Our Community

NOSA is more than a dog club; we're a community service organization — and we're proud of our contributions over the years. In 2011, the club is celebrating 57 years of service to the community.  On Oct. 25, 2008, we marked 50 years of obedience classes at Sanscha Hall and the Winspear Centre.		Thanks for your support. It was a wonderful day. Our 2008 50th anniversary event
Recent Highlights    Sanscha Hall / Winspear Centre  |  Lions Food Bank Support    Sidney Days Parade   |  Volunteering: A Community Resource

Sanscha Hall

• From its 1947 origin as a private club, NOSA offered its first lessons to the public beginning in June, 1954. Classes were held in a variety of places before NOSA made Sidney's Sanscha Hall home four years later. Sanscha is actually an acronym for Sidney and North Saanich Community Hall Association.

• NOSA is Sanscha Hall’s oldest, continuous tenant (54 years). It was among the first community groups to use the facility when it opened in 1958 and was one of the first groups to use the new Mary Winspear Centre when it opened in the fall of 2001.

• In 2000, the dog club presented the Sanscha Community Cultural Centre Foundation with a cheque for $5,000
  to assist with the redevelopment of
  the community facility.
   
  • Sanscha Hall news release    [.pdf  49 KB]
  • History of our club crest.

Sidney Lions Food Bank

• NOSA's Christmas dinner auction has raised $12,120 for the local food bank over the past 13 years. We were pleased to present the community food bank with a cheque for $1,360 during the 2011 Christmas season. Many thanks to NOSA members for their $680 auction donations at this year's dinner Dec. 10, which the club voted to match again this year.
   
• The relationship between our organization and the Sidney Lions Club stretches back to the early 1990s, when NOSA members first brought canned items to their Christmas dinner for donation to the food bank. The food bank marked 25 years of community service in 2007.
   
• During the dog club's 50th anniversary event Oct. 25, 2008 at the Winspear Centre, NOSA collected non-perishable donations for the food bank.

Sidney Days Parade

• NOSA members and their dogs are long-time participants in the Sidney Days parade down Beacon Avenue on July 1.

• Sidney Days Parade 2011 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2010 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2009 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2008 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2007 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2006 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2005 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2004 photos
• Sidney Days Parade 2003 photos

Volunteering and Community Support

• NOSA instructors not only show dog owners how to train their pets; they also teach and promote responsible dog ownership among our members and the community alike. All NOSA instructors volunteer their time and effort to the club. There is no paid staff.

• NOSA has supported many animal-related organizations over the years: the SPCA; the Companion Animal Health Fund at Saskatoon’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine; B.C. Guide Dog Services; Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind; Pacific Assistance Dogs Society and the Greater Victoria Animal Crusaders among others have benefited from the dog club’s directed-giving program.
   
• NOSA members and their dogs took part in the SPCA's Wild Arc Paws for the Cause walk in 2006.  Photos here.