Over 60s Group

The Over 60s are thriving! Come join us!

Nine adults in activewear, one holding a small child, stand on a tennis court with racquets and balls.

Resilience is not just built in individuals.  It is built among individuals!

–Sheryl Sandberg  

Our Over 60s program began in late 2015 with the idea of exploring issues of interest and concern to our cohort facing challenges and reckonings of this time of life.

We started with a few small leader-led support groups and from this beginning, the Over 60s evolved rapidly into a myriad of activities and enthusiastic participation which addressed our mission to enhance interpersonal sharing, connection, learning and celebration within our cohort along with contributions to our FUUSN community as a whole.

In our developmental process from the initial small leader-led support groups in 2016, we then formed  ongoing self-led groups for men and women to discuss issues of aging together. These continue to this day!

Our current 2024 active Steering CommitteeSteering Committee of the Over 60s Club. Nine older adults, four seated on a couch and five standing behind them.

  • Connie Adkins (Co-chair)
  • Wendy Haskell (Co-chair)
  • Ruth Comstock
  • Judy Friedman
  • Emily Gelbert
  • Sandy Horne
  • Helen Jordan
  • Connie Stubbs
  • Claire Willis
  • Nancy Stanton

Mailing List and Library

Central to our growth has been the creation of our own mailing list which currently boosts up to 180 over 60s FUUSNites. This mailing list allows us to communicate with each other about our programs and also to exchange ideas, resources and information among ourselves.

Over 60s Mailing List: fuusn-over-60@googlegroups.com
Contact Gregs@sulliwood.org to sign up for mailing list access.

Access the Over 60s Media Library (access is granted to members of fuusn-over-60@googlegroups.com).

Over 60s Ongoing Offerings for 2024-2025 – Open to all Congregants

Friday Morning Walking Group

First Friday of Month: Cutler Park

Meet at Parking Lot at 84 Kendrick St, Needham Heights, MA 02494

Second Friday of the month: Ware Cove/Flowed Meadow, Auburndale

Meet at the parking lot at end of West Pine Street (104)

Third Friday of the month: Hammond Pond Reservation/Webster Woods

Meet at parking lot behind Chestnut Hill Shopping Center before Container Store. Hammond Pond Pkwy north from Rt 9. FIRST left after entering shopping center from Hammond Park Pkwy. Go to end of parking lot and entrance to the Reservation is straight ahead. The pond is on your right. Park anywhere.

Fourth Friday of Month: Kennard Park/Lost Pond

Meet at Kennard parking lot, 246 Dudley Road, Newton

If Fifth Friday of month: Cutler Park
From December- March- ALL walks are at the Newton Cemetery

For more information, contact Ruth Comstock, 617-571-4945.

Over 60s Fest Series – Fall 2023-2024

The Over 60s have taken the initiative to showcase our many FUUSN artists. A different art form was represented during Coffee Hour on one Sunday each month with artists displaying their general art medium together. Please fill out our feedback questionnaire!

Over 60s Presentations

Topics past and present. See our full history below the Events calendar.

Medical Issues
  • How to Advocate for Oneself in this Medical System
  • Cognitive Issues
  • Exercise as Medicine
  • Medical Aid in Dying
  • And more….
Well-being 
  • Spirituality and Aging
  • Letting Go of Regrets
  • Importance of Belonging as We Age
  • Gerotranscendence
  • Moth Hours
  • Creative Salons
  • Chair Yoga
  • Writers Rising
  • Grief
  • And more…
Getting our Affairs in Order
  • Wills
  • Planned Giving 
  • Creating a Legacy
  • Estate Planning
  • Green Burial
  • Housing Options, many presentations 

Over 60s club gives a presentation in the Alliance Room. A large number of adults seated on folding chairs with a presentation being projected onto a screen.

Current Ongoing Groups

  • Self-led, women’s and men’s, discussing issues typical of this stage of life
  • Bereavement  – open to all, – Claire Willis, LICSW, Leader clairebwillis@gmail.com  
  • Walking  – open to all, – Ruth Comstock, Organizer ruthcomstock1@gmail.com
  • Pickleball  – open to all,-  Bruce Kimball, Organizer  kimball.45@osu.edu   

Seven adults dressed warmly in jackets, coats, and winter hats, stand on a bridge over a frozen stream.

Over 60s History

From its inception the Over 60s also has organized the following workshops and presentations for both the Over 60s cohort and the congregation as a whole.

By 2017, a robust steering committee had been established providing a variety of activities, workshops and presentations with professional speakers from both within and outside of FUUSN.  In addition, the Over 60s presented a lively Sunday service related to our life cycle as well as involvement in summer service planning.

