The FriendShip Newsletter - October 2020Office InformationContact Info: 803-602-6434 or contact@thefriendship.org Regular Hours: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Note: Due to the small size of The FriendShip office and the need to maintain physical distancing, we would appreciate phone calls to the office, rather than in-person visits, for the time being. If you do need to stop by the office to pick up or drop off something, please note that someone is in during office hours on Monday through Thursday and can meet you curbside! (The office is staffed remotely on Fridays right now, as St. John's currently is closed on Fridays.) High Five! Happy Birthday & A Special RequestFive years ago this month, The FriendShip first opened its doors to provide programs and services for older adults in Columbia who want to live healthy, independent, and active lives in the homes and neighborhoods they love. Many, many thanks to all our founders, members, volunteers, and other supporters who have brought our village to life! As a part of marking the occasion of the 5th anniversary, we are collecting stories this month from our members and volunteers about what this amazing network means to you! We hope to have as many members and volunteers participate as possible! Please share your thoughts and memories for this special project by allowing a team of our volunteers to interview and record your story about The FriendShip. You can share a brief memory or a longer anecdote--whatever you are most comfortable doing! We will share some clips of these recordings as a part of our Birthday Celebration on October 25 at 3:00 p.m., and we will also keep the recordings for use on future outreach efforts. We have some prompts/questions (available at the office) that you can use to think about what you might want to share. If you are willing to share your story or would like more information, please email the office, and your response will be forwarded to the team heading up this project (Board members Dana Turner and Will Brown). Absentee Voting Updates/RemindersIn September, The FriendShip hosted “Safe Election 2020,” featuring Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters who spoke about voting and the upcoming election. She shared the following helpful websites: scvotes.gov, vote411.org, and lwvsc.org. As a follow up to that program, please note that legislation was passed in mid-September making it such that all voters are now qualified to vote absentee in the November 3 election under the "State of Emergency" reason. Also, a witness signature is now required on all absentee ballots, per the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. If you have trouble finding someone to serve as your witness, please feel free to contact The FriendShip office. Here are two other very important reminders about voting: 1) If you plan to vote absentee by mail and have not submitted an application for an absentee ballot, that needs to be done as soon as possible. Most applications must be received by the voter registration office by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 24. 2) Early, in-person voting has begun as of October 5. For more information on either of these topics, you can visit scvotes.gov. Need a Helping Hand in the Yard?One of our volunteers has offered to help out members who might need assistance in the yard. The volunteer would be happy to work in the yard with you or take on a project herself, if needed. So, if you could use a little extra help as the fall leaves start coming down, please contact the office! While our volunteers cannot offer ongoing, regular yard maintenance, if you need help with a project like putting in fall annuals or raking leaves, we can put out the word to volunteers to see if anyone is available! Get Your Flu Shot!Here is a photo of volunteer Diane McBrayer and member Hope Mosher proudly displaying their flu shot bandaids! Follow their good examples and make sure to get yours too! October and November Events-at-a-Glance* Due to the pandemic, all events are being held virtually at this time.
On Writing Poetry, My Story - Wednesday, October 14On Wednesday, October 14, The FriendShip will host "On Writing Poetry, My Story," a very special program with our wonderful member Ann-Chadwell Humphries. As you may remember from The FriendShip's birthday party last year, Ann wrote a beautiful FriendShip blessing--and now she has a book coming out which includes that poem! Join us via Zoom at 2:00 p.m. when Ann will tell us about the story of how poetry chose her, the practicality of poetry, her writing process, and backstories to the poems she will recite. Speaker information: Ann’s poetry name is Ann-Chadwell Humphries, because her mom requested she use Chadwell as part of her name. As a girl in the Texas Hill Country, Ann competed in poetry recitation. Her 1-A school competed in literature, art, music, math, and science meets like sports. Even in Honors English in college, Ann admits not always understanding Shakespeare or poetry, but knew if she kept at it, she would be “enlightened.” Only after retirement did Ann enroll in writing at the Shepherd’s Center of Columbia where the instructors were nationally accredited English teachers and her classmates were skilled at storytelling. Now that her age has exceeded the speed limit, she is eligible to take courses for free at USC, and Ann has taken four semesters of poetry with exceptional poetry professors. She was selected by Muddy Ford Press to be the second poet in their Laureate series for debut authors. (Tim Conroy was the first.) Her book, An Eclipse and a Butcher, is very near being available. She promises to let us know when. Logistical details: This program will take place via Zoom from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14. To RSVP, please email contact@thefriendship.org or call 803-602-6434. The Zoom link and dial-in information will be sent out to all members and volunteers (as well as to guests who have RSVPed) on the morning of the program. (Please note that we do not have the capacity to have live captions during the program, but we can provide a recording with captions after the event.) Afternoon Social Hours (Oct. 27 & Nov. 24)On the fourth Tuesday of each month, The FriendShip holds an Afternoon Social Hour at 2:00 p.m. Please join us via Zoom for a chance to catch up with and get to know other members and volunteers. We will meet on October 27 and November 24. Please mark your calendars! (More details and the Zoom information will be sent out to members and volunteers in advance.) Sharing Resources & OpportunitiesThe following items have been donated to The FriendShip for members and volunteers: small containers of alcohol wipes, handmade cloth face masks and "ear-saver" bands to use with face masks, puzzles, magazines, music CDs, and audiobooks. If you'd like to check out any of the above, call the office! (We have a CD player you can borrow too.) Also, members and volunteers of The FriendShip often learn about resources and opportunities they'd like to share with others in the network. Here are a few things that may be of interest:
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