Stay young! Get involved!

Transcription

1 Stay young! Get involved! MEETING SET FOR DINNER THEATER ACTING GROUP A number of people have expressed an interest in performing in the TASCA Mystery Dinner Theater that we are planning. With that in mind, George Clair and Donna Oldham, who are heading up the committee for this fundraising event, have planned a meeting to bring all interested performers together in one place to discuss possibilities. Mystery Dinner Theater has become a popular venue for non-profit organizations like TASCA to raise funds and have a lot of fun at the same time. So it seems appropriate for us to have our own acting company/group. Thanks to George Clair, we already have at least two plays to put on when we have the actors to participate. George and Donna have set the meeting for Wednesday June 10 from 2:00 until 3:00 PM. If you are interested in being a part of the TASCA Acting Group, mark your calendar for this meeting. If you are interested but cannot attend the meeting, please call the TASCA office (903) to let us know of your interest and we ll put you in touch with George and Donna. This is your chance to be a star for TASCA! RECEPTION TO HONOR LONG- TIME TASCA MEMBER A reception honoring Marilyn McWilliams on her 90th birthday will be held at University Christian Church, June 7, from noon until 2:00 PM. Marilyn and her husband Paul were very active and instrumental in the early days of TASCA and before the building was built on Old Omen Road. After Paul s death, Marilyn continued to be active with Meals on Wheels at the church along with Pete Haygood and his wife Jean. After Jean passed, Pete and Marilyn became companions and were very active in TASCA socials and he with maintenance duties before and during the transition to our Whitehouse facility. Pete passed away in February All are invited to come by the church on Old Omen, next to our former building, to wish Marilyn a Happy 90th Birthday. For more information, contact Wanda Barber at (903) or the University Christian Church at (903) Page 1

2 DAYS OF OUR LIVES: PROFILE OF THE MONTH TASCA 42 and Pinochle players will all know and love Donna Oldham, who has been a member here for two years. Donna is also a committee member and key planner of our 42 tournaments and the Mystery Dinner Theater which will be coming to TASCA soon. Both of Donna s parents were military folks, she tells us fondly, and at the time of my birth, they were stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. I was actually born in an Army hospital in Fukaoka, Japan. She adds, My first words were Japanese as my Mamasan had a great impact on me. Since her younger brother was also born in Japan, her older brother, who was born in Dallas, never misses an opportunity to rub it in that he is the only one of us that is a native Texan, Donna jokes. After her father s retirement from the Army, the family returned to Texas, living briefly in Dallas, and then moving to Tyler because Donna s parents were looking for a quiet place to raise their children. Donna was so young when they moved to Tyler that she became what most would call a true Tylerite, attending Bell Elementary School, Moore Middle School, Robert E. Lee High School and Tyler Junior College. Donna loved school and did well in all of her subjects, but math and English were her favorites. She has great childhood memories because, as she tells us, My parents were very family oriented and her family also attended Glenwood Church of Christ for as long as I can remember. Her parents were dedicated to and involved with The Boy Scouts of America. When Donna was 12, she remembers, we spent a week at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico where she felt like another one of the boys in the scouting adventure. When it comes to world events that have had a strong impact on her life, Donna like most of her generation remembers Kennedy s assassination all too well. But she also remembers our first TV (black and white with only three channels to watch), our first air conditioner, and riding a bike to school, telephones which were attached to the house and at one time I had a four party line. And, of course, she recalls buying a hamburger, fries and a drink for 25 cents and gasoline that was so cheap we could cruise all Sunday afternoon on less than a dollar. In 1971, Donna married Charles Oldham and they moved to Palestine where they raised their blended family. I have always had a houseful of children, she says, I married into a family with two little girls and then increased our family with a son and another daughter. The children from her blended family had large families and Donna now has nineteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren to date. Donna s career reflects her love of children since she worked for the Department of Human Services Child Protective Services. Later on she worked for the Texas Prison System, the Food Stamp Program and ended my career as a fraud investigator which was definitely very interesting. Donna believes that working for the State of Texas was a wise decision because now, in her retirement, the state takes care of me. Retirement brought with it a whole new bag of possibilities. As she says, Donna filled a lot of my time with my grandchildren, but I knew they would be growing out of the grandma stage soon. She discovered TASCA when a friend suggested that she volunteer here, which she did, and not long after she signed up for the Pinochle starting class, and things have taken off from there. (See DONNA, page 4) Page 2

