SENIOR NEWS Hope everyone had a wonderful & Blessed Christmas & that 2012 is filled with much happiness, prosperity, & good health. The WT Seniors Group continues to grow in attendance … average attendance hovers at 34 which is wonderful considering we started out with 6 in April of 2009. WOW! Read on to find out what we’ve been doing since the last newsletter & what’s “in the works”: October’s meeting featured Ms. Joyce York, P.C. Ms. York, a local attorney enlightened us on changes that have occurred with probate, trusts, & wills. Quite a few of those attending had questions and/or comments & her abundance of knowledge on these very important subjects was most informative for everyone … myself included. We enjoyed “boxed lunches” from Home-style Catering located in Woodson Terrace & played bingo & had the “white elephant” dice game. Thanks to Sheila Dietze for volunteering to oversee the “white elephant” & Sheila has several ways of playing so as to make it fun & challenging, especially when it’s time to “rob”. Several rounds of “Happy Birthday” were sung as we celebrated the October birthdays & munched on Homestyle Catering’s delicious chocolate chip cookies. In November the WT Seniors traveled via Mid American Motor Coaches to Pere Marquette Lodge & Conference Center in Grafton, Illinois for lunch. Our “outing” included a stop, both to & from, at Cracker Barrel @ I-270 & Halls Ferry. We departed from WT City Hall at 9:00 AM & following shopping, etc. @ Cracker Barrel, Dorothy (our driver) took us to the Melvin Price Locks & Dam River Project/National Great River Lock & Dam Museum in Alton, Illinois. Most stayed on the motor coach but whether on or off, the views of the surroundings were beautiful. Several towboats were visible & I found it quite interesting that a towboat can push a maximum of 15 loaded barges down the river … that’s the equivalent of 870 semi-trucks rolling down the highway. Generally, the towboats at the Melvin Price Locks & Dam are loaded with grain, coal, oil, chemicals, salt, & other commodities that flow down the river. From there we journeyed on to Pere Marquette where we enjoyed the delicious family style chicken dinner along with dessert. On the trip back, & after another brief stop at Cracker Barrel, we celebrated 4 November birthdays by singing “Happy Birthday” & presenting each with a gift. We concluded our trip with drawings for 8 attendance prizes. Thank you to Fran Carney for doing the attendance prize drawings & along with Joan Murnan, they safely traveled the aisle of the motor coach delivering the prizes. Fran & Joan are a tremendous help to me … these 2 ladies see a need & dive right in to help. We arrived back at City Hall 10 minutes prior to our scheduled 4:00 PM “target” time. We closed out 2011 WT Senior Activities with our Christmas Party on December 8th. WT Mayor Lawrence “Butch” Besmer, WT Administrative Assistant John Conlon, WT Police Captain Terry Taylor, & WT Police Lieutenant Jim Brunner joined us & answered a variety of questions presented to them as well as an abundance of thank yous & appreciativeness from the seniors. We dined on pizza & salad from Erio’s Italian Restaurant located in Woodson Terrace. Dessert included a wide assortment of home baked and/or store bought cookies provided by the seniors. The Seniors were asked back in October to bring about 1 dozen cookies each to the December meeting & 4 large bowls of cookies were assembled by Carol Longmire for the WT City Hall Officials/Staff & the WT Police Department. Carol & I delivered the cookies following the meeting. Everyone at the Christmas Party/Meeting received a minimum of 3 “trivial” gifts each provided by myself & although not adorned in Santa attire, Mayor Besmer assisted in delivering gifts … thanks so much Mayor! Happy Birthday was sung to each of our 4 “December Birthday Seniors” along with a gift for each. Thank you again to our 4 guests for joining us … I received numerous comments both during & following the meeting of the Seniors appreciation each of you took from your busy schedule to not only join us, but to speak to the Seniors, take questions and/or comments, & have lunch with us. You are always welcome to our meetings. The weather didn’t nix the plans for 29 WT Seniors who “braved” the cold & snow to attend January’s meeting. We also had 2 new faces … Kathy & Larry Kuo … I hope you find time in your busy schedules to come again. January introduced something new to our “activities” … “board games”. I had purchased Monopoly, What’s Yours Like, Pass the Popcorn, & Fact or Crap some time ago but just had not found the time to “launch” them … Fran Carney added to the variety by sketching some Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, & Connect the Dots sheets & also brought dominoes & checkers so the Seniors had quite a variety of games to choose from. All were a big “hit” but Fact or Crap seemed to catch the attention of the majority, including myself. Thanks to everyone for giving this a “try” & I definitely am going to attempt to work this into another program in 2012. Prizes were awarded throughout the games. Thank you to Fran Carney & Joan Murnan for all your assistance, not only with the games but for the many other tasks you help me with. The “White Elephant” game was orchestrated by Sheila Dietze & her overseeing this activity is much appreciated. January’s lunch was from Homestyle Catering located in Woodson Terrace … we dined on John’s delicious lasagna, salad, & seasoned cheese bread & followed with John’s gourmet chocolate brownies as we celebrated 2 January birthdays. The February 9th meeting will feature Rich Krueger of CAASTLC (Community Action Agency of St. Louis County). CAASTLC is part of a national network of federally funded Community Action Agencies created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 & administers various programs. Nationwide CAASTLC has helped 11.5 million people toward self-sufficiency & provides services to 22,000 low-income people in St. Louis County annually. A wide range of opportunities & accessibility including education, healthcare, safe, affordable & energy efficient housing are just a few of their sampling of programs. The February 9th program is posted on the City’s web site. We’ll also be playing Bingo & there is no “white elephant” in February. Lunch will be from Home-style Catering & the menu is John’s mostaccioli, salad, seasoned cheese bread, & gourmet chocolate brownies. The WT Seniors Group is still “brain storming” a project that we plan to embark on in the spring. The project was introduced several months ago by Ward 1 Alderman Donna Conlon & she has volunteered to oversee the project & has several WT Seniors who have “jumped on the band wagon” to “make it happen”. Thank you Donna for all you do! To those who haven’t joined us, the WT Seniors meet on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Lunch is provided free of charge to Woodson Terrace Seniors age 60 & over. A flyer detailing the upcoming month’s program/activity is distributed at the meeting & is also available at City Hall. If I don’t forget, the upcoming program is also available on the City’s web site (me & my “senior moments”!). REMINDER! Those planning to attend WT Senior Activities MUST RSVP the Monday prior to the meeting so I have an accurate count for ordering lunch. If you have any questions please Email me at rmartin@woodsonterrace.net or leave a message for me at City Hall (314-427-2600). Rita Martin
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