Folks: This has been a tumultuous, full of
excitement and great happiness June for the Seniors in our area! We have been on
the go, busy raising funds, having congregate encounters, participating in
multiple senior exercise programs, and meeting with prospective donors to
further the “Bus for Us” goal as well as our continuing struggle to make ends
meet administratively so that we can provide adequate programs for seniors in our
area. Much NEWS – Oh, where to start? Perhaps with news on the “Bus
for Us”:
The Mission of Greater Hillsborough Senior Services is
to provide services and activities for the many seniors living in the
Hillsboro, New Hampshire area. One of the hurdles in providing services in our area has been
the lack of public transport. GHSS has
tried to overcome this obstacle and provide transportation for seniors through
the generous use of the Hillsboro Town-owned, recreational van, or rental
transportation, to facilitate shopping trips, visits to doctors and excursions
for seniors.
Unfortunately
this summer the Hillsboro Town van, which they have previously allowed us to borrow, is
needed for a series of newly rejuvenated recreation activities and its
availability will be severely limited to GHSS. This hits our seniors
especially hard because it is in the summer when we make most of our senior
excursions and trips. As all of you know the main
fund-raising goal of GHSS has been the purchase of a bus, the “Bus-for-Us”
campaign. Although we have long
aimed at purchasing a new bus, the unavailability of the Hillsboro Town van for the summer of
2015, in large part because they need it for the activities that they will be
offering at Manahan Park, has lead us to explore the possibility of purchasing a
gently used vehicle.
Thanks to the
continuing, generous donations of individuals and businesses we have been able to find and adopt a gently
used, recent model, locally owned, bus that we will soon put to into full
use. This is not the new bus we would have liked to have purchased, but it
is what we can (more or less) afford at this particular time. More or less? Yes, we still have some
fund raising to do. We need to
paint the bus, to identify it as GHSS. We need to insure, register, get license
plates, continually maintain and garage the bus in a safe location, particularly
in the Winter. These are details
that we will work out with your continuing support! Thanks to you ALL!
As was mentioned in the beginning of
this news update we also held two, very enjoyable luncheons this
month, one at St. Mary’s in Hillsboro with Lee, and Joyce handling the
presentation and one in Deering this past Thursday at the Deering Community
Church, with our now famous Chef’s Extraordinaire, Patty and Gary. Both
luncheons were well attended. The seniors had a great lunch and a wonderful time to
talk and catch up with what is going on!
Also mentioned in the beginning were
the exercise programs that we have been offering: One was called armchair
Yoga and was held in Hillsboro (with great participation, well over 40).
BY REQUEST it now has begun a second session! The other program is Tai Chi
Moving for Better Balance and that is being held in Deering. It too has
been well received. And recently the Tai Chi group has asked the
certified, instructor, Paul Carey, if he would be able to offer this again, maybe
in September – more on this in the coming months.
Our “Bus for Us” fundraising has been
in FULL SWING this month with raffles, two going on as these
notes get to you: one a summer “Beachie” raffle and the other a fitness raffle
offering a Kayak with paddles, a Mountain Bike, and a Fit Bit. See us at
the farmers market every Saturday or at Shaw’s during the upcoming holiday
weekend. Purchase your lucky tickets NOW before its too late! And I
almost forgot our “Seniors Stride Walk-A-Thon – YES we got out and walked a
Marathon, of sorts – about two miles. It was fun and we
raised $957! Barbara has been very instrumental in obtaining a $5000 donation from
Shaws for the Bus-for-Us campaign, and Chuck succeeded in obtaining a grant of $5000 for the BUS from Osram/Sylvania Administration. GHSS also received a very generous, anonymous
private donation of $5000 toward the BUS! We also
received a donation of Graphics for our newly Adopted BUS from Maine
Line Graphics now in Antrim. And at this past Thursday’s
morning meeting of the Rotary Club of Henniker Chuck was
presented with a check for $1,000 from the club’s secretary, Joyce Bosse. ON BEHALF OF ALL HILLSBORO AREA SENIORS WE SAY A VERY HEARTFELT: THANK YOU, MERCI, GRAZZIE, GRACIAS, VIELEN DANKE TO ALL OF OUR DONORS AND SUPPORTERS !
Whew, I hope that I didn’t forget
anything; if I did please let me know! Remember its not too late
to donate to the “Bus for Us” FUND!!
See you in Town or “On the Road
with the BUS”
Chuck
