February, 2021 - City of Redwood City
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
February, 2021
What’s Inside:
Greeting from Veterans Memorial Senior Center/ Community Zoom Day #3 2-3
A Bit of History/ AARP Tax Preparation 4-5
Senior Services Peninsula Family Service/ Night Sky 6-7
Adaptive Physical Education Latest Happenings/ Ride Now 8-9
Master Gardner's Spring Edibles 7
Shelter-in-Place Woes Back Cover
Greetings from the Veterans Memorial Senior Center,
As of today 1/30/2021 the crew at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center has now served
over 70,000 free lunches to over 840 local seniors in 219 working days. WOW!
Also, we will be producing our 4th Zoom day on February 17th and as you can see on the
next page, we have a very dynamic day set up so please join us! It’s FREE!
We’d like to thank Helen Amaya from the gift shop for providing the Danish style butter
cookies that we handed out at the lunch drive-through line before the Holidays! Also, a
huge thank you to Susan Martin from Adaptive Physical Education. Susan made over 250
beautiful scarves that went to the recipients of our home-delivered lunches along with the
folks at the Peninsula Family Services at the Fair Oaks Community Center. These are two
great people who have been supporters of the VMSC for many years. Thank you both!
Did you like the free movies at the Redwood City port? They will be back every Friday at
12:00 noon for the month of February! Here is a sneak peak of what is playing:
February 5th - 50 First Dates
February 12th - The Princess Bride
February 19th - Back to the Future
February 26th - ET
Make sure to sign up with Austin! Call him at 650–780-7399.
Please don’t forget that we have free blood pressure screening provided by an RN from
Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital on the 1st Tues of every month, from 11:00am -1:00pm.
February 2nd will be the next date and the blood pressure screening will be in the parking
lot behind the VMSC Theater.
Keep smiling under those masks and we hope to see you soon!
Best regards,
THE VMSC STAFF
2
Community ZOOM Day February 17, 2021
2/17 - Community Zoom Day
9:00am – 9:15am Welcome to Redwood City Zoom Day –
Kickoff with Bruce and Tina
9:15am – 9:45am “Morning Exercise @Home”
10:00am – 10:45am “Medicine and Fall Prevention”
11:00am – 11:45am “Guided Imagery for Stress Reduction”
*LUNCH*
1:00pm – 1:45pm –“HomeFit by AARP”
2:00pm – 2:45pm – “Cooking Demonstration from Food Shift”
3:00pm- 3:45pm - “Tax Preparation by AARP”
4:00pm – 4:45pm – “Musical Performance from Middle School and High
School Students”
All events will be posted and registered on www.travonde.com.
If you have any questions on how to log on to zoom please call 650-780-7306
(preferably before 2/17). In addition, if you would like to teach a zoom class
or know someone who is interested please call 650-780-7306.
*Please note the Community Zoom Day for next Month will be March 24th.
3
A Bit of History — SIGNING OF THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
By Mary Carnevale
The first meeting of the Second Continental Congress met May 10, 1775, mainly to
discuss the independence of the colonies from Britain. The colonists were unhappy
with the decisions of King George III and the laws he was setting down. They were
upset also with Parliament making regulations and enforcing new tax laws.
On June 11, 1775, Congress appointed a committee of 5 men to draft a Declaration
of Independence— John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert
Livingston and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson wrote the document simply
because he had the best handwriting and was the best liked. He worked on the draft
for 2 1/2 weeks, then tore it up. He was not satisfied with the contents. He felt the
words were not strong enough. One small piece of this early draft still exists.
Jefferson showed the new draft to Adams and Franklin. They made a few changes
and agreed it was ready to present to Congress on June 28, 1776, after much
debate, as some states were afraid to break away from the protection of Britain. The
first unofficial vote was only 9 votes for, 2 against. The others were undecided. The
vote that made history came on July 2, 1776. Twelve of the colonies voted yes, ex-
cept New York, who was having trouble with instructions. Finally the vote came in
and all voted for Independence.
Over the next 2 days about 80 changes were made. Finally, in the late afternoon of
July 4, 1776, all signed the document. John Hancock, as President of Congress,
signed first, big and bold. (He said he wanted King George III to see it without his
glasses.) His signature made the Declaration legal and binding. Historians believe
the other delegates signed later after a clean copy was made.
It took courage for these men to sign this declaration. They knew they were putting
their lives on the line. If the Americans lost the war, they would be hanged. John
Hancock told Benjamin Franklin they would all hang together. Franklin replied with
the now famous quote, “Surely we must all hang together or all hang separately.”
The Declaration of Independence is kept in a bulletproof glass container with a
bronze frame. Helium gas fills the case to keep the document from being damaged.
At night the case is lowered into a large safe of reinforced concrete and steel to keep
it protected. I was fortunate enough to see the Declaration of Independence on one
of our trips to Washington, D.C.
