Council on Aging, September 1, 2016
HOLDEN COUNCIL ON AGING
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Conference Room – Senior Center
Present: Susan Sullivan, Faye Ellis, Wayne Howard, Maureen Locke, Eric Johansen,
Rebecca Tornblom, Peter Lukes, Louise Charbonneau, Maureen Buffone.
The Meeting was called to order by Sue Sullivan at 8:00 a.m.
The Minutes from the June 2, 2016 meeting were approved and accepted.
F.H.C.O.A. REPORT
Faye reported the September 1 account balances as follows:
Commerce Bank $14,546.48
Leominster Credit Union (furnishings acct.) $2,844.01
Leominster Credit Union C.D. $24,206.46
LCU Trip Account $5,395.34
The C.D. has been rolled over at Leominster Credit Union, as there were no better interest rates available. The C.D. will expire in September 2018.
The next Friends meeting will take place on September 12, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.
Paula Grady had 14 table rentals at the Flea Market during Holden Days. The proceeds from that day amounted to $380.00. Paula and Helen Holmes were here all day.
The Morning Glory Café was open over the summer and was very busy. They have been averaging about $70.00 each week.
One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars was donated to the Historical Society in memory of Jane Howell.
The Friends paid for one-half (½) of the cost of the senior prom in April in the amount of $540.00.
The Friends also paid $197.00 for the bus for the pen pal party in June.
The Friends voted to give $1,000.00 per year to Clare for Social, Cultural, or Educational Programs to be used at her discretion.
The Friends are paying close to $500.00 per month for the mailing of the newsletters. Louise provides at least one-half (½) of the postage from a state formula grant.
Albert Cecchini has filed the taxes for the Friends and was paid $900.00 for that service. Helen Holmes provided the necessary information to him.
HELP AT H.O.M.E. REPORT ~ Jim Robinson
Jim submitted a financial report for the period ending June 30, 2016 showing total deposits amounting to $18,380.12. Disbursements for the same period of time totaled $10,841.24.
The Help at H.O.M.E. committee is very pleased that Karen Halley is not going to step down from their committee, as it would be very difficult to fill her shoes.
Jim explained the purpose of the fund and the criteria that needs to be met in order to take advantage of the fund. The committee is also in the process of updating their booklet. HCTV may sponsor this. The booklet is also getting a lot of press out of town. It contains a lot of federal and state assistance information and is on-line on the town website. They are always looking for ways to get the word out.
BOARD OF ELDER SERVICES REPORT ~ Richard Mansfield
No representation. No report.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT ~ Louise Charbonneau
JULY PROGRAMS
Monday, July 4 … Senior Center was closed in observance of Independence Day
Monday, July 11 … Optimizing your health w/Tricia Silverman funded through Arts Council
Wednesday, July 13 … Home Cooked Lunch
Monday, July 18 … Wachusett Community Band Concert
Thursday, July 21 … Book Discussion Group - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
AUGUST EVENTS
Monday, August 8 … Zentangle
Thursday, August 18 … Book Discussion Group - The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
… Annual Cookout
Monday, August 22 … The Main Event w/a tribute to Frank Sinatra
Wednesday, August 31 … Adult Coloring
SEPTEMBER EVENTS
Monday, September 5 … Senior Center closed in observance of Labor Day
Thursday, September 8 … State Primary and Town Selectman’s Election
Monday, September 12 … Free Legal Appointments w/Attorney Bergeron 10:30-12:30
Wednesday, September 14 … “Two to Tango” - 1:00 p.m. Actors Lynne McKinney Lydick and Richard Clark present this live dramatic performance featuring scenes from Goldman’s “A Lion in Winter” and Neil Simon’s “Visitor from New York,” a bittersweet tour of life, love and love lost. The program is sponsored through a grant from the Holden Arts Council.
Thursday, September 15 … Book Discussion Group - 10:00 a.m. Death at LaFenice by Donna Leon
Monday, September 19 … An Afternoon of Music - 1:00 p.m. Holden resident Emma Riffelmacher who will offer her first singing concert here at the Senior Center.
