Volunteer of the Month
Archives

November 2019
Linda Sowell

Photo of Linda Sowell

This month we’d like to shine the light on a new, yet not new volunteer. If you read last month’s newsletter, specifically the Activity Spotlite, you would have read a bit about Linda Sowell. Well this month we’d like to shine an even larger spotlight on her as our Volunteer of the Month. Linda is the new Gadabouts Trip Coordinator. She had been working in the Thrift Store and was asked to be a relief in the Trip office. When a vacancy occurred she was asked to take over, which she was more than happy to do. Since then she has been busy scheduling new trips, chaperoning trips on occasion, and generally managing our hustling and bustling trip office. Linda also serves on our Board of Directors. If needed she also helps out at our special events. Originally from Chicago, IL, she moved out to California with her husband who was in the Navy. Once out here she was not content to stay at home raising her two kids (who themselves provided her with five grandkids), but worked in numerous types of jobs. Her main career was in Food Service. She started out at McDonalds as a cashier, and worked her way up to manager. Then she transferred to the school system where she became the Director of Children’s Nutrition for the Bear Valley School District before retiring. Thanks Linda for helping to take our members on trips of a lifetime.

Featured Class

Brain Fitness
Date: October 2, 2019
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Length: 8 Weeks
Cost: $8 members
      $8 non-members
Instructor: Janette Miksik
Location: Sun Room
Description: Quite sure we could all use a little better Brain Fitness. Your brain may not be a muscle but you need to keep it active to keep it healthy. Some of our members take advantage of our university classes, but learning is only a part of exercising your brain. To help you out we offer this Brain Fitness class. The class promotes brain health through fitness, nutrition, cognitive exercises and activities to boost memory skills and stimulate the brain. Adults are living longer and longer, and we need to promote mental as well as physical health. The group does crosswords, puzzles, trivia, and encourages active discussion. Everything is designed to get those synapses firing. If you want to sharpen your skills and learn new things this group is for you . The group meets on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. in the game room and is always full, so make a mental note to show up at registration to ensure your spot. If you forget to register, you really need to get fit!

Featured Activity

Knitting
Time: Fridays 10am - 12pm
Cost: Free members
      Free non-members
Location: Parlor
Description: Knitting has been has been around (depending on who you ask) for between 2000 to 600 years. The oldest real knitting (formed on two sticks by pulling loops through loops) object that have been discovered are the \'Coptic socks\' from Egypt, dating to around the year 1000 AD. The term 'to knit,' according to the Oxford Unabridged English Dictionary, wasn't added to the English language until the 1400s. Our knitting group is headed by Keiko Holcombe. When Keiko joined the center ten years ago, she almost immediately began teaching others to knit. She has been knitting since she was six years old, and has been teaching here in the states for over 39 years. That's not counting the years she taught in Japan. The students all work on individual projects, ranging from items as small as booties to items as large as afghans. Keiko helps each student on their projects and teaches skills to class when they are having a problem. The class is small, with about 12-15 students, so 1 on 1 time is guaranteed. If this art form sounds like something you might be interested in, the group meets on Fridays from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Center presents at the Highland Chamber Luncheon
By: Mike Sylva
In January the Highland Area Chamber of Commerce held it’s monthly luncheon. What made it special was that, on the heels of the center being honored was the Chamber’s 2010 Business of the Year, the center gave a presentation. Penny Lilburn wanted to show the members exactly why we were worthy of such an award.

One of our aerobics instructors, Julia Regan, started things off with a short, heart pumping, aerobics warm up. Once everyone was done burning off the calories from their lunch, Penny showed a short power point presentation, in which she talked about the center and all the activities and resources we provide. Next came a short video, which highlighted a year in the life of the Highland Senior Center, showcasing all of our events and activities. In the end, the audience all agreed that the Chamber made the right choice!