KPU Retirees Association Events

The KPU Retirees Association schedules a number of events during the year to give members and their spouses a chance to get together to socialize and perhaps learn something new. Currently at least half of them are virtual so you can join those ones from anywhere with internet access.

Since 2017, when we first became active, more than 200 individuals (retirees, members, including guests and spouses) have participated. We are always open to suggestions for tours and other events for 2023 and beyond. Send us a quick email at: kpura@kpu.ca

2024 Annual General Meeting

KPU Langley campus, Room 1030,
on Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, 10 am to noon

Agenda 

Call to Order – 10:00 am

Territorial Acknowledgement

Welcome 

Greetings:

KPU – Dr. Alan Davis 

KFA – Mark Diotte

BCGEU acknowledgement

Keynote Speaker: Leslie Gaudette, President of 
the Council of Senior Citizen’s Organizations of BC 
(COSCO https://coscobc.org/) 
There will be time for Q&A after this presentation

 Business Meeting:

  1. Approval of the Agenda 

  2. Approval of 2023 AGM Minutes as circulated

  3. Treasurer’s Report for 2023 (Roger Elmes)

  4. Secretary’s Report for 2023 (Alice Macpherson)

  5. Approval of 2023 Grouped Reports as circulated

  6. Affiliate organization and other reports since the last AGM:

    1. Chair’s Report (Carol Barnett)

    2. Membership Report (Terri Van Steinburg)

    3. Communications Report (Alice Macpherson)

    4. Events Report 2023 and early 2024 (Sooz Klinkhamer)

    5. Liaison with KPU Update (Carol Barnett)

    6. Advocacy Reports

      • Age-Friendly University (Sandra Carpenter)

      • KPU Underfunding (Geoff Dean)

  7. New Business

  8. Election of Board Members (Alice Macpherson, Carol Barnett, Roger Elmes)

  9. AGM Adjournment

A Social Lunch will follow (provided  thank you!  by KPU Office of External Affairs)

Register for this event – either in person or by Zoom – by sending an email to KPURA@kpu.ca

 

If you plan to attend, please register at: KPURA@kpu.ca

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Past Events

2024 to date

AROHE (Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education) held a webinar series: ”REIMAGINING RETIREMENT: EXPLORING YOUR LIFE PLAN”, a three-part virtual learning series hosted by AROHE and Fidelity Investments. The sessions are currently archived at: https://www.arohe.org/Reimagining-Retirement where all of the recordings are available to you.

2023 - 8 events

Annual Festive Lunch - December 7th - We gathered for our 7th annual Festive Lunch at the Fort Langley Pub. Good food and conversation and some sensational book prizes from members and authors John Marasigan and Margaret Franz.  

Country Vines Winery Tasting Session - October 19, 2 - 4 pm, Richmond It was a wonderful social time with some wine education and then a charcuterie snack in the picnic area. Lovely weather and company

Picnic at Crescent Park, Surrey - September 7, 11:30 am - 2:pm. We had a Picnic!! Crescent Park is a large 52 hectare (128 acre) destination park in South Surrey. The Park offers walking trails through mature second growth forests, with ponds, streams and lots of secret meadows to discover. 

Between Blade & Bullet: The Mary Steinhauser Story - July 27, 6-8 pm at the Vancouver Police Museum. Margaret Franz (KPURA Founding Member) wrote a book about her late sister Mary, she presented the amazing life and tragic death of her very brave and beautiful sister.

Armchair Travel to South Africa - June 28. 2023. A virtual trip to South Africa, presented by Joan Barnet on her September 2019 travels to South Africa.

Chinatown Walk and History Talk – June 8, 2023. With our tour guide Maurice Guibord, the group walked through the old and new with a lense on the history of racism in Chinatown – how the colonial government ensured that they got cheap labour when they wanted it, how the white settler population kept that labour where they and those in power wanted them, and how these people could get rid of that labour when they were done with it. Then a discussion of what now?

