‘Timeless Newtown’ Series To Launch With Community Discussion Lunch & Learn
“Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation” is a new series for 2025 that organizers hope will break through stereotypes and destructive thinking toward aging and the elderly.
According to research shared by Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS), 35% of Newtown’s population is over the age 54, echoing the 2020 Census that showed 16.8% of the country’s population is age 65 and older. Organizers hope “Timeless Newtown” will encourage awareness of ageism and foster enthusiasm for positive change so Newtown can become a truly intergenerational town that supports and values people of all ages.
The conversation to create the series of programs began last year, after longtime resident and FONS Founder and President John Boccuzzi Sr encouraged fellow Newtown residents through a letter to the editor to read Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How To End It by Dr Tracey Gendron.
Discussions continued in October when Boccuzzi presented the idea for a year-long series of events to the Commission on Aging during its October 2024 meeting. FONS members had already had, he told the commission, multiple discussions with researchers in and beyond Connecticut, to outline several goals.
The commission voted the following month to support the series in planning and finances, donating $2,500 toward the multigenerational effort.
One of the lead goals of what has turned into “Timeless Newtown” is to mitigate the impact of negative aging stereotypes in the minds of older adults and to address how the pervasive acceptance of ageism ideas and stereotypes can help exacerbate the early physical and mental decline in many people, he told the COA October 21.
Boccuzzi met last week with Commission on Aging Chair Anne Rothstein, C.H. Booth Library Director Jennifer Nash, and research librarian and writer Andrea Zimmermann, to continue planning events that will run all year and invite participation of all ages.
The series has quietly launched with programs at C.H. Booth Library already tied in to the "Timeless Newtown" theme.
There are three areas of focus for the year-long series. The first is to clarify for seniors what the aging process is about and let go of some of the negative stereotypes they have absorbed from society.
“We want to try to push away from the jokes, the negativity, and all that,” he said.
The second area of focus is to recognize that aging is a natural process.
“We’re all in the same boat, so how can we be informed about aging in a positive way,” he said. “That’s where discussions with doctors and researchers will come into play.”
The third area of focus is to pull the full community into the discussion and tackle issues, Boccuzzi said. Public events for all ages will carry the series through spring, summer and early autumn.
Boccuzzi will present one of the first programs, a Lunch & Learn at Newtown Senior Center, on Friday, January 24, at noon, called “Aging Powerfully.” The presentation is designed, according to Boccuzzi, to reframe thinking concerning the aging process.
There will be a brief presentation followed by what Boccuzzi hopes will be lively discussion and Q&A. The goal, he said last week, is to hear responses to the information presented and use it to plan future workshops, presentations, and activities promoting the understanding of, and healthy attitudes toward, the aging process.
His presentation, Boccuzzi said, will be “the intro and trial balloon” for the whole program.
Lunch & Learn: Aging Powerfully is open to all residents. There is no charge for Newtown Senior Center members; nonmembers should ask about fees upon registration, which is available by calling 203-270-4310.
Space was limited as of January 9 but Boccuzzi said a second similar presentation may be scheduled if there is interest.
“I want to hear where the community is with this,” he said.
One Town One Read
“Timeless Newtown” will include a One Town One Read collection of events around Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How To End It by Dr Tracy Gendron.
Funding has been acquired to purchase 1,000 copies of Gendron’s March 2022 account of the history and present-day realities of age bias.
In his presentation to the COA a few months ago, Boccuzzi said the book inspires readers “to reflect on our behavior and take small, positive steps to grow as individuals and as a community.”
The book-related events will begin July 1. Distribution of the book will begin closer to that date.
Ageism Unmasked will be used for book discussion groups, panel presentations, and other events. The townwide read will culminate in a visit by Gendron to Edmond Town Hall on September 18.
“We’re hoping to fill the auditorium to overflowing, with people standing in the aisles,” Boccuzzi said January 9. “It’s an important topic, and she deserves to be heard by many people.”
Despite the title of the book at the center of the series, Boccuzzi said he and others want to “go soft on ‘ageism.’
“People tend to recoil any time they hear a word with ‘-ism’ on the end,” he explained. “So we came up with this umbrella idea of ‘Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation.’
“It kind of says the same thing,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s a softer way of looking at it.”
“Timeless Newtown” has also identified A Kids Book About Ageism by the CT Age Well Collaborative as a companion read to Ageism Unmasked. Twenty copies of that hardcover book will be purchased and available for circulation from the town library.
Zimmermann said there are already “a lot of community partners” with programs planned or in the works. In addition to the town library, FONS and COA, “Timeless Newtown” partners include Newtown Economic & Development Commission, Newtown Forest Association, Newtown Hikers, Newtown Senior Center, Nuvance, and NYA Sports & Fitness Center.
Sponsors as of last week included Caraluzzi’s, Newtown Commission on Aging, Anne Rothstein, and The Jeniam Foundation. Those who would like to become partners and/or sponsors are invited to contact John Boccuzzi Sr 203-430-0633 or info@FriendsOfNewtownSeniors.org or Jennifer Nash at 203-426-4533 extension 1 or jnash@chboothlibrary.org.
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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.