Citizens' Center
October 2006
Telephone (931) 762-9259 Meal Site (931) 762-1578
E-Mail address: [email protected] Website: www.geocities.com/seniors38464
Corinne Perry, Director .
Greetings from the Director and Staff:
In general, the two items of greatest interest were travel opportunities and social gatherings such as parties, cookouts, meals with entertainment, etc., so we will be giving additional attention to those areas of interest. Some other things which several people wanted were: performing arts such as drama and comedy; educational/informative programs, including computer classes (which we now have going on) and computer gaming. There was also interest indicated in physical fitness such as water aerobics, exercise sessions, and a walking group. Check the Activities page to see some additions to our regular activities as well as some special activities.
I will say again, at the risk of being redundant, that we need ideas and input from the membership in order to plan the things you want to do. Please feel free at any time to make comments and suggestions. Our Activities Coordinator, Georgia Whitehead, is ready and willing to try to put together any kind of program that you want.
I would like to elaborate a little on the seminar scheduled for October 23 which will deal with the subject of �Stress� and ways to cope. This program will feature Serita Fields who is a Social Worker with Hospice of the Highland Rim. We arranged this program at the suggestion of a member who noted that many people experience a wide variety of life situations that cause negative emotions and feelings which affect the quality of life of that person. There are the obvious things, such as a serious illness and/or death of a loved one, but there are many other situations that cause worry, sadness, loss of self esteem, etc. It might be that a person does not have family close enough help them when needed, or maybe the family doesn�t give them any time and attention, for whatever reason. Physical or other illnesses may leave a person unable to do the normal activities of life, causing additional stress. Most of us at one time or another will be faced with a situation that we are not prepared to handle. In those times, the best thing to do is to reach out, and seek out others who have �been down that road� and professionals who are educated and trained to help. This program will be good for any senior to hear. Even if you�re not having a problem now, it will give you some insight for future reference. One member recently commented to me that she wished she could have gone through a grief support program before her husband died rather than after the fact. If there is interest in forming a group for additional meetings, I believe that can be arranged.
We recently started a computer class with 10 participants. This class is taught by a member of the Adult Education Department of the Lawrence County School System. The class is at the Senior Center on Wednesday and Friday each week. They are willing to hold another class after this one is completed if there are ten more senior adults who would like to take it. The group in the class now really enjoy it. (I caught them one day playing Solitare!!! Actually that was part of their training on using the �mouse� to drag and drop.) If you would like to take part in a class, call the office and we�ll put you on a list to see if we can get up another class.
SENIOR �SOCIALS�: In response to the survey of interests, we are planning a monthly social activity, with the first being on 10/5 which will include a �Chuck Wagon Cookout� lunch, music and other entertainment and games; we may even have some prizes. Thanks to assistance from the Summit, we can offer this for a $2.00 donation. We want to invite our senior friends from surrounding counties to join us and make this a fun day. We�ll need some volunteer helpers to pull this off, so let Georgia know if you can help.
Part of our �New Beginnings� is to establish an official Volunteer / Ambassador Program. We have prepared a Volunteer Registration Form to be completed by all those who wish to participate in the Volunteer / Ambassador Program. The two-fold purpose of this registration form is to have a record of persons who are willing to do various things as needed, and to provide volunteers with information regarding the scope of their duties and privileges as a volunteer. We will be contacting those who have helped us in various ways in the past to make their �Volunteer� status official. Volunteers will be issued an identification badge to wear when performing volunteer work. We�re not going to make volunteering a burdensome �job� to anyone, but we do need to keep some records of the volunteer service the Center receives. (Donated service is, in fact, reportable on the Federal Tax Return we file, thus, as we use more volunteer help with our activities, we need to keep documentation of volunteer services performed.
BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY DATE
We have changed our Birthday/anniversary celebration to the last Thursday of the month, instead of the last Tuesday. This will allow those who want to go to the Loretto Center for their Birthday event on the last Tuesday of the month to do so without missing ours. This will also put our celebration on the same day we have our music, and we felt this would add to the festivities.
LEGAL SERVICES VISIT
The Legal Services Representative will be at the Center the last Thursday of each month to help those who need their assistance.
PAINTING CLASS
We will have painting class on Monday in the afternoon - from 1:00 to 3:00. Some have expressed an interest in art classes but prefer the afternoon. The Wednesday class will continue to be in the morning from 9:30 to 11:00.
EXERCISE AT THE CENTER
A professional from Crockett Physical Therapy will be conducting a session of appropriate exercises each Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Senior Center. This will help you keep in shape through the Fall and Winter when we sometimes tend to let ourselves go and lose our strength and agility.
