Healthy Seniors

Seniors are an important part of the Pinawa community. They volunteer for projects, participate in community events, and support local businesses. Retirees require products and services, and when they shop locally, this can stimulate and sustain an economy. Ensuring that people can maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle will not only have a direct benefit to their health and wellbeing, but it will make Pinawa a more attractive place for retirees to settle down for their post working lives, growing our population and building demand for new housing (Jobs!) (Revenue!)

Safe Shared Streets

Walking for wellness. Communities that are walkable are healthier than those that are car dependant. Going for a walk gets you in the sun for vitamin-D, promotes muscle maintenence and cardiovascular health. Being in nature has an impact on our mental state, and seeing others is an opportunity to socialise and connect with the community. A town that has a high walkability rating makes it easier for people to choose walking for their day to day errands. The original town plan includes multiple pathways to get people from the residential areas to the town centre (very forward thinking by the original planners) but these are currently underdeveloped. Choosing to more often walk to the Solo for groceries rather than drive is a simple lifestyle habit that will benefit anyone. For seniors, being able to incorporate a more active lifestyle is probably the most important and impactful thing one could do to improve their quality of life. How do we acheive this?

• Increase the amount of benches so people can rest while out for a walk.
• Improve the public paths and walkways so that people can use these as viable ways of getting from place to place, as was their intention in the original town plan!
• Innovate traffic calming strategies such as crosswalks and lower speed limits to improve safety of seniors and everyone on shared roadways.
• Help people to choose products to assist them in carrying groceries, such as those little pull carts or bike baskets and panniers

Recreation for Retirees

The Pandemic has been stressful on everybody, especially seniors. Since they are at the highest risk for Covid-19, many of these folks have been quite isolated. This takes a toll physically, mentally, and emotionally. This period will eventually pass, and as we move into a post-covid world, restoring recreation activities will be very important for everybody. We must establish a recreation department (since parting ways with Winnipeg River Rec) and work with other organizations, endeavouring to host a wide variety of activities for all ages, such as:

• Social Lawn bowling and Horseshoes area in the park.
• Indoor and Outdoor Pickleball.
• Dance Night!
• Yoga and Medidation for physical and mental health.
• Programs to encourage gardening as a hobby with programs such as Raised Bed Planting Boxes, Accessible community gardens, seed sharing. Gardening has many benefits for wellness! There was an enormous uptick in interest in Gardening in 2020.

Retirement is the time to enjoy the fruits of one’s labours. Whether one has a million dollar pension or a modest retirement income, we should ensure that there is always access to free or low cost activities for everyone to enjoy. After a year of mostly staying within our own homes, I believe that people have a newfound appreciation for the importance of social activities for keeping us in a good space physically, mentally, and emotionally. Let’s make sure that Pinawa is innovative in its approach to being an Age Friendly community.

What sort of activities would you like to see in Pinawa that would get you out and moving?