Submitted by the Men’s Breakfast
On October 14th, 2023, The Men’s Breakfast hosted its annual “Ladies’ Breakfast” including spouses, girlfriends and other interested ladies. Always popular, the Ladies’ Breakfast drew our largest gathering this year with almost 70 in attendance. Thanks to members of the Tobermory Legion (Branch 290) who prepared the meal and cleaned-up allowing the ‘men’ to enjoy a breakfast without undertaking all the chores.
Dr. Brian Taylor, President and Board Chair of the Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home in Lion’s Head, gave a detailed presentation on the vision, mission and values of Golden Dawn and brought us up-to-date on plans for expansion and upgrading.
The Golden Dawn was named for its incredible early morning sunrise views over Lion’s Head Harbour and Georgian Bay. The building began life as a hotel (the Williams Hotel), purchased in 1965 by Reverend Sherman and Geneva Myles who converted the building to a home for the homeless and others not properly looked after. The current building was constructed in the early 1990s. Golden Dawn SCH is licensed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). It currently operates 37 long-term care beds and 21 one-bedroom and two-bedroom independent apartments on 3 acres in the center of the town. With 60 full and part-time staff, Golden Dawn is the largest year-round employer in Northern Bruce Peninsula.
Recent building mandates including larger rooms, window access, larger washrooms and wider hallways, along with an increasing need for long-term care facilities in Northern Bruce Peninsula, led the Board of Directors to establish a redevelopment planning committee. Public consultation was undertaken during 2021 and a consulting team was hired. Although several options were presented, including the possibility of exiting long-term care, the committee and Board decided that they wanted to build a new facility that would be a ‘home’ not an institution and form a ‘hub’ in the community. This will involve new independent living space but would also see Golden Dawn interacting more with the community by being a destination location possibly offering a café and/or retail space.
Construction costs associated with the current plans will be in the range of $22 to $28 million with much of the funding provided by the Provincial Government. However, between about $3 and $7.3 million will need to be raised from the community via donations and by supporting events. You can help by donating and consider attending an upcoming event at Rotary Hall with Owen Sound musician Larry Jensen (goldendawn.ca/donate.php).
Please note that our November breakfast (November 4th) has been cancelled due to renovations (finally!!) of the Tobermory Community Centre’s kitchen. Our next breakfast will be December 2nd using the new kitchen facilities (Presentation TBD).
