The Chronicle

Newsletter Title

Volume 9 Issue 1 January 1, 2016

Dear Friends of the Community Center,

Happy New Year! A new year is always an exciting time of new ideas and new programs for us at the Center. This year, as always, I would like your input as to new classes you might like to take, or new trips you might like to have happen, Please give me a call or stop by and visit with any thoughts on what you would like to see happening at your Community Center in 2016.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers at the Center for all their hard work in the past year and also to thank them in advance of what this year will bring. All of the wonderful volun-teers have been there for me this past year as my family and I had some health issues and not once did we have to cancel services to our clients. As the numbers of clients served and needs of people grow each year, the volunteers continue to work harder, sometimes longer hours, and more new volunteers have stepped in to help. My thanks to all of you who help in any way to make the services we provide to those in need in our community, go so swiftly and effi-ciently. We have a lot of fun working together and I consider all of you friends as well as co-workers. Thanks to you all!

As you know with the generator, the Center can be open during a power outage. Please know that if you lose power and do not have heat during these cold winter months we are a warm place to come to if you need to warm up. Call the office to make sure we are plowed out if it is a snow related outage. Even though I may not be in the building, if you call the office, it will ring to my cell phone. I will get the call and answer. Feel free to leave a message as I may be on another call, and I will call you back as soon as I am able to.

Have a wonderful January!

Robin

Robin Bialecki, Exec. Director

Weather Cancellations

With snow and-colder weather approaching

there may be clos-ing at the Center.

Closings will be posted on local TV stations and you are always welcome to call the Center at

527-5240

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Community Care Kitchen Dinners

January 5th

New Year Smorgasbord

All your favorites!

January 26th

Clam Chowder or Tomato Soup

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Brownie Sundaes

Meals served from 4:30 –to-6 PM Rolls & Butter, Juice & Coffee Served with all meals

Wednesday Morning

Ladies Group will continue to meet on

Wednesday morning from 9 AM to 11 AM.

We are always looking for new helpers to knit and crochet– stop

in and join us!

On Going Here at Your Center:

Tae Kwon Do Class Monday and

Thursday nights from 6 to 8:30 PM

Cost $5.00 per class

Line Dancing– Class Schedule

No Line danced clas-ses until February

Landscape painting class with Carl Poole.

Bob Ross style of painting. Classes will

resume in March

Clothing Closet

Hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 9 AM until Noon and

Monday, Wednesday evening 4-7 PM

Food Pantry/Gluten Free Pantry

Monday 9AM—Noon & 4—7 PM

Wednesday 9AM—Noon & 4—7 PM

Board Game Thursdays

Scrabble Club and

National League Mah Jong

Groups meet from 9:30 AM to Noon.

TOPS (Take off Pounds Sensibly) Meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 PM. Come and learn a sensible way to healthy living. For more information call Dolores at (413)- 203-1457.

Pitch Club - Monday,

Wednesday and Friday 9 AM until Noon

January 12th

Chicken, Broccoli Alfredo over

penne noodles

Tossed Salad

Jello with whipped cream

Easthampton Community Center

Board of Directors

meeting will be held Thursday, January 21st

at 1 PM

If you have any concerns and would like to be placed on the agenda, please call the office at

527-5240.

THANKS FOR THE ALL STAR DONATIONS To all of our friends at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and Our Lady of the Valley Parish for their continued

support for our Food Pantry. Trinity Lutheran Church, Christ United Methodist Church, and the Westhampton Council on Aging, as always the foodstuffs you donate help so very much!

Thank you to Donald Payson; Dave and Melissa Fagnand; Clem Couchon; Gene and Anne DeFilippo; Nancy LaFleur, Donna Cushing, A-Z Storage (David, Melissa and Thomas Boyle) and the Taralinkof family for your continued monthly support! Thank You to Tandem Bagel for their donation of bagels to our Food Pantry and to Small Oven Bakery for their wonderful donation of croissants and scones!

Thank you to all of you that dropped off coats for our winter coat drive during the month of November and December. Thank you to Valley Medical Group, Little Y at Big Y Supermarket in Southampton, for having collection boxes set up and collecting coats for the Center. Thank you to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Ho-lyoke for their donation of over 20 coats! The hundreds of coats collected have been distributed to many area families. There were many who dropped off bags of food anonymously during December. Thank you so very much to all of them and also to Suzi Buzzee and the Keller Williams group, The Eastern Band of Woodland Metis People, and the Williston Northampton Dining Staff.

All of the 380 children in our kids pantry program received a new, warm, snuggly pair of pajamas for the holi-days along with their toys. Thank you to the Our Lady Child Care Center for collecting pajamas, and to Ferry Street Package Store for their donation of pajamas. The Kiwanis Club and the Red Hat Society Ladies dona-tions assured that we had enough pajamas for all!

The Community Center is very fortunate to have associations with such groups as: The Kiwanis Club, Lions Club and Rotary Club. All of these wonderful groups have made it possible through their donations, to pur-chase turkeys, chickens, and foodstuffs for our Food Pantry and have provided funding for pajamas and toy collections for our Toy Program. The Lustenberger’s and the Southampton Lions Club collected over 350 toys for the Toy Program! Thank you for your exemplary service to your communities! Thanks to Jordan Dunham (450 toys) and Jack Boyle (115 toys) and to all those who dropped off toys during the month of December, we distributed almost 1200 toys to children in the greater Easthampton area!!

