theBridge
North Whidbey’s 50-Plus Crowd
life . health . happiness
Join Joel Bergsbaken, the Program Coordinator for the North Sound Office of the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center, for a workshop on Communication and Hearing Loss. When working with and counseling individuals with hearing loss, the most challenging situations, after telephone use, is large gatherings, especially large dinners. The holidays are coming up and that means large gatherings of the people you care most about. For many, this creates fear of isolation and frustration. The workshop will discuss new ways to look at hearing loss, and approaches that can help people still connect at holiday gatherings. The North Sound Office of the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center, a non-profit organization, has served individuals with hearing loss in Washington State for over 75 years. The workshop is Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 10 am at the Oak Harbor Senior Center. Open to everyone, family and friends. RSVP by calling 279-4580.
PORCELLO ESTATE BUYERS
Porcello Estate Buyers, a 60 year old Family owned business, specializes in Jewelry, Watches, Coins, and Sterling Antiques. They are home-based out of Bellevue Washington. They offer appraisal seminars to all members of the community, free of charge. People can bring in their jewelry, watches, coins, coin collections, Sterling Silver and the like, and their professional appraisers and nationally know numismatists evaluate the items and educate the consumer about today’s market value of their personal possessions. They are Estate Buyers as well as appraisers, which means that if a client has an item that they may have no use for, if it is broken or they simple don’t want it, they will offer to purchase it. Porcello Estate Buyers has been offering this service for over 25 years. They will be offering a seminar at the Oak Harbor Senior Center, Saturday, Dec. 15 from 10 am–5 pm. Free to the public.
VFW SENIORS CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON
Whitehead-Muzzall Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7392 invites seniors to be our guest for our annual Seniors Christmas Luncheon Wednesday, Dec. 19. Lunch and festivities from 12 pm–3pm. Share an afternoon of Christmas camaraderie with your community. Santa Claus will visit, bringing a gift and Christmas cheer to all in attendance. The VFW Post is located at 3037 Goldie Road in Oak Harbor. (Para-Transit will dropoff and pick-up for this event. Make reservations early.)
Women of WWII Honor Flight O n Thursday, Oct. 18, three members of the Women of WWII of Oak Harbor, flew as guests of the Honor Flight Network to see the National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. Eva Marie Brown, Patricia Ricketts, Dorothy Mae Nelsen and their escorts flew to Baltimore for two nights. Senator Bob Dole greeted the ladies when they visited the WWII Memorial. Senator Dole, one of the organizers in the efforts to build the memorial, tries to be on hand to greet everyone who attends the weekly Honor Flight program. Before touring Arlington Cemetery, they visited the Women’s Memorial that was celebrating its 15th Anniversary. This memorial is dedicated to women in military service for America. They saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflection Pool and the Changing of The Guard, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They received sweatshirts with the Honor Flight logo. Eva said after they sent their applications last September, they prepared themselves physically and emotionally for their adventure. Eva, a Navy veteran, just celebrated her ninetieth birthday. Pat, an Army veteran, is ninety-three and Dorothy, a Navy veteran, is 91. They are often referred to as “The Greatest Generation”, the men and women who served and worked during WWII. There are several groups and organizations for men from WWII but not for the women who served. After the war, many women went quietly on to live their lives as wives and mothers. Most people are unaware of their military service until it appears in an obituary. Two of the founding members decided they wanted to meet other women
Honor Flight Network Honor Flight Network recognizes American veterans for their sacrifices and achievements by flying them to Washington, D.C. to see THEIR memorial at no cost. Top priority (for which applications are currently accepted) is given to World War II and terminally ill veterans, from all wars. In the future, Honor Flight Network will be expanded to include Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. In order for Honor Flight Network to achieve this goal, guardians fly with the veterans on every flight providing assistance and helping veterans have a safe, memorable and rewarding experience. If you know of someone who is a World War II veteran or a veteran with a terminal illness, please fill out an application and send it in. Every World War II veteran flies free. Donations will not be accepted from a World War II veteran. For further information, please call 937-521-2400 or email at veteran-application@honorflight.org.
Inside this Edition
Classes Pg. 7
Photo by Tim Nelsen
COMMUNICATION DURING THE HOLIDAYS WITH HEARING LOSS
December 2012 | Vol. 4 | Issue 8
Shown with the Women’s Memorial, from left to right are Eva Marie Brown, Patricia Ricketts and Dorothy Mae Nelsen.
who had served in WWII before they read of it in an obituary. Women of WWII had their first meeting April 25, 2007 at the Oak Harbor Senior Center, with 13 women having served in different branches. It is a privilege to hear their stories, young women who had courage, a sense of adventure and a desire to serve their country. They continue to meet the last Tuesday of every odd month at the Jumbo Buffet. For more information, contact Eva Brown at 675-8302.
Applebee’s dining out Christmas fundraiser event Give a gift to the Oak Harbor Senior Center while doing your Holiday shopping by stopping at Applebee’s for lunch or dinner! Invite all of your Friends & Family to dine any time on Thursday, Dec. 6 and Applebee’s will donate 15% of the proceeds to the Oak Harbor Senior Center. (To go and carside to go orders also applied!) Pick up your flyer(ticket) at the Oak Harbor Senior Center. You must have a Ticket for the Senior Center to receive 15%. This offer is good only at the Applebee’s at 31810 State Route 20 in Oak Harbor. A fun, tasty way to raise funds and best of all no dishes to wash!
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