3 TASCA BALLROOM DANCE NEWS We re super happy to say that attendance at our May Ballroom dance was excellent! One hundred and twenty-one came to enjoy the theme of Let s Dance with music from Lynn Groom. To top that off, the dance made $745 for TASCA! Many thanks to our ballroom dance committee, Brenda Davis, Debbie Smith and Doris Valentin and to Zayjean and Chip Clark for providing such a wonderful dessert for attendees. Now, get ready to Rock & Roll for the June dance, coming up on the 12th from 7:00-10:00 PM. Dress up in your favorite 50 s gear because trophies will be awarded for best 50 s costumes. Music provided by the Tuxedo Cats and a fun backdrop will be set up for picture-taking. Snacks provided by Waterton Nursing and Rehab will be available all evening. Admission is $20 for TASCA members, $25 for guests. Reservations encouraged, and please RSVP by June 8 by calling TASCA at (903) UPCOMING BALLROOM DANCES & THEMES Jun 12 Rock & Roll Jul 10 USO Dance Aug 14 Roaring 20s Sept 11 Red, White & Blue Oct 9 Halloween Ball Nov 13 Holiday Ball Dec 31 Welcome 2016 VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS NEEDED FOR FUTURE 42 TOURNAMENTS Based on the great success of the 42 tournaments we held last November and in March, we feel confident that the events will continue to be successful as quarterly funraisers. The two tournaments alone brought in over $1200 for TASCA! With this in mind, George Clair and his team are requesting that more TASCA members become involved in the tournaments as planning committee participants, judges, helpers and especially as sponsor-seekers. For example, you may know someone who runs a small business and might be willing to donate prize money for 42 tournament winners or door prizes or lunch for the event. You can help by encouraging businesses/ business owners to sponsor these really special TASCA fun-raisers. If you re interested in becoming more involved let us know and we ll put you in touch with the tournament committee. And of course all who wish to can sign up to participate in the next tournament planned for this fall. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE Please join the TASCA staff in welcoming the following new members who have joined since March. So glad you re here! Shari Field Jean Shore Kevin Anglin Karen Anglin Nell Warren Marla Cotter Richard Poyner B. J. Poyner Sylvia Adams Wallace Riddle Betty Mix TASCA OFFICE HOURS Monday Friday 9:00 AM 4:00 PM PHONE (903) info@tasca.org ON THE WEB Page 3

4 DONNA continued Donna adds that the best part of being a member of TASCA is the friendships I have found. I feel like I am really a part of a very good thing and I value all of the folks I ve come to know. TASCA has certainly become a mainstay in my life as I now plan other activities around my TASCA schedule! We re so pleased to have Donna among us! CALLING ALL ACTORS AMATEUR OR EXPERIENCED TO PERFORM IN TASCA MYSTERY PLAY FUN-RAISERS FIRST MEETING OF INTERESTED PLAYERS WILL BE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 2:00-3:00 P.M. HERE AT TASCA For more information, call (903) Page 6

5 FREE ADMISSION DAY AT TYLER MUSEUM OF ART MOVES TO FIRST FRIDAY Tyler Museum of Art (TMA) will no longer be open on Mondays, but the first Friday of each month will be free admission day for all. If you haven t been there yet to see the exhibit called Tin Toys & Raw Realities, which opened on March 1, you still have until June 28 to check it out. And you won t want to miss the new exhibition, titled Tough by Nature: Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West, which will remain at TMA until July 12. TMA invites all to view this new exhibit free on the first Friday of each month as well as the museum s permanent collection titled Contemporary Texas, which highlights almost 30 works from Texas artists including Fisher and Surls, Terry Allen, David Bates and Skeet McAuley. The Museum opens Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. TMA is supported by its Members, Tyler Junior College and the City of Tyler. The museum is located on the TJC campus at 1300 S. Mahon. For more information, call (903) DON T FORGET! One-on-One Bridge Lessons Our favorite Bridge Guru, Milton Tompkins now offers Bridge lessons at any time during TASCA s normal open hours, including 7:00 PM on Tuesday evenings. The lessons will be by appointment only. If you would like to learn to play, you can make arrangements with Milton by calling (903) The lessons are free of charge. 423 Kellywood Lane, Tyler, TX Billy & Mary Williams (903) texastravelerstyler@yahoo.com Upcoming Trips Paragon Casino Aug WE RE NEW IN TOWN! ECHO TRANSPORTATION CHARTERS AND TOURS 2828 TEAGUE TYLER, TX Contact Billy Williams (903) (903) Lone Star Singles Dinner Out The Lone Star Singles will meet for dinner this month on Thursday June 18. Join them at Cheddar s at 5:45 p.m. This will be the last meeting until September. There will be no meetings in July and August. If you would like more information, call Wanda Barber at (903) Page 7

6 TYLER AREA SENIOR CITIZENS ASSOCIATION PO Box Tyler, TX RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED TASCA Tally June 2015 EVERYONE INVITED & WELCOME Joyful Beginnings Lutheran Church Bible Study: Sunday, 9:30 AM Worship Services: Sunday, 10:30 AM The Refuge Church Worship Services; Sunday, 2:00 PM SPECIAL JUNE EVENTS 6 1st Saturday C & W Dance Caddo Creek 9 Potluck Dinner 12 Ballroom Dance: Rock & Roll 18 Lone Star Singles Dinner Out meet at Cheddar s in Tyler 20 3rd Saturday C & W Dance Hoss Huggins & the Ponderosa Band