Page 56 - Sonoma County Gazatte May 2017

By Date
Every Monday ~ Line Dancing for Seniors - $4. 9:30a-10:30a Finley Center, 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rnosa, 707-543-3737, econnect.ci.santa-rosa. ca.us/Activities/ActivitiesDetails. asp?ProcessWait=N&aid=287
Every Thurs - Ping Pong at Sebastopol Grange - $3 for Seniors - $5 for non Seniors 10 - 1p 6000 Sebastopol Ave. Hwy 12, Sebastopol, sebastopolgrange. org/
Every Friday ~ Senior Ballroom Dance (Age 50+) Live bands play Big Band tunes from Swing, to Latin, Country & Ballroom. Socialize, exercise & enjoy a low-cost activity.
May 4 ~ Senior Happy Hour at Friar Tuck’s! - We’re the large group of “old”, enthusiastic friends 8201 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati - Order and pay for your food individually at the bar. 5-7p, 8201 Old Redwood Hwy., Cotati, 707- 792-9847, meetup.com/Sonoma-County- Fifty-Plus-Singles/events/237292786/
May 4 ~ Legal Aid for Seniors 1st Thurs. of the month - Preregistration required, please call 707-545-8608) Free / 12:30 - 1:30p, Bennett Valley Senior Center, 704 Bennett Valley Rd, SR, 707-545-8608, srcity.org/559/Active-Adults
May 6 ~ Senior Expo of SR, Enhancing your Zest for Life - day of health and wellness, free screenings, seminars, tours. Free, 12p, Person Senior Wing 2060 West College SR Become an Exhibitor: Contact Joanna Moore (707) 543-3730 jmoore@srcity.org
srcity.org/departmentsrecreationandparks
May 26 ~ Memorial Day BBQ for Seniors - Honoring soldiers of the past and celebrating Memorial Day with a delicious BBQ lunch. Hamburgers, hotdogs and all the fixing. Expect fun and games at this lively celebration! $4 members/$8 non-members, 11:30-1:30p, Person Senior Wing, Finley Recreation Complex, 2060 W College Ave, SR, 707-543-3745, srcity.org/departments/ recreationandparks/
Sebastopol Senior Center May 2017 Events
167 N. High St., Sebastopol, 707-829-2440, sebastopolseniorcenter.org/home, info@ sebastopolseniorcenter.org
May 7 ~ Aged To Perfection 5p
May 7 ~ BIJA Voices at Peacetown 2p May 7 ~ Russian River Sisters Bingo 6p May 20 ~ OutWest Dance
May 21 ~ Laguna Bird Watching 8:30a May 26 ~ SR LGBTQI Seniors 1p
May 27 ~ Classic Car Show 10a
May 27 ~ Sebastopol Walks -9a
Senior Social Clubs
Council on Aging has helped hundreds of seniors re-connect with others. Senior Social Clubs day program sites are now at four convenient sites in Sonoma County, and all sites currently have openings!
SR Senior Social Club at First United Methodist Church, 2150 Giffen, SR Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30 am to 2 pm. To apply, contact Laurel Anderson at (707) 525-0143 ext. 103, or by email atlanderson@councilonaging. com.
Sonoma Senior Social Club at Vintage House, 264 First St. E., Sonoma, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 am to 2 pm. Contact Laurel Anderson at (707) 935- 0550 or at (707) 525-0143 ext. 103.
Healdsburg Senior Social Club at St. Paul’s Church, 209 Matheson St., Healdsburg Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 9:30 am to 2 pm. Contact Roxanne Lemereis at (707) 433-6161.
Sebastopol Senior Social Club at Sebastopol Senior Center, 167 No. High St, Sebastopol Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am to 2 pm. Contact Laurel Anderson at (707) 829-2440, or by email atlanderson@councilonaging. com. For more information, call Laurel Anderson at (707) 525-0143 ext. 103 or email herlanderson@councilonaging. com or Connie Aust at 525-0143 x 108 or email her atcaust@councilonaging.com.
Biologically, ageing sets in the moment we begin life. I annoy some close
to me by counting my age, in differentiation from my birth day, by counting those nine months. (I do that because my mother and I struggled to survive Scarlet Fever during those nine months, and I don’t want to forget how close we both came to zeroing out.) The concept of ageing is so closely tied to the ongoing process of survival – gentle or crucial – that I remain fascinated with how it is viewed.
Age Limits: Age Limits!
Quite literally and obviously, age does create some limits; anyone ageing, at
any age, knows that! (Even ‘tho it may be admitted through clenched teeth...) One of the fascinating, and sometimes infuriating, factors around this subject is the huge parcel of assumptions that comes along with the concept.
The bag of assumptions is so full of BS that it is a wonder that anyone younger than anyone else can believe some of it. There are many moving parts to the mechanism of ageing, and the irony is that each one of us moves through it uniquely, and therefore no one can really be a definitive “expert” on the subject – except in generalities. The long list of biological, philosophical, intellectual and emotional management approaches (for moving through ageing) is so huge as to boggle the mind.
I discuss this with many older folks – from whiney old women to grouchy old farts, and all the varieties in between. It’s that vast and interesting mass “in between” that is amazing and inspiring!
What is it that seems to make the difference for many in their 80’s and 90’s whose lust for life manages to overcome almost everything? Whether in wheel chairs, on crutches, pushing walkers, loping along with canes or sitting on the sidelines in other ways – for some those limits mean nothing when it comes to outlook and attitude. “Just a different ‘normal.’ “ one raspy old guy said. We talked a while, and he continued to explain his opinion that “...most of the ‘limits’ seem to him to be in the minds of the theoretically un-limited
- the observers, who judge our limits strictly in terms of physical factors.” He pointed out that “...a young person in a wheelchair is viewed very differently than an old person in a wheelchair, even ‘tho both have basically similar social management challenges!”
Assumptions about the capabilities, sensibilities and perspectives of those who make it into the years over 70 can be astounding! Youth draws sweeping conclusions based on those assumptions – and some are whoppers! While we elders lope along ticking off and accumulating physical limits, we sometimes “suffer” more from those assumptions than from the infirmities themselves.
If we happen to be ambulatory, and still functioning (i.e. ...still working and, OMG, still self-supporting!) the age limits assumption is still underlying in those great exclamations of: You don’t look THAT old! ( Don’t you wonder how old “that old” is?
Bless their hearts; and don’t you wonder what else they might be surprised about? Such assumptions have got to have a bearing on how the younger generations view their own future, later years. For some it has to be with
stark, raving terror! Jeez...what do they think they will have to give up on? (Everything from not enough teeth left to chew a good steak, all the way to not enoughlibidoforsex?)
The curious do nibble around the touchy questions; yet they seem to view the answers with some skepticism! Real limits can be measured
with considerable accuracy. Perceived and assumptive limits really beg the questions! Limits are different from limitations; and, while age does limit us, youthful assumptions are their biggest, self-imposed, future limitations.
(There is so much more to this subject...)
Zoë Tummillo is a Business & Marketing Consultant/Trainer/Commercial Writer, dba COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS, in private practice since 1974. In addition to Commercial work, she writesSenior Momentum: A Series of Situations; “Pieces of My Path. essay memoirs of growing up first-generation Italian American; andSenior Momentum: Front And Center!. Email Zoë at writingservice@earthlink.net
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