CITY OF ROCKVILLE
SENIOR CITIZENS COMMISSION

ROCKVILLE SENIOR CENTER
1150 CARNATION DRIVE

January 23, 2003
10:00 A.M.

Members Present: Art Farina, Audrey Beck, Stuart Crump, Winston Lark, Bill Morgan, Marty Roney

Members Absent: Ciriaco Gonzales, Murray Stein, Jonathan Triandafilou

Staff: Jill Hall Lorraine Schack

Re: Opening and Welcome

Commission Chair Art Farina called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Chair Farina asked the Commissioners to observe a moment of silence.

Re: Approval of Minutes

Chair Farina asked if there were any additions, deletions or corrections to December’s minutes. There being none, the minutes were approved as read.

Re: Commissioners Reports

Audrey Beck, reporting for The Young In Heart Club, said their January meeting had been held on the 16th with approximately 40 members in attendance. Audrey noted that she had distributed hand-outs from the Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP) advising the members of the contact information should any of them feel the need to call for an appointment to discuss problems with insurance, Medicare, Long-term Care insurance, etc. In closing, Audrey said they also discussed plans for upcoming meetings and their May 15th installation program.

Stuart Crump, reporting for the Town Center Club, said their January 2nd meeting had approximately 30 members in attendance. There was no business conducted as Eileen McGuckian had been scheduled to present a program on the history of Rockville. Stuart noted he had discussed a publication on Nursing Homes published by the Maryland Commission on Aging.

Bill Morgan, reporting for the Senior Associates, said their January meeting had been on the 21st with 15 members in attendance. The treasurer reported a balance of $4,245 and plans were discussed for upcoming trips. Officer elections will be held in February and their installation will be held at the Flaming Pit Restaurant in Gaithersburg.

Winston Lark, reporting for the Friendly Club, advised their meeting had been in the 21st with 8 members in attendance. He added that they had discussed meeting dates and finally came up with the 4th Tuesday of each month, 10:00 a.m., noting the Club Constitution will be amended to note the change.

Marty Roney, reporting for the Willing 3 C’s, said their last meeting had been a “Tea” with members bringing their favorite cup and saucer or mug. During discussions, members had expressed concerns about long-term care insurance and Marty had asked the Commission members for suggestions as to what she could tell the members. Lorraine had advised that SHIP would be of great assistance and suggested she give them a call to see if they would respond to and attend a future meeting. Audrey offered the phone #301-590-2819 and the website www.Medicarehelp.org from the SHIP fliers she had distributed at the Young In Heart meeting.

Reporting for R.S.I., Marty Roney said their treasurer’s report indicated they had approx. $61,000 in savings and $15,000 in checking. She said they had discussed new signs to be placed in the neighborhood to let people know about the existence of the Thrift and Gift Shops as well as the purchase of new plants for the lounge. She also said they had discussed paying for advertising in local papers for events such as holiday (daytime) Bingo or the May Yard Sale and Holiday Bazaar. In closing, she said the books were to be audited February 4th.

Jonathan Triandafilou, submitting a written report in his absence, said Bethany House had their January meeting on the 6th with 50+ members in attendance. He noted that it had been a very short meeting due to weather conditions and that the scheduled entertainment had cancelled for that reason. In closing he noted that he had spoken with the Board members during refreshments and had asked if there was anything the Commission could do to help them in any way. The answer was information on prescriptions.

Ciriaco Gonzales, reporting for the Triple F Club, had also submitted a written report in his absence. He noted that the January meeting had been held on the 13th and 51 people attended including two Senior Center Staff members and two guests. Ciriaco advised he had made a brief presentation of the activities of the Commission such as the rally in Annapolis on the 29th and their concerns about prescription drug prices and long-term health care costs. He said the City Police Chief was presented with a certificate of appreciation for the Department’s efforts during the sniper incidents. There was discussion about a future trip to a Pennsylvania music theatre and several members brought up the issue of increasing property taxes and the threat these rising costs were posing to seniors.

Murray Stein advised the Golden Ringers held their January meeting on the 8th with officer installations. Entertainment followed, “The Capitol Singing Chorus”, approximately thirty men who sang oldies and barbershop type tunes.

Re: Chair Report

Art said that the articles that have appeared in the Center Newsletter the last few months are apparently being read by Center members as he had received inquiries regarding some of the issues mentioned.

Art went on to say that he has met with administrators from different HMO organizations and was beginning to really fear the bleak outlook for low-income seniors.

Art said the Commission members needed to get organized for the rally in Annapolis scheduled for Wednesday, the 29th. Eight tickets had been purchased and Murray Stein was going to work on the issue of transportation. Art said he would get together with Murray and advised everyone that was going to meet at the Center at 7:15 a.m. on that date.

Re: Old Business

None

Re: New Business

Marty said she had recently heard that due to the major redevelopment in Rockville’s Town Center, the stores, that include Magruder’s and CVS, located in the shopping center on N. Washington Street between Middle Lane and Beall Avenue, would be closing. Marty said she believed this would cause problems to many of the seniors who live in the Americana’s, Town Center and Heritage House as the “One Stop” shopping center was the only shopping area within walking distance. During the discussion, Lorraine said she would contact City Hall and try to find out what plans were being made for this area during the redevelopment. It was noted that currently Magruder’s has petitions available for signatures at their service desk should any of the area seniors wish to come by the store and indicate they were concerned about plans to relocate Magruder’s.

Re: Staff Report

Jill Hall mentioned that she had been in contact with the Maryland Department of Aging and she wanted everyone to know that the former Maryland Senator, Jean Roesser, was the new secretary.

Jill also mentioned that if any of the Commissioners knew of anyone who might be interested in a part-time job, the Center has a few openings during daytime hours and they could refer their friends to her. Jill also mentioned that the Center Newsletter will be changing – the pull out calendar will no longer be attached to the back of the newsletter but will be available at the Center at the front desk. It was also noted that starting in October, the newsletter would be produced and mailed from City Hall.

Lorraine said she wanted to let everyone know about a new program sponsored by the National Council on Aging. BenefitsCheckUpRx is a new, free confidential screening tool that will provide seniors with a comprehensive, personalized listing of drug savings programs that cover nearly 800 medications. (See attached)

Lorraine said she also wanted everyone to know about a new program offered by The Family Hearing Center. Recently, there were awarded the Agnes C. Robinson grant and $13,000 was now available to subsidize hearing aid purchases by low-income women. For more information, interested parties can contact Julie Bobrow at TLC by calling 301-424-5200, ext. 147.

In closing, Art reminded everyone that the February meeting will be held on the 27th and the meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.