Mi nombre es Emma Navarrete, mi familia y yo emigramos a este país en 1978. Estoy profundamente arraigada en esta comunidad como yo asistí a la escuela secundaria de Half Moon Bay, conocí a mi esposo y crecí a mis tres hijos. Estoy emocionada y viendo hacia adelante para trabajar en Senior Coastsiders. Culturalmente mi familia siempre a tenido a nuestros ancianos en saludos cordiales porque ellos son los guardianes del conocimiento y sabiduría. Uniéndome a Senior Coastsiders espero ańadir valor al equipo que cuida a todos los ancianos de nuestra comunidad. Estoy agradecida de la oportunidad para servir a todos los ancianos de nuestra comunidad en la mejor manera posible. You can contact Emma at enavarrete@seniorcoastsiders.org or by calling our office.

I moved to Half Moon Bay in 2016. (我在 2016 年搬来半月湾居住). I like traveling, gardening, cooking, singing, and real estate. (我喜欢旅行、园艺、烹飪,唱歌和房地產)

You can contact Kiki at kwolfeld@seniorcoastsiders.org or by calling our office. Kiki will be working 9:00-4:00 on Thursdays only. Appointments are strongly encouraged.

AARP Tax Services Tax Assistance - AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is the nation's largest, free, in-person tax preparation service. Volunteers are trained and IRS certified each year. They offer tax preparation help to anyone, and if you're 50 and older and can't afford a tax preparation service, they are especially for you! This service will be offered Monday and Wednesday afternoons between 1:30-3:30pm starting February 9th and running through April 13th at Senior Coastsiders. Appointments last one hour and can be made by calling Senior Coastsiders at 650-726-9056.

Free KN95 Masks Available Senior Coastsiders has KN95 masks available for older adults. Please stop by our office. Limit 2 per person.

Mystery Book Club This group meets the first Wednesday of each month (February 2nd this month) at 12:00pm. The group will be discussing The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Group meets in person with Zoom option. To connect via Zoom, click HERE (passcode BOOKS) or contact vaughnharrison@yahoo.com. Future books can be picked up at the Senior Coastsiders office at 925 Main Street.

Parkinson's Support Group The Half Moon Bay Parkinson's Disease Support Group (PDSG) has resumed monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month from 2:30 to 3:30pm (February 2nd this month) in the dining room. Group organizers will require proof of vaccination status from all attendees. The Support Group meeting will follow Jetta's 1:30 to 2:30 PM Parkinson's exercise group at the Center.

New Year's Eve Party Photos If you were one of the revelers who joined us for our New Year's Celebration on 12/29, the photographic evidence is in! You can take a look at all the photos HERE. Download your favorites for free or you can buy prints to share with family members! We can't wait until next year!

Coastal Arts League Friday Art Classes - CANCELED for the month of February. Stay tuned for Spring/Summer scheduling to come.

International Days in the Dining Room International cuisine AND trivia? What could be better!? One day each month will feature an international dish accompanied by trivia, games, or activities around the featured country. Join us in our Chinese New Years celebration on Tuesday, February 1st. Passports not required!

Computer Tutoring We have volunteer tech tutors three days a week. Come in and troubleshoot or learn how to better use your computer or smart phone!

Afternoon Movie - David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet In his 93 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of the planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. But during his lifetime, Attenborough has also seen first-hand the monumental scale of humanity's impact on nature. Join us on Tuesday, February 15th at 2:30pm in the dining room for an afternoon film and some popcorn!

Afternoon Flute Concert with Gail Edwards Gail is a teacher and a performer who frequently plays in many San Francisco Bay Area operas, ballet and symphonic orchestras and in a wide variety of chamber music settings playing styles from Bach to Rock. Join us on Tuesday, February 22nd from 3:00-4:00pm in the dining room.

May is Older Americans Month and for 2022, the focus will be on on aging in place – how older adults can plan to stay in their homes and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. The 2022 theme is Age My Way, an opportunity for all of us to explore the many ways older adults can remain in and be involved with their communities. Stay tuned for special activities planned for the month of May - and if you want to share how you are 'Aging Your Way,' let us know!

Century Lives Podcast Do rules created when most people lived only to 50 or 60 still make sense when more and more people live to 100? Longer lives are, at once, among the most remarkable achievements in all of human history and the greatest challenge of the 21st century. How can we ensure that our lives are not just longer, but healthy and rewarding as well? From the Stanford Century on Longevity and host Ken Stern, Century Lives is here to start the conversation.

Listen through Apple podcasts: HERE

Listen on Spotify HERE

Or, listen on Google podcasts HERE

We are optimistic that we will be able to hold a 'regular' annual home repair day this year so save the date for Saturday, June 4th! If you are interested in receiving some friendly help at your home this year with minor repairs, please complete our Home Repair application which can be accessed HERE or call our office and we can mail an application out to you. Please note, we also do repairs year round, including in emergencies. Please contact Hope Atmore at hatmore@seniorcoastsiders.org for further information. For those interested in volunteering, stay tuned! We will have all the details available starting in April.

Senior Coastsiders Cookbook - Cookin' on the Coast Hot off the presses, this collection of recipes comes from volunteers, participants, and even our own chef! Cookbooks available for purchase now for $20.00 each. Order online HERE or come to the Senior Coastsiders office. Books are also being sold at Inkspell Books at 500 Purissima Street in town.

