Upcoming Events
See what's happening this
month.
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Would you like your event or notice to appear in the next Village Voices Newsletter? Use
this simple form
to submit your material.
Please submit by the 15th of the previous month. Late submissions are not guaranteed placement in the next newsletter.
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Our Forum Follow-Up Coordinators, Village members Arlene Reiff and Mary Graham, are overseeing the activities generated from the recommendations members gave at the October Forum on Strengthening our Community. They will work closely with staff and team members to keep track of the status of Forum follow-up projects.
There are already completed projects, and many more in the works. Please click
here
to read the full update.
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In honor of this Tenth Anniversary, we cordially invite you
to join us for our special “10 for 10” programming series:
ten events that celebrate who we are as an organization, a community, and a Village.
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Coming April 17th 1-4PM!
As noted in our January Village Voices,
Ashby Village is beginning to shape a major new initiative for our 10
th
anniversary, focused on developing and sharing our members' creativity, in all its varied expressions.
Our initial community forum will be on April 17th and we encourage all our members to participate! We’ll be sharing experiences and learnings from Ashby Village artists in several different media, and engaging in an interactive creating exercise.
Read more about this initiative
here
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*LAUNCHING*
New Member Mixers
Many of those joining Ashby Village express an interest in getting involved in this community and meeting others. One of the requests at our recent Forum was that we create additional opportunities for new members to meet one another and build friendship- we heard you!
Accordingly, beginning on
February 7th - from 2:00-3:00 pm - Ashby Village will host its first “New Member Mixer”. New members have been invited to a small intimate gathering to engage in a variety of "get to know one another" activities.
These Mixers will be held three times each year on the first Friday of the month, naturally flowing into the 3pm pre-social hour event and 4pm social hour.
To find out more or to RSVP
Welcome, New Kids on our Block!
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A Visit to Mongolia: Slide Show by Roger and Audre Newman
When: February 7, 3:00-4:00pm
Where: Ashby Village
Join us as Ashby Village follows Roger and Audre Newman on their adventures through Mongolia.
Roger and Audre are long-time members of Ashby Village who have traveled widely and enjoy sharing their experiences with others via slide shows and videos. Roger is a retired instructor of Anthropology and History; Audre is a retired biological illustrator. They have lived in Berkeley since the 1970s.
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Living Room Chat
Invite a friend to join our Living Room Chat.
They'll have the opportunity to hear what Ashby Village offers to our members and volunteers, how it enhances their quality of life, and why it helps them develop peace of mind about the future.
Sunday, February 16, 2:00-4:00 pm
BERKELEY -
RSVP for location
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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Recycling
When: March 1, 3:00-4:00pm
Where: Ashby Village
Berkeley residents and businesses have shown a deep commitment to recycling. The continued increase in recycling of all materials, the community-wide support for our organics recycling program, and the Berkeley Single Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance are bringing us closer to the City’s goal of zero waste by 2020.
This event is very "hands-on".
You are encouraged to bring items that you are not sure how/where to recycle
. Shayla Elliott will explain everything including the latest regulations of the City of Berkeley.
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Volunteer Training & Orientation
Saturday, February, 8, 8:30-1:00 pm
Ashby Village, 1821 Catalina Ave., Berkeley
Are you interested in giving back to your community? Do you want to build new relationships with a friendly and engaging corps of Village staff, members and volunteers?
Then join us by becoming a volunteer!
At Ashby Village, volunteers are the heart of our organization, supporting all aspects of our community, including operations, programs and services.
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Hearts N' Hands Project
Sid says: "Just another day in retirement!"
*******
The
Hearts N' Hands
program provides volunteer assistance to Ashby Village Members when they need a hand with larger projects. Volunteers gather for a half day to complete multiple jobs at once.
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Seeking Board and Arts & Culture (A&C) Committee Members
The Board of Ashby Village accomplishes much of its work through committees and three of those committees—Planning, Finance and Development - are seeking new members. We see many benefits to broadening the pool of folks active in those working committees:
- Harnessing the talents and interests of members and volunteers
- Building a leadership pipeline
- Anticipating Board succession
- Infusing our efforts with new perspectives and new energy
- Providing opportunities for meaningful contribution.
If you want to help shape the future of our Village and are ready to share your gifts, talents and time come join us!
Please review the full descriptions, requirements, and how to get started
here
.
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Our Member Survey is Launching February 17th!
This is the first of two (2) short surveys - they will take under 15 minutes to complete.
This first survey will focus on your social engagement, health and well-being, and confidence in aging in place. These areas are especially important for Ashby Village to be able to fully describe its membership when applying to grants. While these may seem personal, all of this data will be completely
confidential and anonymous
.
In addition to helping secure funding, the data gathered from this survey will be important when supporting both the Village Movement California’s efforts to show that villages can be the antidote to social isolation and the California Master Plan on Aging which Elder Action and Ashby Village board members are involved in. Additionally, this information allows Ashby Village to have a baseline of data about its membership, which can be used to compare its impact for members in future years.
The second survey will be launched in about one month. This survey will focus on many of the topics highlighted at the forum, including communication (both internal and external) and overall satisfaction with Ashby Village as an organization.
Updates and results of these two surveys will be shared through our Village Voices newsletter. We hope you will participate and share your voice!
