By Julie Dalton, Executive Director, Gramatan Village 

Feb. 8, 2017:  Gramatan Village will host a "viewing party" at the Bronxville Library in its Yeager Room on Monday, February 13, to see a simulcast from Boston of a speech by Dr. Atul Gawande, a renowned surgeon and public health researcher. A reception will follow.

The speech, which begins at 5:00 pm, is in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the founding of Beacon Hill Village and the subsequent Village Movement that its innovative model inspired, including the founding of Bronxville's Gramatan Village. 

Dr. Gawande's presentation, titled "Being Mortal's Villages: The Value of Community and Choice as We Grow Older," will be moderated by Robin Young, host of NPR's Here & Now, and feature a discussion on aging, living life with purpose, and how we can transform the possibilities for the later chapters in everyone's lives.

Community and choice are concepts long honored across the United States. They are also among the life-altering concepts in Dr. Gawande's seminal book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End and the underlying principles of Beacon Hill Village, whose founders were determined to remain in their own homes as they aged. 

To accomplish this goal, the founders created a "virtual village," which opened in Boston's Beacon Hill in January of 2002 and enabled people over 50 years of age the option of choosing how and where they live as they grow older. The concepts behind Beacon Hill Village have spread across the country, thus creating a "Village Movement," and have attracted the interest of many countries around the world.  

One of the great issues worldwide today is how to support and care for aging populations. By 2030, twenty percent of our nation's population will be over 65, an estimated 83 million people. The numbers are even larger in many countries around the world. The Village concept and Dr. Gawande's profound understanding of the importance of community and choice offer valuable insights and solutions for this challenging phenomenon. 

The Village Movement is a burgeoning worldwide movement that champions an alternative approach for adults as they grow older. Villages are unique in that they supply counseling and some services to older adults, empowering them to make wise, safe, and vibrant choices about how they wish to live.

For more information about or reservations for this event, please call Gramatan Village at 914-337-1338 or send an email to  CLOAKING .  All are welcome, but reservations are strongly recommended. 

Pictured here:  Dr. Atul Gawande.

Photo courtesy Julie Dalton, Executive Director, Gramatan Village 

By J. Murrer

Nov. 23, 2016:  The Senior Citizens Council of Bronxville and Tuckahoe (SCC) has been preparing Thanksgiving baskets (20 in all) for families in need in the Tuckahoe area for over 15 years.

This wonderful tradition started when Audrey Sullivan, the SCC chairman at the time, suggested that the council give turkeys to the Tuckahoe CAP (Community Action Program) to distribute to families on Thanksgiving. The council used a meeting room at the Tuckahoe location for its monthly meetings and thought it would be a nice gesture to help with CAP's food-distribution program for low-income families.

After several years of donating turkeys, the council decided to add the rest of the Thanksgiving feast and started making up baskets with everything a family would need for the holiday meal. Each council member donates to the project, along with others who have heard about the project over the years. 

Lorraine Mohan and Bumpty McGrath oversee the project and have it down to a science. A group of about ten council members meets at Costco the week before Thanksgiving, and within an hour they gather all the food and load it up to take to the CAP center.

An assembly line is started upstairs and the baskets are finished and ready by noon. Every family gets a 20-pound turkey, vegetables, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, pie, and whipped cream, and the baskets are all packed with love.

Council member Veronica Darcy said, "There is a group of us that have been doing this for years, and we always look forward to the shopping and assembling the baskets; it's one of our traditions on the council."

The Senior Citizens Council of Bronxville and Tuckahoe is made up of members from both Tuckahoe and Bronxville who oversee the community centers for older adults in both villages.

Pictured here (from top down): (L to R) Co-chair Bumpty McGrath, Don Brown from CAP, and co-chair Lorraine Mohan; food for baskets; SSC members assemble Thanksgiving baskets.

Photos by J. Murrer