4
Update on AARP Tax Preparation for 2021
Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we are not able to make appointments for
in-person tax counseling at this time.
We are working hard to come up with different interface models to enable us to do tax
returns this season.
We do not anticipate that we will be able to offer on-site tax services like we have done
in the past. Please note, the IRS will not be accepting any tax returns until February
12th.
We are planning to roll out our tax preparation service as follows:
Starting February 8th, we will begin helping individuals who are eligible for the $600
stimulus payment issued in January 2021 but have not received it. These may be indi-
viduals who did not file a 2019 tax return. You can check the status of your stimulus
payment at http://www.irs.gov > Get My Economic Impact Payment > Get My Pay-
ment. If you have not received your stimulus payment and are entitled to one, call our
appointment line at 650-817-8672 and leave a message with your name, phone num-
ber, the best time to call you, if you filed taxes with us previously, and that you have not
received your $600 stimulus payment. We will call you back.
From Feb 12 until the beginning of March, we will be offering contact-free assistance for
taxpayers who can be helped completely by email, phone, and/or video calls. You or a
family member must have the ability to receive documents and instructions via email
and to copy (scan) your tax documents to send to our tax team by email. We are hop-
ing that your children or friends may be able help you do this if you cannot. If you can
provide your documents electronically and receive an electronic copy of your tax return,
call our appointment line at 650-817-8672 and leave a message with your name, phone
number, the best time to call you, if you filed taxes with us previously, and that you wish
to submit your tax documents electronically using our contact-free model. We will call
you back after February 8th.
Beginning in March, we hope to provide a low-contact tax preparation service for those
who cannot upload their own documents. We will schedule an appointment for you to
bring your documents to the VMSC and we will scan them to a secure AARP server and
return the originals to you. Tax preparers at home will prepare your return. You will be
contacted by the preparer and reviewer to discuss your return and to secure any addi-
tional information needed. You will return to the VMSC at a later date to get a copy of
your return or you can have one e-mailed to you. Please do not call at this time if you
wish to participate in this tax preparation method. We are not yet ready to schedule ap-
pointments. We will indicate in our voice mail message when we are able to start
scheduling appointments.
Want to know more about our tax preparation this season? Join us at 5 PM on the
VMSC Zoom Day, February 17th.
5
6
Night sky
I stepped outside the back door of my mother's unit to assuage the rush of heat that comes with
menopause. It was a cool night, but the strong breeze that blew in the recent rains had calmed, leaving the
sky a half-made bed. The grey clouds encompassed two thirds of the sky, but the remaining third was
crystal clear and awash with starlight. I found myself searching the skies for familiar constellations, and
realized I was looking for something I would not find. The sky is very different here.
For the past 7 years I have made a nightly routine of going outside, whether that be on a mine site or from
my balcony in Adelaide, or my backyard in Sale, and marveling at the Australian night sky. Looking that
night, I found myself homesick for the wide expanse of the Milky Way, so succinct in the low light of a
small town or from the middle of the desert. Searching, I found Orion's Belt, and tried to follow the bright
stars to the four sisters without success.
I turned my head sideways- no, not quite. Further tilting gave me a better view, but short of standing on
my head, the image would not be what I remember from down under.
Have you ever seen a Discovery Channel program that shows the night sky from an observatory? The
bright cloudless diamonds of light appearing white in patches, contrasted by the endless dark of night?
That is a regular occurrence in Oz. I had the privilege of watching that sky from a lightless desert at the
mines. For two weeks at a stretch I would watch the Milky Way move across the sky. The white caps
travelled almost as a wave, left to right from my chair outside the door of my 'donger '. As the seasons
changed, the wave moved direction, heading for shores unknown. I never tired of watching that wave
return, season after season.
After moving to Sale, Victoria, I learned the new movement of this celestial wave from my backyard. As I
marveled at its clarity after the frequent rains, I began to notice the moon in Sale was brighter, and to me it
appeared larger.
I followed a band in my early twenties called Full Moon Tan, and at the time I thought this was just a cool
name for a band. Living in Sale, I came to realize one might actually feel they could get a tan from the
light of this moon. I laughed at making hand puppets in my full moon shadow, spending hours outside,
bundled in scarves and sweaters playing with the Cat at midnight. The 'super moon' I witnesses in America
didn't come close to the everyday brightness of a Sale moon.
I went camping with some friends into the mountains, and couldn't stop staring upward, commenting on
how beautiful the stars shone. My companions laughed off my awe, saying, "It's the same sky as always!"
And it was. They had grown up with this amazing sight, and it had little effect on their mood. It made me
giddy. I felt like anything was possible under this sky.
