NEWSLETTER
July 2024
Page 1
Aging with
Village Board President Jane Keene, Benicia Mayor Steve Young, and Vice Mayor Terry Scott joins presenters from Solano Pride, Stephan Clifford and Macksyn Peterson, Carquinez Villagers and members of the community at the first ‘Aging with Pride’ event, June 6, 2024.
Issue Highlights
Meet Our Villagers: Tony Failla
FUNDRAISER!
Bingo at The CHILL
Note from the Desk:
Jennifer Hanley, Executive Director
First, I want to extend my deepest thanks to Stephan Clifford and Macksyn Peterson from the Solano Pride Center for their presentations at our first ‘Aging with Pride’ event. The evening was both informative and inspiring! I look forward to our continued partnership, particularly in supporting the aging LGBTQ+ community in Benicia and Vallejo. We have a lot of great things happening in July, so take your time and read through our announcements. We have two great fundraisers this month. The first is at Chipotle in Vallejo on Wednesday, July 17th, 4pm-8pm. Chipotle will donate 25% of all sales attributed to our code! CLICK HERE for the flyer and details. The second event is on Sunday, July 28th at 2pm, ‘Bingo at The CHILL’ in Benicia. We had a BLAST last year, so please join us for beautiful weather, some great prizes, plenty of wine and good friends!
Welcome
Cathy Christo
Cathy, a “Solano Girl,” grew up in Fairfield, attending St. Catherine’s Academy in Benicia and then St. Patrick’s and St. Vincent’s High School in Vallejo. After her studies, Cathy met her husband, built their lovely home overlooking the straits in Benicia, and started a family. While raising their children, Cathy ran the Computer Lab at Mary Farmer School for several years. More recently, she volunteered at the Benicia Historical Museum and is a docent at Rush Ranch Open Space. She loves hiking and gardening and has joined our walking group.
Lynda Rosenthal
Lynda grew up in New York City, moving to Oakland in her late teens. She remained there to raise her family and taught elementary school, piano, and guitar. She moved to Vallejo nearly a decade ago to be closer to her son and can often be found sitting in the Benicia bleachers, watching and cheering on her grandsons playing sports. She has previously volunteered with Faith in Action and taught piano at JFK Library in Vallejo. She is hoping to join our singing group!
Myrian Sollars
Myrian grew up in Cali, Colombia. She moved to New York as a teen, and her family made their way across the country to San Francisco. She had many adventures and finally settled in American Canyon, where she raised four amazing children and now has many grandchildren. Myrian recently moved to Casa De Vilarrasa in Benicia and has begun pursuing her lifelong dream of painting.
Kevin & Rosie Rockwood
Kevin is one of seven children whose father was the only doctor in Ashland, NH. Their family relocated to California, and Kevin ended up studying pharmacy at UC Berkeley. His wife, Rosie, was born in Bremen, Germany, and always dreamed of moving to the States. She eventually did and met Kevin on a blind date! They later married and moved to Vallejo in 1970, where they raised three children and now have four grandchildren and a great-grandson. They were part of the “Greater Vallejo Monday Night Football Watching and Gourmet Eating Society” and have been long-time friends of other Village members.
Meet Our Villagers: Tony Failla
Anthony (Tony) Failla was, is, and always will be a Bronx guy—or as he laughingly calls it, “Fort Apache, The Bronx!” Tony credits his lifelong interest in cooking to his upbringing. “I grew up helping in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother, who were amazing cooks—they did everything from scratch!” As a teen, Tony worked at a deli delivering groceries and helping in the store. He later purchased his own deli, which he ran for ten years. “I liked helping people who shopped at my store,” he remembers fondly. After closing his deli, Tony worked at a local bakery, where he learned to make bread and fresh noodles. He also earned side money as a DJ, spinning 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s music with occasional big band tracks from the 1930s. Although Tony’s record-spinning days are over, his passion for baking and pasta making continues to this day!
