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Home My WebLink About2008-12-02 Regular Meeting GRAPEVINE SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY BOARD Cr Minutes of Tuesday, December 2, 2008 meeting Grapevine Senior Activities Center 421 Church Street Grapevine, TX 76051 817-410-8130 1. Call to Order The Grapevine Senior Citizens Advisory Board met at 3:40 PM on December 2, 2008 at the Grapevine Senior Activities Center. The following members were present: Dick Guckel — Chairperson Tena Burrell — Co-Chairperson Pam Price, Secretary Paul Ernst Carey Miller R. Bruce Walters Pat Frosch — Ex-officio, GRACE Joetta King — Ex-officio, Housing Authority Dorothy Kritz— Ex-officio, Grapevine Senior Activities Center Others present: Kaye Grayson, SAC Director Chris Smith — Recreation Superintendent— Parks & Recreation Roy Stewart— City Council Member Liaison 2. Welcome Guests — no guests were present 3. Consideration of minutes for October 7, 2008 meeting Bruce Walters moved that the minutes be approved as read. Carey Miller seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 4. Citizen Requests There were no citizens' requests to discuss. 5. New Business a. Housing Authority update — Joetta King The Housing Authority Party for residents is scheduled for Friday, December 12 from 11AM-2:30 PM at the Betsy Mitchell House (Grapevine Botanical Gardens). Guests will bring their favorite dish to go with turkey, ham, dressing and rolls provided. Rick Mang, a pastor and a guitarist, will perform at the party. CI, Page 1 of 4 Preservation Tree Service has completed the scheduled removal of diseased and dead trees and crown pruning trees that created a clearance issue on all the properties. Landscape improvements at Starnes/Brewer units should commence soon with plantings of ornamental and shade trees to improve curb appeal. In addition to improving the quality of life for residents, the improvements will help when the federal government evaluates the exterior appearance of the units and the determination of the Housing Authority's scoring level. b. Grapevine Relief And Community Exchange (GRACE) update—Pat Frosch The holiday season has been a very busy time for GRACE. For Thanksgiving 520 baskets — including 100 senior citizens —were delivered as compared to this same time last year when 390 baskets were distributed. Over 34,000 pounds of food were furnished for the holiday and this same amount will be furnished at Christmastime as well. On a daily basis between 20-25 use the food pantry. At Thanksgiving Good Shepherd Catholic Church provided 100 turkeys. Others who have helped were Compass Church and First United Methodist Church of Grapevine. There were drivers who volunteered as well. The pantry is located on Walnut Street. On a regular basis between 100-110 people use the food pantry, but during Christmas, the numbers increase to 120-125. GRACE furnishes gifts, baskets, and Christmas food. The pantry now has a walk-in freezer. Residents of Grapevine, Southlake, and Colleyville can go to GRACE for assistance. With the weakened economy, many people are without jobs or have had their hourly work schedule reduced. During Christmas over 400 people are expected to use the two drive-through lanes when food is distributed on Friday, December 19 and Monday, December 22. Volunteers are always needed during the holiday season. Anna Shore (817-488-7009) coordinates the volunteers. Assistance given this year has not only included the holiday needs, but all rent and gasoline needs. Between 50-84 people request assistance on a daily basis. On Monday, December 1, there were 84 who visited GRACE. The Women's Division of the Chamber of Commerce purchases gifts for senior citizens. In October, they interviewed seniors and compile their"wish lists." Each senior receives a basket with supplies as well as a gift card to Wal-Mart worth $50- $75. There is one stackable washer/dryer unit as well as another washer/dryer unit this year. Over 500 families will participate in this year's Christmas Cottage compared to 420 families in 2007. At the Christmas Cottage for the children, a specific amount of money Page 2 of 4 may be spent per child. The Cottage is located in a building donated by Tim Lancaster located on Industrial Blvd. in Southlake. The Christmas Cottage will be open from December 10-22 this year. People are scheduled every 30 minutes. This year 100 bicycles and helmets have been donated. There will also be Wal-Mart gift cards. The Computer Program at GRACE has been cancelled. Not enough people signed up to warrant having the classes. The Rotary Club has taken the computers that