Lifetime Learners
If you are age 50 or older, you’re invited to join more than 800 people in a variety of more than 40 day-time, non-credit courses. Most classes start in mid-September in the non-profit Lifetime Learners Institute at Norwalk Community College, 188 Richards Ave. in Norwalk.
Subjects include health, music, history, arts, language, religions, travel, literature, science, culture, genealogy, movies, current events and computers. All two-hour classes meet only once a week, without stress or tests, and run from four to eight weeks.
Classes meet at 1 p.m. and/or 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and at 10 a.m. on Friday, followed by a special guest presentation at 1 p.m. each Friday. Each course costs $30, with a 12-month $50 membership. Catalog and membership application are available online at www.lifetimelearners.org or by calling 203-857-3330.
There will be a 1 p.m. open house by LifetimeLearners on Friday, Sept. 18, in the Pepsico Theatre on Norwalk Community College’s East Campus. There will also be a special presentation of the story of a three-year, around-the-world sailboat adventure by local residents, the Kuhners.
Play Reading
Come kick off a new season of Play Reading at the Wilton Senior Center with an introductory reception in the Senior Center Lounge on Monday, Oct. 5. Andrea Ragusa moderates the play reading and discussion group at the senior center on the first Monday of every month from, 12:30 to 3.
Participants are invited to take a role or just read along and join in the discussion of the play afterward. Copies of each play are available in advance at the Wilton Senior Center. On Oct. 5, two short plays are on tap:
- Hands Across the Sea by Noel Coward.
- Sorry, Wrong Number by Louise Fletcher.
Hands Across the Sea is a short comic play that is part of a 10-play cycle, written to be performed across three nights. The plays were billed as “Tonight at 8:30” and were performed in cycles of three. The main characters were based on good friends of Coward who were always having cocktail parties in a stylish flat in London.
Sorry, Wrong Number is about Leona Stevenson, the spoiled, bedridden daughter of a wealthy businessman and the wife of Henry Stevenson. One day, while listening to what seemed to be a crossed telephone connection, she hears two men planning a woman’s murder.
Additional plays for the coming season are:
- Proof by David Auburn.
- Good People by David Lindsay Aubaire.
- Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball.
- You Can’t Take It with You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman.
- All My Sons by Arthur Miller.
- It’s Only a Play by Terrence McNally.
- Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Nora and Delia Ephron.
Five Crowns
First and third Tuesdays at 12:30. Five Crowns is a progressive rummy-style card game with spades, hearts, diamonds and stars that can be played by two to seven players. It’s easy to learn and lots of fun to play. Call Nerina Klobas at 203-210-5624 for details.
Book discussion
Fourth Tuesday of the month at 11 a.m. Michael Bellacosa from the Wilton Library has prepared a reading series for the coming year at the Wilton Senior Center. Each session begins at 11 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month.
Lunch is served for a $3 fee at noon. Books are on reserve at the Wilton Library. Brochures describing the entire 2015-2016 season are available at the Wilton Senior Center and the Wilton Library.
Weekly events
Photo Book Workshop: Mondays, Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 19 and 26, 10-11 a.m., $45 fee. Organizing photos can be an intimidating and time-consuming task. Linda Thomas and Sharon Gialo of LT Organizer will help you “tackle” this task. They will guide you every step along the way to creating a digital photo book. Now is your chance to get started in time to have a beautiful gift for the holidays. The cost of the hardcover photo book, depending upon the type of book ordered, will be payable to the instructor.
Line Dance Fusion: Mondays, 10:30-11:30 a.m., $3 drop-in fee. This program blends traditional dance steps with elements of modern line dancing. This is a great form of exercise and social interaction. Beatriz Araujois the instructor.
Yoga: Tuesdays, 11 to noon; Thursdays, 10-11 a.m., $3 drop-in fee. Denise O’Hearn, owner of Vibrant Moves in Wilton, conducts this gentle yoga class that warms up your joints, stretches and strengthens your muscles and helps your balance and focus.
