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

“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.

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.

 

News For Week of September 11-15

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS: THE BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets the first Wednesday of the month from 2 to 3 pm. On October 4 we will be talking about Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.

A TIME CHANGE FOR NEXT WEEK’S DAY TRIP: We will be leaving the senior center at 8 am on September 12 for the Whale Watch on Sellwagen Bank, not the previously-planned 7:15.

The senior center will host a FLU SHOT CLINIC, the first of the season, on October 18. The Newtown Health Department has tentatively set that date for a town-wide clinic for that Wednesday. Contact the health department at 270-4291 for more information.

We are updating the SENIOR CENTER BIRTHDAY LIST. Please call 270-4310 so that our records are correct and we may wish you well on your next birthday.

A NEW TRIP: On November 15 join us for a SALEM CROSS INN FEAST. Enjoy a 1700s-style prime rib feast prepared in a fieldstone fireplace, in the old Colonial style. The trip will also include a stop at Marlborough Barn, a country craft and outlet shopping area. Cost is $63 per person, and we will leave Newtown at 7:15 am.

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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.

AN EXERCISE TEACHER IS NEEDED at the senior center. We need a teacher for a few hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with the opportunity to begin teaching as soon as possible. If you are interested, call Marilyn at 270-4315.

A PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP meets the third Monday on each month from 1 to 3 pm at Southbury Town Hall/Senior Center, at 501 Main Street South (between Southbury Public Library and Center Firehouse). Call Margaret Clark at 426-5534 for more information. The next meeting will be September 18.

AN APPLE BAKING CONTEST will be held Wednesday, September 20. Bake your favorite apple recipe and bring it in for judging between 9 am and 3 pm. We’ll need to know in advance what’s coming in, so call 270-4310 to let us know what you are making.

ENERGY BINGO will be played at the senior center on Wednesday, September 27. A representative of Northeast Utilities will be here with special prizes and energy information starting at 1 pm. Come in for a fun afternoon.

“ELECTRIC RESTRUCTORING: What Connecticut Consumers Need To Know,” a special presentation, will take place at the senior center on Thursday, October 26, at 1 pm. Guest speakers Donna Devina and Joe Wood, consumer education developers with Connecticut’s Department of Public Utility Control, will be at the center to present information that is critical for consumers to know and understand before entering the competitive marketplace of electric choice. Topics to be covered will include standard offer, aggregations, brokers and marketers, and other restructuring topics all aimed at helping consumers deal with electric choice.

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.

NEW HORIZONS meets the first Tuesday of the month at 3 pm. The next meeting will be on October 3.

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.

CRAFT CLASSES HAVE RESUMED, each Thursday at 1 pm. Come help us welcome our new craft teacher, Toni Ivey. Future projects will include decoupage, Christmas ornaments, stationery stamping, and jewelry.

The QUILTING CLASS meets every Friday at 10 am, and we are in full swing. Quilts are individually made.

In October, join us for OCTOBERFEST AT WILLIAMS INN in Williamstown, Mass. Departure will be at 9 am on Wednesday, October 25. Enjoy authentic cusine, and entertainment including Bavarian music and a story teller. Our return trip will be along the Mohawk Trail, along which we can enjoy the fall foliage and a stop at Atkins Farm for baked goods and fresh apple cider.

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.

Menu For Week Of August 21-25

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, hot German potato salad, green bean salad, pound cake w/ berries & whipped topping;

Tuesday: Oven fried chicken quarter, herb stuffing, broccoli, cranberry sauce, whole wheat bread, pistachio pudding w/ topping;

Wednesday: New England clam chowder, low sodium crackers, lemon pepper fish w/ tartar sauce, Spanish rice, fresh zucchini & yellow squash, oatmeal bread, fresh fruit;

Thursday: Cheese lasagna, Italian green beans, tossed salad w/ ranch dressing, garlic bread, fresh fruit cup;

Friday: Sliced steak, sliced mushrooms, boiled potato, peas & carrots, dinner roll, orange juice, grapes.

Activities Schedule, August 21-25

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

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

Wednesday: AM line dancing, Pinochle; PM guest speaker (HMO Bail-Outs and Medicare program);

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.