Seniors & Veterans ProgrammingPalooza

Our Seniors and Veterans Programming year wraps up on Tuesday, May 21st with an Open Mic Session at the Wakefield Senior Center at 1:30pm and that is the last of what has been a fulfilling year for those who attended either the Wakefield Senior Center or the Stoneham Senior Center on any given Tuesday since programming began in September 2023. 

We run our programming like an academic year with a break in the summer for our all-volunteer team of coordinators and facilitators, but we are already looking forward to the variety of programs we will be offering starting in the fall.

There are too many things to include in this one blog post, but let's recap the last month or so. 

April 9th: Guest speaker: Nancy Reily, owner of Lady with a Pen, talked about the art of calligraphy and design. In addition to teaching classes and giving lectures, Nancy ran an invitation and calligraphy shop in Wakefield for twenty years.  After her talk, participants had a chance to try their hand at calligraphy. Nancy did an encore demo at the Stoneham Senior Center on May 14th and as with her first program, everybody left with a pen to practice at home thanks to Nancy's generosity. What a wonderful way to mix writing and art!

April 16th: Guest speaker: Karin Gertsch, multi-genre author, talked about her writing and publishing experience. Karen has published nonfiction travel writing, children’s books, short stories, and fiction.  She is currently working on a creative nonfiction manuscript, Monika’s Journey. Karin’s books were given away at the event. 

April 23rd: Critique Group.  These are monthly sessions, held the last Tuesday of each month at the Wakefield Senior Center at 1:30pm, where writers read their writing (up to 1,000 words) to the group and receive verbal feedback. This is a wonderfully supportive group!

April 30th:   Guest speaker: Stephen Puleo, non-fiction author, shared his thoughts on writing and the importance of sharing personal stories and histories. Stephen is an author, historian, teacher, public speaker, and communications professional. He has published seven narrative history books, and his eighth book, The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in April 2024. Several of Stephen’s books were raffled off at the event. 

May 7th: Writing Talk. A TRtW facilitator lead a discussion on a short piece of writing—about writing! 

In the evening, local photographer, filmmaker, and historian David Watts, Jr. presented an illustrated talk: V-Mail is Speed Mail! The Second World War is likely the most documented war to date. Books, feature films, documentaries, amongst others, continue to come out some nearly eight decades since the war ended. Valuable lessons learned from the mail difficulties experienced during World War I prompted the U.S. Post Office Department, the Navy Department, and the Department of War to find a way to make sure that mail was reliably

delivered both ways no matter where in the world. The answer was V-Mail. David's presentation was engaging and intriguing--as history often is when presented by a skilled historian. As a bonus he also brought along two sections of the World War II exhibition, that Richard Binder and David assembled for last year’s Battle for the Airfield.

May 14th: Memoir Workshop.  Kathy Shine Cain, Professor Emeritus, Merrimack College, lead a one-day session on crafting your own personal story. In addition to teaching, Kathy directed the Merrimack College Writing Center and has taught Writing the Personal Memoir courses to college students and adults.

May 21st: Open Mic. To wrap up this program year, each person will have about three minutes to share something they've written or read.  In the true fashion of Open Mics, this will be readings only—with the audience following up with a round of applause in support of their fellow writers.

Special thanks to the wonderful Linda Malcolm, local author and Coordinator for Senior & Veteran Programming for The Room to Write. 

Our weekly programming at the Wakefield Senior Center is free thanks to our sponsor The Savings Bank. Monthly programming at the Stoneham Senior Center is free thanks to the Stoneham Bank. 

Enjoy a few more photos below.