 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| FUNDRAISERS |
| Coming: Christmas House Tour December 10, 2006 Advanced Ticket Sales $25.00 |
| Raffles Stained Glass Garden Stone 15" Diameter $5.00 per ticket. ---------------------------- Seoane's Garden $250 Gift Certificate $10 per ticket limited to 100 tickets |
| ____________________ Abington Ale House sponsoring Fundraiser. $10 Gift Certificates available at COA Offices at Town Hall. Also Abington Ale House raised $3,640 on Raffle for 42" Plasma TV Thank You Abington Ale House ____________________ |
| DECEMBER 2006 - SENIOR INFORMER |
| Veterans Memorial |
| Town Library |
| Abington Massachusetts |
| Town Offices |
| Town Hall 781.982.2100 |
VOTE VOTE VOTE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 VOTE VOTE VOTE
VOTING Hours 8am–6pm at
The Facts: on
11/13 Special Town Meeting, Townspeople chimed a resounding YES! - to place 2 questions on a ballot in a Special Election. Said Election must be held within 45 days of
the vote. (not
next Spring) Abington
Selectmen called a Special Election for Saturday, December 2, 2006 with
voting hours 8am-6pm at
Just two ballot
questions are to be considered:
Funding
for a
Funding for Windows at the Early
Passing
either of these items results in debt exclusion 20 year, not permanent tax. (more inside)
OPPORTUNITIES for the HOLIDAYS
FREE
Christmas HOUSE TOUR Sunday, December 10 - This year’s Tour
benefits the Abington Senior Center Fund! And includes 5 lovely Abington homes,
each lavishly decorated by its own committee.
The Tour is on Sunday,
December 10th from 12pm – 5pm. Refreshments at the High
School from 11:30-4:00. Ticket
book available at the Council on Aging $25 –includes
photos of each home and directions. ($30 tour day). Seniors contributing goodies -
deliver to Abington High cafeteria on
Fri. afternoon, Dec. 8 or on the morning of the Tour Sunday, Dec. 10. Extreme raffles! (see inside)
Senior Luncheon Festivities Thurs. December 21 at 11:15am. Lunch is $2.50. (favors,
door prizes, paper games, holiday cheer) Hugs? PRICELESS. Must
sign up
781-982-2146.
Post-Holiday(s) COFFEE CLATCH - Tuesday, Dec. 26, 9-10am, at
the Council on Aging.
We’ll
make warm beverages, you bring your leftover
goodies. Just one nice
relaxing hour to chit-chat & share stories about the holiday weekend.
No reservations needed – just show up.
Page 2
SENIOR CENTER NEWS
Contacts: Joanne Curtis & Diane Keith – SC
Committee
SOLD! 500 Ale House Certificates = a donation of $5,000
by the Barretts / Abington Ale House!
YEAH!
Seoanes raffle - The Winner: Laura Rizvi (drawing 11/15)
Thanks
to Bill Cox of Bemis Drug and to Seoanes who worked together to donate this
$250 gift certificate. The Raffle raised $1,000 for the
Christmas House Tour
Sunday, Dec. 10th – a huge fundraiser for
the
for
the first time ever! $25 includes tour
of 5 lavishly decorated Abington homes, plus refreshments at A.H.S
Note these valuable House Tour raffle prizes:drawn 12/10
5 table seats at
4 Patriots tickets for 12/17 on the
49 yard line,
$250 gift certificate
Collector Chinese Doll plus $50
certificate to open account at North Abington Co-Op Bank,
Birthday party
for 10 guests at Charley Horse,
Many other lovely items raffling during Tour
December 10th
Handpainted-Scene
Table painted by Barbara Reeves
$7 per ticket or 3 for $20 drawing Dec. 20
Lighted
Christmas Pine Basket created by Teri Mini
$5 per ticket drawing Dec. 14th
Christmas Drums Centerpiece donated by Diane Keith
$3 per ticket drawing Dec. 14th
Sesame Street Afghan created by Marion Tisdale
$5 per ticket drawing Dec. 14th
(these
tickets available @ the COA, Town Hall )
Whatever your opinion is, be
sure to express it!
