Minutes
Council On Aging · from the Town's website · 4 pages · 33 KB
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MEETING MINUTES WINTHROP COUNCIL ON AGING Date: Thursday, December 11, 2025 Time: 10:30 AM Location: Robert A. DeLeo Senior Center 35 Harvard Street, Winthrop, MA 02152 Present: Matt Rodes, Director, Council on Aging Nicole Rizzotto, Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator, Council on Aging Linda Cronin Andrea DeSouza Kathy Driscoll Cynthia Huff Heather Martin Absent: Alice Haskell, Chair, Council on Aging Mary Vitale I. Call to Order The Meeting was called to order by Matt Rodes, Director, Council on Aging, at 10:32 AM. II. Approval of Minutes A Motion was made by Cynthia Huff and seconded by Linda Cronin to approve the Minutes of the November 13, 2025, Council on Aging Meeting. The Minutes were approved. III. Programs Report A. Matt Rodes distributed Rose Kaye ’ s updated report on upcoming Senior Center events and activities. B. Matt Rodes reported that the Winthrop Police Department ’ s Senior Outreach sessions will resume in January and are currently scheduled through May of 2026. C. Matt Rodes reported that Mystic Valley Elder Services will be conducting a five-week workshop on Smartphone Photography. These sessions will be held on January 7, January 14, January 21, January 28 and February 4, from 1 PM to 3 PM. D. Matt Rodes reported that Maureen MacAdams will be conducting a Broken Jewelry Workshop on Monday, January 26, from 4 PM to 5:30 PM. The cost for attending this workshop is $10. E. Matt Rodes reported that our first Cardio-Drumming session will be held on Monday, January 5, from 4 PM to 5 PM. To date, 15 people have signed up for this, and we could probably accommodate as many as 20-24 people. F. Matt Rodes reported that we have no parties scheduled for the month of January. Our Valentine ’ s Day Party is scheduled for Wednesday, February 11. Mystic Valley Elder Services will be sponsoring $1,500 towards this event to celebrate their 50 th anniversary. Matt reported that we are planning to have pizza and a salad bar for this event, with ice cream for dessert. 100 tickets will be for sale for this event. G. Matt Rodes reported that our 3 rd Annual Health and Wellness Fair is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, from 11 AM to 2 PM. Rose Kaye has the vendor ’ s list and will work with Kirsten Kilburn on this event organization. Matt reported that we are hoping to once again have demonstrations such as yoga, reiki, etc. during the event. H. Matt Rodes reported that he is still working with St. John ’ s/St. Michael ’ s regarding using their gym for a walking club. He indicated this would likely be a morning event, perhaps 10 AM, and could perhaps be a Monday/Wednesday/Friday scheduled event. IV. Outreach Report Nicole Rizzotto reported that she has been helping people who are trying to obtain a Winthrop Parking Sticker for 2026 as many people do not have a computer or smartphone on which to do this. V. Director ’ s Report A. Matt Rodes reported that the Senior Center will be closing at noon on Wednesday, December 24 and will be closed all day on Thursday and Friday, December 25 and December 26. The Senior Center will be open during regular hours on Wednesday, December 31 and will be closed all day on Thursday, January 1, 2026. B. Matt Rodes reported that both daily attendance at the Senior Center as well as van ridership has increased in 2025 from 2024. He provided a report including graphs detailing these increases. He is hoping we can continue to increase this even further as we move forward. C. Matt Rodes reported that our Holiday Party at the Elks was a big success. He reported that our van provided rides for 15 attendees. He indicated that we would probably have our next year ’ s Holiday Party at the Elks as well. D. Matt Rodes reported that Movie Day will be moved to Monday in 2026 – to the second Monday in the month in the afternoon. He reported that January ’ s movie will be the live- action remake of “ Beauty and the Beast ” . E. Matt Rodes reported that Vuolo ’ s may be conducting a cooking demonstration at the Senior Center in the New Year. F. Matt Rodes reported that WCAT will be installing microphone equipment in the large activity room on December 16. Once this is done, we will be able to tape shows such as the exercise class, yoga, tai chi, Zumba, etc. for airing on WCAT. Both the yoga and tai chi and Zumba instructors have already indicated that would be open to this, and we would need to be sure that any participants who would prefer not to be taped will be accommodated. G. Matt Rodes reported that the Delvena Theatre Group has applied for another Grant and is hoping to perform “ Julia Child ” . Matt reported that both Rondae who is planning to conduct the hip hop/square dance session and Roger Tincknell who will be the entertainment at our Mother ’ s Day event in May have also applied for Grants. H. Matt Rodes reported that he is working with Cheryl Toby of All Around New England to schedule a Tall Ships Harbor Cruise with lunch aboard the Odyssey, with possibly a stop at Faneuil Hall following the cruise before heading home. We are looking at either July 13, July 14 or July 16. The cruise would be limited to 50-55 people. Matt is waiting to hear from Cheryl Toby regarding the price, and he is going to ask the Friends of the Winthrop Council on Aging if they might be able to subsidize part of the cost. I. There was a discussion on perhaps having guest speakers every other month instead of every month at our Coffee and Conversation get-togethers. J. Matt Rodes reported that the PACE Program was interested in providing Reiki sessions. There was a brief discussion on perhaps trying to integrate this with our current Reiki schedule. K. There was a brief discussion regarding the new design/layout for the monthly Senior Center Newsletter which was designed by Nicole Rizzotto. Everyone agreed that the new design/layout was excellent. VI. Old Business There were no updates to report. VII. New Business There was no new business to report. VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Linda Cronin and seconded by Heather Martin. The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 AM. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, January 8, 2026. Respectfully Submitted Kathy Driscoll, Secretary, Winthrop Council on Aging Adopted by the Board at the meeting of January 8, 2026 ___________________________________ Alice Haskell, Chair Winthrop Council on Aging