Tony relocated to Benicia in 2019 to be with his cousin Jim. It was then he met Carquinez Village co-founder Judie Donaldson, who persuaded him to join the Village. Tony has enjoyed his newfound community, quickly making friends at our potlucks, picnics, ferry rides to San Francisco, and the Men’s Group. He volunteers and occasionally presents live video classes to fellow Villagers, teaching bread and pasta making. Tony also volunteers twice a month with a food bank in Vallejo and relaxes at home watching classic television shows.
Through Carquinez Village, Tony quickly found connection in a new town and is a thriving member of our community who gives back and brings joy to everyone around him. Thanks for being you, Tony!
Volunteer Spotlight: Gerry Forcier
For the month of July, our spotlight is on Carquinez Village Board Member and Treasurer Gerry Forcier. For the last seven years, Gerry has donated and dedicated his time and expertise to oversee our finances, making our work possible.
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Gerry relocated to Benicia in 1974. He worked for 39 years as the Executive Director of The Arc Solano, a nonprofit organization that designs programs for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities to help them reach their fullest potential in the community. “One of my passions has been to locate or create housing for people with minimal income,” Gerry says. “I served on the boards of the Affordable Housing Affiliation as well as the North Bay Housing Coalition.” Gerry and his late wife Anita raised two sons in Benicia, and he has three grandchildren. He spent much of his free time making wine for '3 Old Guys Winery' with fellow Village members. When he’s not walking around town, he can be found at his home away from home maintaining his gorgeous tan in Kihei, Maui.
Gerry plays a critical role in our Village, utilizing his specialized skill set in nonprofit finance to help keep our organization financially sound. We don’t know what we’d do without him!
JUNE Speaker Series recap
Living Well with Hearing Loss
By Mary Kienitz & Ann Thomas
On June 20th, at the Carquinez Village Speaker Series co-sponsored by the Benicia Library, members and others heard a highly informative overview of how to live well with hearing loss by Ann Thomas, President of the Hearing Loss Association of America Diablo Valley Chapter (HLAA DV).
Ms. Thomas gave an overview of the civil rights laws requiring equal communication access for people with hearing loss. When the most well-known civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, became law, cities were required to create a transition plan, which needed to be reviewed and updated periodically. Many cities focused on mobility access and ignored hearing loss. “As a consequence, the required auxiliary aids and services, like assistive listening systems, aren’t being provided for people with hearing loss. The need is great: by age 65, one in three Americans and half of those over 75 have hearing loss,” she said. She asserted people with poor hearing are being left out.
Why are those who could benefit from technology not using it? Ms. Thomas noted there is a huge stigma surrounding hearing loss. Many people are embarrassed to admit they do not hear well and don’t know there are disability access civil rights laws that require communication access to be provided for them, so they don’t ask for the needed assistance.
The most common hearing loss among older adults is in the high frequencies. Many grandparents complain about not understanding their high-pitched grandchildren’s speech and feeling isolated during conversations as their ability to hear high-frequency sounds wanes. Their families and friends may see dementia or confusion, where hearing loss is the real problem.
New technologies have expanded communication options for those with hearing loss. Ann explained that there are an array of proprietary and third-party devices. Some of the easiest to use are apps on your smartphone, like captioned telephone calls and speech-to-text apps.
We are grateful that Ms. Thomas stayed overtime to answer the many questions from the floor. I walked out with 14 pieces of informative print literature to help me figure out my own next steps.
Carquinez Village hosts a Speaker Series on the third Thursday of every month, 10:30am-11:30am
at the Benicia Public Library, 150 E L St. These informative events are FREE and open to the public.
Check our event calendar for details. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for announcements.
FUNDRAISER!
FUNDRAISER!
