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 June 19-23

OUR ANNUAL PICNIC this year will be Wednesday, June 21, from 11 am to 3 pm, at Dickinson Park. Joe Tenney & The Country Gentlemen will entertain. Bring a lawn chair, your sunglasses and a big smile, and be ready to enjoy a fun-filled day with friends. Call 270-4310 to sign up.

THE NEWEST TRIP BEING SPONSORED by the senior center is the just-announced WHALE WATCH on Stellwagen Bank, September 12, We will take a high-speed Catamaran to the East Coast’s heaviest concentration of humpback, finback and minke whales. We will enjoy a box lunch onboard, and then tour Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall before returning home. Cost is $62 per person; departure will be at 7:15 am.

THE TAX RELIEF FOR THE ELDERLY ORDINANCE WAS PASSED IN NEWTOWN on May 25. This act raises the income limits and changes the amounts of the benefit seniors are now eligible to receive. If your income is $35,000 or below, the benefit is $1,000. If your income falls between $35,000 and $55,000, the benefit is $600. The deadline for application is June 15, but the relief is only available on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring all sources of income statements to the Tax Collector’s Office at Edmond Town Hall when applying.

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.

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 is AN ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP that meets at SecondHome, 246 Federal Road in Brookfield, on 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.

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.

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.

THE BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets the first Wednesay of the month from 2 to 3 pm. The book for July will be A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr.

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.

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. We are in full swing. The name of the current quilt is “Sunrise to Sunset.” 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.

BOOK EXCHANGE: Put one in, take one out… Come browse our Book Exchange shelves and trade your good condition paperbacks or hardcovers.

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:

SCOTT’S FAMILY RESORT, June 26-30, on Lake Oguaga in New York. Costs are $425 for double, $525 single.

AIR & SEA, OLD RHINEBECK & HUDSON on Tuesday, June 27; departure is 8:30 am; and cost is $56 per person.

On July 5, enjoy a day trip to Westchester Dinner Theatre for The Sound of Music. Cost is $54 per person, and departure is set for 9:30 am. Call now to sign up.

TALL SHIPS TRIP to Boston, on Wednesday, July 12, is $83 per person and departure is 8 am.

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.

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

A NEW ORLEANS GETAWAY begins September 27. Costs are $939 double, $1,289 single, or $919 for triple accommodations.

SHADES OF IRELAND, which departs September 29, is also available. Costs are $1,999 for twin or $2,399 for single accommodations.

HEART OF EUROPE HOLIDAY will be October 16-23, at a cost of $1,999 per person double occupancy.

Menu For Week Of June 19-23

Reservations must be made three days in advance.

Meals are subject to change.

Meals include milk and margarine.

Monday: Lemon chicken, broiled parsley potatoes, peas and carrots, whole wheat bread, cranberry juice, apple crisp w/ peanut butter topping;

Tuesday: Veal patty w/ onion gravy, egg noodles, mixed vegetables, dinner roll, diet fruited Jell-O w/ topping;

Wednesday: Split pea soup, unsalted crackers, spinach quiche, glazed carrot coins, French bread, canned fruit cocktail;

Thursday: Spaghetti w/ meatballs, Italian green beans, garlic bread, birthday cake w/ ice cream;

Friday: Seafood Newburgh, rice, peas, biscuit, fresh fruit.

Activities Schedule, June 19-23

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

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

Wednesday: AM line dancing, Pinochle; PM Bingo, book discussion group, annual picnic (at Dickinson Park, 11 am-3 pm);

Thursday: AM exercise, Pinochle; PM crafts, bowling (at Brookfield Lanes);

Friday: AM mah jongg, sewing, quilting; PM knitting, osteoporosis screenings.

 Remember, you must call three days in advance to book a meal or a ride, 270-4310; the Senior Bus, 748-2511.