Council on Aging, February 4, 2016
HOLDEN COUNCIL ON AGING
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Conference Room – Senior Center
Present: Susan Sullivan, Faye Ellis, Wayne Howard, Maureen Locke, Rebecca Tornblom,
Eric Johansen, Peter Lukes, Jim Robinson, Louise Charbonneau, Maureen Buffone.
The Meeting was called to order by Sue Sullivan at 8:00 a.m.
Sue welcomed Eric Johansen to the COA Board and explained how the meetings run.
Sue also thanked Rick Mansfield for chairing last month’s meeting in her absence.
The Minutes from the January 7, 2016 meeting were approved and accepted.
F.H.C.O.A. REPORT
Faye reported the account balances as follows:
Commerce Bank $15,553.03
Leominster Credit Union (furnishings acct.) $2,441.05
Leominster Credit Union C.D. $24,061.45
LCU Trip Account $4,852.36
Faye also reported that the Friends donated $1,000.00 to Help at H.O.M.E. and $1,000.00 to the Wachusett Food Pantry, which they do every year.
The Morning Glory Café has netted $600.00 since it started in October. They can use a couple of more volunteers for baking and helping on Friday mornings.
The Friends decided not to hold the Valentine’s Day Cookie Sale this year. Bad weather in the past has interfered with the cookie sale. Louise suggested that the Friends have a volunteer here on Friday, February 12th, as the cookie sale was posted in the town’s “Save the Date” flyer and many people will more than likely be in looking for it. They have discussed the possibility of an Easter cookie sale in the future in its place.
The slate of new Friend’s officers will be posted next month, before their annual meeting in April.
The Friends are still working on plans for the 35th anniversary of the senior center.
Eric Johansen is chair of the town’s 275th anniversary committee. They will be meeting next on February 16th at the town hall at 7:00 p.m.
Rita Olson thanked all of the people at the Friends meeting who went out with her to visit other nutrition sites. The state is trying to tweak things by offering flash frozen meals and fresh fruits and vegetables. Rita hopes they were pivotal in helping move this along. Wayne asked who Rita is referring to when she speaks to someone on a state level. Shirley Chao is the Director of Nutrition for the Executive Office of Elder Services Senior Nutrition Program.
The Friends voted to pay $700.00 for the cost of the bus to transport the pen pal students from the Mayo School to the Holden Senior Center for their end of year party with the seniors.
The members discussed the idea of inviting and treating the veterans to the senior center for lunch on a monthly basis.
HELP AT H.O.M.E. REPORT - Jim Robinson
Jim reported that donations to date are just shy of $15,500.00. There were five (5) disbursements in November and December totaling $7,300.00.
The Help at H.O.M.E. balance is $33,990.26 and the balance in the Welcome Aldrich Relief Fund is $19,122.54.
The Help at H.O.M.E. Committee will be setting a meeting date in the next month. They will be working on updating their booklet.
Jim explained Help at H.O.M.E. to our newest member, Eric Johansen. Jim called it a “phenomenal success story.” Approximately $150,000.00 has been raised in the last eight (8) years, and approximately $116,000.00 has been disbursed. The biggest challenge has been to get the word out to needy people in town.
BOARD OF ELDER SERVICES REPORT - Richard Mansfield
No representation.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT - Louise Charbonneau
The Morning Glory Café is open Every Friday from 8:30-10:30.
FEBRUARY PROGRAMS
Monday, February 8 …,….. Toddlers bringing Valentines to luncheon participants - 12:00
Wednesday, February 10 … Family Letters of Abby Kelley and Stephen Foster - 1:00
Sponsored by Holden Women’s Club
Thursday, February 11 …… Snow Date for February10 performance - 1:00
Friday, February 12 …….… Veterans Meeting - 10:30
Monday, February 15 …..… Senior Center closed in observance of Presidents Day
Wednesday, February 17 .… Zentangle w/instructor Mary Shepherd - 1:00
Thursday, February 18 ….… Book Discussion Group – The English Spy by Daniel Silver - 10:00
GREAT NEWS!
We received this great news just yesterday. Of the seven (7) program requests that received funding through Holden Cultural Council grants, four (4) have been awarded to the Holden Senior Center. The total monetary amount is $1,750.00. Louise will write the Council a thank you note for their very generous support of our programming at the Holden Senior Center. The programs are:
3/16/16 – Ruth Harcovitz performing her Great Day for the Irish Musical program
5/11/16 – Steve Henderson performing his one-act play “The Haverson Mills Town Meeting
7/11/16 – Tricia Silverman offering “Global Longevity Factors: What to Eat; and What to Do for Optimal Health.”
9/14/16 – Richard Clark performing the drama “Two to Tango”
BUDGET HEARING
Our budget hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, February 17 here at the Senior Center. Once the time is firmed up, we will e-mail you to let you know. As always, Jacquie, Peter and Louise encourage your attendance. The Finance Committee is always glad to see interested on-lookers supporting the budget.
NUMBERS FROM JANUARY
City of Four Concert - 34
Marti Sawyer Concert - 41
Veterans Meeting - 14
Home Cooked Lunch - 54
OLD BUSINESS
Faye asked for a follow-up on food being taken out of the building. Louise has posted the policy on taking food home. The only foods eligible to be taken home from the Senior Center is bread, wrapped dessert and fresh fruit. This procedure is in place to protect everyone from accidentally ingesting food/drink that has spoiled or begun to spoil.
The Needs Assessment sub-committee which is made up of Sue Sullivan, Maureen Locke and Rebecca Tornblom met for the first time on January 21, 2016. Louise also attended that meeting. Louise had contacted Emmett Schmarsow, Project Manager for Senior Centers and COAs at the Executive Office of Elder Affairs. He said he was certain that there are COA’s that have done Needs Assessments Surveys, but it’s his experience that very little information is garnered from them for the amount of work that goes into them. He said that many years ago, he was part of a board that hired an outside firm for very short money. That firm and members of the board invited a few what they considered “key” elders from the community, some that do not take advantage of the Senior Center, some had lived in town many years, but did not utilize the Senior Center. He felt that they gathered more information in that 1½ hour taped session than they would have from any needs assessment survey. He also pointed out that MANY, not all, elders may fill out surveys less than honestly, because they fear if they’re too critical of its contents, the programming, etc. will be discontinued.
Discussion followed relative to information which needed to be gathered in order to decide if this is something this group would or would not recommend to the full Board. To that end, the following fact finding undertakings were assigned to be performed:
- Susan Sullivan will contact local colleges/universities to determine if this might be a project graduate students might take on.
- Becky Tornblom will research grant opportunities in the event funding would be required.
- Louise Charbonneau will contact MCOA and request a mass mailing be sent to other Senior Center Directors via their weekly newsletter requesting input, both positive and negative from those who had previously either performed a needs assessment or had one done. It was decided that they would try to have this information available to report back to the full Board at their February 4, 2016 meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
CITIZENS ADDRESS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 8:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maureen Buffone