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.

News For Week of July 10-14

WE HAVE A VERY EXCITING TRIP that has just been announced: A Beijing City Tour, leaving March 26, 2001, and lasting 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.

This trip is expected to fill very quickly. Call immediately to sign up, and plan to bring a deposit to the senior center soon after. Flyers with complete details are available at the center.

A full presentation will take place at the center on Thursday, August 17, at 1 pm. But don’t wait for the presentation to sign up, because space on this trip will disappear quickly.

ALSO NEW: A BAVARIAN FEST on Thursday, September 7. Departure will be 10 am and for $53, enjoy a feast on schnitzel a la holstein or roast cornish with red currant gravy and all the trimmings, along with a four-hour beer, wine and soda bar. Entertainment will be provided by Jolly Joe & The Bavarians.

NEW HORIZONS usually meets the first Tuesday of the month, but please note: The July meeting has been changed to the second Tuesday, on July 11, due to last week’s Independence Day holiday.

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.

PAT BABBAGE’S EXERCISE CLASS resumes this week. The class will be at 9:30, instead of 10 am, during July and August only.

WE WILL HAVE A HAWAIIAN LUAU BINGO on Wednesday, July 19, at 1 pm. Wear your Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts for a swinging Hawaiian Bingo fling. Come for lunch and stay for the fun. To reserve your lunch, call 270-4310 by July 13 to reserve your meal.

A PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP meets every third Monday from 2 to 3 pm at Southbury Town Hall/Senior Center, at 501 Main Street South (between Southbury Public Library and Center Firehouse). This is a relaxed, informal group for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers, who meet to learn from each other’s experiences and the latest news about this neurological disorders from guest speakers. Call Margaret Clark at 426-5534 for more information.

There will be AN ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP MEETING at SecondHome, 246 Federal Road in Brookfield, on Tuesday, July 11. This group meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. These meetings give caregivers an oppoetunity to exchange ideas, problems and feelings openly with other caregivers. It is open to all caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other dementia diseases. Participants can lean on and learn from others who are facing the same challenges. There is no charge for the group. Call 740-2522 for more information.

RENTAL REBATE — 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.

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.

A CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP is forming at Danbury Senior Center, which will be facilitated by Diana Jones, a national certified and licensed professional counselor. The group will be meeting the second Thursday of the month. Call Ms Jones 778-5888 or Kathy Hull, at 203/312-5665, with questions or for a reservation if you plan to attend.

THE BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets the first Wednesday of the month from 2 to 3 pm. The August 2 meeting will concern Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt.

Please join us every Monday for BIBLE STUDY. We meet at 1 pm.

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.

We have started a NEW QUILTING CLASS that meets every Friday at 10 am, and we are in full swing. These quilts are individually made.

The center is assembling a MILLENNIUM BOOKLET. Share your reflections, thoughts or memories about your life or time in our town. Please mail them or drop them off here at the center.

TRIP BOOKLETS, describing our trips for the year, are now available at the center. One trip booklet per family, please, and you must come to the center to pick up your booklet. Visit the senior center for details concerning the following trips:

SCHOONER SAILING aboard the 81-foot Argia out of Mystic, for three hours on Wednesday, August 2. Cost is $58, and departure is 8:30 am.

PLANETS & SPACE. Tuesday, August 22, 9 am departure, $66 per person. Lunch at Planet Hollywood, visit the Rose Center for Earth & Space and be treated to a virtual re-creation of our gallaxy, enjoy a space show and IMAX film, followed by a tour of the Museum of Natural History.

CAPE COD, September 10-12. Costs are $319 double, $379 single.

WHALE WATCH ON STELLWAGEN BANK on Tuesday, September 12. Departure is 7:15 am, and cost is $62 per person. We will take a high-speed Catamaran to the East Coast’s heavist concentration of humpback, finback and mink whales; enjoy a box lunch onboard, and then turn Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall before returning home.

Menu For Week Of July 3-7

Reservations must be made three days in advance.

Meals are subject to change.

Meals include low-fat milk and margarine.

Monday: Meatloaf w/ gravy, mashed potatoes, corn niblets, whole wheat bread, grape juice, lemon pie;

Tuesday: Tuna salad plate w/ lettuce & tomato wedges, pasta salad, carrot-raisin salad, seedless deli roll, canned apricots;

Wednesday: Roast turkey w/ gravy & stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, dinner roll, fresh berries;

Thursday: Veal Parmesean & shells w/ tomato sauce, Italian green beans, garlic bread, butterscotch pudding w/ topping;

Friday: Lentil soup, unsalted crackers, spinach quiche, carrots, whole wheat bread, fruit cup.

Activities Schedule, July 3-7

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

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

Wednesday: AM line dancing, Pinochle; PM Bingo, book discussion group;

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.