A short history of the Senior Citizens’ Club of Fenelon Falls

This past spring we had the occasion to look around in the attic of our centre at 58 Murray St., Fenelon Falls. While up there, it was discovered that the 2009 building committee and board of directors had left a little “time capsule” of sorts. On a board were the names of the building committee, the directors, and various club members. It was a happy surprise.

This was left as a reminder that this building that we now call home was hard-fought for by a hardworking, determined group of volunteers.

The property that was our first home was originally owned by the Canadian National Railway; built before 1900, it served as a gristmill. The land the building sat on had been purchased in 1990 from the CNR by the County of Victoria and then in turn to the Fenelon Area Independent Living Association (FAILA). On one part of that property, the apartment building at 70 Murray St. was erected, which left the gristmill building empty on the part of the property that faced Lindsay St. In 1971, the gristmill had been purchased from Maple Leaf Milling in Toronto by the Fenelon Falls Rotary Club for $1. On Oct. 2, 1975, the Seniors Club accepted ownership of the building from the Rotary Club for $1.

That $1 dollar bill is held with the Rotary Club to this day, framed with the following signatures representing the sale, FFSC board members Howard Burns, Fletcher Goodhand, Tommy Graham, and Irwin White along with Rotarians Russ Baptiste, Al Brokenshire, Harry Moore, Ben Jowitt, Don Folk, Dr. Fred Baldassi, and Syd Finch.

In 1976, the Senior Citizens’ Club of Fenelon Falls was incorporated; the first directors were Charles Linton, Irwin White, Fletcher Goodhand, Marguerite Linton, Frances Drywood, and Norman Carrey.

On Feb. 16, 2007, the building at 121 Lindsay St. was lost to fire. Over the more than 30 years the club called that building home, it was the location of many regular activities such as shuffleboard, cards, and exercise classes, along with regular renters like the Snowmobile Club, the local stamp club, and, of course, our friends the Rotary Club. Christmas and New Year dinners, monthly dances, birthday parties, weddings, etc., all were able to find a well-suited place for their celebrations.

Later that month, on Feb. 23, club president Jim Deyell sent a letter to the mayor and our local councillor detailing the state the organization now found itself in, discussing options and fundraising efforts. For nearly three years after the fire, the organization was without a home while options were considered, and vigorous campaigning for donations and financing to rebuild was explored.

In 2009, the building committee of Carl Thompson (president), Mel Simmons, Art Bayley, Syd Goldsmith, and Patricia Folk purchased the current property at 58 Murray St., and on June 6, 2010, the grand opening of this building was held.

Over the years, the board of directors has changed, activities and events have been added, and fundraising to keep the building properly maintained has been ongoing. Our building is owned and maintained by the FFSC through membership fees, activities and events, rentals, and generous donations. We are a non-profit registered charity; therefore, we are able to provide tax receipts for donations.

This year we were invited as an expression of interest to apply for a SALC designation. The Seniors Active Living Centre designation provides the organization with (limited) perpetual funding from the province of Ontario. This funding is to ensure that programs, activities, events and social interactions will be available for our senior members and for members of the community which we serve.

We decided this designation was the perfect time to add the next “time capsule” to the attic. The display contains the names of the 2026 board of directors, along with signatures of our club members and dignitaries who attended our SALC celebration; some names are now recorded on both the “time capsules.”

On Oct. 20, 2026, this display, along with our past president Jean Smith’s briefcase and the photo of the Queen, were affixed to the rafters in the attic for the next generation of board members to discover and, of course, to add to when the time is right.

Cheryl Dyer is the program coordinator at the Senior Citizens’ Club of Fenelon Falls