Everyone welcome to come to the annual Community Christmas Dinner at Manson’s Hall Saturday December 15th. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy will be served. Please bring a potluck veggie dish or salad with a serving utensil or a finger food dessert to add to the feast. Doors open at 5:00 pm and dinner starts around 5:30. Donations for the food bank will be gratefully accepted at the door. Thanks to all the volunteers who help cook, decorate, clean up and entertain. Thank you to the Cortes Market, Gunter Brothers Meat, Thrifties and Superstore for donating food and supplies.
New Manson’s Post Office in the New Year
In the new year, the Manson’s post office will be moving to a new, larger room on the other side of the main entrance to Manson’s Hall. Renovations are currently underway. The SCCA board decided to make this change to provide space for the many more mailboxes needed at Manson’s, to change the access for the mail van to reduce heat loss from the hall, and to create a more efficient work space with improved heat retention. The new mailboxes will be in an internal lobby with its own exterior door accessible 24/7 and with inside access to the main hall when it is open.
Manson’s Landing is a postmaster-supplied post office which means that Canada Post Corp. provides a monthly rental allowance to the postmaster. CPC has provided new mailboxes and will pay for their installation but not for renovating the room itself. The project is being managed hands-on by SCCA director Jim Murphy; most of the labour is being done by volunteers with donations of lumber and tools. Items that must be purchased (glass, the new door, flooring, a security closure for the wicket, electrical fixtures, wallboard and paint) are being paid for out of SCCA revenue and donations in order to improve service to our community.
More than 100 island residents currently receive their mail via general delivery. If you are one of them and look forward to having your own mailbox, you can help this project by donating money, time or materials. The new setup should also reduce wait time at the wicket for everyone. You can “contact us” or “make a donation” from the home page at www.mansonshall.org. When the renovations are complete, postmaster Jaime Lagrandeur will be managing the transition.
SCCA Presidents Report
President’s Report by John Sprungman
Manson’s Hall, in its present form, has served the community as a centre for services, activities and as a social space for 32 years. Over those years, it has been a kind of greenhouse in which things start small and some of them outgrow the available space. The first doctor practiced in what is now the hall office. Later the room across from the bathrooms was the doctor’s office and then the community built the medical centre.
The Quadra Credit Union also started in the hall office, moved into the portable on the parking lot and then bought land and constructed its own building. This year Cortes Community Radio, now fully licensed, moved to the portable from the old doctor’s office.
And the next occupant of that room will be the post office. Jim Murphy, chair of the SCCA’s renovations committee, is working with postmaster Jaime le Grandeur on a design which will include an internal lobby (open 24/7) with twice the number of mailboxes, all of them new and already on site. This move was approved by the SCCA board to accomplish a number of positive changes: the reduction of heat loss from the hall by not using the main doors as the access for incoming and outgoing mail, the creation of a pedestrian courtyard keeping vehicles back from the main entry, and providing mailboxes for nearly a hundred people who currently get their mail via general delivery. Once the post office is moved, a small group meeting or activity room will be created to reduce the need to use the Pioneer Room for a limited number of people. Continue reading “SCCA Presidents Report”
Many Thanks to the Manson’s Hall Renovators
Renovations to the Pioneer Room and the main hall kitchen at Manson’s Hall are now complete, and many thank yous are in order to all who helped to create these beautifully refinished spaces.
At the top of the list is Jim Murphy, chair of the SCCA’s renovations committee, talented woodworker and organizer, who gave hundreds of hours of his time as well as a substantial donation of money to a project which was also made possible by the Cortes Seniors Society’s support for a New Horizons for Seniors grant written by Sandra Wood who took the pictures in the collage above.
In the Pioneer Room, the 30-year-old carpet and particle board underlay was removed with volunteer help from Axel Nagorni and Dave Popke and hauled to the recycling centre by Tom Bennet. A new plywood surface was laid down by Jim and Eddie Mitchell as the base for the professionally installed marmoleum flooring. Jean Fontaine donated the use of an air stapler to fasten the plywood. Continue reading “Many Thanks to the Manson’s Hall Renovators”