Blog archive
June 2025
Status - June 29, 2025
06/29/2025
1619 Current Events - June 2025
06/28/2025
LOOKING BACK/PLANNING AHEAD
06/27/2025
Blogs: A Treasure Chest of Village Life
06/26/2025
Just Sing for the Joy of It!
06/26/2025
Many Hands Make Light Work
06/26/2025
Music, Memory, and Magic in Washington Park
06/26/2025
Ode to ‘Dena
06/26/2025
Over 70 and Renewing Your Driver’s License - Fact or Fiction
06/26/2025
Slippage: Facts, Fiction & Fun
06/26/2025
Small Gathering Group: Genealogy
06/26/2025
The Spirit of the Village: Onward and Upward
06/26/2025
Idiocracy, A Film Review
06/03/2025
A New Book Club and an Old Book Club: One is Silver and the Other Gold
06/02/2025
May 2025
A Day to Celebrate, Connect, and Empower: Older Americans Month at Victory Park
05/30/2025
End of Life: You Do Have Choices!
05/30/2025
Get Moving, Pasadena Village: Walking Toward a Healthier, Happier You
05/30/2025
Music: A Universal Language
05/30/2025
President's Message
05/30/2025
The New Grammar Guardian of Pasadena Village
05/30/2025
Undue Influence: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
05/30/2025
Village Within a Village
05/30/2025
What do we do now?
05/30/2025
A Tribute to Dad
05/05/2025
A Tribute to Mom
05/05/2025
A Board Director Perspective
05/02/2025
A Death Valley Adventure
05/02/2025
Ask an Architect
05/02/2025
Message from the President
05/02/2025
My 15-Minute City
05/02/2025
Neighboring Anew
05/02/2025
Scam Red Flags
05/02/2025
Sir Beckett, A Woman's Best Friend
05/02/2025
Volunteer Appreciation: Giving a New Level of Love and Caring
05/02/2025
April 2025
At Dawn II
04/30/2025
Family Hunt for Our Old House
04/30/2025
Getting Mail, A Glimmer of Altadena Spirit Showing Through
04/30/2025
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
04/30/2025
Mysteries, Yes
04/30/2025
No Exit by Bob Heinrich
04/30/2025
Pasadena Village
04/30/2025
Sunday Morning Coming Down by Kris Kristofferson
04/30/2025
The Pasadena Civic Center
04/30/2025
Upon Hearing Your Building is up for Sale by Gabriel Cortez
04/30/2025
Art From the Ashes
04/24/2025
Informal Discussion on Current Events
04/23/2025
Gratitude for the Village: Supporting Me Through the Fire
04/14/2025
The Log in Our Eyes
04/13/2025
Evacuation and Soot
04/07/2025
March 2025
About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025
Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025
Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025
Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025
Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025
I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025
Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025
Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025
My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025
The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025
Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025
Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025
Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025
Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025
What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025
Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025
Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025
THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025
Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025
Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025
A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025
Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025
February 2025
Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025
Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025
A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025
Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025
Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025
Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025
Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025
Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025
Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025
LA River Walk
02/27/2025
Message from the President
02/27/2025
Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025
1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025
The Party Line
02/24/2025
Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025
Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025
Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025
Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025
Wind and Fire
02/17/2025
Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025
Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025
Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025
Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025
Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025
Living the Mission
02/05/2025
Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025
Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025
Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025
Villager's Stories
02/05/2025
A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025
Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025
Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025
January 2025
At Dawn by Ed Mervine
01/31/2025
Thank you for Relief Efforts
01/31/2025
Needs as of January 25, 2025
01/24/2025
Eaton Fire Information
01/23/2025
Escape to San Diego
01/19/2025
Finding Courage Amid Tragedy
01/19/2025
Responses of Pasadena Village February 22, 2025
01/18/2025
A Tale of Three Fires
01/14/2025
LOOKING BACK/PLANNING AHEAD
By Bridget BrewsterPosted: 06/27/2025
“Pasadena Village is a successful organization that can face changes and challenges head on. We adjust and adapt to situations swiftly and efficiently, as evidenced in the Eaton Canyon fires. Thanks goes to the united efforts of the staff, volunteers, Villagers, board directors, and the greater community.” Board President Dick Myers began the annual Board Planning Retreat with these words. From this perspective, the work of the day began.
The Pasadena Village Board of Directors was graciously hosted by Villa Gardens who provided a wonderful lunch and the space for 17 Directors and the Executive Director to review the past year and set goals and objectives for the year ahead. The review began by reflecting upon what seemed to work well last year and what needs more attention in the coming year. Our strengths were quite clear: we responded to the Eaton Fire swiftly, courageously and with compassion; the spirit of support and volunteerism was obvious; more than 60 new Villagers were enthusiastically welcomed; the Board of Directors is unified, informed and active. Our challenges were equally obvious: we need to engage Villagers in the importance and rewards of participating and leading; we want to establish sessions for developing strong leadership; we plan to inform more clearly the need to enhance the budget through various fund and friend raising; we will address the desire for Board and Villager interactions
The work of our Board of Directors is grounded in the Strategic Plan created in 2022 and reviewed annually. Eight functional areas representing relevant Village committees and small group gatherings were identified:
LEADERSHIP: Village organization and leadership
DEVELOPMENT: fundraising for the Village
FINANCE: development of the budget
PROGRAMS: social, cultural, and educational activities including special interest groups
MEMBERSHIP: attracting, nurturing, and educating our Villages
COMMUNICATIONS: internal and external information, including the website
SUPPORT: internal and mutual support for Villagers and volunteers
PARTNERSHIPS: relationships with outside organizations
During the Retreat, each Director chose two areas to explore what else can we be doing in these areas, how to do them, and whether each person will serve an advisory role or a participant role. Board Directors will help set directions and offer guidelines so that Village Teams can implement them. Final reports are pending follow-up meetings and will be a major focus of the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
In-depth discussions concluded with Goals and Priorities for 2025/2026:
Membership Goal: 300 Villagers by July 2026
- Focus Areas & Priorities:
*Determine non-renewal, opt outs, turnover rates
~New, younger members need our attention
~Focus on the quality of our service
~Focus on forming friendship instead of providing services
~Be part of creating/planning rather than the recipient only
~Focus on ways to maintain the spirit and feeling of the surrounding community group
*Re-examine annual fundraiser
*Quarterly Board mixers with Villagers
*Support for fire survivors, providing resource connections
*Leadership chairs, co-chairs
~Clarity/description on leader responsibilities
~Clearly define committee responsibilities so people feel comfortable volunteering
Every year the Board of Directors faces the daunting task of clearly articulating information gathered from Villagers throughout the year, reviewing the Strategic Plan, and listening to each other intently as we develop goals for the next year. We are, indeed, fortunate to have a well-informed, very engaged and responsive group of individuals who give hours and hours of time throughout the year to ensure Pasadena Village continues to attract, engage and serve the aging adults in our community.
As always, all Villagers are welcome to attend Board meetings. The Board of Directors meet at 4:00 pm on the third Tuesday of each month. You can find a list of Directors on our website, and you are encouraged to reach out to any Director with questions or concerns.