planning department - Town of Scarborough

July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011
Report continued from Community Services
seemed more like a party than a workout. These classes
were held at the middle school cafeteria on Tuesday and
Thursday evenings. This year we also offered Zumba
toning which incorporated weights into the workout and
allowed for more intense muscle toning.
Scarborough 55+ Programs
SPONSORED BY SCARBOROUGH SENIOR WOW
The 2010-2011 year brought a steady expansion of the
Scarborough 55+ Programs with a variety of new and
existing programs, transportation opportunities, and trips
that pleased even the most finicky of people.
The mission of the Scarborough 55+ Programs is to give all
seniors an opportunity to maintain dignity, enrich their
quality of life, and actively promote participation in all
aspects of community life. The Scarborough 55+ Programs
are sponsored by Scarborough Community Services and
Scarborough Senior WOW. The 55+ Programs has a
Seniors Advisory Board which provides directional advice
for development of senior programs and services to the
Seniors Program Coordinator.
The 55+ Membership Program, instituted in February 2010,
has been a wonderful success and our participant numbers
continue to grow as we near the 200 mark. For $10 per year
(or $17.50 per couple) participants receive the 55+
newsletter sent to their homes six times a year and online
registration privileges for trips. The program has also
partnered with local businesses to offer discounts at stores
in Scarborough. In February 2011 the 55+ membership
became mandatory for all those who attended trips or
participated in any of the transportation opportunities.
Membership is not mandatory to attend 55+ programs such
as BINGO games and the Wednesday lunches.
On February 22, 2011, we invited local seniors to an open
house at the Scarborough Municipal Building to see what
55+ programs had to offer. Those who attended learned
about membership, our 55+ trips, and the many discounts
offered by local businesses. Participants met Senior
Advisory Board members and enjoyed light refreshments
and a slide show highlighting the program.
Each September the 55+ Program sponsors a barbeque in
Memorial Park. In 2010, we reformatted the event by
offering an evening meal in August and subsequently we
enjoyed the entertainment of the Tony Boffa Band
performing at Concerts in the Park. We had 115 seniors
participate and are looking forward to making this an
annual event.
Every Wednesday from September to June the 55+
Programs offered lunches held at Hillcrest Recreation
Center. We averaged between 40 and 45 participants each
week and they enjoyed a variety of programming, from the
entertainment of the WOW Players to the Wentworth
storytellers, to informational programs sponsored by local
businesses. We continued to offer transportation to the
Wednesday lunches on the Scarborough Community
Services mini bus to Scarborough seniors who are 55+
members. We have also remained in partnership with
Southern Maine Agency on Aging and offer the As You Like
It plan for Wednesday lunch payments. Programming
offered at the Hillcrest Recreation building continues to
expand with the addition of Monday BINGO games along
with weekly games offered each Friday. Scarborough
Community Services and the seniors of Scarborough would
like to extend sincere thanks to the Desfosses family and
State Manufactured Homes for their ongoing support and
generosity for Scarborough seniors and for the use of the
Hillcrest Recreation Center.
Exercise and healthy living programs have continued and
Bessey Commons has generously offered the use of their
common rooms for these programs. The two programs that
ran at Bessey Commons this past year were the self-help
group Choices and a senior exercise program. We
anticipate they will continue into 2012.
The very popular Out-to-Lunch Bunch program offers 55+
members transportation to restaurants in Southern Maine.
There are three Out-to-Lunch Bunch groups, each meeting
one Thursday a month. The groups have a volunteer leader
who makes restaurant reservations and contacts
participants. Though there are times a group will have a
waitlist, the number of participants varies between 10 and
14 people per trip. Door-to-door transportation is offered to
Scarborough residents for the Out-to-Lunch Bunch
program.
The Scarborough 55+ Programs continued to offer roundtrip
transportation to an array of locations. Round-trip
transportation fees were $2 from Scarborough High School
parking lot and $5 for door-to-door services for
Scarborough residents. During the spring and fall semesters
the 55+ minibus provided transportation to USM’s Senior
College for the SAGE lectures on Tuesdays and to OLLI on
Friday. Two times a month we offered shopping at a local
grocery store for Scarborough residents. The 55+ Programs
also offered transportation to Portland Players and Lyric
Theater for their Thursday night preview performances.
The 55+ Programs day trips had the most varied
participants and were very well attended. There was such a
high demand for trips that additional dates were offered to
accommodate all who wanted to attend. The bus capacity
of 13 seats limits the amount of people who can attend each
trip. Total enrollment for the Senior WOW trips in the
2011 fiscal year was 384 compared to 256 in fiscal year
2010.
As the 55+ Program changes and grows, we continue our
goal of offering quality programming for Scarborough
seniors.
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