EngAGE community residents enjoyed arts, crafts, ESL and computer classes, and so much more in March, including a knitting group that began making hats and scarves filled with beads to send to our military troops to keep them cool in the summer months, seminars and workshops on “Tax Tips” and “Keeping to a Budget,” and an Easter egg hunt! Click on any of the photos below to enlarge them. And be sure to read our additional Community Highlights post today!
There are many gardens throughout our EngAGE Communities, but today we’ll focus on the one at Portofino Senior Apartments in Pomona. In March, gardening
expert Alan Moss from Armstrong Garden Center spoke to the residents on how to
best take care of their vegetable gardens. There were lots of questions for our guest and it was a very informative talk. Residents learned about thinning the growth, rotation of crops, and eating fresh. EngAGE Instructor Rose Cooke commented, “We all love the success of the garden, watching it grow, the connection that one’s soul naturally feels when you grow food.” EngAGE’s Portofino Site Leader Alma Wright said, “Portofino’s vegetable garden seems to be thriving thanks to the changes recommended a few months ago by EngAGE’s Sharon Springer, a Master Gardener, and Rose Cooke and the Gardening Club members’ watchful eye.”
At Coventry Court Senior Apartments in Tustin, EngAGE Regional Programs Director Robin Hart reports on a new writing group: “Residents have organized a very informative and active weekly gathering. Everyone read an impressive, original piece of writing. The ‘feedback’ phase of the class was particularly wonderful; each participant had something helpful, insightful to say about their neighbor’s work—everyone seems so earnest that all succeed. This group serves as a wonderful template for classes at all our properties. The students hope to hold an ‘Open House’ this month to allow other residents a chance to join.”
Be sure to see our other post today: Community Photo Album!
Rising star Marcus Gilmore, 25, and the legendary jazz great Roy Haynes, 87, share a love of both the drums and each other. Read their story here on NPR’s A Blog Supreme.
Cynthia Friedlob, EngAGE’s Website and Social Media Manager, and Administrator of this blog, is also an artist. She’ll be exhibiting her paintings, drawings, and hand-colored photographs at her studio in the Brewery Art Walk in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th from 11 AM to 6 PM. Over 100 artists will be opening their studios to the public for this semi-annual event, so it’s a great opportunity to discover new art, talk to the artists, and enjoy the atmosphere of the country’s largest artists colony. Click here to learn more about the Art Walk.
Also, on Friday the 26th from 6 PM to 9 PM, you can find Cynthia at Towns Burr Gallery, 3607 West Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, where she’ll be demonstrating her technique for hand-coloring photographs as part of the monthly Ladies Night Out event. This celebration is sponsored by over thirty merchants in the charming Magnolia Park neighborhood. Stores will be offering special discounts, live bands will play in several locations on the Boulevard, and an assortment of gourmet food trucks will be offering tasty treats. Click here for details.
Please stop by and say hello — and mention that you’re a reader of the EngAGE Blog!
Welcome to our new team members!
Ken Tambe, Business Manager – Ken administers the financial operations for the EngAGE sites and the programs that we provide our seniors. He has worked with not-for-profit organizations for over 25 years which include the Center Theatre Group, the Artist’s Rights Foundation, and the 1987 Los Angeles Festival. Mr. Tambe has a background in Marriage and Family Therapy and facilitates a Senior Support group in Hollywood. He is also a credentialed School Counselor providing services to kindergarten through high school students with special abilities and learning differences.
Ellen Warkentine, Arts Programs Manager – Ellen is a composer, theatre artist, and teacher who has been involved in the Long Beach arts scene for many years and is excited to be on the ground level of creating a thriving creative community at the Long Beach Senior Arts Colony. She is proud to be a company member of Four Larks Theatre and a long-time collaborator with Long Beach’s Garage and Alive Theatre companies, as well as for the Upright Citizen Brigade’s “Quick and Funny Musical” series. She is co-creator and composer of “LOLPERA: An Epik Opera About The Internets,” an absurd pop opera which premiered at The Garage Theatre in Long Beach and performed to sold-out crowds at The Hollywood Fringe and NY Fringe Festival in 2012. Ms. Warkentine graduated from UCI with a B.A. in Theatre and Film Studies, and from UCLA with a M.Ed. in social justice education She taught theatre and music in LAUSD and Long Beach for several years before joining EngAGE in March of 2013. She believes passionately in the power of arts to connect communities and inspire growth in individuals at every age.
EngAGE encourages older people to embrace technology, but it’s not always an easy thing to do, especially when technology changes so rapidly. But an article from NextAvenue explains that, “Between increasingly sensitive design and mushrooming educational offerings for older techno-buffs, it’s easier than ever to keep up with the rate of change. And the personal benefits — more entertainment, mental challenges, an expanded community — are well worth the effort.” Click here to read more and be sure to explore the helpful links included in the post.
“Street artists JR and José Parlá recently teamed up to create enormous and yet very intimate portraits of senior citizens who survived the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959). It’s a continuation of a series called The Wrinkles of the City that JR started in Cartegena, Spain, and that was recreated in Shanghai and Los Angeles.” Click here to see the “Real Faces of L.A.” and click here to read more about this project.