Introduction to Bridge: Tuesdays, beginning Oct. 20, 1-3 p.m., $95 for the 10-week series. Bridge combines mental exercise of the reasoning faculties, short- and long-term memory centers, planning and collation skills, social interaction techniques, and a host of other mental calisthenics useful in everyday life. You will experience this entertaining and mentally demanding team game from its beginning steps to more advanced concepts by playing the game. This class is for the player with very little or no bridge experience. Dan DeVlieg is the instructor.
Tai Chi: Wednesdays, 10:30-11:30 a.m., $3 drop-in fee. Tai Chi contains a series of gentle and graceful movements performed with respiration coordination and deep concentration. Tai Chi has been shown to prevent falls and improve the functioning of daily activities. Joe Alampi is the instructor.
Open Bridge: Wednesdays, 10 to 12:30. $5 drop-in fee. Duplicate Bridge is a form of contract bridge in which contestants play identical cards, with each deal scored independently, permitting comparison of individual scores. This non-sanctioned game is for all levels of playing. This is not a sanctioned game. Dan DeVlieg will supervise.
Enhance Fitness: Thursdays, 9-10 a.m., $3 drop-in fee. Wilton Family Y brings Enhance Fitness to the Senior Center on Thursdays. This class includes 30 minutes of endurance-type activity. Leslie Hinshaw, Instructor.
Bingo: Thursdays at noon, 25 cents per card. Join the fun and the challenges afforded by playing a variety of bingo games — 60 different configurations to be exact. Winner takes all.
Feldenkrais: Fridays, 10-11 a.m., $5 drop-in fee. Explore this exciting and innovative movement method designed to relieve pain, exercise your brain and teach you to move with greater comfort, ease, and fluidity. Cathy Paine is the instructor.
Intermediate Bridge: Fridays beginning Sept. 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m., $75 for the eight-week series. This course is ideal for the person who used to play bridge but has not done so for years and needs to get up-to-date on the latest advances in this forever-evolving game, for the person who plays bridge but feels developmentally stalled and needs help getting to the next level of proficiency, or for the moderately experienced social and/or duplicate bridge players. Dan DeVlieg is the instructor.
Bridge groups
If you would like to join other seniors in an afternoon of bridge, from noon to 3 p.m., call the following organizers:
- Encore Bridge: Mondays, contact Maureen Turnier at 203-762-9386 to play.
- Duplicate Bridge: First Wednesday of the month, contact Lois Bruce at 203-762-5818 to play.
- Duplicate Bridge: Third Tuesday of the month, contact Maureen Turnier at 203-762-9386 to play.
- Contract Bridge: Fridays, contact Eleanor Mihailidis at 203-762-8720 to play.
Coming events
For the week of Sept. 18:
Friday, Sept. 18 , 10. Feldenkrais with Cathy Paine; 10, Jewelry Workshop with Viola Galetta; 12, Bridge with Eleanor Mihailidis; 1, Open House at Norwalk Community College for Lifetime Learners, 188 Richards Avenue in Norwalk; 1:30, Intermediate Bridge.
Monday, Sept. 21 , 20:30, Line Dance Fusion with Beatriz Araujo; 11:30 to 12:30, Blood Pressure Screening; 1, Encore Bridge.
Tuesday, Sept. 22 , 10, Acrylics and Oil with Althea Ericcson; 11, Yoga with Denise O’Hearn; 11, Book Discussion with Judson Scruton; 12, Lunch; 12:30, Mah Jongg with Kay Chann; 2, Chair Yoga at Ogden House.
Wednesday, Sept. 23 , 10, Open Bridge with Dan DeVlieg; 10:30, Tai Chi with Joe Alampi; 1, Mah Jongg;
Thursday, Sept. 24 , 9, Enhance Fitness with Leslie Hinshaw; 10, Yoga with Denise O’Hearn; 12, Bingo.
In the course of the Comstock renovation project, individual rooms in the Wilton Senior Center and Social Services wing of the building may, from time to time, become unavailable for public use. All senior programs and the room assignments will be posted at or on the entrance doors. We appreciate your understanding and patience.