Volunteer of the Month
Archives

November 2019
Linda Sowell

Photo of Linda Sowell

This month we’d like to shine the light on a new, yet not new volunteer. If you read last month’s newsletter, specifically the Activity Spotlite, you would have read a bit about Linda Sowell. Well this month we’d like to shine an even larger spotlight on her as our Volunteer of the Month. Linda is the new Gadabouts Trip Coordinator. She had been working in the Thrift Store and was asked to be a relief in the Trip office. When a vacancy occurred she was asked to take over, which she was more than happy to do. Since then she has been busy scheduling new trips, chaperoning trips on occasion, and generally managing our hustling and bustling trip office. Linda also serves on our Board of Directors. If needed she also helps out at our special events. Originally from Chicago, IL, she moved out to California with her husband who was in the Navy. Once out here she was not content to stay at home raising her two kids (who themselves provided her with five grandkids), but worked in numerous types of jobs. Her main career was in Food Service. She started out at McDonalds as a cashier, and worked her way up to manager. Then she transferred to the school system where she became the Director of Children’s Nutrition for the Bear Valley School District before retiring. Thanks Linda for helping to take our members on trips of a lifetime.

Featured Class

Spanish
Date: October 3, 2019
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Length: 8 weeks
Cost: $8 members
      $8 non-members
Instructor: Louise Ayala
Location: Game Room
Description: Louise Ayala has 25 years of teaching experience, with a Kindergarten thru 12 teaching credential. She has mostly taught elementary and spent six years teaching Spanish. Louise learned Spanish as a child growing up in household with two fluent Spanish speaking parents. She also took Spanish in High School and spent her senior year as a tutor and teaching aid, helping to teach. Once in college she decided she only needed one year. As for our class, she will be focusing on conversational Spanish. The class will enable you to carry on limited conversation at first just to get you started. Then as you progress, so will the levels. As for what to bring, just bring a writing instrument and paper. Books might come later. We hope to see you there, or as you will soon be saying, Esperamos verte ahí.

Featured Activity

Chair / range of motion class
Time: Mondays 10:00 - 11:00 am
Cost: 0 members
      0 non-members
Location: exercise room
Description: Get Arthritis Relief at the Highland Senior Center The Highland Senior Center is host to two unique programs designed for those suffering from Arthritis. On Mondays they have the 'People with Arthritis Can Exercise' (P.A.C.E.). The Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program is held from 10-11 am. The Program is geared toward gentle range-of-motion exercises with additional activities designed to help those with arthritis.

Member Spotlite

This month we’d like shine a special spotlite for a special lady on a special occasion. On November 11th Berniece Rhoda will be celebrating her centennial birthday! There will actually be two celebrations that day, as it is also Veteran’s Day, formerly Armistice Day.
Berniece started coming to the center back in 1994 when she began taking our line-dancing class, and officially joined the center a few years later in 2000. She continued taking the classes until she turned ninety-five! She also enjoyed taking trips with our Gadabouts. She loves to travel, having traveled the world with her late husband, Guy.
Bernice hopes to be able to come to our annual Thanksgiving dinner as she has for many years. While she still has a valid driving license, thanks she says to our Driver’s Test preparation course, good until she turns 102, she now only drives short distances.
So if you see her, make sure to stop her and say “Hi” or possibly Happy Birthday if she makes the birthday lunch.