Monday we held a reception to recognize our former president of The Community Center, Shawn Lewin, for all his contributions to the Center since its inception. What a wonderful crowd of friends, and guests that showed up to enjoy some camaraderie, cake, juice, remembrances and laughter.

Monday was also Earth Day – the day each year we celebrate our “Mother Earth” who has been the keeper of our home for billions of years. We are just a small group of people amongst billions who make our home as environmentally friendly and safe as possible by recycling, picking up litter, and planting trees, to name a few, to prevent pollution and deforestation. As noted by our fellow Mainer, Heather Cox Richardson, Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970. It was sparked by Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” which showed the devastating effects of people on nature by documenting the effect of modern pesticides on the natural world – DDT, a popular pesticide of the 1960s that was poisoning the food chain in American waters illuminating the dangerous overuse of chemicals and their effect on living organisms. In 1964, Carson noted: “Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.” We are not “us against nature.” We are a part of nature. We celebrate Earth Day to recognize that we can not only destroy our natural world, but we can also protect our natural world.

Here is our schedule for April 29-May 3:

Monday, April 29: Drop-In Knitting 10 a.m.-noon; Inner Peace 1-2 p.m.

Tuesday, April 20: Mah Jongg 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; QiGong 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 1: Love to Dance 10:30-11:30 a.m.; Cribbage 12:30-2 p.m.

Thursday, May 2: Mexican Train Dominoes 10 a.m.-noon; Mah Jongg 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Friday, May 3: Scrabble and Rummikub Noon-2 p.m.

Puzzles, coffee, tea, goodies, and good camaraderie are always available all week long. Please save us from eating too many goodies ourselves by coming in and sharing our snacks. And we always welcome new faces and fresh ideas!