Hilltowns Senior News for Thursday, November 10, 2016
I keep hearing that “reality TV” is increasing in popularity these days. What I don’t understand is what “reality TV” is. OK, it’s television; I get that. There is absolutely no question that it appears on TV. But what makes it “reality,” as distinguished from other kinds of experience, or other kinds of TV?
To paraphrase Webster’s dictionary, reality is the state or quality of being real, or resembling what is real; real facts or things, as different from fantasy; something that exists independent of other things, or even ideas about it. Real means true, not imaginary or fictitious.
OK, but reality TV pays the people who appear in its episodes. Nobody pays me for getting out of bed every day. “Reality” TV follows people around with a camera, sound equipment, directors, and story editors. I haven’t seen any videographers lurking at the library, or out behind the firehouse lately. Maybe I’m just not interesting enough; do they follow you around?
If real means not fictitious, why do the producers have writers? How is reality TV any different from the episode of “Law and Order” I saw last night?
A lot of the “Law and Order” stories are based on actual events, whereas it seems unlikely to me that large groups of carefully selected people spontaneously arrive on desert islands or vacant, fully-furnished houses.
So, if “reality” as defined by TV means a situation dreamed up by storytellers or scriptwriters, that occurs within the boundaries of a particular geographic location, and is recorded in sound and images to be viewed by millions of other people, then what is my life supposed to be?
It doesn’t follow a storyline that anybody human knows, it is almost never filmed, and it seems to occur all over the place, wherever I am. Certainly nobody pays me for showing up, and I don’t get fan mail. So if reality TV is real, what are we?
Coming up
November is Aviation History Month, Military Family Appreciation Month, National Adoption Month, National Family Caregivers Month, Picture Book Month , and World Sponge Month. This week is Geography Awareness Week, National Nurse Practitioner's Week, National Split Pea Soup Week, World Kindness Week, and National Book Awards Week. World Kindness Day and World Orphans Day is the 13th ; National American Teddy Bear Day and National Spicy Guacamole Day are the 14th.
The 15th is National Bundt Pan Day and National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Married To A Scorpio Support Day, Mickey Mouse Day, and National Apple Cider Day all fall on the 18th, and we end the week on the 19th with Rocky and Bullwinkle Day.
The Helderberg Seniors lunch bunch had a great time at their Halloween party on the 31st, and the Hilltown seniors will be celebrating Thanksgiving at their meeting Nov. 12 at the Berne Reformed Church.
Crafts after lunch on Tuesday, Nov. 15 will be pine cone zinnias. Make a bowl of them for the holidays. For December, we will be making some very creative snowmen after lunch on the 6th.
The senior shopping bus next two trips are scheduled for Nov. 16 and 30. Call CDTA at 437-5161 two days in advance to arrange for pickup.
There is a bus trip to Cooperstown on Saturday, Dec. 17, to see a production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Farmers Museum. The bus will leave at 10:30 a.m. We will stop for lunch at “Mel’s 22" restaurant (buy your own), and then on to the performance at 2 p.m. Cost is $12.50 per person. Call Karen Schimmer at 872-2544 to reserve a seat.
Menu
The lunchtime menu for next week at the Berne Community and Senior Services Center is here at last. Doors open at 11 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. We also have games, dominoes, and cards on Mondays and Tuesdays. Remember, there will be no lunch on Friday, Nov. 25 (day after Thanksgiving).
In case you missed the announcement, the lunch program is now offering transportation. Just let Linda Hodges (872-0940) know you’d like a ride when you call to reserve lunch.
— Monday, Nov. 14, lasagna roll-up, chickpea salad, wheat Italian bread, pears and milk;
— Tuesday, Nov. 15, meatloaf with tomato gravy, cauliflower, oven roasted potatoes, wheat bread, pound cake with strawberries and whipped topping, and milk; an
— Friday, Nov. 18, mac and cheese, stewed tomatoes, wheat bread, baked apples, and milk.
Please call Linda Hodges 24 hours in advance to 872-0940 to reserve lunch or arrange transportation. You can also email her at: , 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 (518) 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 Town of Berne Community and Senior Services Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.