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Blog archive

November 2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Neighborhood Mixers

By Blog Master
Posted: 12/05/2021
Tags:
NEIGHBORHOOD MIXERS

The idea of creating neighborhood groups came out of the Social Connections committee.  As the Village grew it seemed that organizing people is “neighborhoods” was a way to build connections that could be useful in the event of an emergency or simply the need to get in touch with a new friend.  Barbara Madden took on the task of Neighborhood Coordinator and organized Village members into five neighborhoods that include areas beyond Pasadena where members live.  Each Neighborhood group selected a leader and together they set their own meeting schedules.  During the pandemic they all made the switch to Zoom and it proved to be a very effective way of keeping in touch.

Recently, Barbara and Fritzie Culick, who leads the Foothills neighborhood (Altadena, La Canada and La Crescenta) organized two multi-neighborhood Zoom gatherings, one comprised of two neighborhoods and one made up of three.  The two groups planned their own programs using “break out” rooms to encourage participation.

 The combination of Zoom technology and Barbara’s flawless manipulation of it resulted in a seamless flow back and forth between sessions in the break out rooms.  Members answered the questions, “What is good about your neighborhood?” and “When did you first come to the Pasadena area?”  

As Peter LeSourd, who along with his wife, Margo Halsted, is leader of the 91101-05 group, reported, “The result was an energetic, happy interaction in each break-out session, starting with the anticipation and then delighted recognition of who would be in each session, followed by a recognition of commonalities that the six-person group had as to Village interests and activities, followed by a discussion of a topic that had been given for that session to discuss. It was a fun game of anticipating what the "luck of the draw" would bring.”

By the end of the meetings, the members felt a greater senses of belonging and a deeper understanding of their fellow members in their neighborhood and beyond.  All agreed that this is something we need to do again – and maybe we can do it in person at some point.

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