March/April 2023

Director’s Comments

Humans are adaptive creatures – we can change so much about ourselves: clothes; hair color; address; career; …we can even change our names. The one thing we can’t change, despite valiant attempts, is our age. Some of us had fake IDs to get us early access to adult locations, some of us tried to hold onto age 29 for more than a decade. When AARP cards arrive in the mail there might be a sense of shock as we feel we will never be “old.” Even the term senior has a connotation of being elderly and increasingly incapable. 

The journey of aging is different for each of us. Physical challenges are not the only effect of the years, but they are sometimes a factor we can take control of. This might involve adapting our exercise, diet or mental activity to maximize the potential of our aging selves. 

“Sages of Aging,” a production recently aired on PBS, explores many of the modern perceptions, challenges and potentials from the viewpoint of a varied group of experts. Some of the YSSC team watched it and found it to be an interesting and insightful presentation that inspired us to consider our own experiences of aging (we are ALL doing it) and how seniors continue to be vital aspects of society. 

YSSC has been provided access to view the “Sages of Aging” program together at the Center to inspire and guide a discussion group about the current realities and challenges of aging. The discussion is also hoped to develop concepts about how our community can best address concerns and possibilities for our future. 

If you would like to view and discuss and share your thoughts in this conversation, please call to reserve a spot in one of the discussion groups planned during the Spring. Each group will meet for three sessions and include as many as 10 participants.

The first group will meet on Mondays from 11 am to noon in the Fireplace Room on March 13, 20, and 27.

Decluttering Workshop

Pegeen and Moira Laughlin will lead a decluttering workshop on Thursday, March 23 from 6:30–7:30 pm in the Great Room and on Zoom. For more info or to register, email info@ysseniors.org, call 937-767-5751, or on MyActiveCenter.com.

New Miller Fellow

The Senior Center welcomes Miller Fellow Grant Crawford to the team. Grant was a participant in the Yellow Springs Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute in 2019, going on to assist multiple local nonprofits as a Miller Fellow. He has lived in Yellow Springs his whole life, earned a BA in English from Ohio University in 2022, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. 

 – Caroline Mullin, Executive Director

937-767-5751 x 101, cmullin@ysseniors.org

Save the Date!

Wednesday, May 31  

Senior Fitness Day and Flash Mob...

watch for details!

Use the buttons below to visit our website for the most up-to-date information about our classes and groups.

Community Colloquy Series, 3rd Thursday, 7 pm

YSSC will host monthly guests to share their expertise and knowledge with the community. The guest for March 16 is Luisa Lang Owen. Her talk on ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia is titled “Decisions and Thoughts on the Promise of ‘Never again.’” On April 20 Angela Brintlinger, Professor of Russian Literature at OSU, will talk about “Why We (Still) Need Russian Literature.” Programs will meet in the Great Room and also be on Zoom. All are welcome. To get the Zoom link, register on MyActiveCenter.com or call 937-767-5751.

Monthly Financial Series, 2nd Mondays, 5:30 pm

There are a few changes to the monthly Financial Series offered by the Senior Center. It will still be the second Monday of each month from April through November, but it will start an hour earlier at 5:30 pm, and there is an additional presenter. Ryan Carpe, financial advisor with Edward Jones in Yellow Springs, will join Ryan Beach, financial advisor with Edward Jones in Xenia. They will alternate months with Ryan Beach taking the first one on Monday, April 10 at 5:30 pm.

The Shakespeare Reading Group, Sundays, 2 pm

The Shakespeare Reading Group will read “Twelfth Night” on March 12, 19, and 26, and “As You Like It” on April 16, 23, and 30, at 2 pm in the Fireplace Room. Attendees sit in a circle, and each person reads the next character’s lines. Occasionally the group stops to discuss or debate. For more info, contact Deborah McGee or Keith Doubt.

History Discussion, 2nd & 4th Mondays, 10:30 am 

A new group has been formed to discuss history. Rather than having a teacher, there will be a rotating facilitator giving a brief talk on a history topic. This is a casual class and no one is required to be a leader. Topics will be emailed ahead of the meeting. The group will meet on the second and fourth Mondays at 10:30 am in the Great Room, starting April 10. Those interested can contact Henry Myers at henrywmyers1@live.com, or call the Senior Center at 937-767-5751.