Isobel MacKenzie, BC's Senior's Advocate - April 17, over 20 years’ experience working with seniors in home care, licensed care, community services and volunteer services. Isobel led B.C.’s largest not-for-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors annually. In this work, Isobel led the implementation of a new model of dementia care that has become a national best practice, and led the first safety accreditation for homecare workers, among many other accomplishments. Isobel has been widely recognized for her work and was named B.C. CEO of the Year for the not-for-profit sector and nominated as a Provincial Health Care Hero. Her talk for the KPURA AGM was dynamic and give a lot of good information  You can access her PowerPoint Presentation here: 
https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/retirees/Isobel_MacKenzie_KPU_Re…

Gwynne Dyer - January 18, KPU Surrey Campus - Historian and journalist Gwynne Dyer came to Kwantlen Polytechnic University with two global topics on his mind. Both have put the planet in grave danger: climate change and the war in Ukraine. The author of seven books spoke eloquently at KPU’s Surrey campus Jan. 18 as part of the President’s Dialogue Series. The recording of the President’s Dialogue with Gwynne Dyer on January 18, 2023 is now available to be viewed on KPU’s Website: https://www.kpu.ca/president/dialogue-series

2022 - 8 events

Seasonal Social Number 1 - Thursday 8 December 2022, 12 noon -2:30 pm at the Fort Pub – 9273 Glover Road, Fort Langley - www.fortpub.com. A very social time was had by all of the folks that came.

Seasonal Social Number 2 - December 15 There was a Zoom room to chat and exchange greetings and festive cheer from 3 pm to 4:30 pm.

Should They Stay or Should They Go? - November 3 - The Great Debate over the RCMP versus a Municipal Force in Surrey explained and elaborated on by Dr. Wade Deisman.

Eternal Witness - September 29 - Jim Adam took us on a gallery 'walk' through his paintings. 

North Van Shipyards Tour - September 8 - A ‘theatrical walking tour of the North Van Shipyards’. It was a saunter around the area with a little bit of walking.

Barnside Brewery Tour – May 17 - In person lunch and brewery tour in Delta with a visit to the hop yard. 

KPURA AGM - Age Friendly University presentation - April 15 - Special event as part of our AGM 2022 and has led to the KPU planning to apply for Age Friendly University status. 

Armchair Italy - February 24 - This saw us virtually travelling to Italy with Monika Tusnady.

2021 - 10 events

Seasonal Greetings by Zoom - December 8 - Online and very cheery way to begin the holiday season.

Festive Lunch - December 5 - Barnside Brewing in Delta was the location for an "under the tent" meet up and very festive lunch.

Francophone Walk in Vancouver - October 7 - A group of us took a brisk walk through some of Vancouver's Francophone history with colour comentary by Maurice Guibord.

Picnic in Crescent Park - September 2 - Meet up in person for the first time in over a year!

Summer Social! Coffee, Tea, and Refreshments - Together while Apart - July 20 - Zoom meet up and socializing

The Deep Web with Dr. Wade Diesman - June 24 - We explored the the origins and significance of the Dark Web including re-tracing some of the formative stages in the growth of the Internet and how cyberspace was thought about at each of these stages. Finally, we looked at some of the means and mechanisms that are being explored to address this darkness.

From History to Fiction by Simon Johnston - May 20 - Novelist, playwright and theatre director Simon Johnston described his research in India, Hong Kong, China and London that resulted in his novel, The House of Wives.PS

KPURA AGM - Impact of the Future of Post-Secondary Education on KPU - By Dr. Sandy Vanderburgh, KPU Provost and Vice President Academic at the 15th April AGM
The Economic Necessity: Education - By Anita Huberman, Surrey Board of Trade  at the 15th April 2021 AGM

Armchair Travel to Menton, France - March 25 - Monika Tusnady led our group on a fabulous walking tour (virtual) through the city of Menton France in March. Where old architecture, festivals, and the everychanging seas enchanted us all.

Arches of Chinatown - February 11 - Frank Abbott took us on a fascinating journey through Vancouver Chinatown and the history of its arches. His background in Canadian and Chinese history helped us all examine the question of belonging and identity for Vancouver’s Chinese Canadians in the period 1896-1936, a time known for its anti-Asian racism.

2020 - 4 events

4th Annual Seasonal Festive Lunch - Virtually on Zoom Sunday December 6th at 11:30am, online, armed with our favourite libation. We learned how to sabre a bottle of champagne and shared our drinks and their making / backgrounds. We also shared how we planned to spend the Festive Season – either because of COVID 19 or in spite of it.

A Virtual Stroll around Cedar Cove - September 24, 2020 - The area of Cedar Cove was characterized by very large cedar trees and was long known and used by the Tsleil-Waututh. Non-native settlement began with the extraction of the trees that gave the area its name. Soon, a post office, a brewery and two huge sawmills occupied the cove. Japanese, Chinese, Sikh and other settlers called the area home. On this tour, we explored this diverse neighbourhood and found remnants of the earlier community. John Atkin, a local historian and author, and seasoned walking tour guide presented this virtual tour.

