‘Thrive’ newsletter goes live

The Fall 2023 issue of OFA’s quarterly THRIVE60+ newsletter is now available at www.dutchessny.gov/aging, and will soon be distributed throughout the county. You’ll find it at public libraries, and postal mail subscribers should see their copies arrive this month.

If you’re on the postal mailing list and your address has changed, please contact bjones@dutchessny.gov or call 845-486-2544. That’s also the contact information you can use if you’d like to have the newsletter emailed or can view it online rather than receive a physical copy.

Snowbirds who’ll be away from home during the winter months can also contact OFA to have deliveries suspended or changed to email.

2023 Summer Picnics a Success

The 2023 OFA Summer Picnic season is now complete, just like we drew it up. It was an adventure at times with a few picnics needing to be rescheduled because of unusually wet weather and even smoke from far-off wildfires in Canada. Still, thousands of Dutchess County older adults joined us for a nutritious lunch, live music with Bob Martinson, and plenty of useful information from area elected officials, nonprofit organizations, and other service providers. Our thanks to The Pines at Poughkeepsie, AccentCare and The Landing of Poughkeepsie for their support of the picnic program.

We’re already receiving inquiries about next year’s picnics, and we expect to have a schedule ready by April or May 2024.

Haven’t been to a picnic yet? There are 12 of them every summer, dedicated to every community in Dutchess County, held between Memorial Day and Labor Day, usually on Wednesdays. Each picnic serves between 200 and 500 older adults. You can get a look by checking out www.dutchessny.gov/OFApicnics.

MATH AND PHYSICS EXPLORATION FOR OLDER ADULTS

Many older adults may recall having “math anxiety” during their younger years; but even so, wouldn’t it be fun to help your grandchildren learn, love and enjoy math?

We may not have had the time to learn and practice math when we were younger, but there’s an opportunity to catch up. Math and Physics Exploration provides a course for older adults that will not only help them overcome anxieties but will also enable them to become exponentially better grandparents. You’ll learn why math works and how to use patterns to make math easier and faster to use. On a practical level, you may be able to help children who fell behind in mastering basic computational skills during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, you’ll learn how to teach math to your own grandkids, and master math along with them. Dutchess County’s Dr. Irvin Miller is looking for volunteers to take the course and perhaps teach other children. Reach him by email at immiller1@juno.com.

Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, Todd N. Tancredi, director. Email him at ofa@dutchessny.gov.