Tap Fit Exercise Demo, Tuesday, March 28, 2 pm

Tap Fit combines tap dance and exercise for a lot of fun. In the Great Room on Tuesday, March 28 at 2 pm. Call for information, 937-767-5751.

Cardio Dance, Mondays, 4:30–5:15 pm

This new hybrid in-person and Zoom class led by Lynn Hardman, is a fun, low to moderate intensity, low impact aerobic dance class with some beginner level popular line dances, Zumba, and world beat dances to strengthen hearts, bodies, minds, and spirits. Please bring clean, smooth soled shoes or comfortable footwear to change into. Some time will also be spent preparing for the Annual Flash Mob on Wednesday, May 31.

Free for YSSC and SilverSneakers members; $3 suggested donation all others. 

Drawing Class, Fridays at 2 pm

Join Bob Huston in the Great Room for a new “self-determined” still life drawing class. The class will begin Friday, March 10 at 2 pm continue through April 28, except for April 21. Supplies purchase at Unfinished Creations is suggested after the first class. Register or find out more by calling 937-767-5751. 

Spring Fling Social, Friday, April 21, 2:30 pm

To celebrate the return of Spring, come for treats on the NEW patio or in the Great Room if the weather is inclement. There might even be a baby goat in attendance. Everyone is welcome. 

Day Trips, Wednesdays, March 22 and April 19 

The March day trip is to Trader Joe’s on Wednesday, March 22, departing from the Bryan Center parking lot at 1 pm. 

The April day trip is to the Golden Lamb (or other Lebanon restaurant) in Lebanon, Ohio, and a visit to a local history museum on Wednesday, April 19, departing from the Bryan Center parking lot at 11 am. Participants are responsible for meal cost and also museum entry cost.

If you are interested in one or both trips, please sign up by emailing info@ysseniors.org or calling 937-767-5751. You will receive a call with further details. Carpooling will be required, no charge.

Fall Prevention, Thursday, April 13, 10 am

There will be a Fall Prevention presentation on Thursday, April 13 from 10 am–noon in the Great Room discussing fall prevention topics and how to recognize falling hazards. Call 937-767-5751 or email info@ysseniors.org to register or for more information. 

Building Community

When I heard the learn’d astronomer, 

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, 

...How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, 

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, 

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, 

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

–Walt Whitman, When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer 

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  

– Abraham Maslow

If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning.  

– Peter, Paul & Mary

My friend and bridge partner, Jim, pawned off a book to me recently, titled Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires. The author, Douglas Rushkoff, investigates homo faber* in the light of a new dawn of cutting-edge technologies already shaping our daily lives. His interest is to relate encounters with groups of uber-wealthy, venture capitalists seeking the best and most lucrative tech investments. Their pursuit is not a quest for the obvious, i.e., more wealth, but rather to identify winning tech tools and schemes that might help them – literally – to leave the rest of humanity behind!

Rushkoff detailed strategies that have already caught the imaginations – and, dollars – of many among the uber-wealthy, including: a) buying spaceship passage for the colonization of Mars; b) purchasing pre-built, underground estates with years of “bunker food supplies” and, for a few dollars more, your own hydroponic garden, and; c) gaining access to the Matrix by uploading one’s consciousness to A.I. and living carefree forever in a virtual-reality universe.

The human being, benefitting from several millennia of adaptations, is a fine-tuned instrument for face-to-face communications – able to read the other’s eye movement, facial tics, breathing patterns, posture and other tells expressed in body language. Next time the urge falls upon us to slip on our Oculus headset to take a bike ride through a virtual Grand Canyon, maybe we could instead take a friend or neighbor on a walk or share a pot of coffee or tea with them. Let’s work on building community together.

*The concept that human beings control their fate and their environment through the use of tools.

