Southwest Senior Center

Happy New Year, Southwest family! May you all have a safe, healthy, and prosperous 2021!

Looking for more holiday entertainment to enjoy with your family? Check out Pittsburgh Ballet's Fireside Nutcracker Special on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ8pNPoa8yc

Merry Christmas from the staff of Southwest Senior Center! Have a safe and joyful holiday!

If you've watched our concert and are still looking for more holiday cheer, check out American Music Theatre's "Home for Christmas" Special on their YouTube page. You'll feel like you've gone on a theater trip with the center, like we've done in seasons past! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXorbbKT20E

Though we can't be together to celebrate in person, please join us in raising a glass (of whatever you happen to be drinking) to toast Southwest Senior Center's 31st Anniversary! It's been a strange year, to say the least, but through it all, our wonderful center community has managed to stay connected. Please remain hopeful, stay safe, and have a wonderful holiday season!

FYI: State Rep. Joanna McClinton is having a Turkey Giveaway at Myers Recreation Center, 5803 Kingsessing Ave on Saturday Novmber 21st from 12-1pm. First come, first served!

Philadelphia announced new Covid-19 restrictions yesterday. These Safer at Home restrictions are effective November 20, 2020 through January 1, 2021. An extension of these restrictions and/or the implementation of additional restrictions is possible depending on trends in the spread of coronavirus in the city. Check out the link below for full details. https://www.phila.gov/2020-11-16-philadelphia-announces-ne/

How to join a meeting in the Max UC video conference program.

We have been notified by one of our community partners that a limited number of frozen turkeys will be donated to the center before Thanksgiving. We do not yet have all the details, but if you are a center member who is in need and has a way of picking up a turkey from the center, please contact us by either calling us or using the message button below.

How to download the Max UC video conference program to your Apple device.

Would you like to be emailed a copy of our monthly newsletter? Please contact the staff with your email address to be added to our mailing list. You can even use the message button on this post! We're also still working on getting our members familiar with the video-conferencing app Max UC. We have set up Meet Ups for every weekday this month at 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. Get familiar with the app and catch up with members who you haven't seen in months! To participate you will ...need to download Max UC to your smartphone, tablet, or computer, and you will need the meeting ID and passcode for the day you want to participate. This information is in both the printed newsletter and the email newsletter and will be emailed to those who are interested. Please take the time to share your email address with us. Your privacy is important to us. Only staff will have access to your information. We do not give/sell your information to third parties! (Do NOT post your email address in the comments section.)

How to download the Max UC video conference program to your Android device.

This Friday at 11am we will be testing out a video conferencing platform called Max UC that is similar to Zoom. If our members become comfortable with using this program, we will be able to have virtual activities, like bingo, for instance. I could post the meeting link here on Facebook, but I have been warned that because our page is public this could expose us to be being "video-bombed" by people who are not from the center. For this meeting, Lorraine will be emailing a li...nk to anyone who is interested. If you would like to be included, please go to our Facebook page and click send message in the upper corner. Put your email address in the message and send. Only SWSC staff will see your message. DO NOT put your email address in the comments below (for privacy reasons.) Lorraine will include instructions on how to download the Max UC app. She is also going to try to make a video tutorial as well that will be posted here.

Last week, we had some of our seniors fill out a technology survey while they were at our food giveaway. One bit of feedback we received is that a lot of you that are here on Facebook could use some tips on how to use Facebook better. Let's start with this basic video as a refresher. Please let us know in the comments if there are specific topics you would like to know more about! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8rh9Ref4Y

THEATRICAL THURSDAY! We'd like to celebrate this lesser known gem today, Zelda Christian Valdes, fashion designer to the stars.

Join the center's new journaling group! We'll be meeting here on Facebook every Thursday at 11am. https://www.huffpost.com//why-start-a-journal_l_5f32eab9c5

We are very pleased to announce that Current Events, a favorite Southwest Senior Center activity, will be resuming virtually on Monday, 10/19! Join our Current Events facebook group for lively discussions about what's going on in the world today. Current event topics will be posted regularly on the group's page, and the group will meet weekly at 11am on Mondays using a facebook room on the group page. Click the link below to join, or click on "groups" from the menu on Southwest Senior Center's main page, and click on "Current Events" from the group list. https://www.facebook.com/groups/3438223179631131

We are very pleased to announce that we have a new activity group: Journaling! Journaling is the practice of writing on a regular basis to record and explore your thoughts, feelings, and observations surrounding events in your life. This is a good practice to take up if you are trying to sort through all your feelings regarding the current state of the world. Journaling lessons, inspiration, and topic prompts will be posted regularly on the group's page, and the group will ...meet weekly at 11am on Thursdays using a facebook room on the group's page. Click the link below to join, or click on "groups" from the menu on Southwest Senior Center's main page, and click on "Journaling" from the group list. https://www.facebook.com/groups/798934237574853

Just a little reminder that we will be closed on Monday, 10/12 for Grab & Go meal pick up. We will resume regular Grab & Go hours, 11am-1pm on Tuesday, 10/13, and don't forget about our Food Giveaway event on Wednesday, 10/14 from 12-1:30pm. Aetna Health is helping us provide beautiful produce bags to our seniors. First come, first served!

FIELD TRIP FRIDAY! Let's visit the Detroit Institue of Art. They have several virtual exhibits available. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we'd like to suggest you take a look at the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibits. Did you know that this dynamic Mexican couple spent a year making art in Detroit during the 1930s? https://artsandculture.google.com//detroit-institute-of-ar

If you missed the great event we had on September 30th, come join us for our next Senior Food Giveaway on October 14th! This will be an outdoor event. Please wear a mask and observe social distancing! Hope to see you there!

Have you been cleaning house? Do you have boxes of old papers to shred? Come on over, and shred with us this Thursday!