Many thanks to Lainey Wood and Fahn Miner for once again participating in the “Whobalation Cele-bration”. This year we were fortunate to have Roxanne Labato Bailey act as our song leader and thanks to Tom from Knight Productions and Tony for a great sound system. We collected 356 toys

and $360 that went to the Toy Fund Program. Thank you to Yankee Home Improvements for sponsoring the event. Thank you to the staff from Silver Spoon for the yummy hot choco-late! Our thanks to the Easthampton Police Department for the great job they did helping with the traffic and crowd.

The Grinch did a wonderful job accepting all the great toys, and having hundreds of pictures taken. He even posed for one with me, Thanks Mr. Grinch! I’m sure all of our hearts grew three sizes more that night!

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from Mary Newton !

again angel auntie bird dare eat enjoy error even ever funny gain gambler girl glory great green Happy New Year holiday hope hungry inn inning invented January first lovely makeup math nature nay novel nut only page party pat Phil pipe rain Ray riding rusty shy story tender that three tire Tom tomorrow trap twenty sixteen was wow yard young your

J H A P P Y N E W Y E A R H T

A U N T I E N J O Y E N W O W

N N L O V E L Y O U R G G L E

U G A I N T A E P O H E L I N

A A G A I N E R I S T L O D T

R R I D I N G R P H I L R A Y

Y Y O U N G A O E Y A R Y Y S

F N Y T R A P R A I N I N N I

I N I A R G N I N N I G E P X

R U S T Y A R D R O G R E A T

S F T O M M T E E V R N U T E

T Y O W A B I R D E E E R Y E

A L R A T L B A N L E V E A N

H N Y S H E E D E T N E V N I

T O M O R R O W T M A K E U P

Wednesday Morning Ladies Group

These amazing women have made a huge amount of hand made articles this year! They use donated yarn and lots of imagination to create beauti-ful articles for area nursing homes, hospitals, and Veteran Centers. This year we also helped make Christmas Ornaments for the Cancer Connec-

tion in Northampton.

In addition, the Ladies have once again made mittens, hats and blankets for the children that take part in the Mayor’s Easthampton Toy Program.

They made 147 Kid Blankets and 347 Hat and Mitten sets for the children of Easthampton! We are so very proud of their contributions all year long

to their community!

4 Afghans; 27 Baby Sets; 25 Assorted Baby articles; 20 Large Hat and Mitten sets; 52 Lap Robes; 5 Bone Pillows; 18 Prayer Shawls; 30 pairs of Slippers; 60 Therapy Balls; 17 Walker Bags; 150 Christmas Ornaments; and 93 Newborn Baby Hats ! Job well done, Ladies!!

Travel News

.

There will be no trips in January and

February due to uncertain weather

conditions.

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Prepare! Don't Let a Winter Storm Take You by Surprise

Before the storm strikes, make sure your home, office and vehicles are stocked with the supplies you might need. Make sure farm animals and pets also have the essentials they will need during a winter storm.

Your primary concerns at home or work during a winter storm are loss of heat, power and telephone ser-vice and a shortage of supplies if storm conditions continue for more than a day. In either place, you should have available:

Flashlight and extra batteries

Battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio and portable radio to receive emergency information

Extra food and water such as dried fruit, nuts and granola bars, and other food requiring no cooking or refrigeration.

Extra prescription medicine

Baby items such as diapers and formula

First-aid supplies

Heating fuel: refuel before you are empty; fuel carriers may not reach you for days after a winter storm

Emergency heat source: fireplace, wood stove or space heater, properly ventilated to prevent a fire

Fire extinguisher, smoke alarm; test smoke alarms once a month to ensure they work properly

Extra pet food and warm shelter for pets Review generator safety. You should never run a generator in an enclosed space. Home fires are common each winter when trying to stay warm. Review ways to keep your home and loved ones safe

EA STH A M PT ON COM M U NIT Y CENT ER , I NC .

12 C lar k S t r eet

Eas thampt on , MA 01027

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S.POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT NO. 45 Easthampton, MA

EASTHAMPTON COMMUNITY CENTER, INC. 12 CLARK STREET, EASTHAMPTON

OFFICE HOURS : Monday through Friday 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM

Friday AM– Office closed to go to the Food Bank

FOOD PANTRY/CLOTHING CLOSET HOURS:

Monday 9 AM until Noon and 4 PM until 7 PM

Tuesday (Clothing Closet Only) 9 AM until Noon

Wednesday 9 AM until Noon and 4 PM until 7 PM

SHINE (Serving Health Information Needs of Elders) Dick B will be available to answer all your health insurance questions.

Please call the office at 527-5240 to make an appointment.

SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) Assistance is available at your convenience. Please call the office at 527-5240 to make an appointment.

Fuel Assistance Questions ? Please call Community Resources and Advocacy, 17 New South St, Suite 116, Northampton

No Walk–ins Please make an appointment Phone 413 582-4237