Council on Aging, May 2, 2013

HOLDEN COUNCIL ON AGING
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Conference Room – Senior Center

Present:    
Jerry Heslinga, Susan Sullivan, Rick Mansfield, Faye Ellis, Maureen Locke, Rebecca Tornblom, Marilyn Burnham, Jim Robinson, Louise Charbonneau,
Maureen Buffone.

Guest Speaker:    
Marie Sullivan, Elder Services of Worcester Area, Inc. (ESWA)

 Rick Mansfield introduced Marie Sullivan, nutrition manager for Elder Services.  Marie will soon be taking a new position.  She currently manages over 40 people at Elder Services.  Lou Swan, executive director, asked Marie to go out to the COA Boards as part of an awareness campaign, as they support the same elders as we do.
 Chartwells Catering provides the food for Meals on Wheels and the Congregate Dining Sites.  Elder Services meets with Tri Valley dieticians to determine the menus, which rotate on a 12-week cycle.  Elder Services also has a registered dietician on staff.  The meals meet or exceed federal and state guidelines.  They also meet 1/3 of the recommended dietary allowance and adhere to the standard hospital “no salt added” diet.  Cold supper meals are available for people who have been determined to be eligible.  Elder Services provides 1,800 meals per day.  They have 21 ESWA drivers, 13 contract routes and over 400 volunteer drivers.  There are 21 dining centers.  The suggested donation is $2.00, income is not a factor.  The actual cost of each meal is $6.85.
The Meals on Wheels program assists elders to live in their own homes.  The Meals on Wheels drivers also check on the safety and well being of clients.

The Minutes from the April 4, 2013 meeting were approved and accepted.

F.H.C.O.A. REPORT
 Faye reported that the Friends have not met since our last meeting.  Plans for the Fall Fair are underway.  Faye distributed the new slate of officers.

HELP AT H.O.M.E. REPORT - Jim Robinson
    Jim updated the financial report for February and March.  Donations totaled $975.45 and disbursements totaled $1,671.36.  Jim pointed out the interest for the quarter amounted to forty-five ($.45) cents.  Help at HOME is close to hitting their $20,000.00 goal for fund raising.

BOARD OF ELDER SERVICES REPORT - Richard Mansfield
     Rick did not give a report, as Marie Sullivan spoke at the meeting.
    
DIRECTOR’S REPORT - Louise Charbonneau
Louise outlined May’s events as follows:

Wednesday, May 8 ~ Mother’s Day Social and Concert by Ruth Harcovitz   
Thursday, May 9 ~ Book Discussion Group ~ Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner
Monday, May 13 ~ Bereavement Support Group Meets   
Friday, May 17 ~ Spring into Summer Picnic  
Wednesday, May 22 ~ Concert “The Sunny Side of the Street” w/Ken Lelen  
Friday, May 24 ~ Veterans Meeting
Monday, May 27 ~ Senior Center Closed in Observance of Memorial Day
Wednesday, May 29 ~ Legal Clinic “Back to Basics”   

During the ballot vote for the Mountview School funding, we were approached by a resident who owns a landscaping business in Rutland.  He volunteered to donate plants and Landscape services for some of the gardens or the islands.  His name is David Hoskins.  He owns Southern Exposure Nursery in Rutland.
The Holden Professional Firefighters are generously cooking, serving and sponsoring a luncheon for Holden Elder’s ONLY on Friday, May 17.   The menu will be Hotdogs, Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Garden Salad and Strawberry Shortcake.  As of yesterday morning there were 80 people signed up.  We appreciate their donating both the lunch and their time.    

Once again this year, we held a very successful Volunteer Recognition Ceremony and Luncheon.  Lunch of Chicken Piccata prepared by Toupin’s Catering was outstanding.  While we acknowledged all of our volunteers the following people received special awards:

Nutrition Site Volunteer - Rosemary Dooley
Barbara Cushman Award (meals on wheels driver) - Cindy Stark
Outstanding Volunteer - Gordon White
Lifetime Achievement Award - Barbara Pearson (92 years old! And she recently hurt her leg while she was emptying her wheel barrel!!!!)

APRIL STATISTICS
Life in Yellowstone with Ed Stark - 58
Your Library in 2013 - 13
Volunteer Recognition - 73
                                     
OLD BUSINESS
None.

NEW BUSINESS
None.

CITIZENS ADDRESS
None.

ADJOURNMENT
It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 a.m.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. at the Holden Senior Center.

Respectfully submitted,

Maureen Buffone