Events and Activities
Our club holds four regularly scheduled activities. The business of the club is carried out at general meetings at which a speaker is featured. Our Outdoor Club group gets together weekly, the Coffee and Chat group bi-weekly and the Book Club monthly. Further details for each of these are set out below.
Monthly Meetings
We hold monthly general meetings September through May, excluding December. These are held at the Schubert Centre, 3505 30th Ave, Vernon, BC, on the third Monday of every month from 10:30 am until noon unless the date is a statutory holiday. In this case, the meeting will be re-scheduled.
Our monthly meetings provide an opportunity for members to socialize with other members, further their own learning through informative speakers, and participate in club business. Reasonable fees are charged for speaker/coffee/lunch, speaker and coffee only and coffee (and tea) only. The lunch is a simple buffet consisting of soup and sandwich, served at the end of the meeting.
This year’s speakers and topics are set out below. Future speakers and topics will be posted when the information becomes available.
November 18, 2024 – The featured presentation was on the services offered by the North Okanagan Hospice Society. The Society’s Executive Director Megan Cox, Community Program Manager Belinda Keel and Fund Development Office Kristin Ford attended, providing a powerpoint presentation and informational materials as well as answering numerous questions from the audience. There were a number of aspects of the Society’s work and that of Interior Health of which many of us were unaware until today and we appreciate the presentation.
In its own words, “North Okanagan Hospice Society believes in quality of life. We support people with a palliative diagnosis, their family, and the bereaved. When medical intervention can no longer add days to life, we strive to add more life to each day.” https://nohs.ca/
October 21, 2024: Janet Parkins and Jane Weixl with Climate Action Now! North Okanagan are our featured speakers. Their timely topic is, “Zero Carbon Step Code”, part of changes to the BC Building Code which requires most new construction in BC to be 20% more energy efficient than the base 2018 BC Building Code. The Information Bulletin from the Building and Safety Standards Branch of the BC government provides more information on this Code however our speakers will bring the human approach to the topic .
September 16, 2024 – Our featured speaker was Martin Friedrich, Executive Director of Vernon and District Immigrant and Community Services Society.
Martin spoke of the many services VDICSS has offered for newcomers, immigrants, refugees, and naturalized citizens, helping with settlement and integration into Canada and Vernon, British Columbia. Among other services, it provides language and employment services. For more information visit Home | Vernon & District Immigrant & Community Services Society (vdicss.org)
Additionally, we we heard from Mickie Materi of the Archway Society for Domestic Peace and some of the financial challenges the organization is currently facing. See archwaysociety.ca for information about this organization.
May 27, 2024 – Cindy Masters, our scheduled speaker, was unable to attend on this date. We are working to reschedule her speaking engagement. Cindy Masters is the Executive Director of Okanagan Village Housing Society. Cindy was born and raised in Vernon and is excited to be speaking about the work of the Okanagan Village Housing Society. This Society is a registered charity whose mandate is to develop a permanent inventory of managed, safe and comfortable rental housing at below market rate for the “forgotten population” of lower income workers, families, pensioners, and people with diverse abilities who are in need of help along their way to becoming or remaining long-term contributing citizens.”
More information regarding the Society can be found at https://okvillage.ca/.
Special Interest Groups
Book Club
Are you looking for good books; thoughtful, intelligent, stimulating discussion; fun and companionship? Our book club provides that and more!
CFUW Vernon’s Libra Phillies Book Club meets regularly on the 4th Tuesday of the month and guests are welcome to attend a meeting or 2 before becoming members of CFUW Vernon.
Meetings are held at the homes of members and times may vary.
Book Club Members each choose a book for the month in which they are hosting. Books can be from any genre, and include fiction and non-fiction. Here is the current line-up.
2024:
Sept: The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
Oct: The Storm We Made, by Vanessa Chan
Nov: tba
Dec: Poverty By America, by Matthew Desmond
Coffee and Chat
These sessions are held on alternate Fridays, 10:05 am until noon, currently in the Okanagan Room on the 2nd floor of the Okanagan Regional Library in Vernon. Get to know other members in an informal setting through self-moderated lively discussion of a topic decided in advance. Discussion topics are selected by a member who prepares a brief opening overview then discussion ensues.
Past topics include,
- Cell phones/smart phones and their impact on us and our society;
- Current scams, how to look out for them and how to protect yourself against them;
- Discuss a book you have read recently that you would like to recommend to others.
Outdoors Club
During the non-winter months, this group takes weekly hikes on various trails in and around Vernon, of which there are a significant number. There may also be a possibility of a swim. The activity starts at 10 am on Fridays at a location chosen by the group leader but suggestions for locations are always welcome.
With the arrival of snow, the Friday schedule is maintained but the group switches to snowshoeing. There are a number of snowshoe trails within Sovereign Provincial Park or Silver Star Mountain that the group frequents.
Whether hiking or snowshoeing, an effort is made to carpool to make getting to the chosen destination easier for the participants. Additionally, depending on schedules, at the conclusion of the activity, members stop somewhere for coffee.
