October 2015 From Our President

Summer went quickly it seems and it is hard to believe we are in the last quarter of the year 2015 already.  We recently held our third Community meeting, at which we had the pleasure of hearing Jim Resnick, Senior Outreach and Education Program Manager of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, talk about home safety issues.  Who could have guessed that learning about smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors could be so entertaining?  We are fortunate to have someone of his experience, caliber and concern available to counsel homeowners on these important safety issues.  He has offered to return so that those who couldn’t make this presentation have another chance and also to sign up for home safety inspections as many did at our meeting.
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Jim also described the “File of Life” program introduced as a community initiative in Montgomery County.  It is a packet, which can be obtained from the Fire and Rescue Service, which, when filled out by a resident, enables Fire and Rescue personnel to obtain a quick and accurate medical history when a patient or family member is unable to offer one.  We are pleased to be able to provide these Village educational programs and will continue to do so.  Again, we thank him, on behalf of the Village -- he was received enthusiastically by an engaged audience.      
 
Our approach to Social Activities, as well as to educational programs has been to try out a variety of things and see what happens.  The book club is growing with 10 attendees at its last meeting as reported by Carol Ann Rudolph!  This quarter a few new opportunities to attend cultural events are announced.  Village participants offer a ride to select events someone might otherwise hesitate to attend alone.  If you have ideas for similar new things to try – at least once – let Melissa Crown know. 
 
One of our most important activities in the coming quarter is to begin to offer training for future Village volunteers.  Gail Douglas is our designated Village “Training Manager” who will coordinate these trainings beginning in November and December.  If you are not already on the list to be contacted by her, let her know of your interest at gail.douglas2@gmail.com, or 301-652-1123.  Or send us a note at the Village gmail-address below!
 
Eva Cohen, Oct. 1, 2015