HOLDEN COUNCIL ON AGING
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Conference Room – Senior Center
Present: Richard Mansfield; Louise Charbonneau; Cheryl Owoc; Jacquie Kelly;
Rev. Jerry Heslinga; Susan Sullivan; Barbara Anger; Albert Ferron; Maureen Buffone; Naomi Sohlman.
Guest: Selectman Ken O’Brien
The meeting was called to order at 8:03 a.m. by Chairman Mansfield. The minutes from the May 3, 2007 meeting were approved and accepted. Al Ferron later requested a correction to the Welcome Aldrich paragraph. “Sue motioned to accept the application” should read “Sue motioned to accept the policy.”
Chairman Mansfield acknowledged Ken O’Brien for his efforts in contacting Judy O’Connor on acquiring an additional senior van. Millbury has 7 or 8 vans, and they run 5 vans through grants, the RTA and donations. The state pays 80% of the cost. Judy would like to donate one of their extra vans to Holden. They have been very successful using volunteer drivers who receive a stipend. Their Friends are very active. Louise, Jacquie and Cheryl went to meet with Judy who is very willing to help in any way she can. We will need seed money to get it going, with a plan for fundraising. There is no line item in next year’s budget, but we have requested the finance committee allocate some funds. The Friends will call a meeting. Rick Mansfield suggested that
HCOA members meet with the Friends. Terry Black and Valeda Schmucki are very supportive and positive about additional vans. The Finance Committee will be meeting next week. Ken asked if it would help to have the selectmen write a letter to the finance committee. Ken has already had discussions with some of the businesses in town regarding donations. Ken is interested in doing fund raising, however, Rick thought, and Jerry agreed, the selectmen should not be out soliciting funds. It would be better if they were part of a group that’s raising funds, by working within the Friends (following Judy’s model). It would be a good idea to have seniors involved in the fundraising. There is a lot of information that is needed. There are 18 special needs kids in need of rides, but the primary focus is seniors. There will be fewer restrictions when the van is owned by the town instead of the RTA. Sue said that
she’s getting a sense that the board cannot take the summer off. Cheryl Owoc, Al Ferron, Sue Sullivan, Jacquie Kelly, Louise Charbonneau, Barbara Anger and Rick Mansfield will form a subcommittee. A meeting was set for 8:00 AM on Tuesday, June 19th.
WELCOME ALDRICH
Sue came up with a brochure from Al Ferron’s information. Al suggested that it should be presented at the Selectmen’s meeting on Monday. Sue will print them out for the meeting, and Al will present it. Rick thanked Al and Sue for the work that they did.
F.H.C.O.A. REPORT
Barbara Anger reported that the Friends’ will not be meeting again until after the summer.
The FHCOA bank balances are as follows:
Commerce Bank |
$6,277.84 |
Leominster Credit Union |
$16,581.86 |
C.D. |
$20,913.64 |
The CD will be rolled over for one (1) year. The Friends paid out $360.00 to Wachusett Regional High School for one-half of the Senior Prom cost. They also agreed to pick up the difference on the repair of the pool tables. Louise spoke at the last meeting about the senior vans. No decision will be made until more information is received. The annual Friends meeting will take place on September 15th at 9:00 AM. Elections will be held at that time. The cost of mailing the newsletters went up from $355.00 to $577.00 for 1,800 newsletters. Barbara will arrange a meeting with a representative of the post office to discuss “restyling” the newsletter to cut down on the mailing cost. Barbara presented a sample of the shirts that will be sold on the cart. They will be sold for approximately $2.00 over cost.
COORDINATOR’S REPORT
The movie “The Queen” was shown last Thursday and was attend by 30 people. The Pen Pal Party will take place today. The Panama Canal will be featured on Monday for International Day. June 21st is the Strawberry Festival. “Night at the Museum” will be shown on June 28th. Emmett Schmarsow lost his dad suddenly, and Lillian Glickman lost her mom. Louise sent sympathy cards to both on behalf of the Board. Cindy had her first doll house meeting last Wednesday and received a small, but enthusiastic group. Cindy will have a book signing on the 22nd from 11:00 to 1:00 for her book Cindy’s Corner. Bob Beck has purchased computer equipment from the money that is left from the FY07 grant.
There was no other old or new business, and a motion to adjourn was made and seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maureen Buffone
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