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The Sedona Shuffle
I’ve spoken before in this column about our national Community for All Ages grant and the local work it has inspired called Project VOICE. Communities for All Ages have at their core the tenets of inter-agency, intra-stakeholder collaboration and the importance of viewing social change through an intergenerational lens.
Since I last reported, we have moved confidently toward the Implementation Phase of the program which begins in earnest this fall. We have identified seven projects which will all uniquely express the CFAA philosophy.
Each project was screened against relevant criteria for viable work. That criteria can be summarized as follows:
· Does the issue have sufficient span across generations, cultural and ethnic groups, and community interest groups?
· Does the issue have sufficient sustainability, being visible as a model CFAA project, doable within financial and other constraints, supportable across the community, and build upon existing capabilities that will grow through and beyond the grant timeframe?
· Will the issue be a productive use of community resources, with its unique culture and current needs, empowering those involved in its implementation, and seen as non-divisive and not redundant?
During the next few weeks, I will devote one column to each project. I begin today with a discussion of what we are calling The Sedona Shuffle.
The Sedona Shuffle is gloriously simple in concept – build community through movement and fun. The execution is a little bit trickier!
To begin this process, the Sedona Community Center has been hosting a series of top-secret dance classes all summer that have introduced the project to various community factions (classrooms, houses of worship, home owners associations, business groups, government agencies). The Shuffle is based, for now, on the T-Mobile Dance. This international phenomenon is a pre-choreographed collage of music and dance that seemingly pops up spontaneously in public places without notice and then disappears.
The training and practice sessions will be ongoing throughout the year. Each time you participate, you are surrounded by brand new combinations of community members – old friends and new friends to be made. Live dance instructors as well as large screen projections of training tapes and global performances will lead each session. There is absolutely no cost involved on the part of the participants.
Part of the fun of this experience is the secret nature of the training and the performances. Once you accept one of our ‘off-the-radar’ invitations to learn the dance, you can attend and officially earn your status as a “Shuffler”. You will then be given a website address that will lead you to updated information regarding further practices and performances.
This dance can accommodate the abilities of all people, young or old, able-bodied or challenged. So far our oldest trained Shuffler is 90 and our youngest is 3. What a hoot! This fall we expect to train primary school children as well as offer classes at rehab centers and assisted living facilities.
I would be ruining the surprise if I go into any more detail about this particular project. Suffice it to say that the first “rollout” performance will take place in just five weeks. We are expecting over 100 Shufflers will be joining us for this, our first time going public.
And although this entire project is about laughter, movement and having fun, it’s also about connecting people and building community in a very real way. It’s a great way to kick off four years of Communities for All Ages implementation.
If you are interested in more information on this or our other projects, please go to www.ProjectVOICE.info
Health Expos
You're invited and the price is right! Put October 5th and 6th on your calendar for SCC’s first annual Health and Wellness Expo. Friday’s Expo runs from 1 until 5 pm. Saturday’s Expo is held from 10 until 3. Admission is free!
Our mission is to expand your health and wellness horizons by spotlighting a sampling of the many traditional, alternative and unique healing modalities and services available in our community.
The Sedona Community Center welcomes everyone to come and explore a smorgasbord of demonstrations, presentations and conversations which will encourage options for an improved quality of life for all community members.
Healthy refreshments will be available free-of-charge at the expo during all hours of operation. Raffle drawings for health-related gift certificates will be on-going throughout the event.
Flu shots will be available to all participants both days. There is no charge for folks with Medicare Part B that have no HMO. Injections are also free for those who display their Humana membership card. All others will be charged $25 for their influenza shots.
Pneumonia shots will also be offered. A cost of $40 will apply to all participants, regardless of insurance coverage.
Following is a sample of the care providers that will be participating in the Expo and their areas of expertise:
- Carolyn Martin, O.D. of the Southwestern Eye Center, Dr. Hutton of Sedona Hyperbarics & Wound Care and Dr. Galen Berry of the Northern AZ. Speech and Hearing Centerwill all be onsite.
- Both Home Instead Senior Care and Harmony Home Care will have booths and information regarding home care for seniors.
- Yavapai County Health Departmentwill provide information regarding tobacco cessation and women's health issues.
- Dr. William Brown, Lymphatic Massage, Dr. Harlan Sparer, Chiropractor and Via Vientewith Susan Edwards will be onsite for consultation. The Northern AZ. Massage Therapy Institute (NAMTI) will be represented as well.
- Also featured will be Choices Integrated Medical Group, Verde Valley Parish Nurse Coalition and Kachina Point Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
- The Sedona Police Departmentwill be on hand with home safety and traffic safety information. The Sedona Fire Department will provide education regarding fire safety. Spin the Wheel of Safety – EVERYONE wins on this wheel!
- Sedona Humane Society with help from Cody's Pet Emporium will be onsite with adoptable animals and pet information.
- Also participating will be Greenworks Nursery and Landscaping Company, Mountain Bike Heaven and the Rim Rock Natural Water Company.
