Community events June 2008

Monday, July 7 Beth Zion holds their fifth annual golf tournament to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Donations and sponsorships are encouraged and appreciated. Info: 514-620-4489 or 514-212-0812

Thursday, June 12 from 7:30 pm – 9 pm, Temple Emmanuel Beth Sholom presents Professor Benjamin Perrin, Canada’s leading expert on human trafficking. 395 Elm, Westmount. Info: 514-937-3575 or faculty.law.ubc.ca/perrin

After the Fringe is over, theatre buffs who need further entertainment can head to the Atwater Library Friday, June 27 for Byron Toben’s third annual Summer Solstice week literary and music cabaret. It begins at 7:30 pm and features talented local jazz, Celtic, and bossanova musicians. The centrepiece is a dramatic reading of George Bernard Shaw’s witty and snappy one-act play about travel and marriage, A Village Wooing. Readers Pierre Lenoir and Laura Mitchell will appear as well as Paul Serralheiro, music commentator for The Senior Times. Admission is by voluntary charitable donation. Past beneficiaries have included Breast Cancer Action Montreal and Meals on Wheels. Info: byron@theseniortimes.com

Saturday, June 7 and Saturday, June 21 from 12 pm – 4 pm, Cause 4 Paws Feline Rescue holds adoption days for stray cats of all ages. All cats are sterilized, vaccinated and tested. Multi Cafe, 9760 Gouin W, Pierrefonds. Info: 514-684-4810

Saturday, June 14, Animal Rescue Network will hold an Adoption Day at Pawtisserie on 4932B Sherbrooke Street at the Westmount Street fair. The new SPCA staff will be on hand to introduce themselves. Info: 514-488-4729

The Faculty of Dentistry at McGill holds its annual Summer Dental Clinic for adolescents and the disabled Tuesday, July 8 to Thursday, July 31. The clinic treats over 1000 patients at its undergraduate facility at the Montreal General Hospital. The goal is to reach out to those who do not have access to dental services. The clinic offers services such as cleanings, examinations, X-rays, sealants, and fluoride applications carried out by senior dental students supervised by McGill instructors. Info: 514-934-8441, 10 am – 12 pm and 1 pm – 3 pm

Sunday, June 8 at 8 pm, Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom presents this year’s Ruth Richler Memorial Lecture, Aging Gracefully And Gratefully with Dr. Michael Dworkind. The lecture will start at 8:45 pm.

Tuesday, June 10 at 7 pm, Professor Alain Deneault, author of Noir Canada speaks about Canadian mining in Africa at Concordia, room 760, 1455 de Maisonneuve. Info: 514-846-0644

Friday, June 6 from 1 pm - 3:30 pm, Catherine Booth Hospital holds its osteoporosis information day. Topics include nutrition, bone health and more. Limited space. 4375 Montclair. Info: 514-481-0431

Saturday, June 14 from 9 am - 12 pm, West Island Advocacy holds its garden tour and fundraiser. Info: 514-694-5850

Library events June 2008

Atwater Library

Wednesday, June 11 at 12:30 pm adventurer Tony Robinson-Smith reads from Back in 6 Years about traveling the world without boarding an aircraft.

Wednesday, June 18 at 12:30 pm author William Weintraub reads from Crazy About Lili, set in Montreal in the late 1940s.

1200 Atwater at Tupper.

Info: atwaterlibrary.com

Côte Saint-Luc Library

Wednesday, June 11 at 2 pm, Teresa Anuza presents the latest on Alzheimer’s Disease.

Thursday, June 12 at 2 pm, Barbara and Jack Rosenthal discuss their journey to the ancient synagogues in India. $3.

Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 pm, Bowser and Blue perform behind the library. Free. Rain date Sunday, July 6 at 4 pm.

Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 pm, Thomas Corriveau speaks about his role in the Graff-Hyperliens exhibition.

5851 Cavendish.

Info: 514-485-6900 x 4205

Jewish Public Library

Thursday, June 19 at 8 pm, the Yiddish Café convenes Israel@60, a celebration of Yiddish poetry and song. The event is sponsored by the Yetta Feldman Chmiel Endowment. Admission $10, $5 members and students. 5151 Côte-Ste-Catherine.

Info: jewishpubliclibrary.org

Club events June 2008

Saturday, June 7 from 12:30 – 3:30 pm, St. Mary’s Church holds British Afternoon Tea with a bake sale, raffle, and door prizes, $10. Tea is in support of the Walk to End Breast Cancer at 735 Miller in Greenfield Park. Info: 450-923-4879 or 450-672-8442

Sunday, June 8, the Zoological Society of Montreal leads a field trip to Johnville Bog and Forest Park. $55. Info: 514-845-8317 or zoologicalsocietymtl.org

Sunday, June 8 at 9:30 am, the Beth Zion Men’s Club presents Dr. Mitch Shulman discussing Everything you ever wanted to know about the Emergency Room but were afraid to ask. Breakfast and lecture follow morning services at 5740 Hudson, Côte St-Luc. Info: 514-489-8411 x 24 or bethzion.com