were refurbished and given them to disadvantaged students in the middle schools. To apply for one of these computers, students must write an essay explaining why they need the computer. Twelve students are selected at one time to receive the computers. When the board asked what Grapevine residents could do with their used computers now that GRACE doesn't accept them, we were told that any Rotarian could be called. Walt Milner and Roy Stewart, of the Board, are both Rotarians who can be contacted. GRACE's clinic located at 837 East Walnut — next to the food pantry— is open to patients on Tuesday nights. Appointments can be made between 5:30-10:00 PM. The diabetic clinic is held on Monday nights. Once a month there is an acute care clinic. The current voluntary medical director will be leaving GRACE when she moves to New Zealand. Dr. Song Lee who volunteers at the clinic the third Tuesday of the month will be the consultant until a new medical director has been found. This clinic does not duplicate the immunizations that the Health Department handles. c. Senior Activities Center (SAC) update C, Monday, December 1 from 2:15-5:30 PM approximately 8-10 seniors at the SAC sacked popcorn donated by Cinemark Tinseltown Grapevine to be used at the Carol of the Lights that night in downtown Grapevine. Chris Smith noted that a 25-minute computer light show has been set up to correlate with Christmas music at the Gazebo this Christmas season and encouraged the board members to see it. He told how energy-efficient the city has been with the use of LED lighting —which should reduce the usage to 10% of last year's usage. Computer Classes will be offered in January and February 2009 with registration of classes being held on Monday, January 5. The Center and the computer lab coordinator have been working on marketing the program to the public not only in Grapevine but also in senior centers in other suburban communities near Grapevine. Seniors are also encouraged to participate in MindFit, a computer software program that exercises your brain. Kaye Grayson, Director of SAC, was asked if our citizens utilize programs offered by other senior centers. She emphasized that each center offers a variety of activities — not at all the same in each center. The dances offered by our center are attended by seniors from all over the surrounding area. The monthly dance at the SAC is scheduled for Saturday, December 6th. The Gary Lee Orchestra will play for the dance. Approximately 75 seniors will attend this dance. On Saturday, December 6 from 1:45 until 5:00 pm around 25 seniors will attend the Christmas Pageant "The Littlest Wiseman" at the Scott Theater in Ft. Worth. Page 3 of 4 • . (11. Thursday, December 18 the senior Christmas Dinner will be held at Uncle Bucks in Bass Pro Shop. Prior to going in the SAC buses to dinner, the Timberline Elementary School Choir will perform at 12:30 at the SAC. At 2:00 Doc Gibbs, a one-man show, will perform on the keyboard. Approximately 100 seniors will attend the luncheon. The seniors who turned in volunteer hours at the SAC were treated to a volunteer luncheon at the Feed Store on White's Chapel. The SAC Choir has been invited to sing during the Chamber of Commerce's Christmas luncheon. Home Instead sponsored a Christmas package wrapping party and students came to the SAC to help with the gift-wrapping. Roy Stewart, Chris Smith, and Kaye Grayson toured the SAC building facility several weeks ago and made a list of improvements that need to be made to the building. It has been placed on the schedule to be painted in this budget year. Chris Irvine wants to have the City Council members look over this list. Roy will set up a facilities committee to look into miscellaneous items such as plumbing and the painting proposed. The last time the building was painted was 7-8 years ago. Pointing out the scuffmarks made by the chairs in the activity room, Roy mentioned that perhaps some sort of chair rail might be added along with repairing the rubber base molding at the floor line. 6. To Do Dick Guckel brought up the issue that the City's website is not very user friendly for senior citizens. He handed out a printout showing the steps required to find information about the center and pointed out how difficult this procedure would be for anyone interested in learning more about the center. A suggestion was made to bring this concern to the city's attention and Roy and Dick will work with the city manager. 7. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:28 PM. Respectfully submitted, Pam Price, Secretary Minutes approved by the Board on 3 day of (Irr Page 4 of 4