Senior center welcomes Tracy Brown as new coordinator

Senior centers provide a gathering space for meaningful connections as we age. Taking care of physical, emotional and mental health is important for healthy aging and living longer.

An important piece to supporting and serving a community is the staffing. The Charlotte Senior Center is excited to welcome Tracy Brown as the part-time senior center coordinator. She possesses a true passion for service and a deep commitment to community. She will be assisting with the senior center’s database, registrations and other administrative tasks. Please stop by and say hello.

While you are saying hello, visit the May art exhibit of Charlotte resident Lee Krohn’s photography.

This month there are presentations on preventing elder fraud and advance-care planning and directives. The center is also offering a yoga practice honoring women, a new tai chi for arthritis class and a Saturday morning watercolor workshop for beginners.

Community events & services

Preventing elder fraud
Wednesday, May 15, 1 p.m.
Nicolas Kerest, the United States attorney for Vermont, with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, United States Secret Service and Department of State, will speak about the trends in elder fraud, telltale signs of elder fraud and ways to prevent it. Over 10 percent of older Americans experience some type of elder abuse each year. The Department of Justice and the law enforcement community have aggressively pursued justice for elders in a wide variety of fields, from nursing homes that provide grossly substandard care, to guardians and others who abuse their positions of trust, to multinational fraud schemes that target older adults. Registration is recommended. Free.

Embracing quality of life choices
Thursday, May 9, 1 p.m.
Explore how making informed decisions about health care preferences can enhance quality of life and how embracing quality of life choices underscores the importance of advance care planning in empowering individuals to live with dignity, autonomy, and peace of mind at “Making Meaningful Choices as We Age with Advance Care Planning and Directives,” a presentation by Alicia Fleming, a senior living advisor. Light refreshments provided. Registration is recommended. Free.

In honor of women yoga
Friday, May 10, 4-5:15 p.m.
At the start of Mother’s Day weekend, this class with Heidi Kvasnak will honor women by offering a safe and quiet space for self-care. It will include breathwork, meditation, mantra, chanting, slow gentle movement, journaling prompts and a guided deep relaxation. Please bring two blankets and a yoga mat. Class limit of 15. Cost: $10. Registration and payment by Wednesday, May 8.

Annual plant sale
Saturday, May 25, 9 a.m.-noon
Stop by the senior center’s annual plant sale and stock up on a great selection of annuals and perennials at great prices. Rain or shine. If you’re dividing perennials in your garden, pot (and label) a few to donate to the sale. Drop off plants at the center any time between Friday, May 17, and Friday, May 24. Need help digging? Please call 802-425-6345 and leave your name, address and phone number. A team member will call to arrange a time to dig your plants. The group will be digging plants through May 22. Questions? Email.

Alzheimer’s caregivers support group
Wednesday, May 8, 4-5 p.m.
Are you caring for someone with Alzheimer’s? Do you know someone who is? Please join the monthly Caregivers Support Group on the second Wednesday of each month from 4-5 p.m. The meetings provide a safe place for caregivers, family, and friends of persons with dementia to meet and develop a mutual support system. New date and time option to attend by Zoom or in-person. For additional information or to receive the Zoom meeting link, email Susan Cartwright.

Weekly Age Well Grab & Go meals
Pick up on Thursdays 10-11 a.m. at the Charlotte Senior Center. Registration is required by Monday for the Thursday meal. $5 suggested meal donation but not required. To register, call 802-425-6345 or email.

Programs

May artist exhibit
Photography by Lee Krohn
Lee Krohn is a longtime semi-professional photographer who brings passion and unique, creative perspectives. His photography has been used to showcase various nonprofits including Girls on the Run, Dragon Boat Festival, Run Vermont/Vermont City Marathon, Vermont Police Canine Association and Sail Beyond Cancer. He has illustrated many stories for Vermont Magazine and is a regular featured contributor to local newspapers. As a volunteer firefighter, Krohn also documents the many aspects of Vermont’s volunteer fire service in ways that no one else does.

Birding expedition
Wednesday, May 15, 9 a.m.
There is a wide range of birding habitats in Chittenden County. Join avid bird watcher Hank Kaestner and learn to identify the various bird species and habitats right here in Vermont. Group size is limited to 20 participants. Free but registration required.

Beginner watercolor workshop
Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
If you’ve always wanted to try watercolor but were too intimidated, Make Some Waves with Ginny Joyner is the class for you. Learn techniques for creating ripples, choppy waves, reflections, foam, droplets and shoreline with watercolor, crayon and masking fluid. Take a coastal vacation through painting. Class limit 10 students. Cost: $35 plus $6 supply fee. Registration and payment required by May 8.

Exercise activities

Tai chi for arthritis
Thursdays, May 9-30, 9:45-10:45 a.m.
Try out this new class. The benefits of a tai chi practice include reduced pain and stiffness and improved muscle strength and joint flexibility. Through learning the tai chi movements and practicing regularly, many have found significant relief from arthritis symptoms. Eliza is a certified instructor and has studied with Dr. Lam, the founder of the Tai Chi for Arthritis Association. Questions? Email. Cost: $40 for the 4-week session. Registration and payment by Tuesday, May 7.

Pilates fitness
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
This PILATES class, for folks 55+, is designed to be challenging and safe. Phyllis Bartling leads the class through upper-body strength work with hand weights and mat exercises with the focus on working core muscles to improve balance, strength and posture. Cost: $10 a class. No registration required.

Yoga strength-building practice
Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-noon
Join Heidi Kvasnak for an integrative practice that builds strength and stability while maintaining a sense of ease and spaciousness in both body and mind. We will practice longer-held postures that strengthen muscles, bones and core, as well as breath-led flowing movement, including sun salutations. Prerequisite: Must be able to easily get down to and up from the floor with or without props. Cost: $10 a class. No registration required.

Meals
Menus are posted on the website.

Men’s breakfast
Friday, May 10, 7 a.m.
On the second Friday of the month, the men gather for breakfast and conversation. Doors open at 7 a.m. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The speaker this month is Tom Denenberg, executive director of Shelburne Museum. If you are planning to attend the men’s breakfast, email Lane Morrison before Tuesday, May 7. Suggested donation: $6. Registration required by Tuesday for the Friday breakfast.

Monday lunches
Served weekly. Lunch is served 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or until the food runs out. Suggested lunch donation $5. No registration required.

Senior center info:
The senior center offers programs for adults 50 and older from Charlotte and surrounding communities. Priority is given to seniors, but programs are open to adults of all ages. Programs include weekly lunches, daily exercise classes and many opportunities to connect through board and card games and art and language programming. Interested in receiving a weekly reminder about what is happening? Sign up for the email newsletters at charlotteseniorcentervt.org. The “Week Ahead” email is sent out on Friday mornings with activities, lunch menus and special programs for the upcoming week.

Lori York, director
Tracy Brown, coordinator
212 Ferry Road, Charlotte
802-425-6345
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