Rhinebeck’s Committee on Aging made substantive changes to their annual brochure and set a date for their annual Spring Get-Together at their monthly meeting March 4 at the Rhinebeck Town Hall.
In attendance were chairperson Marsha DeBlasi and members June Blum, Carole Lieb, Nina Lynch and Yolanda Kaake.
The main topic of discussion was the annual brochure, which will be issued in May and which offers seniors local points of interest and special events, as well as medical information and organizations that support senior health concerns.
Brochure costs will be determined when the brochure is completed, with the help of a sponsor. They are given out free at all places where seniors congregate,
Kaake presented an email that Mike Mazzarella, the former CEO-president of Northern Dutchess Hospital, received from Bonita Patteson, director of marketing for Haskell Senior Living Solutions. She outlined a guideline for printable articles for the elderly. After much discussion, the committee agreed on following several of Patteson’s suggestions, including using bolder and larger print, eliminating italics, using bullet points as a format for listing of dates, times and locations for upcoming events, and designing a more concise one-page Table Of Contents with only headings.
The committee also agreed to raise the size of the print from 11 points to 12 points, and include a Personal Emergency Response List, which gives seniors numbers to call to get expanded information and directions for services.
Lieb, who is responsible for the coordination and preparation of the annual brochure, will make the recommended changes and present the revisions to the committee one more time before a final vote is conducted.
The committee then moved on to the third annual Spring-Get Together, which will be held this year on Thursday, April 25 at 3pm at Arbor Ridge.
The annual event is an effort to bring the senior citizens of Rhinebeck and the surrounding communities together to discuss the challenges of the aging population.
Several speakers, as well as several representatives from the VFW, Lifetime Learning, AARP and Caregivers, have been invited to attend. One of the biggest concerns the committee voiced, however, was the lack of representatives from local churches. Despite being invited, not one has ever attended the function in the past three years. Twenty five percent of all the Rhinebeck church congregations are made up of senior citizens.
Invitations to speak at this year’s event have been sent to Silvia Murphy, the public relations manager for Health Quest, and Bob Novack, contractor for Echo Cottages, which builds innovative solutions for seniors to age-in-place and remain living with their immediate families.
The committee meets the first Monday of the month and is open to the public. For more information, call 845-876-3409.
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