Gloria-Jean Seymour’s passion, Dine and Chat, has grown significantly since it started a year ago.
The weekly seniors meetings began as a way for Seymour to meet similarly aged people who were simply looking to spend a few hours with one another, whether it be for lunch or drinks.
In the time that’s passed, Seymour has seen the Dine and Chat transition from a simple meet up amongst strangers, to something much more fulfilling.
“Lots of growth, lots of excitement, lots of brand new friends. Dine and Chat got me out of my box,” said Seymour. “There’s a smile on my face all the time because they now call me Earth Mother … they’re now calling me for advice on this and that. We started with 13 people. A lot of love has been generated amongst all these strangers.”
The Dine and Chat group meets every Tuesday at the Bar One restaurant at the Sandman Hotel, Seymour said each week 20 to 35 people show up from new members to members that have been involved since day one which started at the Old Spaghetti Factory in February 2018 as an innocent meet up of single seniors.
The one year anniversary celebrated the coming together of a community. With food, drinks, music, and dancing, the members of Dine and Chat have grown from the original 13 members, 12 of whom are still attending, to a community of about 300 people.
Seymour said that the feedback has been so overwhelmingly full of love, that they’ve now included married couples.
“I said yeah, sure, we can spread the love around can’t we?” Seymour said with a laugh and a smile.
Valentine’s Day inspired Seymour to start Dine and Chat as a way to bypass the feelings of loneliness and embrace feelings of love and community among local seniors. With 300 members and growing, Seymour’s passion has spread to so many others that were looking for ways to connect.
With a year passed, Seymour expects the amount of members to keep growing; something she is extremely excited about. She can be reached for more information at 250-763-6495.
Correction notice: A previous version of this story published in the Feb. 8 newspapers incorrectly stated the location for Dine and Chat at the Ramada Hotel, when it is actually at the Sandman Hotel.
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