CMEDIA: A picnic was organized by Lakshmi Narayan Golden Group Seniors, under the leadership of Vijay Bhatija, President, and Shakuntla Varma, General Secretary at Neilson Park, Scarborough on Sep 3 starting at 10:30 am and culminating at 4 pm.
The picnic was attended by a large Indian diaspora including myself (Asha Bajaj from Canadian Media)
Founded about 25 years back by the senior devotees of the mandir by Mr. Ved Praksh Lahar ji and others, Golden group Seniors is a part of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Scarborough.
The Golden group which started with only 10 members has now grown to 111 members, but before Covid, there were 165 members
The Golden Group for seniors consists of 10 directors headed by President. At present, only one monthly meeting is held at the Mandir every first Sunday of the month and one meeting on zoom every 3rd week of the month.
The main aim of the Golden group is to involve all seniors of different communities of India for entertainment, enjoyment, giving health tips, singing bhajans, teaching yoga, and so on. All Seniors are welcome to join. There is only $15.00 annual membership. Donations are always welcome. Anyone can donate snacks in the monthly meeting.
The board members as well as the volunteers of the group got busy receiving the Snacks for the picnic and displaying them.
As the members and other guests arrived they were served mouth-watering snacks. Snacks were sponsored by ICICI BANK. Along with snacks, there were other soft drinks as well as Tim Hortons Cofee
.Outside the tent different games were organized. Following is the throwing of the ball which should go through the ring to win.
Children are also seen enjoying the picnic.
Participants seen below are enjoying the Musical chair game. The musical chair is one of the most popular games of not only in India but also worldwide. In this game, a set of chairs is arranged with one fewer chair than the number of players. The contestants walk around the set of chairs while music plays. When the music stops abruptly, all players must find their own individual chairs to occupy. The player who fails to sit on a chair is eliminated. A chair is then removed for the next round, and the process repeats until only one player remains and is declared the winner.
Food which arrived from the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir was served to the diaspora by Board members and volunteers.
The members and other guests who participated in the picnic are seen enjoying the delicious lunch.
While people inside the tents were enjoying socializing and the food, other participants were enjoying their games outside the tent.
Group songs by various participants and members including Vijay Bhatija and Shakuntala Varma added to the spirit of the picnic.
Raffle draws were held and the winners were announced by Vijay Bhatia.
The winners of the raffle draw are seen to be performing below.
The evening culminated at about 4 pm and the diaspora went home after a day of relaxation and enjoyment.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj). She can be reached at abajaj033@gmail.com
(Photographs taken and videos made by Mr Sathish Pattbhiraman, and Mr. S.K.Desai)
#LakshmiNarayanGoldenGroupSeniors, #NeilsonPark; #Scarborough
