December was a great month at the Community/Senior Center. Since so many in our department are new, we were all looking forward to the month of December to get to experience the holiday season with our seniors. We brought back some old events and also added some new ones. The seniors had the opportunity to go to Pittock mansion, Portland International Raceway, and holiday shopping with Marc at Clackamas Town Center. We also had a cookie decorating and a gift exchange here at the center. Caroleana got to meet lots of new seniors at our fun holiday events. She especially enjoyed helping with the gift exchange during our Monday social time.
Caroleana also sent out flyers to all Meals on Wheels clients regarding energy assistance and has been getting numerous calls regarding the program. During December, 14 Energy Assistance applications were submitted with more in the works. She also researched and tracked down information for Medicaid clients who are on Meals on Wheels. We are starting to get vouchers and have submitted those for reimbursement. Way to go Caroleana! She has also been working on getting tax aid help here at the center for this new year. AARP is unable to send anyone out to Sandy. However, a local business has been contacted about offering free tax services and that’s in the works.
The Holiday Lights at Meinig Park were quite the hit! Evenings were cold but full of fun. It was great to see so many in the community come out to see the lights and experience the events. We estimate around 1500 people came out to the 4 events. Unfortunately a windstorm occurred on December 27th, so we were not able to have the Holiday Happy Hour, due to safety concerns and park damage, but we plan to offer it next year! We again want to thank everyone who helped us put these events on and contributed to them. A special shout out to the Parks department for setting up and managing the lights, IT for helping us with the timers, and Sandy PD for their increased patrols of the park to keep all the new equipment safe. We are very excited to have this be an annual event that gets better each year.
Chelsea worked a lot with Rochelle this month on the Community Campus Park Improvement project. They conducted interviews of the top 3 firms, picked a preferred consultant based on written and interview scoring, and then issued an intent to award notice.
Chelsea also organized a fun cookie decorating morning for the seniors, created the January/February newsletter and calendar, and coordinated the employee Holiday Appreciation Luncheon here at the Center.
The 2023 Winter/Spring Recreation guide came out on Dec 5th. It’s full of classes for youth, teens, adults, and seniors.
Mt. Storm practices started in December. Games start on 1/5 and will continue through mid-March.
Carol is busy working on sponsorships for music and movies, July 4th fireworks, and a new teen Silent Disco event in March.
Amy Lytle, our new Recreation Coordinator, started on December 29th in person. She is settling in and learning the ropes.
