The concept of a Men’s Shed in the Town of Olds has been in the works for about a year now.
Morley Kjargaard, President of the Men’s Shed of Olds, says they are about 7/8s of the way through to forming a formal club or organization.
He points out that it is an international movement because when men retire they tend to go home put their feet up, and lose a lot of the social networks they had through work. Kjargaard says “we’re a little less active maybe then we used to be and we’re losing our social network. So we’re sometimes lonely, isolated and that can lead to depression which is not good for your physical health, it’s not good for your mental health. The Men’s Shed movement is an attempt to get men, you know, out of their houses and into a social setting where they can enjoy the company of their peers.”
He adds, they also give back by taking on projects that contribute to the community. As far as those projects go, Kjargaard says “there will be Adirondack chairs, and picnic tables, and just benches for people to relax. So we’re, you know, committed to building all the outdoor patio furniture for Kirsten’s Place. Throughout the course of the year, the Town collects bicycles that get abandoned so we’ve agreed to review the bikes that they have in storage right now. The ones that are still in decent shape, we’ll get them them operational again and then donate them back to the community so kids have bikes to ride. There’s a variety of things and we’re always looking for more projects that give back to the community but those are two that are kind of current and that we are working on right now.” Kirsten’s Place is the first physical women’s shelter facility in the Town of Olds.
Kjargaard highlights the fact that to do all of that they need to be a non-profit society and they are waiting to hear back after submitted their papers to the provincial government in December. He says “the other kind of work that we currently are on is just to find a place. The Elks have donated a place for us to to meet and get organized but we are looking to take on some projects and so we need a space to work.”
To learn more about the Men’s Shed of Olds contact Morley at 403-507-5238.
Listen to 96.5 CKFM’s Community Hotline conversation with Morley Kjargaard.
