Urgent: The Dudley COA needs a few dedicated volunteers for our COA Board. We meet once a month on the third Tuesday on the month, 3-4pm.  Sept. to December, and March to June. Your great ideas and participation could benefit the seniors of our community. Please contact us if interested @ 508-949-8015 Please leave a message and contact number and we will get back to you. OR, E-mail us if you’d rather@  [email protected] Thank you!

News from SHINE 2021: Every year Medicare part D and Medicare Advantage (HMO, PPO) Plans can change their premiums, co-pays, deductibles, formularies (list of drugs covered) and preferred pharmacies. In the case of Medicare Advantage Plans they can also drop and add medical providers from their networks. It’s important to review your options EVERY year to make sure you have the plan that works best for you next year. Open Enrollment is Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Central Mass SHINE Website www.shinema.org To make an appointment, contact Central Mass SHINE regional office at 508-422-9931 or by email at [email protected]. A certified SHINE Counselor will return your call. Counselors assist clients through in-person appointments, phone, videoconferencing, (such as Zoom or Face Time), email, or post mail. They also offer excellent resources online through their website at www.shinema.org and introductory Medicare 101 webinars.

Weekly Schedule:

Mondays 11:30 a.m. Dudley Lunch Club. Please reserve your meal through Inge Gassner, at 508-949-9081 Please leave message to reserve a meal at least two/three days in advance.

Tuesdays at 1p.m. in the dining room: card players pitch league, also Dudley senior women knitters at 1 p.m.

Wednesdays 10 a.m. craft workshop with Delores Cowden is on a short leave and will hopefully resume her workshop soon. Over the summer, with Craft Instructor Dolores, we learned watercolor techniques, acrylics, decoupage, creating/sewing fabric pumpkins and more. Please stay tuned for the re-start of this fun arts and crafts workshop. Also on Wednesdays, Dudley Lunch Club at 11:30 a.m. Please contact Inge at number listed above. Also meeting 1 p.m. Dudley senior women knitters.

Thursdays 9 a.m. to 12 noon,  machine sewing for fun and crafts with Linda Prest. Weekly projects and costs will vary from $5.00 to $15.00 depending on project and supplies needed.  All supplies and expert instruction included in price. If you have a portable sewing machine, you are welcome to bring it to the weekly workshop. If interested, please leave your name and number Dudley COA 508-949-8015 to sign up.  Newbie new machine sewers are always welcome too.

Fridays 11:30 a.m. Dudley Lunch Club, Friday Game Day will start up again after lunch if there’s interest. Pre-pandemic we enjoyed board games such as Scrabble, Up words, Super Boggle, and Scattergorie. We’d love to bring this activity back, tell your friends, better yet bring your friends.

Dudley Senior Center events planned

Wednesday, Nov. 24, Tri Valley Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner Lunch Club at 11:30 a.m. RSVP to Inge.

Happy Thanksgiving Nov. 25 and 26, Senior Center is Closed.

Friday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m. Tina Bemis workshop creating a beautiful holiday boxwood tree.  $20.00 space is limited, please RSVP to Margaret by Nov. 24 508-949-8015.

Friday, Dec. 10, 12:30 p.m. after lunch club. Pied Potter Rick Hamelin will be here for a workshop presentation:  All about Poets and Potters. Writers have alluded to clay and the potter at work in numerous poems and stories throughout time. Massachusetts’ Poets, Longfellow, Whitman, Thoreau and Gibran celebrated the potter in their writings, and reflected on the forming of clay as a metaphor for life in many ways. In this one-hour program, Mr. Hamelin demonstrates “throwing” at the pottery wheel while exploring verses and the historical connections of Massachusetts’ potters to these poets. Anyone who may be interested is welcome to attend. Come join us for this FREE program. Please note: Artist requests that audience please wear a mask. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Dudley Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. For more information, contact Margaret Bussiere, COA Director @ 508-949-8015. 

Thursday, Dec. 16, 3-5 p.m. Common Ground Memory Café and senior Christmas party. Free program, light meal, refreshments included.   Music entertainment by our great friend, Frannie Mik. Please bring one wrapped gift for the swap and one new un-wrapped gift for the Salvation Army. (ideas: HBA items, shampoo, soap/body wash, towels, socks, hats, gloves, etc.) Donations are also accepted and greatly appreciated for the memory café if you’d like to help support this program which began in 2016 and continued to an outside audience throughout the pandemic at senior housing/Joshua Place (while the weather agreed). This memory café is supported by local donations from the community. Thank you for helping us make this important, non-judgmental, socially inclusive, come as you are, dementia friendly program free to the community. 

Best wishes for a blessed and happy holiday season for you and yours, including health, peace, kindness, compassion, and love for the New Year 2022. -- Margaret