Virtual Tour of the Magdalen Islands - August 20, 2020 - Our gracious hosts, Roger Elmes and Marie-Claire Rucquoy, took KPURA retirees on a virtual tour of the Magdalen Islands. We watched a series of slides, while listening to a description of the many changes that have occurred over the last five decades: receding coastlines (wind and water erosion, and now ocean rise), increases in tourism (more camp sites and other accommodations, many artisans), and the decrease in the mostly francophone population. When coupled with the Knowledge Network ‘Island Diaries’ episode Located at the following link. https://www.knowledge.ca/program/island-diaries/s2/e11/magdalen-islands, this was a most informative presentation. Slides for the session are now available at: https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/retirees/Magdalen_Islands_RA_tou…

KPURA AGM - April 16, 2020 - Due to Covid 19 this was our first virtual AGM with Alan Davis presenting KPU Vision 2023, and Dennis Anderson presting on the current state of the Municipal and Coollege Pension Plans.

Country Vines Winery Visit - Saturday February 29, 2020. Our last visit was so successful that we decided to do it again and catch up on the latest vintages. It was even more fun than the first time! We met in the wine store. There Eric Urquhart introduces us to their many handcrafted wines and answered all questions about their wines. We enjoyed tasting a selected group while nibbling on cheese and crackers.

2019 - 7 events

3rd Annual Seasonal Festive Lunch - Morgan Creek Golf Course Sunday, December 1, 2019. Once again, we enjoyed a convivial and collegial lunch. Each year we have had a wonderful time re-connecting with colleagues and meeting spouses. The conversation is lively as we catch up on the latest travels and happenings.

Fort Langley National Historic Site Visit, October 24 - The Fort offered many attraction including the White Glove tour in which we got behind the scenes to become curators by examining and identifying mystery historic objects.

A Day at Krause Berry Farm, July 3 - A great outing to enjoy the delights of a Working Destination Farm. There was several types of berries for picking, the option of lunch in the onsite restaurant, a great bakery, and a children’s area. 

Vancouver Downtown Walking Tour, June 27 - John Belshaw took us further west into the downtown core to delve into more Vancouver history and was enlivened with John’s insights into historic life in Vancouver.

KPURA AGM, May 13 - This was our first official AGM since incorporating as a Society and was held in the Surrey Conference Centre in the Cedar building for this event. We had speakers on the topics of Pensions in BC

UBC Botanical Garden, April 11 - Located at the University of British Columbia, was established in 1916 under the directorship of John Davidson, British Columbia's first provincial botanist. It is the oldest botanical garden at a university in Canada. The original mission of the garden was research into the native flora of British Columbia. Over the past 100 years, the mission of UBC Botanical Garden has broadened to include research, conservation, teaching and public display of temperate plants from around the world.

Country Vines Winery, Feb 16 - We spent an afternoon of wine tasting and discussion at Country Vines Winery, 13060 Steveston Highway, Richmond, BC on Saturday Feb 16 meeting in the wine store. There Eric Urquhart introduced us to their many handcrafted wines. He really can answer ‘any’ question about wine! This is his passion and he has the technical background to ensure accuracy. This winery is owned and run by a many generation Richmond farm family who have branched out into grapes and wine and located within Richmond Country Farms (south side of Steveston Hwy), just east of the Market building in the old family home.

 

2018 - 7 events

Six events and our first General Meeting were held during 2018 that were all well attended. There were five tours: Spent Grounds Coffee Roaster - January 20, Wilson Building , Vancouver Noir Walk, Gulf of Georgia Cannery, and Surrey Heritage Rail Tour. KPURA also hosted the second Festive Season Lunch at Seasons in the Park, Vancouver. Attendance at all of these events ranged from 10 to 28, of which 6 to 18 were KPU retirees. Our First GM held at the Richmond Campus in April, 2018 recorded 33 attendees.

 

2017 - 4 events

Four events were held in our first year.

We started with an organizational meeting in the early spring at the Richmond campus. Pictures of the event can be found here: View KPURA Founding Meeting pictures

To get social we had a wine tasting at Backyard Vineyards August 20, had a boat tour in September 23, and then a Festive Lunch in December. Meanwhile a Steering committee was laying the groundwork for becoming a society.