Back in the states, I noticed other familiar beauties; the ones I had longed for while in Australia; pine trees
and blue jays, the energetic squirrels I love so much, the blue-grey skyline in the distance that I know will
lead me on a winding path to Half Moon Bay, or the sight of rolling hills covered in a blanket of green
while travelling down 280. There is comfort in these beauties. I moved under the tall old oak tree and
peered at the stars through the canopy. Empty acorn husks bounced at my feet after their long drop from
the height of its great boughs. I would not find this in Sale. The breeze picked up and the stars sparkled,
my vision temporarily changed with each movement of the branches. There is magic here as well. Still
feeling a little nostalgic for the Australian sky, I ponder the new adventures I will find under this night
sky, in the land of tall oaks and pine.
© 2016 by Laura Breaux
7
Adaptive Physical Education
Latest Happenings
Adaptive Physical Education is a fitness and wellness program designed for adults of all
ability levels, particularly seniors and boomers, with physical disabilities or health limitations.
We have been busy since the beginning of the pandemic! A large variety of classes have
been created to accommodate all of your fitness needs in the comfort of your home. Please
visit our website to learn more about our program, or feel free to call us at (650) 368-7732.
Our current offerings on Zoom include:
General Conditioning classes that focus on posture, muscular endurance, balance, and
hip and shoulder mobility
Advanced fitness classes, such as Level 2 Circuit, that emphasize abdominal and CORE
strength, as well as improving cardiovascular fitness and quality of movement
Gentle Chair Yoga
Four different class levels for Parkinson’s and other neuromuscular conditions, including
Yoga
Evening fitness classes that focus on strength and overall fitness
In addition to our Zoom classes, we have our own YouTube channel. Our YouTube library is
comprised of more than 100 videos, with content that is directly related to our Zoom
classes. So, even if you miss a Zoom class, you always have the opportunity to exercise
daily at your convenience!
Our digital membership is $45 per month, which includes any and all Zoom classes offered
by us during the month, as well as unlimited access to our YouTube library. Two of our
Zoom classes for people with Parkinson’s are free of charge, and do not require a member-
ship.
If you have not joined, don’t wait any longer-go to our website:
http://www.adaptivepevmsc.org and get strong and fit!
Save The Date: Starting March 22nd--Compassion Training for Caregivers, taught by
Arlene McCarthy, DPT, Neurologic Physical Therapist.
8-week session—Mondays, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. on Zoom.
Adaptive P.E. is sponsoring this program for a fee of $45 per person; regularly priced at $350+
This course, developed at Stanford in collaboration with the Compassion Institute, trains
caregivers-family members, friends, or professionals, who may be faced with difficulty and
stress. The classes are designed to develop the qualities of compassion, empathy, and
kindness for oneself and for others. Those who have completed the training report that it is
a “life-changing” experience. Please take advantage of this offering!
Call to register: (650) 368-7732SamTrans is offering a subsidized taxi service for seniors and people with
disabilities, called Ride Now. The pilot program operates within a designated service
area covering San Carlos, Redwood City, North Fair Oaks and Redwood Shores. Riders
pay a $5 copay per one-way trip. Those enrolled in the program can take up to eight
qualifying one-way trips per month.
People can get an application to sign up for the Ride Now program by calling
1.800.660.4287 (TTY 650.508.6448) or at www.samtrans.com/RideNow. Once approved
and enrolled in the program, customers can book trips directly through Serra Yellow Cab.
The Ride Now pilot program is made possible through a Federal Transit Administration grant.
Map of Ride Now Taxi Pilot Program Service AreaAsk a Master Gardener Do you need help with your garden? Have a pest problem? Curious about what will grow well in your region? Due to COVID-19 all questions must be emailed to: mgsmsf@ucanr.edu. Please include the following information in your email. Your name Location Question or problem, please include any photos. Phone number and best time to call
Residential Customer
SHELTER–IN–PLACE WOES
I thought I needed some time alone
but now I'm so grateful for my phone.
I've heard all my stories and can't make myself laugh
Please someone post that funny pic of a giraffe.
I've played backgammon, solitaire and mahjong 'til I'm blue
Won't someone invent a game that gets me through this flu?
Can't watch the news reports too much
Reminding me all the places not to touch.
I don't remember ever fearing my own body
But hurry up scientists with that vaccine or antibody.
Who would have thought toilet paper would be so revered
Now that all grocery shelves have been cleared.
If the internet and cable TV go down
That will be my final meltdown.
Books, oh glorious books to read and enjoy
Amazon I love you, you're the real McCoy.
Be it mysteries, memoirs or lessons to learn
Books help fill my mind with unconcern.
Beware all my friends for when this passes by
Expect lots of hugs you can't deny.
This virus will end, of that we know
I can hardly wait to leave this house and go, go ,go....
© 2020 by Ann Blote
** We Need Your Support! **
The Veterans Memorial Senior Center relies heavily on your support to continue our
mission: providing innovative, progressive and essential programs to our older adult
community. Please send your tax deductible donations to:
VMSC
1455 Madison Avenue Main Phone Line:
Redwood City, CA 94061-1459 (650) 780 - 7270You can also read