Vote on Saturday, December 2
8am-6pm
Refreshments - Community Room,
Abington
CALENDAR PAGE 3
Page 4
Abington
Senior Center Fund - private funds to develop a Senior Center
Memberships and Donations – checks payable
to “Senior Center
In memory of Barbara Fowler, by Senior Citizen
Association
In memory of Mary Levesque, by Edward Levesque
In memory of Ted & Irene McLellan, by Leo
Federici
In memory of Ernest
Olson, by Gloria Olson
In memory of Ada Ruma, by
Marguerite E. Frederick
Mary Reilly
Jon Virrill
$100
Club
Lifetime
Membership Anne Nelson, in
memory of John, Paul and Sam Nelson
Lifetime
Membership Walter (Skip) Pulsifer, III, in memory
of Gertrude Pulsifer
In memory of Helen
McGovern
by: Doris Fay
Boyce Jeffrey & Linda
Grossman Frank &
Joyce Lemay
Mary T. MacDougall Senior Citizen Association
$1,000
CLUB
In memory of Russell Snow
by:
Mrs. Ellen Badame sister Marge Edson Woody Hickey Ruth M.
Noble Claire O’Connor Cindy & George
Savage brother George Snow for
“RUT” wife Florence Snow Beth Ann Strenge & Paul
Yau
Bronia
Wielczki
Extreme $5,000
A fourth gift of $5,000 has been received from a generous Abingtonian who
wishes to remain
anonymous! (This
totals $20,000 from this one particular donor!)
A donation of $5,000 has been
received by Beverly Alexandre, Anderson Insulation
JUST THE FACTS: Special
Election on Saturday, December 2nd
8am-6pm
There will be 2 issues to vote upon at this
Election: voting at Abington High School
Abington Senior Center total 1.8 million dollars
Year 1 $32.46 per year or
$2.71 per month or
9 cents/day going down
each year
Replacement Windows for ECC total 1.19 million dollars
Year 1 $21.62 per year or
$1.80 per month or 7 cents/day going down each year
Debt exclusion taxes
go down each year – then after 20 years - done – gone - not
permanent.
Whatever your
opinion is, make it known. Vote on
December 2, 2006.
September 30, 2006 marked the 68th anniversary of the
graduation of the Abington High School Class of 1938. At a reunion attended by 16 alumni of the
class, it was voted to dispose of the balance in its treasury in the form of a
donation to the Abington Council on Aging.
$219
Harry L. Gnong, Philip LaPointe Secretary and
Treasurer A.H.S. Class of 1938
Page 5
Are you homebound? Just
getting home from the hospital or Rehabilitation? Are you
unable to prepare a nutritious
lunch meal? Monday
– Friday, the Council on Aging offers “Meals on Wheels”, home-delivered
lunches. The Council on Aging can
arrange for lunch to be delivered right to your door - the volunteer driver
will check in with you. The cost to a Senior is just
$2.50 per meal. (A referral is required
of course - from a doctor, visiting nurse, social worker, or case
manager.) Call 781-982-2146 between
9am-1pm to enroll.
Transportation for SENIORS Weather
permitting, the Council
on Aging Van is available for rides
Monday - Friday from 9am – 2pm, (Abington, Braintree, Brockton Hospital area,
Holbrook, Rockland, South Shore Medical, Weymouth and Whitman). Dial-A-Bat is available from 9:30am – 4:30pm and goes all over
Winter Message about the
Council on Aging Van
If schools are closed due to ice and
snow, the Council on Aging van will not operate. If snow and ice pile up during a given day,
the Council on Aging reserves the right to suspend service at any time. We care for our Seniors. Safety must always come first!
OUTREACH and S.H.I.N.E. Norma Clark,
781-982-2146 (not Wed.)
Have you received a birthday card from President and Laura Bush? Norma Clark requests these greetings from
the White House for Abington Seniors turning age 80 and above.
MEDICARE PART D
(Part D is the federal Prescription Plan) Open Enrollment going on right now,
through Dec. 30, 2006. (Those with
limited income may even receive help paying for their Medicare Part D plan
premiums!) Call Norma to discuss
enrollment. Norma is the Volunteer S.H.I.N.E.
Counselor for both Abington and Hanover.
She can help you complete and submit the paperwork, by appointment
only. Call the Council on Aging
781-982-2146
From the Executive
Office of Elder Affairs – Medicare will now only send Medicare Summary
notices on a quarterly basis, NOT immediately at the time of
services, as done in the past. You may access your account on the internet
anytime. www.My.Medicare.gov
OCES
= Old Colony Elderly Services:
providing care for our Elders and/or their caretakers, to enable seniors to
continue to live independently in their homes as long as it is safe
for them to do so. Call Norma Clark, 781-982-2146 to activate a referral, or
you may call OCES yourself, at 508-584-1561. OCES covers 23 Towns, including
Abington.
