I understand that there are folks who cannot drive to and from the Center, so if you know of anyone in that situation, please let them know that we will arrange rides as best we can. It's important that people not be housebound and have the opportunity to socialize.
• LUNCH @ Noon – Tuesday 3/25/25 – spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and ice cream for dessert
• BREAKFAST every Thursday from 7:30 am – 9:00 am – Cooked to order - your choice of eggs, cooked the way you like, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, home fries, hash, fresh fruit, etc.
• Meals are $5.00 – additional donations are always welcome, particularly as the price of food keeps rising. We are very, very grateful for the very generous people who are helping us provide delicious food. This really helps us keep the price at such a low level.
We will be open as usual on Wednesday from 10:00-2:00 for activities of interest to you or just to socialize.
Please note: on this Tuesday after lunch, Alicia Hannifin, who specializes in Medicare and health insurance, will be at the Center to discuss what is happening between United Healthcare (UHC) and Hartford Healthcare (HHC). The issue is what to do if UHC and HHC cannot come to agreement by March 31 and then HHC becomes an out-of-network provider. If you are in this situation, please stay after lunch to hear about the options so that you can protect yourself and your insurance coverage.
Here are the upcoming events and activities besides the meals and open house. Some of these have changed, so please read below to look at the dates that have been set. I have underlined the dates to make them easier to find.
• Mark Perillo will be back after lunch on April 1 (no April Fools jokes allowed) to help folks who have questions or need help. This will be informal so bring your device with you and ask him any questions you may have. He has a great breadth of knowledge and will work with you on your specific issues.
• Monday, April 7 through Monday, May 5 - Lorna Delaney, who is very experienced in holding yoga classes that are therapeutic in nature, will hold a chair yoga class at the Center at 10:00AM for 5 Mondays. The cost is $5 and if you prefer to use a mat, you may bring your own, or Lorna has mats available. The proceeds will be donated to the Center to help fund other activities and meals. Please note that these dates have changed.
• Tuesday, April 15 - we will have our third Trivia night. The first two have been great successes and we are hoping that even more folks come out for an enjoyable, fun evening with lots of laughter.
• Friday, April ?? - the Traveling Trout will be back for their 3rd jam session. The first one was a huge success, and the second one was too so please join your friends and neighbors to sing, strum, dance or just visit. They are trying to figure out a date that works around Easter, the Barkhamsted Historic Society monthly talk and I will post the date when they pick it.
• Tuesday, April 15, 1:00PM - Skip Fredericksen from New Hartford will join us after lunch for his presentation, called "Whitecap", which is his tongue-in-cheek musical and video presentation of hiking the Appalachian Trail at the age of 71 with his two daughters. It's been a big hit at other Senior Centers and we are happy to welcome him to our Center. A flyer for this event is attached
• Thursday, April 24 - the Barkhamsted Book and Garden Club will meet at the Center after breakfast, around 10:00, for their Spring meeting to plan events for the coming months. They are open to anyone interested and welcome new members.
• Wednesday, May 28, the Farmington Valley Health District will begin a course on helping seniors to improve their balance and to learn how to avoid falling. This will be an 8-week course, 2 hours each session, and there is no charge for participating.
o There are sign-up sheets for both of these courses at the Center, and I have added folks who reached out to me to express an interest, as well as those who had already signed up.
• There will be a series of five Garden Talks. They will all be on Tuesdays at 1:00PM and are as follow:
o April 22: Dave Lewis will talk about gardening for seniors. He lives in Barkhamsted, and has presented this at the Torrington Senior Center. A former teacher, he is an excellent presenter and a very knowledgeable Master Gardener.
o June 3: Ann Travers (who worked at White Flower farm as a botanical writer and is a long-time gardener) will demonstrate large container planting for sun or shade. She will make three demonstration containers and we will have a drawing so that three people will take home the planted containers.
o June 10: Orianne Barnowski will demonstrate flower arranging. This will be a presentation and a demo.
o June 17: Orianne Barnowski - participants will use in-season flowers to make an arrangement to take home.
o June 23: Bonnie Reynolds and Bonnie Boyle will show you how to preserve flowers and foliage by pressing and decorating
In addition, the Town Hall will be purchasing tickets for the Yard Goats baseball team for their afternoon games on July 20 and August 31. These are both Sundays and if there is enough interest, we will make tickets available for purchase. Dunkin Donuts Stadium is a wonderful place to watch baseball and very affordable. Please let me know if you are interested.
I did not attach all the flyers today and will work with Erica Dyndiuk to try to set up a spot on the Town website for the flyers. I will post links when that is done.