Saturday, June 14 at 1:30 pm, Branch 94 of the Royal Canadian Legion holds its monthly Cribbage Tournament at 205 Empire, Greenfield Park. Registration from 11:30 am – 1 pm. $10. Limited space. Info: 450-465-0845

Saturday, June 14 at 4 pm, the Royal Canadian Legion of Verdun holds its Pub Night serving fish and chips, with games, music and door prizes, at 4538 Verdun (métro Verdun). $6. Info: 514-769-2489

Tuesday, June 17 from 7:15 am – 10 pm, Concordia’s Centre for Canadian Irish Studies holds a group field trip to The Irish Memorial, with an island tour by noted Irish Quebec historian Marianna O’Gallagher. $65 covers bus and ferry. Info: 514-848-8711 or cdnirish.concordia.ca

Tuesday, June 17, St. Patrick’s Society holds its 13th Annual Golf Tournament at the Bellevue Golf Club. $120 covers green fees, golf cart, dinner and wine. Info: 514-481-1346

Thursday, June 19 at 11 am, Helvetia Seniors Club holds its “All Swiss” lunch at Monkland Grill NDG. Info: 514-481-2928

Saturday, June 21 at 9:30 am, the Montreal Urban Hikers Walking Club invites walkers to explore l’Ile de la Visitation Park. $15. Confirm before June 14. Info: 514-366-8340

Thursday, June 26, the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada travels to Quebec City and Thursday, July 3 to the Hudson Village Theatre as part of their summer trip festival. Info: 514-733-7589

Breaking the silence on elder abuse

The NDG Community Committee on Elder Abuse is raising awareness about the abuse and victimization of seniors, a subject many people consider taboo.

“With elder abuse incidents continually on the rise, there is an absolute urgency to raise awareness and prevent this phenomenon from escalating further,” says Maxine Lithwick, Head of the Elder Abuse Prevention Program at the Centre de santé et de services sociaux Cavendish.

From neglect and emotional abuse to financial exploitation and physical intimidation, elder abuse takes many forms and West Island community groups are coming together to bring greater vigilance and attention to the issue.

Elder Abuse Awareness Day will take place at the Cavendish Mall Wednesday, June 11 from 1 - 4 pm in collaboration with the Centre-West Seniors’ Committee and the Elder Abuse Consultation Team of the Centre de santé et de services sociaux Cavendish.

Workshops will cover telemarketing fraud, challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease, and the impact of elder abuse on society.

The day’s activities include entertainment by The Policeman’s Band and the Benny Farm Idols, and feature information kiosks on resources in the community to spread awareness and empower seniors.

Info: 514-484-7878 x 1478

New Hope open house

The New Hope Senior Citizens’ Centre, now entering its 29th year, is recruiting members and volunteers and will be holding a barbeque and open house Wednesday, June 18 at 11 am.

Currently 150 members participate in weekly art classes, discussions, trivial pursuit and bingo.

Mandated to alleviate seniors’ isolation, the centre, with a staff of three, currently has 85 senior volunteers. Meals on Wheels is New Hope’s largest outreach program in NDG, delivering 70 hot meals three times a week.

Community lunches are also served three times a week. The volunteer chef cooks four days a week, serving 125 hot meals each day.

“New Hope is like home to everybody,” says Gerry Lafferty, the centre’s Executive Director. “I’ve been here for two years and this is such a positive place. It’s like a big family.”

New Hope Senior Citizens’ Centre is at 6225 Godfrey. The barbeque will be partially sponsored by Les Aliments M&M on Somerled.

Info: 514-484-0425

V-E Day in Côte St-Luc

Veterans in attendance (photo: Max Rams)

More than 300 people attended the annual V-E Day commemoration at Veterans Park May 18. Wreaths were deposited by Côte St-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather, D’Arcy-McGee MNA Lawrence Bergman, the consuls general of the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and other invited guests.

The V-E Day event was organized by the Brigadier Frederick Kisch Branch 97 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the City of Côte St-Luc.

Courageous cats need you

Carolyn Callender

Are you a cat lover interested in finding the perfect pet companion? Check out Adoption Days organized by the Animal Rescue Network and its clinics, where volunteers can answer your questions. Based on your lifestyle and needs, and the needs of the cat, volunteers will recommend cats they think will be a good match for you.

Choosing­ adoption over petshops

Adoption is less costly. The $130 adoption fee includes vaccination and sterilization (both performed pre-adoption) and 30 days of medical care under pet insurance — an affordable alternative to the $250 to $300 required to purchase, sterilize and vaccinate a store-bought pet.

Your adoption fee helps Animal Rescue Network provide food, shelter and medical care to our growing population of animals. Although you’ll only find cats at Adoption Days, dog lovers can contact the Network and meet dogs for adoption.

