The Wales Home Ladies Auxiliary doing their part
From the outside, looking in, it can be easy to miss the amount of work that goes into keeping life in a place like the Wales Home interesting. From one day to the next any number of different activities might be going on, but seeing an event and knowing how it came to pass are two different things.
For Carol-ann Mcelrea, the Wales Home’s Activities coordinator, one very important piece of the puzzle is the involvement of The Wales Home Ladies’ Auxiliary.
“Any time I need a volunteer for anything, I know I can turn to the Ladies’ Auxiliary,” Mcelrea said, explaining that in addition to coordinating an English tea for the residents every Friday, the volunteer group also organizes the monthly birthday teas, runs the home’s tuck shop, and carries out the annual silent auction and bazaar from which she draws her entire activities budget for the year.
“We’re very fortunate to have this Wales Home in our area, very fortunate,” said Joyce Cinnamon, President of the Wales Home Ladies’ Auxiliary, explaining that 2017 marks 95 years of the group working to support the lives of the home’s residents. “There’s a wide variety of things that the ladies are involved in here,” she added.
At the moment, the group is immersed in preparations for the annual silent auction and bazaar, which is set
to take place on Saturday, May 27, starting at 1:30 p.m. According to the president, donations have been pouring in for both the silent auction and associated white elephant sale since the beginning of the month.
“We live in a wonderful community where people do donate and support,” Cinnamon said. “Without them we wouldn’t have our auction.”
The president credited Margot and Simon Langeveld for the work of setting up the auction items in their locations all thought the lobby and living room of the home, and also expressed thanks to Lorette Irwin who arranged items for the sale of odds and ends each year. “They work endless hours doing that,” Mcelrea said. Right now large sections of the main floor of the building are filled up with all manner of donated treasures. Items up for bid in the auction range from dainty jewelry and commemorative plates to big-ticket items like a Murphy bed or a large wooden shelving unit.
“I was amazed the first day at how many items were set out,” Cinnamon said, noting that more donations have come in since.
Although the point of the auction and bazaar is to raise money, the president of the Ladies’ Auxiliary highlighted the fact that the event also serves an important social role for the residents.
“People come from the outside world, they browse, and then they visit with the residents,” she said, noting that anyone is allowed to come and place bids prior to the official start of the auction on the 27th, provided that they come before 7 p.m. “It’s fun.”
“It’s the ladies’ auxiliary that really mans the silent auction,” Mcelrea noted, “but the success of the sale is a huge community effort.”
The activities coordinator explained that on the day of the main event, the home is more or less taken over by the different activities. “The energy is palpable.” Mcelrea said. Although the home is currently under renovation and expansion, the activities coordinator said that people should not let the construction project scare them off.
“We’re making accommodations for parking that day,” Mcelrea said.