Survey to Address Dental Health Needs in Older Adults Sonrisas Dental Health is conducting a survey to explore the obstacles and challenges to seniors seeking assistance with their dental needs. To access the survey online click HERE. If you prefer a paper copy of the survey, please stop by the Senior Coastsiders office.

My Senior Center In early 2022 we are excited to be launching an automated check-in system. This new, efficient technology will help us better organize things at the Center. Regular visitors and volunteers will be provided with a small key tag to swipe across a scanner that will be located in the lobby. You will then be able to press the touchscreen to select the activities you’ll be participating in that day. If you participate in Senior Coastsiders activities, please complete the registration form HERE or swing by the office to complete a hard copy to ensure we have your most updated information.

Do you shop on Amazon? Did you know that every time you buy something through Amazon, you could be supporting Senior Coastsiders? Visit smile.amazon.com and sign in with your Amazon.com credentials. Search and choose Senior Coastsiders as your charitable organization and start shopping! Add a bookmark for smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile!

Free Home Covid Tests On January 14, the White House announced a new initiative to help ensure Americans have COVID-19 tests on hand in case they are needed. The website to order at-home testing kits -- at no cost -- is now live and accepting orders. People who do not have Internet access or who need additional assistance with ordering can call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to place their orders. 

New Household Hazardous Waste Program The free HHW Home Pick-up Program allows the County to service the HHW disposal needs of adults who are homebound, disabled, and over the age of 65 and cannot drive. The County will pick up the household hazardous waste directly from the homes of San Mateo County residents who qualify and cannot transport their household hazardous waste to a County HHW collection event. Pick ups will occur on available Wednesdays from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Appointments must be made. For additional information and appointments, call 650-399-6919 or 650-372-6200.

CUSD is Hiring The Cabrillo Unified School District (CUSD) in Half Moon Bay has an open part-time (seated) clerical position. 6 hours/day 5 days/week for 194 days/year following CUSD's school calendar.

NEW - We will be launching our new My Senior Center check in kiosk soon! Be sure we have your most up to date information for the software by completing the registration form HERE or pick up a hard copy at our office.

See below for our current class listings and the February menu. For a full list of class descriptions and instructors, click HERE.

Thank you to all the NEW donors who included Senior Coastsiders as part of their 2021 year-end giving. Since November 1^st, 2021, we’ve had 78 new donors who between them donated $11,305 which is an average of $145/gift. We are most grateful for their support and will use these funds to prepare our community for century long lives!! To find out more about volunteering or donating, please visit SeniorCoastsiders.org or call (650) 726-9056.

My mother was proudly Scottish, and many aspects of this beautiful culture were woven into the fabric of our family life. Each year we celebrate the birthday on January 25^th of one of Scotland’s most famous poets – Robert Burns. A Burns Night Supper typically includes music played on the bagpipes; speeches and toasts; a delicious meal that, of course, includes haggis, and a wee dram (or two!) of finest Scotch Whisky (note the spelling of whisky with no “e”!) You yourself almost certainly regularly recite a poem of Robert Burns because he wrote “Auld Lang Syne” that we sing each year at New Years. I recall my mother reading Rabbie Burns poems to me as a child. Even though she lived in Africa far longer than she ever did in Scotland, she never lost her lovely lilting Scots accent. Part of Burns enduring success as a poet was the use of everyday themes and language that reflected his humble origins as a farmer. In one of his more famous poems “To a Louse” he tells the story of a young women, Jenny, who is sitting in Church dressed in her best clothes and vainly aware that others are looking at her. What Jenny doesn’t know is that people are looking at her not because she’s attractive as she thinks, but because a louse is crawling on her bonnet. The poem ends with the line “Oh would some Power the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us”. How might the world be different if we were all more self-aware of how we are perceived by others? Would we be kinder and more understanding, have greater empathy and improved relationships, and make better decisions? A sub theme of this poem is that the louse is just as happy to live in the hair of a fine young lady as it is to live on a poor beggar and is thus a social leveler with no concept of social class or status. Burns had a keen awareness of the injustice of inequalities in society – something that sadly persists to this day.

February 1^st, 2022, marks the start of the Chinese or Lunar New Year that will be celebrated by over 2 billion people around the world. The Chinese Zodiac dates to the Qin Dynasty over 2,000 years ago and is based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. According to ancient legend, the Jade Emperor decided to hold a swimming race for all the animals in the kingdom and reward them all by naming a year on the calendar after each animal in the order in which they arrived at the palace. Although the Tiger thought he would win the race, he only came 3^rd because he was beaten by the cunning Rat and the solid Ox. The Chinese Zodiac also cycles through the five elements (fire, water, wood metal, earth). 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger. I hope it’s a good one for all of us! We will be celebrating Chinese New Year in the dining room on February 1st with a traditional meal and special treats. This is part of our International Days in the Dining Room feature that will highlight the cuisine and fun facts about a different country each month. In March we will be celebrating St Patrick's Day and Irish culture. We'd love to have you join us for these special meals.

Why do chefs love induction cooking? Find out and get a chance to win a portable induction cooktop! On February 3rd, join Chef Mark Duesler for a virtual live demonstration of how to make the perfect dessert, just in time for Valentine's Day. Along the way, learn what makes modern induction cooking so ideal for this dessert. Bring your questions for the Q&A session at the end! Register for this virtual event today: https://pencleanenergy.co/valentine

Please forward to anyone you think might benefit from this information!