City of College Station Blog

Grace Hallowell:

What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell and, today, I’m joined with Kari Williamson, our senior services coordinator.

Hi, Kari.

Kari Williamson:

Hi. How are you?

Grace Hallowell:

I’m doing well. We are easing into the new year. I wouldn’t say quite leaping yet.

Kari Williamson:

No.

Grace Hallowell:

This time of year can be a sad time. The holidays are over. It’s cold. It’s yucky outside. You just want to stay in your house, might not want to brave the outside world just yet, especially for seniors, too, that might not want to go out there, but we have a lot of fun senior programs as well as some new and exciting ones coming this year.

Kari Williamson:

Yes. It’s that time of year where you’re wanting to get more active or meet new people or try new things. Now, I would say we have a variety of programming, for those 55 and over, to help you achieve any new goals that you have or if you’re just looking for that community of people that you haven’t had before or you just moved back here to be close with family. Yeah, we just want to get you involved and surrounded by people that have the same interest as you and people that you can do things with even outside of our community centers.

We are introducing several new programs this year. A lot of people are excited about our computer and tech classes. We’re going to be starting those Tuesday, January 8th, at Southwood Community Center from 10:00 to 11:00. Our instructor will have a topic for each class covering basic Microsoft applications, emails, how to browse the internet safely. Every week, every class, she’ll have a different topic and will answer any questions that you have on computers or your tablet, your cell phone.

Following those classes, our computer lab will be open from 11:00 to 3:00. If you don’t have computer access at home or if you have a project you want to work on before our exercise class or something, you can take that time in our computer lab to do whatever you need to do or ask questions. We’re just here to help you with any of your technology needs.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes, and it’s safe. There are no silly questions.

Kari Williamson:

No. No. I mean, with the way technology changes every year and all of the updates, we want to keep you up to date on everything so, when you’re on your phone or tablet, it’s not a stressful experience for you. We’re really excited about that one.

We’re also offering three different meditation classes at Southwood Community Center. Starting on Tuesdays from 8:00 to 9:00, we’ll have a Active Meditation class. Our instructor will have you standing and will lead you through a meditation. She’ll also be teaching a Gentle Meditation class on Fridays from 8:00 to 9:00. This will be similar to the class on Tuesdays, but seated, slower pace, really going to teach you how to relax and be present and give you the tools that you need to be stress-free in your everyday life.

We’ll also have a Heartfulness Meditation class. This will be on Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:30. This will be a very quiet meditation practice. They’ll be seated. She’s really going to walk you through different ways throughout your day that you can relieve some stress and be really present in what you’re doing in the moment. We’re really excited about those three. I think meditation has so many benefits.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes. It’s very important, and it’s something that, when you are so stressed, you don’t even think about. You just think about going and going and going, and it’s really important to pause and breathe and give your mind a break before you get burned out.

Kari Williamson:

Yes, and so these instructors are really going to give you the techniques and tools that you need to do to incorporate that in your everyday life. We’re happy to have them and teach us some new ways to live a stress-free life in the new year. We also have chair volleyball.

Grace Hallowell:

That sounds like so much fun.

Kari Williamson:

Yes. We introduced chair volleyball in the fall, and it was so much fun. You don’t even realize you’re exercising. We play music, and everybody’s singing, dancing and playing chair volleyball, and you don’t even realize how much of a workout you’re getting. Everybody loved it, so we’re bringing it back as a regular program. We’re going to be offering it on the first and third Thursday of every month at Southwood from 1:00 to 3:00. We play music. We provide water for you. It really is a good time. I enjoy that one a lot.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes, a fun, unique way to be more active.

Kari Williamson:

Mm-hmm, and we get our staff involved, and everybody has a good time, so we’re excited about chair volleyball. We have a new seated exercise class that’s going to be offered at Meyer Senior and Community Center. A lot of our exercise classes are in the mornings. This will be an afternoon option from 1:00 to 1:45 on Tuesdays. Everything will be done in the chair, be set to good music, and so we’re excited to have another seated exercise class at Meyer. We also have, introducing, karaoke.

Grace Hallowell:

Fun.

Kari Williamson:

Yes. We’ve had some suggestions on having a karaoke night or some type of afternoon where we sing songs and everything, so we decided to make it a program, and we’re offering it on the first Thursday of every month… oh, I’m sorry, the fourth Thursday of every month from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Southwood Community Center. We have a projector. We’re going to put the lyrics up on the screen and microphones, make popcorn. It’ll be fun.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes. That’s very fun. I love karaoke.

Kari Williamson:

Me, too. I always get into it. They’re really excited for that new program, but besides our new programs, we have a lot of other things that we’re offering, too. Throughout the week, we have several different exercise classes, line dancing. We have lots of games that we offer at Meyer Center and Lincoln Center. If you’re just wanting to get some exercise in the new year, you can go to Lincoln Recreation Center in the mornings and you can use their open gym. They have free weights, a treadmill and all the equipment that you need to stay active. You can also walk the gym in the mornings at Lincoln Center, so a lot of different ways to get active this year.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes. If someone is looking themselves or maybe you’re looking for your parents to get them more involved in these activities, what is the process for that? How do they go about doing that?

Kari Williamson:

We can either walk into any of our community centers. We have programs at Meyer Center, Southwood Community Center, and Lincoln Recreation Center. We’d love to help you. We have monthly calendars that tells you everything that’s going on for the month. You could also go online to cstx.gov/seniors. It’s a listing of every program we offer with descriptions in case you’re just not sure what a certain program is. We give you all the details, instructor info, times, dates. Everything is on our website. You can always contact me. My information is on the website as well. We would love to answer any questions you have because, sometimes, it can be intimidating getting started in something new. We want to make you feel comfortable and welcome when you come to our programs.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes. Some of these programs, there is a membership fee for them.

Kari Williamson:

Yes. If you’re a resident of College Station, it’s $27 for a whole year. If you live outside of College Station, it’s 32, but we do offer some free events and programs. We have our Senior Night Out Dance and Games coming up. This month, it will be January 26th at Southwood Community Center from 6:00 to 9:00. We have a DJ. You can play games. You can bring your own game. We have light food and refreshments. That is a free event for those 55 and over, and we do offer those almost monthly.

Grace Hallowell:

Thank you so much for joining us today. I know that was a lot of information.

Kari Williamson:

Yeah, it is.

Grace Hallowell:

There’s a lot of good ways to beat the winter blues-

Kari Williamson:

Yes. Absolutely.

Grace Hallowell:

… especially for those over the age of 55. Well, thank you so much, Kari.

Kari Williamson:

Yeah, you’re welcome.

Grace Hallowell:

That’s What’s Up.

What’s Up College Station Archive