ONGOING: Strength, Balance, Flexibility, Cardio – DVD – No Class 9/2; 10/14; 11/11, 28, 29; 12/23-1/1
It’s September – Back to Fun with WENA at Reiche Community Room!
All Activities are FREE unless otherwise noted.
Enter through Door 11 on the Clark Street side of Reiche,
take the elevator or stairs up to the Community Room.
ADA accessible.
The West End Neighborhood Association (WENA) is one of the most active NAs in Portland. It takes many volunteers to pull together our events and activities, but seeing people having fun and creating a healthier, safer and more resilient community is worth it…for all of us. We couldn’t do it without the support of the Portland Recreation staff at the Reiche Community Center. You can always visit wenamaine.org, e-mail hello@wenamaine.org to be added to our e-mail list, or check out the bulletin board on the Clark Street side of the Reiche Community Center. Here’s what’s on tap for September:
Arts/Crafts/Games Grab Bag
Every Thursday from 4:15-6 p.m. – Informal socializing, bring your own project or help with ours, play board or card games, or just hang out and visit.
Greeting Card Making
Thursday, 9/26 from 6-8 p.m. with Faith Garnett – make 3 different fall cards using a various of techniques. Materials provided. Limit of 10 – must register at hello@wenamaine.org
Elder Xercise (50+) Ongoing
We tried to stay in shape all summer, did you? Join our FREE
Mon-Fri 8:15-9:15 a.m. DVD Exercise Class for Strength, Balance, Stretch, Cardio. M,W, Th – light-moderate; T, F – moderate-vigorous.
Qigong/Tai Chi with Karen Morency
Thursdays, 3-4 p.m. Sept. 5, 12, 26
Join In!
Monday, 9/23 at 6:30 p.m. -Kickoff WENA’s year-long community building project with a showing of the documentary film Join or Die about the career and findings of Robert Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone.
Magazine Readers
Monday, 9/5 at 6:30 p.m. – September’s article is about 3M and PFAS. Contact hello@wenamaine.org for materials and to get on the e-mail list. We’re always glad to see new people!
Movies
Mondays, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 – We’ll try something new for September since the schedule is a little off due to 5 Mondays this month. The films will be two classic comedies based on the 1939 play The Philadelphia Story.. Attn: Regular attendees – Please note the time change!
9/16 – 1940 version with Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn & James Stewart
9/30 – 1956 version with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra & Louis Armstrong
Popcorn & fizzy water available, bring a snack to share if you wish. Contact hello@wenamaine.org to get on the e-mail list for more details.
Thursday Presentations, Discussions, Travelogues
From 6:30-8 p.m.
9/5 – Travelogue – Bike England, Belgium and Holland with Kip & Barb DeSerres
9/12 – Die Well Death Education with Leona Oceania Session One: Why Talk About Death? – You’re going to die. Why not die well? Preparation is key.
9/19 – Travelogue – Visit Kathmandu, Nepal with Kim Sutton
9/26 – See Greeting Card Making above
About the Activities and Presenters
Introductory Bridge Lessons
Have fun with other beginners and those who would like to review the game. This class will start with the basics of how to play bridge: evaluating different hands, when to bid, how to communicate with your partner. Bridge is good mental exercise. The classes will be an opportunity to meet neighbors
and have an enjoyable time.
Katherine Charbonneau, has been playing bridge for over 20 years and knows she still has much to learn about the game.
Card Making for Beginners
This class will focus on card stock, decorative paper, folding and stamping. All materials to make three cards with envelopes will be provided along with detailed instructions so that the student can go home and make more on their own with their own supplies.
There will be follow-up sessions in November & December. All supplies will be provided. Limited to 10 participants.
Faith Garnett began teaching card making in 2009. She sells her work at craft fairs, through private sales and online.
Die Well Death Education
We are all going to die, so why don’t we talk about it? Do our best toprepare for it so we can facilitate the “best death” possible for ourselves? While it can be overwhelming to think and talk about, talking about it does not “make it happen,” and once you have taken the steps to prepare the best you can, you can live your best life with the confidence and comfort of knowing that you have prepared for the inevitable. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your loved ones. It all starts with a conversation. Let’s have that conversation.
Leona Oceania has always been fascinated with death and baffled by the fact that we don’t talk about the one thing that is going to happen to all of us. She has trained to become an End-of-Life Doula, a Home Funeral Guide, a Life Legacy Facilitator, and a Death Educator. She also serves on the board of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maine, is the facilitator of the Portland Death Café, and is a volunteer with a local hospice organization. She has built a bookcase coffin with the prodigious Chuck Lakin, which is currently in use as a bookcase in her living room until it is needed as a coffin.
Felting
Learn to make small figures out of wool – animals, houses, trees and more. Explore needle felting pictures and as a method for repairing or embellishing textiles. All supplies will be provided. Limited to 10 participants.
Paulina Bondarava is from Belarus. She taught hearing impaired youth and is experienced at different arts, including watercolor and silk painting, batik, and tie-dye.
Mah Jongg
Mah Jongg is an ancient game first played in China in the 1300s and brought to the U.S. in the mid-1920s by Joseph Babcock who encountered the game on a ship on the Yangtze River.
The game had a strong revival in the 1950s, and today is regaining its popularity as a way to find community across generations and to keep our brains sharp! Our classes will be both introductory for new players or refreshers for those who haven’t played for awhile.
Genie Nakell had played some Mah Jongg as a teen, but after buying a
beautiful set in the 1990s, she needed to relearn. Her mother-in-law taught Genie and her husband how to play during a visit. This morphed into a love of the game and to teaching friends and couples how to play. Genie has taught 16 women and men to play and plays in three games per week, both online and in-person. Genie also has taught a group of women living at the Atrium to play.
As Genie describes, “I taught 5th grade for three years when I was just out of college, and teaching Mah Jongg combines my love of teaching with my love of the game. Combining the beauty of the Mah Jongg tiles themselves, how they feel, and the clicking sounds the tiles make as you move them around,
having fun with friends playing an ancient mentally stimulating game is what Mah Jongg is all about.”
Qigong/Tai Chi
Qigong/Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese mind-body exercise that is about moving more of your body parts with ease and awareness, opening up energy flow, circulation, and enhancing balance and strength. Tai chi is relatively easy to learn and, for many, it often continues as a lifetime journey.
Karen Morency has been teaching Seated, Low Key, and Water Tai Chi/Qigong since 2007. Being a Mechanical Engineer by training and with her knowledge of energy healing, Karen shows students how to move out of compensatory patterns into optimum ease of flow and movement.
Tai Chi Chih
T’ai Chi Chih is made up of 19 moves and 1 pose. It is a form of Moving Meditation, and with regular practice, it has been clinically proven to help with sleeplessness, ADHD, blood pressure, balance, stress, and much more. It’s a “user-friendly” form, doable just about anywhere, at any age, seated or standing. Just dress comfortably, wear shoes you feel balanced in, footies, or go barefoot.
Sara Leonard has been been a Certified T’ai Chi Chih instructor in the Greater Portland area for several years and was a student for several more. She came to T’ai Chi in search of better health, a way to combat stress, find better balance in life, bring blood pressure down. She has found that and a lot more.
If you would like to look up information on T’ai Chi Chih, simply go to taichichih.org.
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