- ing tennis, badminton, roller skating and ice skating and square dancing. As usual with the many 55+ people in Acton this is another very busy lady vol- unteering in many places, and keeping her body and mind young with the vari- ous activities she enjoys. I hope you enjoy reading about Frances Hogenbirk, who certainly has spent a lot of hours volunteering to help make a difference in the many places she has lived. Volunteers put in many hours in our town, whether by driving people to appoint- ments, sitting on committees, helping at schools, delivering meals, or just being there to talk to lonely people on the phone. There are many ways you can help make a differ- ence to someones life. The Centre will be closed on Monday July 2 to cel- ebrate Canada Day. Make the day special as you visit with friends or family or watch the spectacular fireworks in the park, realizing how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country. The birthday tea to cel- ebrate everyone who had a birthday in either June or July was well attended. Nine members and their guests enjoyed the cake and ice cream. There were only four car- pet bowlers last Monday. It was the last game for the season. Nives Bozics Brown team beat Pat Jones Black team 8 to 7. Betty Lockerby is home from the hospital, and we wish her well. The Carpet Bowlers want to wish everyone a great summer and said they will see everyone in September. Winners at last Wednes- days evening euchre were: High Lady Donna Rowley, High Man Henry Wedge, 2nd Lady- Eileen Wedge, 2nd Man- Don Milton, Lone Hands- Betty Brewster, and the Booby was won by Fran- ces Hogenbirk. I understand the evening euchre will con- tinue through the summer if there is enough interest, so the next game will be July 18 at 7.15 p.m. At the Thursday afternoon bid euchre, Muriel Dzierla, and Shirley Hunter both had mooners. The canasta and cribbage on a Thursday morning and the bid euchre on Thursday afternoons will continue right through the summer. The hand stitching to the top of our queen-size quilt is almost complete. It truly was a labour of love and everyone who helped, whether an ex- perienced quilter or one who was learning to quilt, enjoyed the experience. It will be dis- played at the Fair and a draw will take place later. If you enjoy rotisserie chicken, we have some tick- ets for sale at a great price for dinner at Andys on four different days. For more information check the front desk. The 50/50 this week was won by Ian McAllister, which is really a coincidence as his wife Jane won last week. ????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????? Whats Your Beef? Put it in a letter to the Editor! Deadline is Tuesday at noon.