Elke Pitkin doesn’t know what she’d do without the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre.
The Bradford senior, who is about to celebrate her 80th birthday, joined the BWG Seniors Association through the centre 26 years ago, the year after it formed. And when her husband passed away in 2002, she became very involved, finding comfort in the company of others 55-plus and taking part in the many activities available Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“All my children are more than an hour away, but this place is six minutes away so I can come any time I want,” explains Pitkin, who had moved to Bradford in 1973, four years after emigrating from Germany, taking work for a land surveyor.
The centre formed as a result of an identified need in the community. A group of seniors who found programming was lacking formed a steering committee. They were looking at a place where they could drop in and connect with other seniors, and the mayor at the time became involved in the initiative.
The area’s German community was aging out of the building they had occupied, providing the perfect opportunity for a new centre. The German association donated it to the town for use as a seniors' centre and the seniors’ committee was struck.
Eventually Pitkin found herself on the board. In 2018, she was serving as vice president when the president at the time decided to move on.
“The then-president decided to retire and looked at me said 'you are president now',” she recalls with a chuckle.
It all gives her a sense of purpose.
“It means the world to me. I wouldn’t know how to fill my days otherwise,” she says, adding that it helps keep her sharp and active. “There’s always something to do. I don’t have time to be old and sit around.
“We have a pickleball court here, I can’t wait for summer so I can go out and play again.”
Members can participate in physical activities four days out of five, including a Zumba class intended for the senior crowd. There is also tai chi as well as a walking club, chair yoga and chair fitness.
And there are a host of other activities, including a variety of card games, woodworking and scrap booking. The Danube Book Club has its own approach held during a bring-your-own lunch. Instead of selecting one book for members to read, members simply talk about whatever book they currently have on the go or have read in the past.
There are regular lunch-and-learns which feature entertainment or presenters representing community groups. One recent lunch featured a magic show; another was a police officer talking about the latest scams. There is a charge for the lunch, but the goal is to keep the cost at a minimum. The January topic was connecting online with the library.
Before Christmas, the centre hosted a fashion show using the shuffleboard as a runway and featuring adaptive clothing geared for people in wheelchairs or those who have difficulty with fasteners, with members as models.
It’s also not unusual to see a musical event on the schedule.
Six years on, Pitkin remains the president. Just this past summer, she was named senior of the year at the town’s 2024 civic awards.
Jan Evans, a vice president of the board, who herself won a civic award in the past, jokes that the board won’t let Pitkin retire as president.
“You find out when you get elected to the board it could be a life commitment,” she says jokingly.
The centre has more than 400 members and offers $15 per person membership for Bradford residents and $20 per person for non-residents.