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 2024
TIME: 4pm - 8pm, in-store or ONLINE
WHERE: Chipotle, Vallejo (next to Chick-fil-A)
HOW: Show this flyer, use code FH6JYJK
CLICK HERE for printable PDF flyer
CLICK HERE for online flyer and full instructions
Literary Fiction
Literary Fiction
Book Club
Book Club
Do you love literary fiction? Villager and Volunteer Diane Delaney is interested in starting a NEW Village Literary Fiction Book Club! Members would select books and meet monthly to discuss and share. If you are interested in joining, email Diane at didawgsit@gmail.com or call and leave a message at (707) 297-2472.
july Happenings
july Happenings
7/2 - Carquinez Village Board Meeting, 1pm-3pm
7/3 - Benicia Torchlight Parade, 5pm (starts at 6:30p)
7/10 - Monthly Member Picnic, 12pm
7/11 - Village Gardeners Group, 12pm
7/12 - Walking Group: Ferry to San Francisco, 10:45am
7/13 - Over 80's Group Member BBQ, 12pm
7/14 - Monthly Member’s Potluck, 5pm
7/15 - Vallejo Seaweeds Baseball Game, 6:30pm
7/17 - Vallejo Member’s Monthly Picnic, 12pm
7/17 - Chipotle Village Fundraiser in Vallejo, 4pm-8pm
7/18 - Speaker: Native Plant Gardening, 10:30am
7/19 - Fieldtrip: Reiko Tsuchida Live!, 9:45am
7/24 - Special Speaker: Preventing Cyber Crimes, 6pm
7/28 - BINGO! at The CHILL Fundraiser, 2pm-4pm
For a full list of events, check our EVENT CALENDAR.
Cheer On Our Parade Walkers!
Benicia Torchlight Parade, July 3rd
Lars Ekdahl and members will be walking in this year’s Torchlight Parade on July 3rd starting at 6:30pm. If you would like to join, wear your festive 4th of July or Carquinez Village attire and email Lars Ekdahl at lnekdahl@gmail.com or call and leave a message at (707) 297-2472.
news & links
news & links
AARP: 12 Things that are Free Under Medicare
Are You Heat Ready? Tips to Stay Cool: Older Adults
CDC: Adults 75+ Should Get RSV Vaccine
SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBTQ+ Elders
SeniorCareInc.org: Preventing Medicare Fraud
The Challenge of Helping Parents Age in Place
NextAvenue.org: Four Benefits of Aging in Place
General Information
(707) 297-2472
Service Request
(707) 741-1656
What number do I call?
NEW Healthy Aging Report Now Available!
“Developing Research Capacity for Healthy Aging with Villages”
Be sure to read this report, which contains important insights into how Village members view healthy aging and the impact Villages have on their lives. Data were collected from Village members and leaders as part of the Village to Village Network’s project with Rutgers School of Social Work and the RAND Corporation.
Help Wanted!
Help Wanted!
Would you like to help support older adults in our community? Visit our volunteer page for details.
We are currently seeking volunteers for:
Volunteer Coordinator
Help recruit and train new volunteers.
Email jane@carquinezvillage.org
Admin on call (aoc)
Looking for people to staff coverage of our general information phone line. One week a month, 2 hours a week. Email jeanne@carquinezvillage.org
Volunteer Driver
Provide a safe ride for an older adult to a medical appointment or trip to the grocery store.
Email volunteer@carquinezvillage.org
CLASSIFIEDS
FREE USED COMPUTER DESK
Call or text if interested and Merian will send a photo. Contact Merian Fernandez via email at merian_lapid@yahoo.com or call/text at cellphone (707) 246-7924
LOOKING FOR A ROOMATE?
Members can advertise here for FREE!
Want to place an ad in the classifieds?
meet the village
Tuesday Café
Every Tuesday @ 10am
Raley’s Café, Benicia
Southampton Shopping Center
*Open to the public*
Join us for a casual chat over coffee and learn all about Carquinez Village. Click here for details!
View 2023 Annual Report
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For an archive of our newsletters, click here.
For news related questions: editor@carquinezvillage.org
Carquinez Village is a charitable non-profit 501(c)(3) organization made possible by our generous donors and partners. Our mission is to build a community that provides social connection, personal support services and lifelong learning opportunities to older adults living in Benicia and Vallejo.
We are proud and active members of
Village Movement California and Village to Village Network.
For more information, call (707) 297-2472 or
email info@carquinezvillage.org.
