|
Branching Out
Sharing Stories and Information through Outstretched Arms
October 2023
|
|
|
Arbor West Neighbors offers a bountiful array of opportunities for fall. Here's a sample of what you'll find below: team-building challenges, improv sessions, timely discussions, a theater outing, fiber arts, watercolor and more. Not to mention monthly meet-ups, open to members and their guests.
|
|
|
Who Says Older Adults are Tech-Averse?
|
|
|
Gil Herman and members of the Programs Group, Hinda Blum and Catherine Marienau, welcomed 36 Arbor West Neighbors members and 6 guests to the program on Exploring Artificial Intelligence for Older Adults at the Oak Park Main Library on September 27, 2023.
|
|
|
Vijay Gurbani, Chief Data Scientist at Vail Systems and Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at Illinois Institute of Technology, and Joe Smetana, of Vail Systems, explained the development and utility of interactive voice technology (IVT) and Large Language Models (LLMs) like Chat GPT.
And then members enjoyed exploring the technology for themselves.
|
|
|
|
Louise Corzine, Gil Herman
and AWN guest
|
|
|
Kathy Clark and Chris Hauri
|
|
|
|
Margaret Prechel and
Maureen Crotty
|
|
|
Iris and Victor Yipp
|
|
|
Jan Johnston's lush corner garden on a breezy summer morning drew nearly 50 Arbor West Neighbors members and guests.
|
|
|
|
Margaret Prechel, Marion Sirefman, Betty Harris, Lissa Schwartz, Marie Kruse and Judy Beisser.
|
|
|
Jane Wood and Melissa Mickelberry are two of the volunteers who work to make meetups happen!
|
|
|
|
Dottie Hetzel, Barbara Rose and host, Jan Johnston.
|
|
|
Guest Joan Suchomel, Karin Grimes, Joy Aaronson and Hilda Schlatter.
|
|
|
|
Thunder and pouring rain didn't keep members away from the September meetup at Howard Mohr Community Center in Forest Park.
|
|
|
|
Sandra Sokol and Kathy Clark
|
|
|
Ralph Earlandson, Margaret Prechel and Geof Greer
|
|
|
|
Jean Peterman and
Elisabeth Muhlenberg
|
|
|
Meg Herman, Karin Grimes
and Sue Beckman
|
|
|
|
Henry Kranz and Joy Aaronson
|
|
|
Jane Wood and Jenny Earlandson
|
|
|
Arbor West Neighbors Ramblers
|
|
|
The Ramblers had a beautiful day exploring the trails at Thatcher Wood in September. The photo, taken by Val Lester, shows Joyce Porter, Rick VanDyke, Peter Notier, Maureen Crotty, Karin Grimes and Nancy VanDyke.
|
|
|
Interested in joining the Ramblers?
Contact Peter Notier, pnotier@gmail.com
Read about the next Ramble later in this issue.
|
|
|
|
Denise Poncher
|
|
|
Catherine Gallogly
|
|
|
|
Jan Johnston
|
|
|
Lisa Ridolfi
|
|
Marion Sirefman shares her surplus of art supplies with small gatherings of members. In two sessions this Fall, participants created beautiful cards using decorative papers. Watch for upcoming sessions with Marion (later in this issue). Email Msirefman@hotmail.com to get on her contact list.
|
|
|
Arbor West Neighbors' Green Team Tip
What to do with those greasy pizza boxes?
You can turn them into rich compost along with your eggshells, veggie peelings, even meats, dairy and cooked food scraps.
|
|
|
|
What IS and Is NOT compostable??
How do you sign up?
To learn more and to sign up:
In Oak Park, visit Oak Park's CompostAble website.
What about Oak Park's multi-unit buildings?
You can drop off your compostable bags of food scraps.
Find centrally located public compost bins here.
Live in River Forest?
Learn about curbside composting in River Forest here.
The AWN Green Team’s goal is having clean air, water and land for future generations. They will actively support climate focused legislation and policy at all levels.
|
|
|
Want to Start an Interest Group?
|
|
Interest groups are started by AWN members who wish to organize a recurring group activity. If you are interested in creating and maintaining a new Interest Group, contact Lissa Schwartz, lissa.schwartz@gmail.com with a description of your plans. If the proposed activities support AWN's vision, Lissa can assist you in inviting other AWN members to join. Organizers are responsible for planning the events and communicating with their contact group. AWN can publicize events at meetups and in each issue of Branching Out.
For example, when Hinda Blum moved to the area, she wanted to attend plays with a small, like-minded group. She partnered with Pete Notier who was more familiar with local theater. Together they organized a group outing, carpooling downtown to see Antonio’s Song at the Goodman, followed by refreshments and discussion. Hinda and Peter turned this idea into the Arbor West Neighbors Theater Going Interest Group. They select reasonably priced plays and communicate with their contact list of interested individuals. To join the group’s email list, contact Hinda Blum, hindablum@yahoo.com. Learn about their next outing later in this issue.
|
|
|
Meetups for
Arbor West Members and Guests
Opportunities to visit with old friends and make new ones.
|
|
|
Our next meetup will include a tour of the Oak Park
Park District's newest facility.
Oak Park Community Recreation Center
229 Madison, Oak Park
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 10:00 - 11:30 am
|
|
|
Mark your calendars! The 2023 Members Celebration is coming in November.
