Back        Home

Town of Hampden

Regular Meeting of Council on Aging Board
9:00AM at the Hampden Senior Center
Sept. 14, 2004

Approved: Oct. 12, 2004

In Attendance: Brian MacLeod, Becky Moriarty, Rita Vail, Pat Clark, Virginia Schneider, John Shay, Al Ouimet, Ruth Haley, Arlene Fisher

Absent: Shirley Gouvan

Guests: Bill Olmstead

Brian called the meeting to order at 8:35 am

The secretary’s report-review and accepted

The treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted

The Director’s report was reviewed and accepted

• At the town meeting being held on October 25,2004 we will request the restoration or the clerical hours. This may not be placed on the agenda as there is no funds available at present.
• We were gifted a generator from the town.  A cement slab, gas, electrical and plumbing work will need to be done to have it up and running. The Friends of the Seniors are looking into funding that expense.
• 3 bids for the automatic door have been received.  We hope to have the work completed by winter; the lowest bid will be sent to the selectmen for approval.
• We are presently accepting bids for the snowplowing contract until the end of October.
• The flu clinic will be held in November, expecting it to be within the first week.  We are still looking into medicare reimbursement.
• MCOA is October 27-29. Becky will be attending.
• Linda Gaudette has passed away and we will be looking for a new member.
• Special lunches will begin again.  They have been well received and participation is enthusiastic.
• Prescription Advantage open enrollment is in September only.
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield is having a speaker come to present there programs on September 28th.

Virginia, Becky and Virginia’s husband have evaluated the “Brown Bag” program in Indian Orchard. This program works from voluntary donations, and the food bank, any monies brought in by this would go back into the food bank. The income bracket determines those people receiving it. The program is well run, though we need to acknowledge that it has been established for a while. They have the foods brought to them in a truck and we would need to arrange a pick-up for our portions.   There was some concern expressed over the need for organizational time and volunteers before implementing it here.  We need to determine how many people would be eligible here in Hampden. Also the issue of perishable foods would need to be addressed. It was determined that further investigation would occur and we will discuss it again at the next meeting.

The Travel Program.  Joan Day is interested in a program “the Travel Group”, still questions of combining a program with Monson.  It was felt that we would present this as a separate business in the community and it will be offered as an alternative for our seniors.

The Senior Center Sign.  Arlene has seen the sign and expressed dissatisfaction with the progress. After discussion it was decided that we will graciously bow out of his offer to do this for us and pursue other avenues.  Brian agreed to communicate with Mr. Klitsas.

The meeting was ended at 9:45.  Our next meeting will be Tuesday October 12, 2004.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ruth Haley, Secretary