SENIOR NEWS

Services for Newtown seniors are sponsored by the Commission on Aging and are available at the Multi-Purpose Building on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. For more information about programs offered at the Senior Center call 270-4310.

For information on federal, state and community resources available to seniors, call 270-4330 or 270-4315.

You may drop in at the Senior Center on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook weekdays between 10 am and 4 pm. A hot meal is served at noon for which you must reserve three days in advance.

Newtown has daily door-to-door mini-bus service Monday through Friday. Monday from 1 to 3 pm the mini-bus will go to Sand Hill Plaza. Fridays, the bus will alternate going to Danbury Fair Mall and to Berkshire Shopping Plaza. Cost is 60 cents each way for the Sand Hill Plaza trip, 75 cents each way for out of town. Call 748-2511 TWO DAYS IN ADVANCE to book a ride and get the out-of-town Friday schedule.

This Week’s Programs

SCHOONER SAILING out of Mystic, for three hours on Wednesday, August 2. Cost is $58, and departure is 9:45 am.

THE BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets the first Wednesday of the month from 2 to 3 pm. The August 2 meeting will concern Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt.

News For Week of July 31-August 4

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS: NEW HORIZONS meets the first Tuesday of the month at 3 pm. But please note: There will be no August meeting. The next meeting will be on September 5.

There is a change in the meeting day and location for the Danbury area ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP. The group now meets the fourth Thursday of every month at 7 pm at Almost Family, at 52 Federal Road. Meetings give caregivers an oppoetunity to exchange ideas, problems and feelings openly with other caregivers. It is open to all caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other dementia diseases. Participants can lean on and learn from others who are facing the same challenges. There is no charge for the group. Call for more information (these are new contact numbers for the group, also).

CRAFT CLASSES WILL RESUME on Thursday, August 29, at 1 pm. Come help us welcome our new craft teacher, Toni Ivey, who will be starting that afternoon. Toni has been preparing sample crafts for your perusal and they are on display at the center. Come see the crafts and sign up for the calsses. Future projects will include decoupage, Christmas ornaments, stationery stsmping, and jewelry.

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REMINDERS: VISIT THE SENIOR CENTER NEWSLETTER ON THE INTERNET at www.wisecity.com. Select newsletters, then select Newtown, and get an updated issue whenever you need it.

PAT BABBAGE’S EXERCISE CLASS is meeting at 9:30 instead of 10 am through the end of August.

 BEACH PARTY BINGO is being planned for Wednesday, August 9, at 1 pm. Come to the coolest place in town to have lunch and play Bingo. Wear your sunglasses and bathing suit, and forget the sunscreen because we’ll have the beach indoors! Call 270-4310 to reserve your lunch for that day.

NATURAL CHOICES SPEAKER: Do you, or someone you know, suffer from joint and/or muscle pain? On Wednesday, August 16, at 1 pm, Thomas Egan will be at the senior center to address the alternative treatment of magnetic field energy. He will explain this non-medical way to recharge yourenergy, fight stress, gain relief from aches and discomforts, and feel more fit, all by using magnetic field energy and far infrared light energy. Call 270-4310 to sign up.

A PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP meets every third Monday from 2 to 3 pm at Southbury Town Hall/Senior Center, at 501 Main Street South (between Southbury Public Library and Center Firehouse). This is a relaxed, informal group for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers, who meet to learn from each other’s experiences and the latest news about this neurological disorders from guest speakers. Call Margaret Clark at 426-5534 for more information. The next meeting will be August 21.

We will have a COUNTRY HOE-DOWN Thursday, August 24, beginning at 1 pm. The Country Gentlemen will be at the center to entertain us with some foot-stomping music that will make everyone happy. Come for lunch, then sing and dance the afternoon away!

 “RESPONDING TO HMO BAIL-OUTS: Medicare Rights and Options” will be presented at Newtown Senior Center on Wednesday, September 13, at 1 pm. A speaker from Western CT Area Agency on Aging’s C.H.O.I.C.E.S. program will present information and advice regarding the Medicare HMO bail-outs in Connecticut, and their specific impact on each county. The speaker will address issues and offer advice concerning Medigap policies, possible managed care options for next year, and how to properly enroll – or disenroll – in the various options. The lecture and materials are free, but please call 270-4310 to sign up. If you wish to speak directly with someone at CHOICES, the group’s hotline is 800/994-9422.

