Minutes
Council On Aging · from the Town's website · 4 pages · 35 KB
open the file ↗ · original at the source ↗
MEETING MINUTES WINTHROP COUNCIL ON AGING Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026 Time: 10:30 AM Location: Robert A. DeLeo Senior Center 35 Harvard Street, Winthrop, MA 02152 Present: Matt Rodes, Director, Council on Aging Heather Martin, Vice Chair Kathy Driscoll, Secretary Andrea DeSouza, Member Cynthia Huff, Member Absent: Linda Cronin, Chair Mary Vitale, Member I. Call to Order The Meeting was called to order by Matt Rodes, Director, Council on Aging, at 10:35 AM. II. Approval of Minutes A Motion was made by Cynthia Huff and seconded by Heather Martin to approve the Minutes of the March 12, 2026, Council on Aging Meeting. The Minutes were approved. III. Programs Report A. Matt Rodes reported that our Mothers Day Brunch went very well. There were 75 tickets sold. The food was supplied by Sammy Carlo ’ s in East Boston; we ordered food for 80 people, and we still had some food left over. We will be using Sammy Carlo ’ s for future events as well. B. Matt Rodes reported that the Friends of the Winthrop Council on Aging will be hosting a Pasta Dinner on Monday, June 15, from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The food will be prepared on site at the Senior Center. We are hoping to have some high school students help with the serving; the serving will be done directly to each table rather than having a buffet line. Tickets are now available for purchase at $25 per person. Anthony, our Monday van driver, will be here late that day to provide transportation to anyone who needs it. C. Matt Rodes reported that Nicole Rizzotto, our Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator, will be conducting a Red, White and Blue Bandana Wreath-Making class on Monday, May 18, at 4:00 PM. The cost for the class is $10 per person. Sign-up is required for this class; there is still space available. D. Matt Rodes reported that the Mystic Valley Elder Services Barbecue will be held on Tuesday, June 23 at noon. He has spoken with them regarding some concerns that occurred at previous barbecues, and they will address those issues. The entertainment for this event will be Just the Three of Us. Tickets for this barbecue will be $2 per person, and we will plan for 100 attendees. E. Matt Rodes reported that the Police and Fire Department Barbecue will be held in early August. F. Matt Rodes reported that the Delvena Players will be doing a show, “ Meet Julia Child ” , in mid-July. G. Matt Rodes reported that the Volunteers Lunch is being planned for the end of July. H. Matt Rodes reported that Trish Vann, our Yoga Instructor, will be taking over the Reiki sessions beginning in June. These sessions will continue to be held on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, from 11 AM to 1 PM, with each session lasting 20 to 30 minutes. There is no charge for these sessions. I. Matt Rodes reported that beginning next year we will be having two cardio-drumming classes each month. The classes will be held on the first and third Mondays of each month from 4 PM to 5 PM. Due to events that have already been scheduled, we are not able to add the second class to every month for the rest of this year, but we will be adding this second class in the months of June, August and October of this year. Matt also indicated that he will be keeping track of which people sign up for classes such as this but then do not show up. Anyone who is found to be doing this consistently will not be allowed to sign up in the future. Matt indicated that they will be sending out email/text reminders a week before the scheduled class to those who are signed up for it. J. Matt Rodes reported that the Webster First Federal Credit Union will be conducting a Fraud Prevention session on Monday, June 29, at 4:30 PM. This event will be open to the public and will be advertised. K. Matt Rodes reported that our third annual Health Fair went very well and had received positive feedback from the vendors. He indicated that next year we may have the Fair run from 10 AM to 1 PM instead of 11 AM to 2 PM as most visitors tend to be here in the earlier part of the day and begin to leave after 1 PM. He indicated that one suggestion for next year to keep people there longer would be to have a larger raffle near the end of the event – around 12:30 – with the winner being required to still be present in order to win. Matt reported that the yoga and cardio-drumming demonstrations went very well; he indicated that next year we might see about having an informational session in between the two physical demonstrations. Andrea DeSouza asked if perhaps blood pressure sessions could also be added to the agenda for next year; it was agreed that this was a great idea and would be looked into. Matt reported that the background music was very well- received. He reported that the vendors were very happy with how engaged the attendees were. He reported that the vendor from the Perkins School suggested having each attendee be given a “ passport ” and receive a “ stamp ” from each vendor they visit. Anyone who receives a stamp from every vendor, which would require them to visit every vendor table and speak with the vendor, would then be entered into a special raffle which would be held near the end of the event. An attendee would be required to still be present at the event in order to win the special raffle if he/she is chosen as the winner. Matt indicated that next year we may give the vendors a choice of donating a $100 raffle prize in lieu of a $100 vendor table fee. IV. Outreach Report Matt Rodes reported that Nicole Rizzotto had recently attended a Mass Councils on Aging conference in Worcester and had come away with some ideas of interest, one of them being a program of Pen Pals with Seniors and Third or Fourth-Graders. This would be a school-year event and could end with a pizza party at the end of the school year. The Senior Center would be the go-between for this program and would transport the letters between the seniors and the students, rather than having it go by U.S. Mail. Nicole also suggested that perhaps the Middle/High School Drama Clubs could put on shows here at the Senior Center. V. Director ’ s Report A. Matt Rodes reported that we have hired a new Program Coordinator and a new Front Desk Clerk. Carol Ferullo will be our new Front Desk Clerk. Her hours will be Monday from 12 noon to 6 PM and full regular hours on Thursday and Friday. She will train with Sheila. Our new Program Coordinator will be Kristina Stevens who also has experience in Graphic Design and will take over the production of our monthly newsletter. She will begin her job in June, and her hours will be Monday from 12 noon to 6 PM and full regular hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. B. Matt Rodes reported that we will be having the building power-washed and the paint touched-up. We will also be building a new storage closet for medical supplies which will be in the middle room where the games closet is currently situated. The games will be moved to the big room. C. Matt Rodes reported that our new mini van service is going very well. He indicated that we will be making some changes to our shopping schedule; he indicated that we currently offer shopping runs 4 days a week, and usually there are about 4 people on each run, and we may alter this so that we have more people on each shopping run. We may also add a Monday afternoon shopping run. D. Matt Rodes reported that we may try to have the Suffolk County D.A. ’ s Office come in to the Senior Center quarterly for informational sessions. E. Andrea DeSouza asked if it might be possible to ask the Fire Chief if a representative of the Fire Department could come to the Senior Center to demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket. A guest speaker at a recent Coffee and Conversation session had discussed and recommended both of those items at that session, and it was agreed that it would be very helpful to learn the proper use of both of those items. VI. Old Business There was no old business to report. VII. New Business Matt Rodes reported that he would like to initiate the election of a new Chair and a new Vice Chair for the Council on Aging. A Motion was made by Cynthia Huff and seconded by Kathy Driscoll to nominate Linda Cronin as Chair and Heather Martin as Vice Chair. The Motion was passed unanimously, and the new Officers were unanimously elected. VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Heather Martin and seconded by Cynthia Huff. The meeting was adjourned at 11:18 AM. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, July 9, 2026. Respectfully Submitted Kathy Driscoll, Secretary, Winthrop Council on Aging Adopted by the Board at the meeting of July 9, 2026 ___________________________________ Linda Cronin, Chair Winthrop Council on Aging