Trail Memory Café planned for September

A Memory Café planned for Trail would provide opportunities for people experiencing memory loss, caregivers and families to socialize and access information. Stock photo.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash

TRAIL BC — A one-day Memory Café for people experiencing memory loss, their caregivers and families is being planned for Trail this fall.

The event is proposed for Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the Victoria View Room at the Trail Memorial Centre. Medical Arts Health Research and the DB Foundation for Health Research brought the project to Trail city council as a delegation during its July 20 meeting.

The organizations asked the city to waive the room-rental charge and provide grant support for the gathering. A proposed budget dated June 25 lists a potential $2,000 City of Trail grant and values the requested venue contribution at $400.

Trail’s July 20 agenda recommended that council consider approving the rental waiver and grant request. However, adopted minutes from the meeting had not been added to the city’s online document centre as of Aug. 4. The most recent regular council minutes available were from June 22, meaning the outcome of the request could not be confirmed from the city’s written record.

The preliminary program combines food, entertainment and social activities with opportunities to learn about memory loss and dementia.

The proposed budget includes one-on-one memory testing with Medical Arts nurse clinician Laurie Devolder. It also lists a question-and-answer panel involving Dr. Donna Benson of Medical Arts Health Research and Dr. Eric Li of the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.

Other planned elements include a pasta luncheon for as many as 100 people, coffee and fruit, a performance by Trail’s Altitude Entertainment improv team and the distribution of memory boxes. Funding was also budgeted for posters and bookmarks, honorariums, gifts and mileage reimbursements. Possible wireless microphone rental and shuttle service were listed as tentative expenses.

Medical Arts Health Research is identified as contributing planning, coordination and facilitation valued at $1,600. Greater Trail Hospice Society, represented in the budget by Gail Potter, is listed as assisting with planning.

Heather Anderson is identified with age-friendly planning, while Theresa Buchner of the Seniors Wellness Institute is expected to assist with facilitation. The budget also anticipates help from a community connector with local outreach.

The proposed budget lists $1,000 from Teck Metals’ Trail Operations as confirmed. A possible $1,000 contribution from the KBRH Health Foundation is marked as potential, as is the requested $2,000 city grant. The documents do not indicate that either potential contribution had been approved when the budget was prepared.

The Trail gathering would be part of a broader Memory Café initiative led by Benson and Barb Stewart through Medical Arts Health Research and the DB Foundation for Health Research.

Supporting information submitted to council says the foundation is working with UBC Okanagan principal investigator Li to pilot Memory Cafés using a participatory action research approach. The project began with pilots in the rural South Okanagan and Similkameen before expanding to other parts of the province.

The supporting material describes events held in 2025 at the Penticton Indian Band Health Centre and in Penticton, Hedley, Princeton, Summerland, Vernon and Oliver. Programming varied by community and included music, theatre, meals, caregiver information, discussions with health professionals and opportunities to speak privately with a nurse clinician.

At the Princeton event, organizers reported that Devolder met with 12 families regarding early memory testing.

B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt provided a letter of support for the wider initiative in August 2025. The letter describes Memory Cafés as places where people experiencing memory loss and their caregivers can socialize, participate in activities and obtain information and resources. It says research from the project could help inform community-based dementia supports and future investment in dementia-friendly communities.

The council documents confirm the proposed Sept. 9 date and location but do not provide the event’s hours, registration process or a final public program. No standalone official announcement confirming those details had been located as of Aug. 4.