55+ Connections: Week of 9/23/24
This is the 55+ Connections weekly update. If you would like to sign up to get more updates from the city go to northlibertyiowa.org/subscribe.
There is now a paper version of this newsletter available at the library!
55+ Connections: Tuesday Gathering
Tuesday, September 24
10:30 AM
North Liberty Library – Meeting Room CD
It is time for our monthly book club discussion! This month we read Mexican Gothic by Siliva Moreno-Garcia and will be discussing it. If you read it this month, read it in the past, or haven’t read it but are interested in talking about it, please join us!
Next month, for our October read, we’ll be reading Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak:
Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.
Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.
Join us each week for a social gathering full of activities and friendly conversation – board games, puzzles, art, book discussions, and more! No registration required.
55+ Connections: Friday Lunch
Friday, September 27
11:30 AM
North Liberty Rec Center – Classrooms 3 & 4
This week it’s time for China Garden once again. After lunch, Sarah Ross from Compeer of Johnson County has put together a panel of Compeer volunteers and participants to tell us more about Compeer and answer our questions. Registration for lunch is $5 and required for all who attend. Participants must register before noon on Thursday, September 26th. Call the Rec Center to register (319)626-5716 or go online to your RecDesk Account and register yourself.
Did you know that you can sign up to bring dessert for Friday lunch and you’ll get to eat lunch for free? We can have two dessert providers every week who eat free. Just call the Rec Center at the number above to sign up for this opportunity.
Need an idea of what to bring? You could try this recipe that someone brought a couple of weeks ago:
Zucchini Chocolate Brownies
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup veg oil
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 ½ cups grated fresh zucchini
3-5 Tablespoons water
Put everything in a mixing bowl and stir by hand. Spread brownies in oiled/sprayed 9×13 pan, Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. This is a thicker brownie dough; water amount adjustable depending on moisture in the zucchini. The baker used dark chocolate frosting, but it’s your choice!
Film Fridays at the Senior Center
Friday, September 27
2 PM
Iowa City Senior Center – Assembly Room or Room 302
Come watch a free movie at the Iowa City Senior Center! There’s free popcorn!
September 27: The Nest (2020)
Life for an entrepreneur and his American family begins to take a twisted turn after moving into an English country manor.
Club 24
Monday, September 30
6 PM
North Liberty Rec Center
CLUB 24 is a program for adults and seniors to socialize over University of Iowa Athletics.
Patrons can sign up online, over the phone, or in person at the Community Center.
On September 30, we’ll be watching the Nile Kinnick Documentary.
Euchre Club
Fridays
1:00 – 3:30 PM
North Liberty Rec Center – Classrooms 3 & 4
Enjoy playing Euchre? Want to learn to play Euchre? Want to watch other people play Euchre? Join us for Euchre Club in the Rec Center right after Connections Lunch on Fridays for fun and conversation!
Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program
The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program is sponsored through the US Department of Agriculture and administered through the Heritage Agency on Aging. Qualified Seniors will receive $50 worth of check to use at participating area farmers’ markets vendors per year.
The program is open to seniors 60 years of age or older that reside in Johnson County and who have a yearly income at or below $27,861 for a single person household or at or below $36,483 for couples. Contact Jeff Kellbach, Aging Specialist at JC Social Services to schedule a time to apply. Call 319-688-5842 or email [email protected]
Did you know the library has…?
Libraries are much more than books these days and North Liberty Library is no exception! Swing by the library some time to check out what else we have to offer, including:
- Local art! We have our very own art gallery at the library featuring a frequently updated display of local art. You can learn about new-to-you artists and even find their contact information and possibly purchase a piece or two! The art is displayed in the hallway, opposite the meeting rooms. If there isn’t art in the case, there might be some other fun or educational display. You never know what you’ll find!
- Cake Pans! That’s right, you can check out novelty cake pans from the library. Perfect for when you want to bake a cake in the shape of Mickey Mouse (we’ve all been there), but you don’t want to buy a Mickey Mouse shaped pan. The library has you covered.
- Jigsaw puzzles! Not only can you borrow puzzles from the library to put together at home, you can also come into the library and work on whatever puzzle we have sitting out on our activity table. This table is located near the front desk and the puzzle on it is available for anyone to work on any time that the library is open.
- Air quality monitors! What to check the quality of the air in your house, but you don’t want to buy an expensive machine to do so? We already bought one for you! You can borrow the air quality monitor (from the same shelf as the jigsaw puzzles) and then bring it back when you’re done.
- Newspapers! The North Liberty Library is currently subscribed to The Gazette, The Iowa City Press Citizen, and The Sunday Des Moines Register, and The Solon Economist, all of which can be read in the library. You won’t have to go searching through your bushes to find where the paper-delivery-kid tossed these ones—they are in the magazine lounge next to or on top of the fireplace.
- Printing! Have documents you need to print, but no printer at home? Or maybe your printer is just misbehaving. Either way, come on down to the library and print from one of our computers or email your document to [email protected] and we’ll print it for you to come pick up! You get the first $3 of printing free and after that it’s only ten cents a page for black and white or fifty cents a page for color!
