234 FVSLN – CHOICES SENIORS PROGRAM
Autumn leaves are turning colour, the weather is crisp and cool seniors will be spending less time outdoors. We will take part in more craft projects, bake all sorts of goodies, carve pumpkin, and get ready for our Halloween party in decorating our activity room. This time of year, we reflect on all the summer activities and reminisce in talking about all the wonderful moments.
We harvested our garden; with help from Creative Options program; and the time for collecting all the vegetables has come to an end. We will continue with all day outings scheduled every Tuesday. We enjoy going out to nearby coffee shops, restaurants, parks and shops in our area.
We have changed our theme tree to “Fall” and decorated with falling leaves and pumpkins. As the season changes to “Winter” we will be changing our theme tree and it will be decorated with sparkling snow flakes. [ED: We’d like to see pictures of your theme tree next issue!]
December is going to be another very busy and eventful month as our calendar is filled with many special activities. We look forward in preparing for our annual Christmas Open House Tea. We held a Seniors Group meeting, and everyone agreed to have our annual Christmas lunch outing on December 11th at Pizza Hut in Langley. Our seniors are looking forward to having Christmas lunch with Creative Options. Turkey and all the trimmings will be there for all to enjoy on December 20th. All are excited about participating in our Christmas gift exchange on December 14th. On December 24th; we are will be having McDonald’s for lunch at the program! On December 24th; it’s pajama day, if seniors choose to wear their comfortable pj’s we will have a leisurely fun day! Christmas movies, singing along with Christmas Carols and some yummy treats will be enjoyed by all. Choices staff will also help the seniors in making Christmas cards to send home and to drop off to their volunteer work placements.
We continue with our theme board on “All About the World” using pictures to identify each country – its history, culture, and traditional foods. On our monthly calendar we schedule our weekly literacy class around “All About the World” and decide what meal to prepare for our hot lunch for Monday based on the country we are studying. In October we will be learning about Russia; in November, Egypt; and in December, Turkey.
Seniors participate with peers from Creative Options every month for our OHS drills that need to be completed.
We also enjoy having Creative Options volunteer for peer support every Thursday and Friday, helping out the seniors at Choices. We continue with our volunteer placements at Langley Lodge for music class scheduled every Monday afternoon. On Friday afternoon, seniors volunteer at Second Story Thrift Store to help clean; sweep the floor, wipe the glass counters and collect the empty hangers from the clothing rack.
As the year comes to an end in December, our team, Maria, Sherry, and Leslie wish everyone a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. Wish you all a Happy New Year! Our program will be closed from Dec 25th and re-open January 2nd, 2019.
Submitted by: Maria Masi