2023-2024

Over 60s Coffee Hour Artists Series:
  • September 24th – Coffee Hour is planned to be our first coffee hour art day to celebrate our Fiber Arts congregants – their sewing projects, quilts, needle point, knitting work, decorated jeans, jackets, etc,. that our congregants have worked on, perhaps never finished or still in process but enjoyed, worn, felt excited in doing, would like to teach us about.
  • October 22nd  Coffee Hour will be a Celebration of our FUUSN’s 175th  Anniversary under the guidance of the Ops Council and Board planning
  • November 19th  Poetry (original and recited).
  • December 17th  Voice – singing, choir, barber shop quartets, madrigals. Anne Born Watson will help to facilitate.
  • January  21st – Music, Instrumental, harmonica, violin, cello, original compositions.
  • February 11th  Visual Arts (drawings, paintings, watercolors, collages, mosaics, stain glass work, pottery, etc.)
  • March 17th – Authors and their books, experiences.
  • April 28th – Photography.
  • June 2nd – Gardening, flowers, landscape creations/planning, tips on invasive plants and enriching plants for insects, butterflies, healthy eco-systems.

Presentations

September 17th, 2023 – Palliative Care and Hospice: Valuable Resources

Presenter:  Joanna Stull, LMHC

Joanna reminds us as we age, we will be faced with making critical health care choices.  We are best served if we have an understanding of what Hospice and Palliative Care are before we find ourselves or our loved ones in crisis.  This presentation will help clear up confusion as well as clarify some common myths surrounding these kinds of care.

Joanna, our own FUUSN member, is intimately acquainted both personally and professionally with these services.  For over 20 years, she has ushered families and patients through end of life.  As a retired L.M.H.C., she currently provides valuable grief support.

October 29, 2023 – Ruth Kandel, MD: The Dementias 2.0: Where are We Now

This presentation reviewed the latest info on the differing types of dementias with an understanding of therapeutic options, including the latest headlines about monoclonal antibodies for treatment of Alzheimer’s. Ruth Kandel MD, Geriatrician, is Director of Memory Disorders Clinic (Hebrew SeniorLife). She is an assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School. Ruth is currently enjoying her retirement, taking courses, and writing a medical murder mystery.

Winter 2019

February 3, 2019 – Panel Speakers: the directors of Newton Senior Center and Newton-at-Home organizations shared community information and resources.  Refreshment and Q+A followed.

Fall 2018 Events

  1. September 16, 2018 – Film: “Living While Dying”
  2. September 30, 2018 – Panel re: “Life Long Learning Opportunities in Boston Area: An Overview”
  3. October 21, 2018 – Chair Yoga; Head Start Room; 12 noon..
  4. October 28, 2018 – Speaker: Phebe Sessions, Ph.D. “New Insights in Aging” – Presentation, Film and Discussion.
  5. November 11, 2018 –Speaker: Michelle Boiardi, CDP, CADDCT. Dementia Specialist.  Cognitive Health and Brain Care.   Q+A.

Winter/Spring 2018 Events

  1. January 28, 2018 – Workshop on “Trauma of War on Families and Children” presented by author and film maker, Susan Hackley with the younger congregation members in mind as a whole.
  2. February 18, 18, 2018 –  Chair Yoga with Helaine Golann.
  3. March 4, 2018 – Presentation/Discussion with  John Nichols on “Spirituality and Aging: Do we get Older and Wiser?”
  4. April 27-29, 2018 –  Co-sponsor relationship with “Living Wisely, Dying Well“ project of a weekend of various workshops, presentations, performances in different venues in Newton including FUUSN re: issues of importance to our cohort.   FUUSN hosted the True Story Theater performing “Talking About Death With Loved Ones.”
  5. June 2018 -Panel presentation on alternative living arrangements and comparative residential settings.

Fall 2017 Events:

  1. September 17, 2017 – Presentation of “ Fun Things To Do“ offered in the Boston area, provided by Barry Cotton who has an eye to the senior pocketbook.
  2. November 5, 2017 – Workshop on  “Gratitude as Wisdom and Healing” by Karen Edwards, Ph.D.

Winter/Spring 2017 Events

  1. March 9, 2017 – a panel of elder specialists,  – a lawyer, an attorney, an elder care specialist organized by Adam Shamus, Real Estate Elder Specialist in Newton.
  2. March 23, 2017 – The Conversation Project which focused on planning difficult but important conversations with families and friends regarding decisions around terminal illnesses and death.
  3. April 23, 2017 – A workshop called “Legacies of the Heart” with nationally known author and speaker Meg Newhouse.