That's it for today. I hope everyone has a good week.
Don
• LUNCH @ Noon – Tuesday 3/25/25 – spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and ice cream for dessert
• BREAKFAST every Thursday from 7:30 am – 9:00 am – Cooked to order - your choice of eggs, cooked the way you like, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, home fries, hash, fresh fruit, etc.
• Meals are $5.00 – additional donations are always welcome, particularly as the price of food keeps rising. We are very, very grateful for the very generous people who are helping us provide delicious food. This really helps us keep the price at such a low level.
We will be open as usual on Wednesday from 10:00-2:00 for activities of interest to you or just to socialize.
Please note: on this Tuesday after lunch, Alicia Hannifin, who specializes in Medicare and health insurance, will be at the Center to discuss what is happening between United Healthcare (UHC) and Hartford Healthcare (HHC). The issue is what to do if UHC and HHC cannot come to agreement by March 31 and then HHC becomes an out-of-network provider. If you are in this situation, please stay after lunch to hear about the options so that you can protect yourself and your insurance coverage.
Here are the upcoming events and activities besides the meals and open house. Some of these have changed, so please read below to look at the dates that have been set. I have underlined the dates to make them easier to find.
• Mark Perillo will be back after lunch on April 1 (no April Fools jokes allowed) to help folks who have questions or need help. This will be informal so bring your device with you and ask him any questions you may have. He has a great breadth of knowledge and will work with you on your specific issues.
• Monday, April 7 through Monday, May 5 - Lorna Delaney, who is very experienced in holding yoga classes that are therapeutic in nature, will hold a chair yoga class at the Center at 10:00AM for 5 Mondays. The cost is $5 and if you prefer to use a mat, you may bring your own, or Lorna has mats available. The proceeds will be donated to the Center to help fund other activities and meals. Please note that these dates have changed.
• Tuesday, April 15 - we will have our third Trivia night. The first two have been great successes and we are hoping that even more folks come out for an enjoyable, fun evening with lots of laughter.
• Friday, April ?? - the Traveling Trout will be back for their 3rd jam session. The first one was a huge success, and the second one was too so please join your friends and neighbors to sing, strum, dance or just visit. They are trying to figure out a date that works around Easter, the Barkhamsted Historic Society monthly talk and I will post the date when they pick it.
• Tuesday, April 15, 1:00PM - Skip Fredericksen from New Hartford will join us after lunch for his presentation, called "Whitecap", which is his tongue-in-cheek musical and video presentation of hiking the Appalachian Trail at the age of 71 with his two daughters. It's been a big hit at other Senior Centers and we are happy to welcome him to our Center. A flyer for this event is attached
• Thursday, April 24 - the Barkhamsted Book and Garden Club will meet at the Center after breakfast, around 10:00, for their Spring meeting to plan events for the coming months. They are open to anyone interested and welcome new members.
• Wednesday, May 28, the Farmington Valley Health District will begin a course on helping seniors to improve their balance and to learn how to avoid falling. This will be an 8-week course, 2 hours each session, and there is no charge for participating.
o There are sign-up sheets for both of these courses at the Center, and I have added folks who reached out to me to express an interest, as well as those who had already signed up.
• There will be a series of five Garden Talks. They will all be on Tuesdays at 1:00PM and are as follow:
o April 22: Dave Lewis will talk about gardening for seniors. He lives in Barkhamsted, and has presented this at the Torrington Senior Center. A former teacher, he is an excellent presenter and a very knowledgeable Master Gardener.
o June 3: Ann Travers (who worked at White Flower farm as a botanical writer and is a long-time gardener) will demonstrate large container planting for sun or shade. She will make three demonstration containers and we will have a drawing so that three people will take home the planted containers.
o June 10: Orianne Barnowski will demonstrate flower arranging. This will be a presentation and a demo.
o June 17: Orianne Barnowski - participants will use in-season flowers to make an arrangement to take home.
o June 23: Bonnie Reynolds and Bonnie Boyle will show you how to preserve flowers and foliage by pressing and decorating
In addition, the Town Hall will be purchasing tickets for the Yard Goats baseball team for their afternoon games on July 20 and August 31. These are both Sundays and if there is enough interest, we will make tickets available for purchase. Dunkin Donuts Stadium is a wonderful place to watch baseball and very affordable. Please let me know if you are interested.
I did not attach all the flyers today and will work with Erica Dyndiuk to try to set up a spot on the Town website for the flyers. I will post links when that is done.
That's it for today. I hope everyone has a good week.
Don