Bend Senior Center plans to mark special month
Preparations are under way at the Bend Senior Center as staff and patrons get ready to celebrate September as National Senior Center Month with numerous events focusing on older adult activities, fitness and wellness.
Organized by the National Council on Aging’s National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC), the month recognizes the more than 11,000 senior centers throughout the United States and their contribution to their patrons and respective communities.
Bend Senior Center is one of only three accredited NISC senior centers in Oregon.
The signature event for the month is the “For the Health of It” Wellness & Fitness Fair on Thursday, September 20th from noon to 4:00 pm.
Free to the public, the event features the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Mobile Lab from Portland including visual acuity, glaucoma, blood pressure and diabetes testing (3-hour fasting needed for diabetes testing) as well as educational seminars, fitness demonstrations, local health and wellness practitioners and the event’s seasonal tradition of flu shots.
Flu shots are $25 or free with a Medicare, Regence Blue Cross-Blue Shield, PacificSource Medicare, ODS or PacficSource insurance card. In addition, attendees are invited to enjoy a free, healthy lunch at PacificSource Medicare’s barbeque from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.
A free weekly series, the Brown Bag Lunch & Learn Wellness Talks program starts on September 19th. Every Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, the public is invited to bring their lunch and listen to local experts share their knowledge on health and wellness issues.
Topics include: healthy choices for dining out, appetite, digestion, nutrition, sleep issues and healing through hypnosis. Sponsored by PacificSource Medicare and At Home Care Group, the talks include hosted dessert and coffee.
On September 26th, National Women’s Health & Fitness Day, it’s the Ladies’ Walk from 8:15 to 9:30 am. Women and men alike are invited to join together for a free mile walk and give Bend Senior Center staff person Laura Spears and patron Jean Augustine a great send-off as they walk from the Senior Center all the way to Sisters to promote women’s health.
Girls’ Night Out on Friday, September 28th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm will prove to be a real treat for patrons as Central Oregon Council on Aging and the Senior Center pamper the ladies with hors d’oeuvres, massages and other goodies. The evening’s fee is $15 and women can bring their mothers for free. Pre-registration required.
Celebratory activities kick off after Labor Day with the beginning of new fall recreation programs including weekly fitness classes, twice-a-week lunches and a variety of weekly activities including dances, knitting, card games and a book discussion group. In addition, the Senior Center will lead a weekly fall walk on the beautiful Larkspur Trail each Monday through October.
For additional information on events and programs, contact the Bend Senior Center at (541) 388-1133 or visit www.bendparksandrec.org.
