Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, May 13, 2016
I blame it all on the Existentialists and Edward Everett Hale. They are the reason I have to get up early tomorrow, get dressed up, listen to a bunch of politicians, and wander the halls of the Legislative Office Building.
I don’t want to waste my day; everybody knows that the system is broken, and one more constituent listening to platitudes will only give me sore feet, right?
The existentialists had it right; nothing makes any sense, and we are all slaves to the status quo. Albert Camus even wrote a book about it: In “The Myth of Sisyphus” (about a guy who, for eternity, is condemned to roll a giant stone uphill, and then watch it fall back down), he very carefully proves that there is absolutely no reason to go on living. Except — when he gets all through proving that, he concludes that, as human beings, we must do something. And this is from a guy who gives hopelessness a bad name.
What does this have to do with my plans for tomorrow? Simple.
It’s the Statewide Senior Action Council’s Grassroots Advocacy Day at the New York State Legislature, and I and my friend Charlotte Fuss, the Senior Coordinator from Knox, are going. Actually, it’s taken up most of today as well, because I wanted to see what bills have been proposed that could make a difference for seniors in the Hilltowns and other rural areas, and there are quite a few. You can look them over at the Statewide Senior Action website at www.nysenior.org
Even at my most cynical, I will acknowledge that legislators have to listen to voters because votes are what elect them. The more voters that speak up about an issue, the more attention the issue gets (the squeaky wheel principle). There is even a formula in use in some offices that calculates what percentage of the public actually cares, based upon the number of visits, phone calls, letters, and emails they receive.
Where does Mr. Hale come into this? No, he’s not my political mentor (well, maybe he is, now that I think about it). He was born near Boston in 1822, and was the grand-nephew of Nathan “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country” Hale.
He entered Harvard at age 13, became a Unitarian minister, and wrote “The Man Without A Country” to stimulate support for the Union cause in the Civil War. In 1903, he became Chaplain of the United States Senate.
I keep coming back to him because he is the author of the statement, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
I believe that with all my heart, and that’s why I’m getting up early tomorrow.
Coming up
And speaking some more about seniors, the Hilltown Seniors are having their monthly meeting this Saturday, May 14, at the Senior Center in Berne. Meeting starts at 10:30 a.m., and lunch is served at noon.
Statewide Senior Action is sponsoring a telephone conference on how to get help for patients with dementia, with speakers from the Alzheimer’s Association. The call will be on Tuesday, May 24, from 1 to 11 a.m. Contact StateWide at: 1-800-333-4374 or
There will be a Health and Services Fair on May 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center at 340 Whitehall Road in Albany. Admission is free, and there will be information booths, refreshments, door prizes, therapeutic massage, and even quick adult haircuts!
The Helderberg Senior Lunch Program is in need of a printer-scanner machine to print menus, sign-up sheets, and correspondence. If you know of one available, please call Linda Hodges at 872-0940
A bus will be taking senior lunchers to hear the Albany Senior Orchestra at The Sanford Library in Colonie on Thursday, May 17. The bus will be leaving the Senior Center immediately after lunch, as the concert starts at 2 p.m.
May is Older Americans Month, and Social Security Education Awareness Month. The coming week is Emergency Medical Services Week and, conveniently enough, National Dog Bite Prevention Week.
Sunday, May 15, is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and Straw Hat Day. Monday, May 16, is National Sea Monkey Day. Visit Your Relatives Day is the May 18, and Hummus Day is Thursday, May 19. NASCAR Day and National Pizza Party Day (another good combination) are on May 20, and Saturday, May 21, is Armed Forces Day, Do Dah Day, and National Wait Staff Day (throw a little extra into the tip jar).
Menu
Lunch for next week at the Senior Center will be:
— Monday, May 16: Spaghetti with meat sauce, romaine salad, bread, milk, and tropical fruit;
— Tuesday, May 17:Chicken Cacciatore with tomatoes and peppers, broccoli, rice, whole-wheat bread, mandarin oranges, and milk;
— Friday, May 20: Chicken BLT pasta salad, cucumber radish salad, roll, pineapple juice, oatmeal cookie, and milk.
Games, cards, workshops and speakers are on Mondays and Tuesdays, and live music by Nancy Frueh on Fridays.
Please call 24 hours in advance to 872-9400 to reserve lunch. Email , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.
Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Hilltown Senior Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.