September 29, 2004
The names of the talented young fiddlers in the above photograph are: (left to right) Chelsea Carrion, Abby Fenstra, Chalice Girki.
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September 21, 2004
Alice Flood, local artist
Alice displayed her work at the senior center.
Alice brings much joy to the senior center with her wonderful sense of humor and warm nature.
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September 15, 2004
SHASS enjoys serving seniors
Recently, SHASS hosted (thanks to coordinator Louise Stall) a toe tapping fiddler event at Harbor View apartments. Pictured are some of the fiddlers, from Kendall, MI, who provided some merry fiddling for kids of all ages.
We thank Ted Martin, our chief photographer, for his photographic expertise.
We are pleased to welcome our first senior artist, Alice Flood. Her pictures are on display at the Warren Senior Center. Come and see her talented work. Hours at the Warren Senior Center, 540 Williams St., are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Our special artist says she remembers being the school doodler and she always felt better with a pencil or brush in her hand.
"I got into trouble in school because I was always doodling," Alice quips. The teacher once told me to take up some kind of hobby to keep my hands busy."
Over the years, work and family occupied her time so Alice didn't earnestly dabble in art until ten years after she retired from radio station WJOR, in South Haven, in 1980. With instructor Florene Hester Alice learned to paint simple beach scenes, and that got her hooked to do bigger and better works of art.
Alice says a celebrity purchased one of her first paintings while she was "wintering" in Florida. "This was tangible proof that my work had merit," Alice grins.
As Alice continued to paint, she discovered her next big challenge was painting birds. "I thought if I didn't try I would never learn," she says.
Eventually, Alice got tired of lugging her art supplies back and forth on trips to Florida. She decided to stretch her artistic wings and try pen and ink. She discovered that this medium was in popular demand by art collectors, and she liked the new challenges it brought her.
Today, Alice continues sharing her artwork with others, not only thorough displaying her paintings, but through teaching arts and crafts. Alice is convinced that anyone can draw.
"I think anyone can learn to paint or draw. What will anyone lose but a little time?" Alice says with smiling eyes. And with her contagious optimism she adds, "Just try it! You may be better than you think!"
We are pleased to have Alice's work grace the walls of the Warren Senior Center.
By the way, on a musical note, many people who come to the center not only know Alice as "artist," but Alice as, "queen of the harmonica." Her students had fun doodling in the key of C.
Cookbooks, "Recipes to Remember," are still on sale. All the recipes are from seniors and staff. Each cookbook costs $5.
Speaking of recipes, our pastie sale went very well - 627 pasties were baked at the Peace Lutheran Church and various other locations. Staff and volunteers chopped, peeled, cried "onion" tears while chopping onions, but had fun working together to create such a delicious product! Thanks to everyone who bought pasties (pronounced with a short a)!
SHASS, a non-profit organization, is very proud of its mission to connect individuals with outreach programs and educational opportunities that promote independence through volunteers and community support. All proceeds from fundraisers go towards extending our programs, and services, and helping with transportation costs. We have a van for transporting seniors and lately it has needed extensive maintenance.
SHASS also has Carewatch and Community Connections programs that help the elderly such as those who live alone or far away from their families. These programs can always use volunteers. Our present volunteers find great reward from their work with others.
SHASS also coordinates Commodities at the Warren Center the third Thursday of each month.
Through Senior Nutrition, hot lunches are served at the Warren Senior Center to seniors at noon Monday through Friday. For more information, call Barb Greene at 269-637-4493.
Other free services for seniors through SHASS include: a hearing screening,a podiatrist every nine weeks, help with prescription drugs, assistance with insurance, and taxes during tax season, blood pressure and sugar checks, support for people dealing with Alzheimers and support for those who are visually impaired.
Fun events for seniors include Bingo, exercise, a birthday sing-along every month, a Florida and Holiday Party, and an English Tea, held at the end of each month.
For more information about any of the events listed, our programs, services,Carewatch, Community Connections,Commodities, please visit our office located at 220 Broadway. Our office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the phone number is 269-637-3607.
We appreciate your support and we hope you enjoy our events.
You can always visit our website at http://www.i2k.com/~shass for more information.
We also thank Denise Hartmann, blog master, for making this space possible.
Until next time..... enjoy!
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