Pledge: President Gary McCauley
Prayer: Nathan Wise
Song: NBNS
Brents Card Game Winner: Alan Schwarz
Sargeants Report: Pete Zucco
Raffle Winners: Sue Consoli, Bill O'Shaughnessy, Pat DeVito
Happy Bucks: Pat Settembrino is back!, Brent wasn't sure why he was happy, lots of bucks for our guests, the sunshine, Alan going to Cat Island in the Bahamas, Gary goint to PETS (Rotary Presidents Training)
Program: OS Senior Strings, Susan Consoli, Martha Hurley
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| Susan Consoli | Martha Hurley |
Susan Consoli, the OS Social Services Coordinator and Local Agent for the Elderly, is organizing "Senior Strings", a group of senior citizens that will learn how to play the violin! Martha Hurley started a program for middle school students to get them interested in music and it was very successful with a high retention rate. She played a song for us on her violin to get us in the musical frame of mind.
"Research has shown that learning a musical instrument may help Alzheimer's disease. Music and cognition are inexorably linked; we know that perceiving and creating music require complex neural (brain) activity. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a loss of neurons and the connections between them. Interestingly, a clinical study showed that older adults who were more active, including those who played an instrument, were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than less active older adults. The cognition involved in learning to play an instrument fosters the growth and strength of the brain's neural network, and as such can act as a deterrent for Alzheimer's disease as well as other forms of dementia. Music playing in particular is something that people can continue to enjoy for longer than their occupations, or strenuous physical activity. It also has cognitive, physical and potentially social components, so it engages many brain networks." - Emory University, M. Pilar
Please call Susan Consoli at 860-395-3188 if you have a violin you no longer need/use, and it will be given new life as part of Old Saybrook Senior Strings! If you would like to be a part of this project, let Susan know.
The club will consider support of this project through our Community Outreach Committee.
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