RENTAL REBATE — The Elderly & Totally Disabled Renter’s Tax Relief Program runs to September 15. Regulations include Connecticut residency, age 65 or older, disabled under Social Security guidelines or widowed between the ages of 50 to 65 from someone enrolled. Also, the maximum income from 1999 must be $23,900 if single, $29,300 if married. You will need to submit the following: Proof of all sources of income from 1999, copies of your 1999 tax return, and proof of rent including electric and heat, water and/or sewer payments.

WE HAVE AN URGENT NEED FOR MATERIAL. The offerings and availability of senior citizens’ projects have been expanding, so now we have an urgent need for all types of fabric. Please bring any fabric to the center so that we may continue with our very popular quilting, sewing and craft classes. All types of fabric is needed.

Please join us every Monday for BIBLE STUDY. We meet at 1 pm.

Join us at BROOKFIELD LANES each Tuesday and Thursday for a great time bowling. We meet at noon and the cost is only $1.25 per game.

We have started a NEW QUILTING CLASS that meets every Friday at 10 am, and we are in full swing. These quilts are individually made.

The center is assembling a MILLENNIUM BOOKLET. Share your reflections, thoughts or memories about your life or time in our town. Please mail them or drop them off here at the center.

TRIP BOOKLETS, describing our trips for the year, are available at the center and offer details concerning the following trips:

PLANETS & SPACE. Tuesday, August 22, 9 am departure, $66 per person. Lunch at Planet Hollywood, visit the Rose Center for Earth & Space and be treated to a virtual re-creation of our gallaxy, enjoy a space show and IMAX film, followed by a tour of the Museum of Natural History.

A BAVARIAN FEST TRIP is being planned for Thursday, September 7. Departure will be 10 am and for $50, enjoy a feast on schnitzel a la holstein or roast cornish with red currant gravy and all the trimmings, along with a four-hour beer, wine and soda bar. Entertainment will be provided by Jolly Joe & The Bavarians.

CAPE COD, September 10-12. Coasts are $319 double, $379 single.

WHALE WATCH ON STELLWAGEN BANK on Tuesday, September 12. Departure is 7:15 am, and cost is $62 per person. We will take a high-speed Catamaran to the East Coast’s heavist concentration of humpback, finback and mink whales; enjoy a box lunch onboard, and then turn Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall before returning home.

A BEIJING CITY TOUR will be leaving Newtown on March 26, 2001, and will last eight days. Costs are $1,249 to $1,339 twin and we will be staying in one hotel the entire time. The price also includes six breakfasts, two lunches, and four dinners. Enjoy tours of the city and its surroundings. Visit Tiananman Square, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, Beijing Zoo, Peking Opera, Ming Tombs, The Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven, and take a rickshaw tour through the city.

This trip is expected to fill very quickly. Call immediately to sign up, and plan to bring a deposit to the senior center soon after. Flyers with complete details are available at the center. A full presentation will take place at the center on Thursday, August 17, at 1 pm. But don’t wait for the presentation to sign up, because space on this trip will disappear quickly.

Menu For Week Of July 31-August 4

Reservations must be made three days in advance.

Meals are subject to change.

Meals include low-fat milk and margarine.

Monday: Beef patty on roll, sauteed onions, pasta salad, cake w/ berries & whipped topping.

Tuesday through Friday: The August menu was not yet available by press time; call the senior center for the lunch offerings of August 1-4..

Activities Schedule, July 31-August 4

Monday: AM Pinochle/Bridge, art class; PM yoga, Bible study;

Tuesday: AM Pinochle, exercise; PM bowling (at Brookfield Lanes);

Wednesday: AM line dancing, Pinochle; PM Bingo, book discussion group;

Thursday: AM exercise, Pinochle; PM crafts, bowling (at Brookfield Lanes);

Friday: AM mah jongg, sewing, quilting; PM knitting.

 Remember, you must call three days in advance to book a meal or a ride, 270-4310; the Senior Bus, 748-2511.