CONNIE’s Last Trip (before retiring) -
Contact Connie Rhodes
781-878-4941
Dec. 13-15
The Beacon Resort, New Hampshire – “an old fashioned Christmas” $249
RITA’S Trips – “Carefree Capers” –
Contact Rita Webster
781-982-9102
Dec. 30-Jan. 1 New Year’s Celebration
- includes 6 fabulous shows, 6 meals
along with wonderful New Year’s Gala celebration. Entertainment by Andy Cooney Show Band $369
Jan. 10-12, 2007 Tropicana in Atlantic City - package includes $20 cash bonus, two-$15.99
brunches and
“Best of Broadway Show” $159
Feb. 27, 2007 Incredible
Acrobats of
Arena. Includes $15 food coupon
and $20 in free bets. $65
Page
6
IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
Yes
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some
of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Sun it’s
so.” Please tell me the truth, is there
a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity
and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its
highest beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary
would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in
fairies! You might get your papa to hire
men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus coming
down, but what would that prove? Nobody
sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those
that neither children nor men can see.
Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they
are not there. Nobody can conceive or
imagine all of the wonders there are unseen and useable in the world.
You tear apart a baby’s rattle and see what makes
the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world, which not the
strongest man, nor the united strength of all the strongest men that ever
lived, could tear apart. Only faith,
fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture
the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is
it all real? Ah,
No Santa Claus!
Thank God he lives, and lives forever.
A thousand years from now,
Text reprinted from the original September 21, 1897
edition of the
Page
7
December
Birthdays-Council on Aging Volunteers
Dec. 5 Kathy Corcoran (Meals on wheels)
Dec. 8 Bill Kendall (COA Board Vice-Chair, Fuel
Assistance,
Dec. 12 Jim Dorman
(General help)
Dec. 13 Chuck Collins (Meals on wheels)
Dec. 22 Mary Cooke (Fuel Assistance, office
help)
Dec. 23 Eleanor Howe (Meals on wheels)
Dec. 24 Gerald Casey (Newsletter crew)
COA Staff Van Drivers
and “new
guy” David LaCouture 12/19
MOVIES
10:15am, Abington
Library. No charge.
Tuesday, Dec. 5 “The Breakup”
romantic comedy
Tuesday, Dec. 19 “March of the Penguins” adorable!
So.
Shore Senior Chorus Family
Dec. 17, 2pm,
Free, no tickets.
Abington’s own Nancy Cavanagh, Director.
Holiday
Concert –
on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 12:30pm Buckley Fine Arts Auditorium.
The COA will provide free
rides to this event. Limit 10 folks
Free
Pancake Breakfast on Wednesday, January 10, 2007
at 9:30am at
over Town line,
register – free - limit 25 people. Rides can be
arranged.
Family
Caregiver Support Program,
provides free services
to those caring for loved ones 60 or older, including
info on
community resources.
We urge anyone who is struggling
with caregiving to contact OCES (800)242-0246 ex.
245.
Receive free “Health
Guide for Seniors and Caregivers”.
NE
Pension Assistance Project Gerontology Institute
U. Mass Boston has assisted over 3,500 people
recover
pension benefits valued
at over $15 million! Know your
rights, secure your
future, understand your pension plan
& social security, other provisions.Toll
free 888-425-6067
Free
Elder Services for Abington Seniors (appt.)
Veteran’s Services, call Joe Colantoni,
781-982-0056
Elder Law – Atty. George Whiting, call
781-982-2146
Reverse Mortgage Clinic – John Fournier, call
781-982-2146
Elder Hearing Screenings – John Klefeker, call
781-982-2146
Page
8
FLU
SHOTS will be available on
Monday, Dec. 4th, from 4-6:30pm, at the Abington Library for
Abington residents age 50 and older.
Reminders: Abington
Council on Aging Board will not meet in the month of December.
Colony House
reminder - no support group meeting on December 25th,
Christmas Day.
Eileen Maraget, Senior Aide in the Council on Aging
office, is on the mend. Eileen most sincerely
thanks everyone for the outpouring of support, love and greeting cards.
Council on Aging, M-F,
9-3 (coverage not guaranteed after 1pm– call first
before coming to office)
Outreach
Worker & Volunteer
S.H.I.N.E. Counselor - Norma Clark
Transportation,
Nutrition - Rita Estey & Eileen Maraget
Veterans’ Services agent Joe Colantoni, 781-982-0056 learn
about Senior Veterans’ services!
Council
on Aging Board Chair & ViceChair – Attorney George Whiting, Bill Kendall
Council
on Aging Coordinator - Linda Elliot
The Council on Aging Staff wishes a happy and healthy holiday
season to Abington Seniors and all loved ones.
We hope there are wonderful memories being made.
Senior Informer via e-mail Send your e-address to: lelliot@abingtonmass.com
Abington website w/Council
on Aging information! (thanks Paul Cahill) www.ourabington.com