“The worst feeling isn’t being lonely, it’s being forgotten!” (Anonymous author)

We decided to call our group, “The Fun Bunch” because our goal is to provide once a month afternoons that encourage seniors to make new friends, laugh a little and just have a great time. From a mutual concern for seniors fighting loneliness and boredom we have committed ourselves to starting an Escalon Senior program. We began in July with four of us, Ann Shaddix, Peggy Rocha, Cindy Moreno and Tina Jensen. We are now assisted at the events by various caring volunteers. Our first event was an Ice Cream Social with an attendance of over 60 seniors. Since then, we have had events such as a Back to School ukulele concert, Halloween Bingo and a Salute to Veterans. Our last event this year is on Wednesday, December 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Covenant Church in Escalon. Our plans include beautiful Christmas music by Victor Haglund, a sing along, a craft project, trivia, dessert, coffee and an ending that will make everyone smile. Our event in January will have a focus on keeping active with demonstrations in living our best life. We are operating solely, at this time, on donations from local clubs, churches and private citizens but will eventually organize a fundraiser in the community.

Goals for the New Year are to add more variety of fun and interesting themes while also providing informational speakers and helpful literature geared towards seniors. We plan to establish a newsletter that can be mailed or e-mailed and a Facebook account to keep everyone informed. Our ability to provide worthwhile events is dependent on the amount of interest shown by event attendance. If you are a senior citizen, please join us or if you know a senior who might benefit from attending please encourage them to spend one afternoon a month with us.

Happy holidays!