The Community Health and Senior Service Commission (CHSSC) is implementing year one of the road map to improve the lives of older adults in Los Gatos.
As CHSSC’s chairperson, my position presumably affords me some latitude to “tongue in cheek,” think outside the box and offer some constructive ideas for making our town’s approach to aiding older adults distinctive. Our task forces, along with a team of volunteers, have made great strides in implementing the road map’s seven goals. More on that later. For now, indulge my fantasies.
Here are some of my own goals, which are admittedly different from our real goals for older adults.
Goal One, Skateboarding Older Adults: To promote active lifestyles among older adults, I propose setting up a skateboard park exclusively for them, complete with ramps, half-pipes and an on-call emergency medical technician. A retired pro skater will instruct our seniors on how to do kick flips. Knee pads, elbow pads and helmets are required. No pictures of the gawky-looking seniors are allowed.
Goal Two, Bingo Bazaar: At a recent Halloween party I played Bingo for the first time in a long time. It was fun, although I didn’t win anything. My idea is a little different from traditional Bingo. Instead of winning cash prizes, our older adults will win gadgets they haven’t a clue how to use. Think of virtual reality headsets or smart speakers, for example.
Goal Three, Older Adult Stand-Up Comedy Night: I envision a room full of white haired and bald older adults gathering for dinner and telling jokes about their ailments, their hip or knee replacements, the variety of pills they daily consume, and the joys of Medicare and Social Security. The event must start by 5pm, however, as that’s when we old folks typically eat dinner. You know, the Early Bird Special.
Goal Four, Extreme Shuffleboard League: We will form teams with quirky names and mottos such as “The Silver Sliders, We Slide, We Glide, and We Snack on Fiber.” We’ll have halftime entertainment with participants doing shuffleboard-themed dance moves.
Goal Five, Grandparent-Grandchild Daycare Swap: The daycare center will offer grandparents a one-or two-hour reprieve from having to incessantly chase after high energy grandkids. In a recent trip to Disneyland with my grandsons, who are nearly 5 and 2, they wore me down after a few hours.
Goal Six, Senior Flash Mobs: How about introducing me and others to TikTok and organizing a flash mob? We gather at various sites and dance for five minutes at each one. Do you think Taylor Swift will lead us? Better yet, forget about TikTok. Since we’re part of the elder set, how about Barry Manilow or Rod Stewart?
Goal Seven, Zip Lining Older Adults: Let’s install zip lines throughout Los Gatos to help older adults get around. They can glide from place to place. Safety nets will be present in case any older adults discover they have more gusto in their zip than they accounted for.
Back to reality.
With the help of CHSSC, LGS Rec., our town council, our County Supervisor Joe Simitian, and numerous others, older adult issues have moved to the forefront as an issue in Los Gatos. Funding for older adults has increased. New programs are up and running, such as the navigator and the HUB, which help older adults access resources. Live Oak Adult Daycare has reopened. More older adults are volunteering and more activities for older adults are in the offering. With input from CHSSC, the senior center will be reconfigured and made into a meeting place for older adults and other service providers. Long-term, a 501C3 foundation is being organized for construction of a new facility and for greater stability in the provision of older adult services. Investigations are underway to explore how other towns and cities are addressing the needs of older adults in their communities.
I am gratified by the hard work being done to enhance the lives of older adults in Los Gatos. However, that doesn’t mean I’m letting go of my wacky ideas. In fact, I predict that as we make strides in implementing the road map, many of them will also be implemented.
Jeffrey P. Blum is a family law mediator who lives in Los Gatos. He can be reached at bl*****@ao*.com.