Adoption Days

• Saturday, May 10, 12pm – 4pm at Natural Animal & Pawtisserie, 4932B Sherbrooke W. Info: 514-488-4729
• Saturday, May 17, 10am – 4pm at
• J.E. Mondou, 10315 Lajeunesse.
• Info: 514-381-4747
• Saturday, May 17, 10am – 3pm at J.E. Mondou, 2032 Victoria Ave., Greenfield Park. Info: 450-672-5080
• Saturday June 7, 10am – 4pm at J.E. Mondou, 90 Jean-Talon E. Info: 514-271-5503

Founded in 1994 by Barbara Lisbona, the Animal Rescue Network has become the largest no-kill animal shelter in Quebec. The organization never euthanizes an animal unless an extreme level of sickness and suffering necessitates it. At any one time there are approximately 300 cats staying at the main shelter in Rosemont. The shelter does not have any paid employees or receive government subsidies.

The Network also has a number of foster homes. Info: 514-938-6215

Cats up for adoption

Toby, is 8 with a slight weight problem, is sociable and welcomes visitors with a lot of purring. He was adopted in 2002 and returned to the shelter after 6 years with his 2 feline friends since the owners had a baby who is allergic. He loves to roll around and be caressed.

Rambo, a beautiful grey cat male, 7, became homeless after his owner’s death. He is calm and charming. He has since recovered from this shock and just wants to be loved!

Blanche, a lovely female cat, 8, has beautiful green eyes and imma­culate white fur. Her owner abandoned her in 2001 under the pretext that she was bad-natured, which we find hard to believe! She is quiet and calm, hardly noticed around the shelter – but she would dearly love to live in a home where she is noticed and appreciated.

Felix, a cute male cat, 8, lived with a woman who had too many cats. Felix loves other cats and is gentle yet nervous. Perhaps this is his secret to retain his tiny waist as he is thin and in good health.

Info: arn-rsa.rescuegroups.org

Artistry benefits Alzheimer's

Gisele Rucker

Mona Wizenberg with festival souvenir shirt

Art teacher Mona Wizenberg is quick to name all the individuals and sponsors* who are supporting the Sunday, May 25 Artventure for Alzheimer's fundraiser and auction of drawings by her students, seniors who have never drawn before. Her success as a teacher lies in the beauty of these drawings, which she lovingly unveils, one by one, with heartfelt joy, and sometimes sadness, recounting the physical or mental challenges each senior artist must overcome to draw.

“They inspire me,” she says. “They have given me so much: if they can draw, given all their physical ailments, then I can handle anything. Making art makes them forget all their pain. Art is therapeutic and they have become addicted.”

Trained as a Special Care Counsellor, Wizenberg worked for 16 years teaching anger management, problem solving and impulse control to students in schools. When she was laid off, her next vocation appeared to her while caring for her Uncle Noah, who has Alzheimer's. She befriended a woman who is paralyzed except for her left hand. Over three months, Wizenberg taught her how to draw floral arrangements. “She encouraged me to teach seniors how to draw… I fell for seniors — they give me hope and inspiration.”

Her strength is encouraging seniors to boldly take up coloured pencils and overcome their fear of not being able to draw. She tells them, “Your signature is unique and it is actually drawing.”

Persistent about including every senior in her eight week course now widely offered (for a fee) in West Island residences and privately, Wizenberg will adapt tools and techniques to assist those with disabilities. She describes how she and a resident’s occupational therapist adapted equipment to allow a woman with Huntington's chorea, a neurological disorder causing uncontrollable movement, to steady her hand and hold a heavy lead pencil by inserting it into a carpal tunnel glove sleeve around her hand. With her lower arm secured to an armrest off her chair, she could make marks on a poster board taped to a lap tray.

Wizenberg says, “Students who are blind draw too!” — she helps them use their hands as eyes. She brings in her realistic bird sculptures, over which they can run their hands before drawing. She provides magnifying glasses or sheets, aesthetic lamps, and will outline in black the initial shapes her almost blind students draw.

Whether a still life, a highly individualized version of work by the late Gazette cartoonist John Collins, or well-known masterpieces like the Mona Lisa, which appears 36 times on the Artventure souvenir T-shirt, the work of all the artists, who live in different residences of the West Island, will be together for the first time in one huge vernissage and auction fundraiser for Alzheimer's, with 70% of the proceeds going to the Alzheimer Society and 30% to the Bloomfield Centre.

CTV weather host Lori Graham will MC the event, featuring performances by harpist Véronique Couturier, flautist Mariève Lauzon, and songs led by Linda Morrison, former conductor of the Yellow Door Choir. Auctioneer is well-known West Island personality Mike Lawrence. West Island Mayors, along with Quebec’s Minister responsible for Seniors, Marguerite Blais, will also attend. Door prizes include a Robert Bateman signed limited edition print, a VIP tour of CTV and supper with Lori Graham, 8 weekend getaways, James Taylor concert tickets, health club memberships, photography studio packages, and the Arthur Murray Dance School has offered gift certificates (valued at $125) for a dance lesson package, at the door. Artventure takes place Sunday, May 25, 1:30-5:30pm at the Holiday Inn Pointe Claire. Tickets: $20. Info: 514-696-0419.

*Sponsors include Manoir Kirkland, Le Wellesley, Manoir Pierrefonds, The Bayview, Le Vivalis, Le Cambridge, the Sunrise, Masterpeice, Bureau en Gros, Les Résidences Vivendi, Horizon Home Care, Omer DeSerres and the Holiday Inn Pointe Claire.