Council on Aging, November 3
HOLDEN COUNCIL ON AGING
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Conference Room – Senior Center
Present: Susan Sullivan, Faye Ellis, Wayne Howard, Eric Johansen, Rebecca Tornblom, Louise Charbonneau, Maureen Buffone.
The Meeting was called to order by Sue Sullivan at 8:02 a.m.
The Minutes from the October 6, 2016 meeting were approved and accepted.
F.H.C.O.A. REPORT
Faye reported the account balances from the October 17th Friends’ meeting as follows:
Commerce Bank $15,322.86
Leominster Credit Union (furnishings acct.) $2,844.52
Leominster Credit Union C.D. $24,206.46
LCU Trip Account $5,495.88
The Friends approved having the pool tables repaired at a cost of $1,200.00.
There are two (2) volunteers working on the wording change for the by-laws.
Nancy Owens was appointed to the board for fiscal year 2018-2019 to replace Nancy Blodget who had stepped down.
The Friends Fair will take place this Saturday at 9:00 a.m. The vendors will begin setting up tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
The purpose statement is still being worked on.
The Potato Bar was a big success and shows that positive steps are being taken. There will be an alternate meal in November, as well.
The Friends will be meeting again on November 14th at 2:30 p.m.
HELP AT H.O.M.E. REPORT - Jim Robinson
Jim did not attend this morning’s meeting, but submitted an updated financial report showing donations totaling $175.00 since June and no disbursements.
BOARD OF ELDER SERVICES REPORT - Richard Mansfield
No representation.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT - Louise Charbonneau
NOVEMBER EVENTS
Saturday, November 5 … Best of Friends Fair – 9:00-2:00
Thursday, November 10 … Coffee and Donuts Social for Veterans – 8:30-10:30
Friday, November 11 … Senior Center Closed in Observance of Veterans Day
Monday, November 14 … Free Legal Clinic w/Attorney Bergeron - 10:30-12:30
Monday, November 14 … Artist Mary Cassat – 1:00 … Linda Miller, a docent at the Worcester Art Museum, will give a talk on favorite artist, Mary Cassatt. Mary Cassatt had a very interesting life and became a much-loved artist.
Wednesday, November 16 … Concert and Home Cooked Meal – 11:00 … Local musician Marty Ayotte will offer a concert prior to lunch. Though a performer for many years, this will be the first time Marty has performed here at our Center. His concert will be followed at noon by a home cooked Ham and Baked Bean lunch. Cost for this lunch will be $3.00 for Holden Elders and Holden Senior Center Volunteers and $6.00 for out of town Elders. Cost toward each ticket has been subsidized through a grant from the Holden Senior Center Fund through the Worcester Foundation established by the Sjostedt Family.
Thursday, November 17 … Book Discussion Group will be discussing The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman at 10:00 a.m.
Monday, November 21 … Pocahontas – 1:00 … Margaret Watson from the Worcester Women’s History Project will offer an interesting talk on the facts and fiction of the life of Pocahontas.
Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 … Senior Center closed in observance of Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 28 … Asset Protection – 1:00 … Attorney Arthur Bergeron from the firm Mirick
O’Connell will present a legal program on Asset Protection. The program is free and open to all.
WINNERS OF ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST
Winners of this year’s Photo Contest are:
Color Photos – 1st Merryl Havens; 2nd Dawn Ringquist and 3rd (a three way tie) Al Berg; Wayne Howard and Shirley Burdick
Black and White Photos – 1st (a 2 way tie) Merryl Havens and Dawn Ringquist; 2nd Dawn Ringquist; 3rd (a two way tie) Shirley Odorski and Connie Mirick.
FY17 FORMULA GRANT
Two weeks ago Senior Center Directors were informed that because “the Commonwealth is currently experiencing lower sales tax revenue (presently $175 million) than had been projected during FY2017 state budget discussions, the FY2017 Formula Grant award basis will be level funded to the FY2016 award amount. Should the level of state revenue allow, it may be possible to provide additional funding later in the fiscal year.” For Holden, this is a difference $3,584 from $35,840 to $32,256.
FLU SHOTS
A very big thank you to the Pharmacy Staff of Walgreen’s for providing our flu shot clinic. Historically our shots have come from the VNA, but this year they wanted everyone except those who had BC/BS to pay $30 out of pocket. Walgreen’s was more than happy to come to the Center to provide flu shots to our Elders, as well as town employees and charge them to the recipients’ health insurance.
MCOA CONFERENCE
Last week, Louise and Maureen attended the MCOA Annual Conference which was held at the Sea Crest Resort and Conference Center in North Falmouth. This year’s conference was a vast improvement over the last few with many interesting workshops. Some of the workshops we attended were: Social Security Retirement and Medicare Benefits Overview; Letting Go of Stigma: Hope for a Life Less Cluttered; Financial Challenges for Older Adults; Keep on Moving and Exercising Your Brain; The ABC’s of Sustainable Time Management. We’d like to thank Helen Holmes and Susan Leroy for stepping in to help the staff by answering phones and assisting people who come to the window.
NUMBERS FROM OCTOBER
Public Power Lunch – 109
Scam Information – 24
Flu Shots - 90
OLD BUSINESS
Sue distributed the needs assessment survey that she revised according to the feedback received from the Friends at their last meeting and Cindy Stark’s suggestions.
Faye was given a list of things to bring up at today’s HCOA meeting of things that were not included in the survey. The Morning Glory Café, Newsletter, transportation services, provisions for return of the survey and a breakdown of the meals were mentioned.
Sue was surprised that a number of the Friends’ members have said they do not want to fill out a survey.
Sue also pointed out that Faye and Wayne Howard almost always go to the Friends meetings.
It was decided that Sue will correct the page numbering on the survey and bring it back to the December 1st meeting so we can look at it again. She will forward a copy to Rick Mansfield and Maureen Locke before then. The survey will be printed back to back on two (2) pages. Final revisions will be approved for distribution in the February newsletter. We will have a drop off box here at the senior center for returns.
NEW BUSINESS
Paula and Cindy asked for clarification on whether they can go to any of the board members for approval of Welcome Aldrich applications, or just the three (3) members that were designated. It was decided to add a fourth person and Rebecca Tornblom volunteered for that position.
Louise reminded the board about the Christmas Party scheduled for December 5th here at the senior center, the Mountview Christmas Breakfast on December 8th and the Rotary Christmas Breakfast on December 10th at the Manor in West Bolyston.
CITIZENS ADDRESS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:44 a.m.
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, December1, 2016 at 8:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maureen Buffone