Wednesday, September 21 … Home Cooked Lunch – 12:00 p.m. This month we will offer a menu of Swedish meatballs, egg noodles, carrots, rolls and butter, gingerbread, coffee and milk. Cost for this meal is $3.00 for Holden Elders and Senior Center volunteers and $5.00 for out-of-town Elders. Each ticket for this lunch has been subsidized by $1.00 each by a Holden Senior Center grant through the Sjostedt Family at the Worcester Foundation. We sincerely thank them.
Monday, September 26 … Trusts 101 What Type and Why w/Atty. Bergeron … How can a trust help you protect your assets, minimizes taxes and avoid probate? Attorney Arthur Bergeron from Mirick O’Connell will be here to answer these questions through a presentation and question and answer period.
Wednesday, September 28 … Reflections of a Love Supreme - 1:00 p.m. Reflections of a Love Supreme, by local author Tom Ingrassia, tells the story of Motown through the eyes - and camera lenses - of its fans. Many of the photos included here have never been published before. They are personal, behind the scenes glimpses of the people, places and things that made Motown the music that inspired a generation.
Thursday, September 29 … Pen Pal Party at Mayo School
September 29-October 7 … Amateur Photo Contest …Rules for the contest can be obtained from Clare.
Wednesday, October 5 … Public Power Week Lunch - 12:00 p.m. This lunch is for HOLDEN ELDERS ONLY. The menu this year is Roast Pork, Stuffing, Butternut Squash, Applesauce, Rolls & Butter, Pie, Coffee and Milk. Obviously we thank the Light Department for their sponsorship and for serving this lunch. However we also must thank John Woodsmall, Dan Hazen, Dennis Griffin for sharing members of their staff (namely Dan Deptula, Gary Gauthier and Matt Miles) to assist the Senior Center employees in the preparation of this lunch.
FORMULA GRANT AND ANNUAL REPORT
The budget for this year’s Formula Grant has been prepared and submitted to the Executive Office of Elder Affairs. This year the Legislature appropriated $10.00/elder, the number of elders being determined by the 2010 federal census. Holden received $35,840.00 for FY17. For those who do not know, we use these moneys for, but not limited to, partial salary for the town van drivers and outreach workers; conferences and education for the staff, volunteer recognition, subsidizing van rides to both the Senior Center and to medical appointments and half the cost of mailing the newsletter.
The Annual Report is still being prepared. We will perhaps report on that at our October meeting.
MCOA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
This year’s MCOA conference will be held on Wednesday-Friday, October 26-28 at Sea Crest Resort and Conference Center in North Falmouth. As of today, Louise and Maureen are going. If any of you would like to go even for one day, please let Louise or Maureen know as soon as possible such that we can get you registered. If you’d like to go for more than a day and need a hotel room we can make that reservation as well. Maureen did print a copy of the preliminary listing of workshops if you’d like to see it or you can go to www.mcoaonline.com, scroll down to conference and click on Preliminary Conference Booklet. If you decide you’d like to attend, please don’t register on your own as we have grant moneys with which to pay your conference fees for staff or Board Members.
ONE PAGE SURVEY
Over the summer, Louise and Maureen met with Cindy Stark, President of the Friends of HCOA. During that discussion Cindy suggested that we create a one page survey relative to programs, services, the future, etc. and hand it out at the fair. It’s a wonderful opportunity to obtain information needed for short money.
NUMBERS FROM JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST
Boston Duck Tour Trip - 48
Two Old Friends Concert - 67
HFD Lunch and Presentation - 74
Pen Pal Party - 85 students, 85 elders
Wachusett Community Band Concert - 38
Optimizing Your Health w/Tricia Silverman - 24
Home Cooked Lunch (July) - 49
Zentangle - 17
The Main Event w/Bill Sbrogna - 70
Trip to Long Island Sound - 55
Annual Cookout - 112
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
There was more discussion on the survey to be distributed at the November 5th’s Friends’ Fair. The board was tasked with coming up with survey questions to be considered and getting them to Louise or Maureen, only, as not to violate the open meeting law. They should be simple, straight forward questions. We will ask Cindy for possibly three (3) volunteers to distribute the survey at the Fair. It would give the public one-on-one contact as people are walking into the building. There is no down side. The board thought it was a great idea. We can set a response date of November 15. Depending on the outcome, we can decide whether to take it further.
CITIZENS ADDRESS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 a.m.
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2016 at 8:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maureen Buffone