– Robert Libecap, Transportation Manager

937-767-5751 x104, rlibecap@ysseniors.org

Tax Help and Linking Up

Spring is just around the corner which means it is tax season. There are instructions and forms for Federal Tax 1040 and Ohio State taxes at the Yellow Springs Library. You can also go online to www.irs.gov for Federal forms and info and to tax.ohio.gov/individual/filing-season-central for state forms and info. The AARP website has info and preparation help at taxaide.aarpfoundation.org.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) staff will be offering in-person tax appointments at the Xenia Community Center (1265 W 2nd St., Xenia, OH) through April 17, 2023. For information on scheduling an appointment call 937-352-4000 (option 3) or visit the Info Desk at the Xenia Branch of the Greene County Library. Information about appointments and the required documentation that is needed for your appointment can be found at greenelibrary.info/taxes.

There have been requests to resume the senior call chain program called “Senior Link.” This program allows seniors to connect with another person on a regular basis. Personal connections are very important for our emotional, mental, and physical health and well-being, especially if someone lives alone. Look for more info on the website and Facebook page, which should be coming soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

– Stephanie Lawson, RN, Support Services Manager

937-767-5751 x108, slawson@ysseniors.org

Whatever Works

With the excitement of the holiday season and the pressure of New Year resolutions now safely in the rear view mirror, let’s ease into whatever works. A routine for some, like new fitness classes, a book club or a daily walk can be just the ticket to what comes next. For others finding new wonders or reliving old ones as they present themselves is the road to take. Whatever works, however, is tailored for you. There are obstacles and must do tasks in either route, like wellness check ups, car and house maintenance, important paperwork, and friend and family updates that will require your attention. Every day is a new gift with a opportunity to do whatever works. At the end of the day, one filled with epic adventure or peace and quiet, a night of rest will be followed by a day of whatever works.

–Teresa Bondurant, Homemaker & Outreach Manager

937-767-5751 x107, tbondurant@ysseniors.org

Calendar

Use the buttons below to visit the calendar our website or MyActiveCenter for the most up-to-date information about our classes and events.

To participate in virtual classes and events using Zoom, you must register through their account on MyActiveCenter. Zoom links are emailed to participants one hour prior.

Information about how to set up an account with MyActiveCenter is at the bottom of this email.

Dayton Dragon’s Baseball Game 

Join the Senior Center for a Dayton Dragons baseball game on Thursday, May 18 at 7 pm. Tickets are first-come-first served, $7 per person. Transportation is NOT provided. YSSC will be seated together and there will be seating options for individuals who cannot manage steps. To reserve your seat(s) call 937-767-5751 or email info@ysseniors.org. 

eNewsletter

PDF files of the Newsletter are available online on our website. An eNewsletter is sent to those who get the weekly email blasts. If you want these emails, sign up with the link on the website’s home page. 

If you would like the electronic version of the newsletter instead of the print, contact the center at 937-767-5751 or info@ysseniors.org.

Hearts Card Game

Calling all who would like to play Hearts. To sign up, call the Senior Center at 937-767-5751 or send an email info@ysseniors.org. Learners are welcome, and the leader, Jim Myers, will follow up to schedule.

Ripples 2023

Ripples, an annual literary magazine featuring writing by or about older adults in Yellow Springs or Miami Township, is accepting submissions created by or featuring residents age 55 and over. Submission guidelines are available at ysseniors.org/Ripples and at the Center. The deadline is March 15, 2023.

Send your typed, ready to print submissions along with a submission form to: YSSC–Ripples, 227 Xenia Ave., Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Or email to pgeisel@ysseniors.org.

Grocery Delivery

The Senior Center continues to shop for groceries weekly from Tom’s Market for anyone who is homebound due to transportation, mobility, or health issues. Deliveries are on Fridays and orders are due by 11 am on Thursdays. Orders are accepted one of three ways:

• e-mail to info@ysseniors.org
• by using the form at: ysseniors.org/grocery-delivery-program
• calling 937-767-5751 Mon.–Fri. 9:30 am–4 pm 

Credit Card/Debit Card/EBT cards are accepted. This is a free service. Donations are gratefully accepted.