Reservations are due by Thursday November 9, 2023.
Contact Val Lester, vlester987
@yahoo.com
We hope you can attend this special evening. It will be our last gathering of the year. |
|
|
|
Programs
Workshops educate and engage you with your Arbor West Neighbors.
|
|
|
Fun Collaborative Challenges for Older Adults
Back by popular demand! Participants in Gil Herman's Fun Collaborative Challenges in February and March had tons of fun and got to know one another better. This month, Gil will facilitate a new collection of team-building challenges. An added bonus will be a few improv exercises facilitated by Hilda Schlatter and Paul Sakol.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
River Forest Library
735 Lathrop Avenue, River Forest
|
|
|
For people interested in seeing plays together.
Next Outing:
"Seagulls"
7:00 pm, October 15, 2023
Pleasant Home
217 Home Avenue, Oak Park
An indie rock musical that captures the infinite possibilities, passions and heartbreak of pursuing success at all costs: loosely based on Chekov's The Seagull.
For tickets, call the Park Festival Theater: 708-300-9396.
($30.00 + 3.85 service fee)
Contact Hinda Blum, hindablum@yahoo.com or 708-665-3999, for more information. |
|
|
Do you knit, crochet, embroider, appliqué or work with any other fiber arts? Join us on the first and third Fridays of the month from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, usually in different members’ homes.
|
|
|
Watercolor Workshop
Marion Sirefman will host a small group to explore the art of watercolors using her collection of good quality watercolor sets, brushes and paper. Create pictures, greeting cards, or just experiment and have fun.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Limit 4 participants. Email Marion at Msirefman@hotmail.com to reserve your spot and to get her address.
|
|
|
The group meets the second Monday of each month, 3:00 - 4:30 pm, to discuss thought-provoking articles chosen by group members on a rotating basis.
October 9, 2023
"How America Got Mean" by David Brooks
The Atlantic, September, 2023.
Discussion will be via Zoom
November 13, 2023
"Quit Your Bucket List," by Richard Friedman,
The Atlantic, April 10, 2023.
In person discussion at
Oak Park Main Library
834 Lake St, Oak Park
Second Floor, Small Meeting Room off the Art Gallery
|
|
|
Movie Group members independently view a movie (or sometimes at small group watch parties) in advance and gather for Zoom discussion. Volunteer facilitators rotate monthly, choosing the movie (ideally available via free streaming), offering background and leading discussion.
Next Movie Discussion
Peter Notier will moderate the 2022 movie
Life is Beautiful
October 20, 2023, 3:00 pm
available on Kanopy
(free streaming from your local library)
|
|
|
Arbor West Ramblers
Forest Preserve Hiking Group
|
|
The Ramblers meet at various locations
on the 4th Friday of the month at 1:00 pm.
The next hike:
In October the Ramblers will go to Bullfrog Lake in the Palos Preserve in hopes of seeing some good Fall color from the hills.
1:00 pm on Friday, October 27, 2023
Bullfrog Lake,
located south on the Wolf Road extension off of 95th St., Willow Springs
click here to see a map
For information and to join the group, contact Peter Notier, pnotier@gmail.com |
|
|
Board Report: Come join us!
|
|
|
Arbor West Neighbors has an active and friendly Board of Trustees who work together to help keep AWN functioning and on track to meet our mission. We are looking for members to serve Arbor West Neighbors on our Board of Trustees, as well as our Nominating Committee and Membership Working Group.
Board members serve staggered, two-year terms starting in January and meet monthly to oversee AWN activities. The board needs two new members to serve starting in January and hopes to expand the board to twelve. We are seeking people who love what we do, and especially members with strength in technology, legal issues, finance, and connections to their community.
The Nominating Committee recruits candidates to serve on the Board and to lead our Working Groups. The Membership Working Group welcomes, engages, and supports members, keeps membership records, and arranges meetups to foster social connections.
Please consider giving back by sharing your gifts in one of these roles to make AWN the place you want to be. To be eligible, you must be a member in good standing. For more information, please write or call one of the Nominating Committee members: Meg Herman, 708-217-2343, mherman@managinghorizons.com, Jan Johnston, jan.jcj@gmail.com, or Phyllis Rubin, phyllis.rubin@comcast.net
|
|
|
Meet Your Arbor West Neighbor
|
|
|
Sun-Hee Yoon lives in River Forest with her husband, Glen, former dean of DePaul Law School; her daughter, a rising Junior at Walter Payton College Prep; and Charlie, the goldendoodle.
Born and raised in South Korea, she studied in Australia and New Zealand as an exchange student and lived in Montreal before moving to the United States in 2007.
|
|
|
|
She's a former ESL (English as Second Language) teacher and early childhood educator in South Korea, and she owned Eye Level Learning Center in Morton Grove, an education business franchise, for two years. Last year, she combined her teaching and business experience by founding Sage Lifestyle Concierge. Her interests include arts, language, fashion, food and wine, gardening, and spending time with friends. Sun-Hee looks forward to getting to know Arbor West Neighbors.
|
|
Branching Out will appear bimonthly in your inbox.
Member submissions to arborwestneighbors@gmail.com for the December edition are due by November 8, 2023. Please add NEWSLETTER in the subject line.
|
|
|
|
|
