BrooklineCAN Blog

 Shredding Event

Monday June 4^th there will be visit from a mobile shredding truck and an identity theft presentation at the Brookline Senior Center from 1-4 pm. Brookline residents are invited to safely dispose of sensitive and personal documents to protect themselves from identity theft and fraud.

The event is sponsored by Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.   There will also be a presentation on identity theft from 1:00‐2:00 pm at the Senior Center.    Light refreshments will be served. Please call 617‐730‐2770 to register for presentation portion of the event. All others are welcome to pull up to the mobile shredding truck for assistance with their boxes, bags and bundles of documents to shred.  There is no charge.

The 17^th Age Friendly Cities TV show is entitled SPOTLIGHT on FOOD INSECURITY and will focus on feeding the hungry in Brookline.

Guests are Meghan Ostrander of Springwell, Elizabeth Boen of Brookline Food Pantry, and Patricia Burns of the Senior Center Food Pantry.  These organizations serve many of the town’s most vulnerable residents. All three need volunteers and financial donations.

The aim is to ensure everyone in our community who needs help comes to one or more of these organizations.  In Brookline, in addition to regular nutritious meals, Springwell offers kosher, Chinese, and therapeutic meals for people on special diets.

Check out the Brookline Age Friendly Cities TV programs on the BrooklineCAN web site and note references on the BrooklineCAN Twitter and Facebook accounts. Programs are aired on Channel 3 on Comcast and RCN.

Probably the best and easiest way to learn about a region is to take a walk. The Summer 2018 issue of Brookline Adult & Community Education offers a variety of walking tours in Brookline and surrounding areas to match any interest. Learn about Brookline’s secret stairways and paths by walking the stairs and terraces from Summit Path to Beaconsfield Path, ending at the MBTA Beaconsfield station. Be forewarned, this is a long, strenuous walk that covers several miles of mostly stairs. Other Brookline walks include a walking tour of Muddy River from Brookline Village to the Charles River in Back Bay and a more leisurely tour of the architecture and history of Chestnut Hill.

Walking tours of surrounding areas include “Fierce and Feminine: Great Women of Boston Tour,” “Walking Massachusetts Avenue from Cambridge (Harvard Square) to Boston (Symphony Hall)”; “History of the Fort Point Channel,” a walking tour of South Boston’s Innovation District; and “Boston’s Historic Waterfront.”

A new tour, “Bostonians Behaving Badly: Riots in Boston,” walks the downtown streets and reconsiders times when “Bostonians used their angry voices to demonstrate their discontent,”  including the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party, police riots, anti-catholic riots, and antibusing riots.

Read about these and other walking tours of Brookline and surrounding areas in the Summer issues of “Brookline”. For more information, visit www.brooklineadulted.org and type walk in the search box or call 617-720-2700.

The Brookline Farmers’ Market has been running for over thirty years, thanks to our hard-working vendors and wonderful customers. The vendors bring a diversity of products, most of which are produced here in Massachusetts.  The Farmers’ Market is proud to support local growers, producers, and artisans, and to be a part of the Brookline community!

The market runs every Thursday 1:30 – 6:30 PM from June 7 – November 15, 2018, rain or shine.  It is held in the Centre Street West Parking Lot in Coolidge Corner.  For more information see https://www.brooklinefarmersmarket.com/

Join the Friends of the Brookline Public Library on Tuesday, June 5, 7:00 pm. at the Brookline Village Library, to hear Susan Quinn, author of current best seller  “Eleanor and Hick”, talk about her life and career.  Prizewinning biographer of other leading women (Marie Curie, Karne Horney), journalist and investigative reporter, and sometime actress, Sue, our own leading woman, will tell of her progression from Ohio mill town to present day writer and stage presence!  Short business meeting at 6:30 pm.  Light refreshments.

Thanks to the Library Connection, homebound Brookline residents can receive library materials delivered to their home by volunteers. This is a partnership between the Council on Aging and Public Library of Brookline. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or receiving this service, contact Volunteer Coordinator Patricia Burns at the Council on Aging 617-730-2743. 

May 8^th is the Town Election.  Two town-wide races are contested: Select Board Members and School Committee.  There are two ballot questions and many interesting races in individual precincts.    The League of Women Voters publishes a voter’s guide on all races and candidates. Be on the lookout for it.

You do not need to wait until May 8^th to vote. You can vote absentee either by mail or going to the Town Clerk’s office and voting in person.  If you chose to vote by mail, you will need to apply by mail or online and the Town Clerk’s office will send you a ballot.  However, anytime the Clerk’s office is open up until     May 7^th you may fill out your absentee ballot there and vote!

Sample ballots for each precinct and absentee ballot information can be found at http://www.brooklinecan.org.

On Thursday, May 10 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Senior Center enjoy light refreshments while you mingle with friends before the games begin!  Nancy Linde, our game host, is the author of two books on games, puzzles & trivia challenges specially designed to keep our aging brains young. This will be a lively, informative, interactive, and thoroughly enjoyable program. This event is free for current BrooklineCAN members.

A charge of $10 for non-members, payable at the door (cash or check), can be applied to membership. To register, please call 617-730-2770 or email MemberEvent@BrooklineCAN.org.

The Brookline Age-Friendly City committee is seeking new citizen members. The committee coordinates Brookline’s Age-Friendly City initiative, a comprehensive, multi-year effort to strengthen the Town’s response to its rapidly growing senior population. Age-Friendly Brookline is a collaboration involving the Town of Brookline, the Council on Aging, and BrooklineCAN. Members are expected to attend monthly meetings and contribute to committee projects. Committee members are appointed by the Select Board for 3-year renewable terms.  For more information contact Co-Chair Frank Caro frank.g.caro@gmail.com.

“Telling Your Story,” Senior Autobiographical writings.

As we age, we often look back and remember instances of our lives, some important, others, a fleeting image, a picture of a split-second recollection. “Telling your Story,” supports seniors in writing their stories, or fragments of them. The stories are as varied as the people who wrote them: funny, dramatic, poignant, and emotional. You can hear some of them and meet the authors at a reading and presentation of their work on Wednesday, May 23, from 10:15 to 11:45, at the Brookline Senior Center. Call 617-730-2777 for information. An unforgettable experience!