Watercolors & Ink by Dr. Meinhard Robinow, March 2–May 1 in the Fireplace Room

Dr. Meinhard Robinow left his native Germany as a recent medical school graduate in 1934. There was no future in medicine for those of Jewish descent. After completing pediatric studies in Illinois and Georgia, he came to Yellow Springs in the late ’30s to join the Fels Institute.

During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, meeting Army nurse Beatrice Wilt who would become his wife and mother of their three children. After the war he briefly returned to Fels before entering private pediatric practice in Dayton. In 1949 he joined the Yellow Springs Clinic as the first pediatrician in Greene County where he remained until 1975.

After four years on the pediatrics faculty at the University of Virginia he moved back to Ohio where he worked at Wright State University and Children’s Medical Center. In 1986 he resumed part-time private practice until finally retiring at the end of 1996, six months before his death.

Dr. Robinow was the author of 125 medical articles dealing with clinical pediatrics, physical anthropology, nutrition, genetics, and congenital malformations. He was the initial describer of fetal face syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that was later cited as Robinow syndrome. The majority of his publications came after the age of 65.

The work on display, primarily watercolors with ink, include Greene County scenes from the early ’40s, sites from World War II, and a 1947 portrait of his son in a highchair.

The memorial show can be viewed during the Center’s open hours, Monday–Friday, 9:30 am–4 pm, unless there is a class in the Fireplace Room.

There will be a reception on Friday, March 3 from 4–6 pm.

Greene County Council on Aging

Senior Artisan Show

Age is not a factor for artists, which is evident in the Greene County Senior Artisan Show. This event showcases the amazing work of people from 60 to 90-something who work in a variety of media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen & ink, woodcarving, hand-thrown pottery and ceramics, and photography. Active participation in creative activities has been shown to improve both physical and mental health as people age.

The Greene County Senior Artisan Show can be viewed on Sunday, March 12 from 1–3:30 pm, Sunday, March 19 from 1–3:30 pm, and Wednesday, March 22 from 11 am–2 pm at the Fairborn Art Association, 221 N. Central Ave. in Fairborn (at the rear of the building). 

A virtual viewing of the show will be available March 13–24 at www.gccoa.org/art.

For information about the show, contact the Council by calling 937-376-5486 or by emailing YourFriends@gccoa.org. 

Drive-by Shredding Event 

The Greene County Council on Aging will hold their drive-by Spring Shredding Event on Saturday, April 1 from 9 am–12 noon in the parking lot of the Xenia Community Center next to the Council’s office, 1265 W. Second St. in Xenia.

It’s My Money, My Stuff, and My Life! 

This popular 4 week program starts on Tuesday, March 7 from 6–8:30 pm and is hosted by the Greene County Council on Aging. The sessions, presented by local professionals, will be held in the Xenia Community Center. The cost is $40 per household and includes materials and box suppers. 

Space is limited and reservations are required. For information or a registration form, please contact the Council by calling 937-376-5486 or by emailing YourFriends@gccoa.org. 

Other GCCOA Events

• Caregiver Support Group: Mondays, March 6 and 20; April 3 and 17 (first and third Mondays) from 6–7:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Yellow Springs.
• Grief & Loss Group: Mondays, March 13 and April 10 (the second Monday) from 10 am–noon at Peace Lutheran Church in Beavercreek.
• Memory Loss, Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease: Wednesday, March 8 from 2:30– 4:30 pm at the Xenia Community Center (XCC) next door to the GCCOA Office.
• Medicare 101: Wednesday, April 12, 3–4:30 pm at the Xenia Community Center (XCC) next door to the GCCOA Office.
• Legal Chat: Thursday, March 16 and April 20 (third Thursdays) at 2:30 pm at Peace Lutheran Church, 3530 Dayton-Xenia Road, Beavercreek. Enter at lower level door with awning. 

Contact GCCOA with questions or to register for these events at 937-376-5486.

Some of the Seniors who attended the Yellow Springs High School 42nd annual Senior Citizens’ Holiday Lunch, which was held in person in 2022. 

