Senior Village at SaddleBrooke

Music Matinee August 21

SaddleBrooke is in for an August treat when Senior Village hosts a Music Matinee that features two favorite performers. Join the group in the Sonoran Room, MountainView, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m.

JoAnn Wilbour will be at the piano playing old standards, a few Beatles songs, a touch of country, and a little Carole King and Elton John to make for an entertaining afternoon.

JoAnn is the coordinator of the Senior Village Music Matinee. She had the idea and presented it to Senior Village. She makes it work. Behind the scenes, she is scheduling musicians several months in advance. JoAnn meets with performers to review their equipment and setup needs and varies the talent to bring an enjoyable offering to SaddleBrooke residents who are treated to an afternoon of free entertainment with friends and neighbors.

The Catalina Chorale with Randall Dighton on the guitar will be back for a return performance. Randall is an accomplished guitarist who directs the chorale and performs for benefits and social events in the area. If you missed this performance earlier this year, mark your calendar for the August program.

To learn more about performing in a future Music Matinee, please contact JoAnn Wilbour at [email protected].

Senior Village invites you to this relaxing event on Monday, Aug. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Sonoran Room.

Champagne, Anyone?

Melanie Einbund

The Senior Village Book Club recently read The Widow Clicquot. We took this book and made it our own!

We celebrated this fascinating woman who looked toward the future against tremendous odds!

We enjoyed her story with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsard champagne. Sipping this prestigious champagne as we spoke made comments fly! We smiled a lot, too!

The story of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot is fascinating. She was 11 when the French Revolution began, and she lived through many wars, including the Napoleonic Wars. No matter the obstacle, she always moved forward. Widowed at age 28, she took the helm of her husband’s wine company and made it her own.

Clicquot is the woman who built a champagne empire and became world-renowned in her own lifetime.

She had a fire in her belly, determination, and a vision for her product. She was a legend in her time with courage, a huge work ethic, commitment to innovation, met challenges head-on, and made her mark in the male-dominated industry of winemaking. Her legacy is having us all know the beauty of champagne.

Veuve (Widow) Clicquot invented riddling the champagne (clearing the cloudy yeast after fermentation). She ventured into foreign markets, primarily Russia, by direct sales and cutting out the middleman. She made the first rose champagne by adding red wine to the bottle.

We learned a lot. Widows in Veuve Clicquot’s time were able to make their own decisions and run businesses without having to ask permission. Veuve Clicquot was among others, including Alexandrine Louise Pommery.

Clicquot’s ability to carry on by getting shipments out of France to foreign ports during wars, which meant taking risks that the champagne would not fail, is astounding. Her traits and actions give us pause to remember that we all have that drive in us when we need to move forward.

Our Senior Village Book Club talked and laughed and elaborated on the continuous passion that directed her to fulfill her dream and purpose. Our observations and comments were filled with admiration, amazement, and respect for this woman who took over a company in a competitive industry in Reims, France, before the Industrial Revolution.

The Senior Village Book Club meets on the third Thursday of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. If you are interested in reading good books among friends who enjoy conversation, please contact [email protected].

The Book Club is one of the ways that Senior Village creates meaningful social contact for people.

The Key to Success—Answer Your Phone

Linda Hampton

Senior Village Executive Director Linda Hampton offers a friendly tip to members.

Once a member makes a request of Senior Village, a volunteer will call to arrange details. Our friendly volunteers want you to have their names and to know exactly when you should expect them. Sometimes, resistance to answering a phone call from an unfamiliar number will cause the member to miss that important call. Sadly, after four or five attempts to reach the member, the volunteer may be forced to give up.

Along the same lines, it is important that members check their voicemails. Messages are left to give important information about a member’s request, including the name and phone number of the volunteer. If the message is heard, the return call is made, and all details are worked out, both the member and the volunteer have a successful experience.

Please answer your phone, and if you miss a call, listen to your messages. The key to success starts with “Hello.”