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Speaking Up About Long Term Care
The average person over the age of 65 will need at least one year of personal assistance. The cost of this care is expected to be in the vicinity of
$138,000.
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Technology workshop February 20 10am-12pm
Ashby Village and the U.C. Berkeley Retirement Center are co-sponsoring a workshop on
Internet Scams & Phishing
at
Ashby Village
on
February 20 10:00am-12:00pm
.
The workshop will help you:
- recognize suspicious emails and browser pop-ups,
- handle these suspicious communications,
- reduce your risk,
- handle the situation if you inadvertently respond.
Bring your devices! Following the whole-group segment, we’ll meet in small groups to discuss ways to reduce risks on specific devices.
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Would you like personal assistance from Technology & Electronics Volunteers?
Volunteers can help you with a
wide range
of devices!
- Want to learn more about your smart phone or tablet?
- Not sure how to get your TV hooked up?
- Interested in finally getting your printer to work?
- Ready to learn how to use Skype or FaceTime to have video calls with friends and family?
- Have you had enough of that weird thing that keeps happening with your computer?
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Neighborhood Groups &
Ongoing Activities
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Friday, February 7, 10:00am-12:00 pm,
Exercise Your Memory. Contact Roberta Pressman
rpress19@gmail.com.
Check out our
online calendar for the
full view of our upcoming meetings, activities and other
events.
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Reflections on Past Events
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Pre-Social Hour Event: The Perennials
On January 3rd
, we had a room full of members and volunteers who attended our pre-social hour event with the Perennials. Our assumptions about aging were put to the test by the improv troupe as they weaved audience participation into songs, scenes, games, stories and rhymes into their performance. We have been lucky to have them three years in a row.
The Perennials keep their skills sharp through improv and acting classes at Oakland’s
Stagebridge Performing Arts Institute
, the longest-running senior theater company in the United States.
Hope to see you this upcoming Friday at the next Pre-Social Hour!
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Edited by Irene Rosenthal and Peter Sussman
Today, in the third edition of this newsletter feature, we share a poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds, who was raised in Berkeley. She is known for the intense focus she brings to detailed poems about what she describes as "ordinary things" and what others have characterized as "unpoetic life events."
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Help Wanted: Forum Follow-Up Volunteers
We are looking for members or volunteers inspired by the Forum to help organize mini-forums and other opportunities for smaller group conversations about community and connection. Share your enthusiasm and expertise!
You do not need to be a vetted volunteer to participate in this project. Please contact
Su-Yin
,
Project Coordinator
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Book Reading by Ashby Village Board Member
What: Rudi Raab, a retired Berkeley police officer and Ashby Village member, and Julie Freestone, Ashby Village's newest Board member and a former newspaper reporter - authors of Stumbling Stone - will share the mystery of Raab's uncle who resisted the Nazis and paid dearly for his rebellion. The San Francisco-Munich Duo - musicians Rebecca Rust (cello) and Friedrich Edelmann (bassoon) will showcase a composition by Hans Gal as well.
When: Saturday, February 22, 2-3:30 PM
Where: North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley
For more information, visit the library's
website
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Ashby Village Oscar Documentary Nominees? You Saw Them Here First!
by Rochelle Lefkowitz
A documentary about
Betty Reid Soskin
(June 2019 Arts and Culture (A&C) speaker and first 10th Anniversary event),
No Time to Waste
,
will be shown on Sunday, February 2, 2020 at the Rafael Theater in San Rafael and on Saturday, February 22,2020 at the Presidio in San Francisco.
The prior summer’s
A&C star speaker,
Saru Jayaraman
(A&C 7/22/18)
, stars in another upcoming, must-see documentary.
Waging Change
, by award winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg, is about the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC), and the national fight Saru is spearheading for
One Fair Wage
.
Get your tickets
for the Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 1PM showing at San Francisco’s Castro Theater.
And as we go to press, a third new documentary highlight’s Ashby Village’s Elder Action Task Force’s focus.
First Angry Man
,
which reveals just what got us
Prop 13
back in 1978. The film is being screened
by Janis Plotkin, Program Director of The Berkeley Film Foundation,
at the
New Parkway Cinema in Oakland on Tuesday February 4, 2020
(where there’s food along with this food for thought. If an AV group attends, and we let it be known, Janis promises to mention Ashby Village in her remarks!
Read all the full details
here
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Lee Shapiro
January 1946 - January 2020
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Lee Shapiro, an Ashby Village member since 2013 passed away 7 days before his 74th birthday. He had courageously battled Parkinson's disease for more than 30 years.
Ashby Village helped provide Lee with wonderful drivers who drove him to his specialized Parkinson's classes. He often spoke about how great it was to have them drive him and how patient and kind they would be when he had difficulty moving.
Lee will be greatly missed by his partner Amy Blasenheim, his sister Jane and family and by his many friends in the Bay Area, Colorado and the East Bay Parkinson's Community. A memorial service will be announced soon.
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Daniel Sabsay's Celebration of Life
The Celebration of Life for Daniel Sabsay, long-standing and active Ashby Village volunteer, will be held at the Albany Senior Center on Sunday March 1st.
Date and Time
: Sunday, March 1, 2-5 pm
Location
: Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany
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Thank you to the Ashby Village volunteers who contributed to this issue of the Village Voices newsletter.
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