Photo by Kathy Beverly

March

3/00 - Julie Howell Richardson

3/01* Betty Felder

3/04* Linda Mates

3/04 - Debbie Casenhiser

3/04 - Jeanna GunderKline

3/07* Harold Williams

3/09 - Brenda McDonald

3/10* Rosie Caraway

3/10* Susan Abendroth

3/10* Jane Brown

3/12* Becky Campbell

3/14* Barbara Mann

3/14 - Desiree Nickell

3/15 - Rick Freeman

3/17 - Mike Chambers

3/17 - Kim Kulasa

3/18 - Alisa Isaac

3/19* Marilynn Beatty Birch

3/19 - Luan Heit

3/19 - Jennifer Johnson

3/20 - Barbara Krabec

3/21 - Jane P. Blakelock

3/21 - Danita Scott

3/22* Beth Hertz

3/23 - William K. Doyle, Jr.

3/23 - Artie Isaac

3/24 - Linda Leach

3/25 - Teresa Bondurant

3/27* Ellen N. Duell

3/28* Juliet Liddle Hennessy

3/28 - Arati Cacciolfi

3/28 - David Turner

3/30* Dorothy Rike

April

4/01 - Rick Klopp

4/01* Marie McBrien

4/02 - Ruth Jordan

4/02 - Diane Davis

4/03 - Francis Jennings

4/04 - Neal Crandall

4/04* Dora Voudris

4/06* Jerry Holt

4/07 - Macy Reynolds

4/08* Barbara Brookshire

4/08* Lucia deRidder

4/11 - Margaret Rea Alexander

4/11* Rod Hoover

4/11 - Don Hollister

4/12* Mary Sims

4/14* June Varner

4/14 - Melissa Kuhns

4/15 - Nancy Lineburgh

4/17* Jane Baker

4/17 - Paul Mullin

4/18 - Jacquelene Hunt

4/20 - Lynda Hicks

4/20 - Linda Sikes

4/21* Doris Clemens

4/21 - Jerry Sutton

4/21 - Saba Kassaye Bathija

4/22* Shelley Ehrlich

4/23 - Barbara Candella

4/23 - Keith Doubt

4/24 - Anna Hogarty

4/24 - Paulette Olson

4/24 - Gary Pierson

4/25 - Judy Woods

4/27* Marian Miller

4/27 - Jackie Waggoner

4/29 - Max Lake

4/29 - Joel Crandall

Welcome NEW Members!

Annette Biehler

Ellen Bierhorst

Helen Blankenship

Jan Bookwalter

George & Diana Castellano

Kim Kulasa

Liz Landry

Mary Eliza Woodburn Longstreth

Marie McBrien

Elizabeth McDonough

James Myers

Jay & Randi Rothman

Robin Suits & Jimmy Cheshire

Terri Victoria

My Senior Center & My Active Center

NEW Registration, Zoom and Attendance with MySeniorCenter

• All in-person participants, volunteers and guests sign in on the electronic kiosk.
• Each person will receive a keycard to scan for easy check-in.
• Front desk volunteers will help if you don’t have your card.
• Select the event or other reason you are visiting, then click “Finish.”

Registration is available online at www.MyActiveCenter.com

• This system will be necessary for anyone who joins a program online (Zoom).
• You need to have a YSSC keycard to register on the MyActiveCenter site. Contact YSSC to get your number.
• Search for Yellow Springs and select “Yellow Springs Senior Center”
• Enter your keytag number; your phone number (it might be your home or cell phone #); your email address.
• Create a password, then re-type it. Be sure you have a way to remember it.
• Click continue, then find classes you wish to register for.
• If you sign up for a Zoom class the link will be emailed to you link in advance and become live only 15 minutes before the class.

​The Yellow Springs Senior Center newsletter is published every other month, coming out at the end of the even numbered months. Copy deadline is the 1st of even numbered months. PDF versions of this and past issues can be found on the website.

All YSSC members also receive a hard copy mailed to their home. Memberships are $25 annually with $15 for each additional member and are due in January. Make checks payable to YSSC and mail to: YSSC, 227 Xenia Ave., Yellow Springs, OH, 45387 or use the button below to go to the website to pay with a credit card.

Email updates are sent weekly and the eNewsletter is sent every other month.