By BRENDA BURNS
NEWPORT — Where in the world is Brenda Burns? I am back in New Hampshire and hard at work again.
My husband and I did a Mexican Riviera and Panama Canal cruise. We ported in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, Aruba and traveled through the Panama Canal. How well did you do at guessing my locations over the past two weeks?
While I was away, the Newport Senior Center and SCNS received some generous donations. Newport McDonald’s donated paper products to the center for their Breakfast Buffet held in October. Gallons and gallons of ice cream were donated by Eeva Malool to be enjoyed by our congregate meal guests.
The 12 Days of Christmas Raffle sale began while I was on vacation as well. The donors for this year include, Sugar River Bank, Coronis Market, Clark & Mortenson Insurance, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Hubert’s Dept. Store, Claremont Savings Bank, LaValley Building Supply, Summercrest Senior Living, Anonymous donor, Mascoma Bank and Goodrich Oil.
This raffle benefits SCNS Meals-on-Wheels and Congregate meal programs. There is no one funding source that pays for the cost of providing these services. Fundraisers are one of the ways we try to supplement the cost for providing these valuable services. We are also obligated to prove a cash match before receiving any state and federal dollars.
Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the Newport Senior Center or from our staff in our Claremont kitchen, located inside the Earl Bourdon Centre. Prizes range from $100 to $500. We could not offer these great prizes if it was not for the generous sponsors. Please take time to frequent our sponsors. All winners will be entered back into the drawing for another chance to win some big money.
Speaking of our Claremont kitchen, did everyone take notice of kitchen staff on Halloween? Marie, Rhonda and Christine all got into the Halloween spirit on Thursday and gave our guests a delightful treat. In Newport, we had two scarecrows, Jackie and Caitlyn, greeting guests in Newport as they entered for lunch. It is always great seeing everyone having a great time.
Another great time will be on Nov. 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Newport Senior Center will be hosting its first ever Holiday Craft Fair and Bake Sale. Currently, there are 21 vendors who will be selling their handcrafted items to be enjoyed by others.
This will be a great time to start your Christmas shopping with specially designed items not found in stores. Crafters will be located upstairs and downstairs for this event. The center will be selling refreshments and beverages upstairs as well.
After all of the fun is over, it will be time to get serious. On Monday, Nov. 18, the Alzheimer’s Association will be at the center to talk about effective communication strategies for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
The Effective Communication Strategies program was designed to provide practical information and resources to help dementia caregivers learn to decode verbal and behavioral messages from people with dementia. A sign-up sheet is on the front desk.
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