During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pasadena Senior Center offers many free online activities via Zoom for adults 50 and older.
Online registration for Zoom activities is required. Everyone who registers for Zoom events will receive an email link for joining each activity online. Anyone who does not have WiFi or an email address can call 626-795-4331 to receive a number to call to listen to live Zoom events by phone.
Pasadena Senior Center membership and residency in Pasadena are not required.
Virtual Writers Club — Tuesdays, May 4 to 25, from 10 a.m. to noon via Zoom. Join a group of people who like to write about experiences, real and imagined, and enjoy sharing their writings with others. The club is led by Sam Eisenstein, former instructor of English at Los Angeles Community College. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 626-795-4331.
Scenic Walkers Club – Wednesdays, May 5 to 26, at 9 a.m. Join members of the Scenic Walkers Club for leisurely strolls to picturesque local sites to enjoy the great outdoors and get some exercise. For more information, including where to meet up each week, contact Scenic Walkers Club coordinator Alan Colville at alancolville@charter.net.
Healthy Eating and Hydration – Thursday, May 6, at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Learn about nutrition, how it relates to aging and how to incorporate healthy eating and hydration into daily routines. Presented by Foundation for Senior Services. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events, or call 626-795-4331.
Cultural Thursday: “A Remarkable Odyssey” with author Nancy Pine – Thursday, May 6, at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Nancy Pine, author of “One in a Billion: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey Through Modern-Day China,” will highlight the harrowing experiences and major accomplishment of little-known yet remarkable An Wei, a Chinese man with peasant roots who dared to challenge China’s corrupt communist government and create a democratic congress in his village against all odds. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events, or call 626-795-4331.
Food Distribution Program — Friday, May 7, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Low-income adults 60 and older receive one free box of food and couples receive two. Proof of income and California ID are required for first-time recipients. Each box includes foods that meet specific nutritional needs such as cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, dry milk and related dairy products, cereals and other grain products, and more. Boxes are heavy, so bring a pull-behind personal cart to the parking lot between the Pasadena Senior Center and the Metro Gold Line station. Masks and social distancing are required. To enroll in the program or for more information, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Food Distribution Programs, then LA Regional Food Bank or call 626-685-6732.
Ask the Athletes: Women’s Professional Basketball — Monday, May 10, at 4 p.m. via Zoom. Ask the Athletes is a panel discussion and Q&A that focuses on a different sport every month. For May, the panel will consist of five former stars of women’s professional basketball: Laurie Byrd, Kirstin Cummings, Ann Meyers and Sue Wicks. The moderator will be Anne Warner Cribbs, president of California Senior Games. This event is part of the Cynthia Rosedale Memorial Sports Talk Series. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331.
Screening Mimis Film Discussion Club — Tuesdays, May 11 and 25, at 1:30 p.m. via Zoom. Diehard film fans are invited to watch an edgy and provocative movie the first and third Tuesday of every month, followed by a Zoom discussion. Participants are responsible for watching assigned films on their own in advance on free streaming services (in your browser’s search engine, type the name of the film followed by “streaming”). Prior to registering for these Screening Mimis events, email mmeovary@aol.com to receive a list of questions about the films to prepare for the discussion and to be added to the mailing list for future Screening Mimis events. Then jump into the Zoom sessions to analyze, probe and critique the films. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331. Film titles will be announced to all who register.
Nutrition Education – Thursday, May 13, at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Learn the value of making eating choices that are nutritional, easy to find and provide the best nutrients. Presented by Fransin. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331.
Sleep Patterns – Thursday, May 20, at 10 a.m. Learn how sleep patterns change as we age, the importance of monitoring the sleep cycle and simple strategies to improve sleep. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331.
Cultural Thursday: Natural Wonders of Antarctica – Thursday, May 20, at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Antarctica is just as fantastic as you’ve heard, with more wildlife than you could imagine. Dr. Philip Pryde, professor emeritus of environmental policy at San Diego State University, has had personal experiences in the Antarctic realm and will take participants on a Zoom adventure to the Antarctic Peninsula, spectacular South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331.
MUSE/IQUE Offstage Education Workshop Wednesday, May 26, at 4 p.m. via Zoom. Join MUSE/IQUE artistic producer Heather Lipson-Bell and guest artists from the MUSE/IQUE in a Minute! (…or Two) program as they explore music from the musicians’ perspective. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331.
Cultural Thursday: Songs that Won the War – Thursday, May 27, at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Join pianist Bob Lipson and singer/narrator Don Snyder for a fun and interactive musical journey through the songs of the World War II era with standards such as “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and more. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call (626) 375-2742.
Elder Justice: Changing the Conversation Around Elder Abuse – Thursday, May 27, at 10 a.m. via Zoom. This workshop will cover societal factors that help as well as hinder safety and wellness for older adults, strategies to increase safety, resources available for older adults who seek support and how to advocate for greater resources in our communities.
To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events, or call (626) 795-4331.
Virtual Book Club — Friday, May 28, at 1 p.m. via Zoom. This month’s selection is “Somebody I Used to Know” by David Bell. Read the book, then join the Zoom discussion. Bell, the best-selling author of “Somebody’s Daughter” and “Cemetery Girl,” delivers a pulse-pounding, page-turning thriller about a man who is haunted by a face from his past. When Nick Hansen sees a young woman in a grocery store, his heart skips a beat: She is the spitting image of his college girlfriend who died in a campus fire 25 years earlier, but she couldn’t be the same person because she is much younger than his late girlfriend would have been now. When Nick tries to speak to her, she rushes off. The next morning, he is told by police that the young woman has been found murdered in a hotel room with Nick’s name and address in her pocket, which puts him in the unenviable position of being a suspect. With the help of some trusted friends, he does some investigating, only to discover that what happened 25 years earlier was not as it seemed. To register, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Events, Clubs and Lectures, then Online Events or call 626-795-4331. For more information about Virtual Book Club, contact Elizabeth Cochran at drcochran23@gmail.com or (505) 228-8020.
In addition to online classes and other activities, members and nonmembers are encouraged to visit the website regularly for COVID-19 updates for older adults and other timely information, a weekly blog, monthly magazine, ongoing activities throughout the year and more.
The center, at 85 E. Holly St., is an independent, donor-supported nonprofit organization that has served older adults for more than 60 years. During the pandemic, doors are open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for social services and other critical services for older adults in need, as well as limited occupancy in the library, fitness center and computer lab. Masks and social distancing are required. All who enter are subject to temperature screening, must sanitize their hands upon entry and answer a simple screening questionnaire. Rooms are sanitized after each use.
