The April senior healthy luncheon was held in Mapleton at the State Road Advent Christian Church. This event was the first of three collaborative events to be hosted jointly by Northern Light AR Gould Hospital and Cary Medical Center.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
The theme of this luncheon was “Aging Well in Maine,” and Aroostook County in particular. The program opened with a welcome delivered by Jay Reynolds, MD, A.R. Gould president. He outlined the collaborative effort between the two hospitals to offer these three informative programs and luncheons on how our communities and their services can help improve the lives of older people.
Speakers were Maureen O’Connor from the Maine Council on Aging and Joy Barresi Saucier, executive director of Aroostook Agency on Aging.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
O’Connor spoke about the effect of ageism bias, when older people are discriminated against, ignored or simply excluded from planning or implementation of community services. The Maine Council on Aging launched a Power in Aging Project to target ageism, including individual ageism that focuses on personal language used when speaking about or to older persons, institutional ageism that affects employees, service recipients or customers, and systemic ageism, which involves how state and municipal government funds needs and services for older people.
Barresi Saucier spoke on specific services and future service development in Aroostook County for older people, including the agency’s rebranding process to strengthen its mission to help people cope with the aging of family members. The agency has more than 20 services and educational programs designed to help families learn about aging and navigate the maze of services and systems that older people and families will need. Those services include referrals, monetary support, workshops on living well and the coming memory care program.
The next scheduled senior healthy luncheon will be at 11 a.m. on May 9 at the church. The featured speaker will be Patricia Oh from the University of Maine Center on Aging along with a panel of local age-friendly leaders and service providers. They will discuss what an age friendly community looks like and why it is important.
Older people from Aroostook County are invited to attend. A light lunch will be provided. Contact Dawn Roberts at AR Gould Hospital, 207-768-4248 or droberts@northernlight.org.
Mapleton Daze breakfast
The Mapleton Daze Committee will host a spring breakfast fundraiser on Saturday, May 11, from 7 to 10 a.m. or until the food is gone. The breakfast will be at the Mapleton Lions Hall.
Folks will not want to miss this delicious event. There will be a breakfast buffet filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, homemade baked beans, pancakes, toast, coffee, juice and water. The suggested donation for this breakfast is $10 per person.
Diners need not be from Mapleton to come. The event is open to everyone. All proceeds and donations will go toward Mapleton Daze 2024.
Terry Sandusky is the Star-Herald correspondent for Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill and can be reached at 764-4916 or at starherald.Tsandusky@gmail.com.
