AUBURN — SeniorsPlus, the designated Agency on Aging for Western Maine, will hold a breakfast to benefit its Meals on Wheels nutrition program. The Fill the Plate Breakfast will be held from 7 to 9 a.m. Friday, March 23, at the Hilton Garden Inn Riverwatch.
The breakfast will also honor Auburn resident Hugh Keene with the Ikaria Award and feature a talk by Elizabeth Peavey, creator and performer of the award-winning, one-woman show, “My Mother’s Clothes Are Not My Mother.” Tickets are $20 ($25 at the door) and are available at www.seniorsplus.org or by calling 207-795-4010. Seats are limited and advance registration is recommended.
In her talk, Peavey will discuss the frustrations, compromises, revelations — and humor — entailed in the complicated relationship between a child and an aging parent, as depicted in her show. The show has played to sold-out houses since 2011 and received the 2013 Maine Literary Award for Best Drama.
Peavey has served as a lecturer of public speaking at the University of Southern Maine for more than 20 years. She has taught creative nonfiction at the University of Maine at Farmington. She is the author of three books, countless newspaper features and columns, and has appeared in “Down East” magazine since 1993.
Keene will be the recipient of the 2018 Ikaria Award, which honors an individual in the community for singular and outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of older adults.
Keene served on the SeniorsPlus board of directors as well as the advisory boards of SeniorsPlus and the Frye School Housing Development Inc. In 2014, Keene retired from Lewiston/Auburn-based Community Credit Union’s board of directors, which he joined in 1967. He served as chairman of the board from 1998 until his retirement.
Keene taught science at Edward Little High School for 25 years and was the drama coach there. He has been involved with many organizations in addition to SeniorsPlus, including Habitat for Humanity, Senior College, St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Lewiston and Maine Education Association Retired.
“Hugh Keene worked hard to improve the lives of Maine’s older adults by volunteering his time, not only at SeniorsPlus but at a wealth of other organizations,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus. “We are thrilled to honor his years of dedication and hard work with the Ikaria Award.”
Ikaria is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is considered one of the world’s five “Blue Zones” — places where an estimated one in three members of the population regularly lives an active life into their 90s.
The Fill the Plate Breakfast is presented in conjunction with March for Meals, a national campaign of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.
Last year, SeniorsPlus delivered more than 100,000 meals to almost 800 homebound older adults and adults with disabilities in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties through its Meals on Wheels program. Almost 700 volunteers donate more than 25,000 hours to the program annually. Each meal provides one-third of the recommended daily allowance of nutrition, a safety check and a visit to the vulnerable adults. The majority of the consumers of Meals on Wheels are lower income or on fixed income.
The overall program goal of SeniorsPlus is to assist older adults and adults with disabilities in the tri-county area to remain at home safely for as long as possible. The overwhelming majority of older adults (greater than 95 percent in an AARP survey) wish to remain at home until they die. The Meals on Wheels program provides nourishment, socialization and regular safety checks.
Eliabeth Peavey
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