While both days are devoted to community needs, Friday, October 5th will have offerings devoted especially to seniors. Saturday, the 6th, we will offer programs with the family and children in mind.
Friday we will feature musical entertainment in our backyard ramada. At 1 pm the ever-popular Paul Beem will help get toes tapping with his wonderful banjo musings. From 3 until 5 no other than Jim Buchanan will be entertaining the crowd with his signature keyboard arrangements and vocals.
On Saturday, we will enjoy performances by local favorite Kelly Cole. She will be performing interactive songs with the children in the crowd. Owner of the Verde Valley Music for Tots program, Cole exhibits not only rich musical talent but an authentic rapport with children of all ages.
Clowns will also be circulating on Saturday in our backyard area. Local favorites Gary DeLisle and Marilynn Henry are our featured jesters, but rumor has it that other local celebrities will be taking turns wearing the big feet and red, sponge noses.
Bring your family, a friend or neighbor, young or old – everyone is welcome. Come, mix, mingle, meet, greet, smile, laugh, have fun! Remember, its all free!
Digital Storytelling
If you have a story you want to share, you can use more than words: create a digital story! With your own images, with music and your own voice, make a short digital movie to share with your family, your friends, your community.
The Sedona Community Center offers this fall three digital storytelling workshops, facilitated by the educational non-profit organization Your StoryWorks.
Computer experience is helpful but not necessary at all. The facilitators, Maike Wessel and Ron Melmon, will guide participants every step of the process. All equipment will be provided. Storytellers only need to bring a written story, images, and music.
The yellowed photo of your Dad as a toddler, the lullaby your Granny used to sing for you, the seashell you found on a Greek island beach, the wrinkled napkin with the first love words from your sweetheart. Pull these precious memories out of the closet and use them to create a digital story.
Digital storytelling is a powerful medium for self-expression, combining the ancient tradition of oral storytelling with digital technologies. A digital story is a short movie created on the computer, using your own images and – most important – your own voice. It is narrated by you and written from your own perspective – this is what makes it so powerful.
The subject of the story can be anything. It can be a memory, or a dream, a challenge, or a victory. An insight, a lesson. Something that has been lost, or gained. Something tragic, funny, uplifting. A life-changing event, a journey, a short moment in life. Anything that can be told in up to 3 minutes.
Creating your digital story is a deeply enriching process. You will discover the storyteller within you and unlock and enjoy your creativity. You can share your personal journey and inspire others. You can pass on your family history; celebrate a beloved; keep your memories alive. Maybe you have a vision for the future. Through a digital story you can share the gift of yourself and connect with others, strengthening the bonds of family, friends and your community.
In the 3-day workshop, storytellers learn to develop their story into a compelling script of one and a half pages. They learn how to read the story and record it into the computer. They are shown how to scan their pictures or treasured objects, how to edit them and, with their narration and music, create a short movie that will be put onto a DVD to take home. It can be viewed at a computer, on TV, or even put on a website. The workshop ends with a festive premiere where the storytellers can invite family and friends to see everyone’s story on the big screen.
Your StoryWorks is a non-profit educational organization based in Sedona, providing digital storytelling workshops to individuals and groups. It was formed by Maike Wessel and Ron Melmon. Maike has a 15-year experience as a journalist, editor and voice-over talent. Ron has a 30-year experience as a successful entrepreneur with the reputation of ‘making things happen’. Both graduated with a Certificate in Digital Storytelling at Yavapai College and worked as facilitators in numerous digital storytelling workshops.
Community Fair
If you spent last Saturday at the airport, you know what a resounding success the first Sedona Community Fair was. Over 3,500 attendees from all over the Verde Valley made the pilgrimage to the mesa.
Visitors were treated to a variety of booths sponsored by local community organizations, a full schedule of entertainment, food from numerous restaurants, and a kids world of activities put on by ILX and Camp Soaring Eagle.
The Sedona Community Center had a booth at the fair where we sold beverages and candy. More importantly SCC handed out written materials regarding our social service programs, and had many informative conversations with neighbors and friends.
SCC also ran this year’s Dunk Tank at the Fair. This event was our primary fund generator– we made well over $200 for Meals on Wheels on the tank!
I need to thank all those who bravely stepped forward to sit atop that teetering plank that perched precariously atop the water. Thank you Ron Wheeler, Commander of the Sedona Police Department. And thanks to you, Brady Casson of the Sedona Fire District!
Also helping with the dunk tank were volunteers from the Sedona Charter Middle School. Our appreciation goes to Ellie Corcoran, Marley Corcoran, Darcy Henninger, Tyler Hook, Anna Johnson, Jackie Saucedo, Greg Shanks and Sabrina Sypniewski.
The fair was created and managed by Sedona Fair, Inc. which was formed by SCC's former president and current board member, Al Comello. "I think we have succeeded in creating a real festival which can become a part of the traditions of Sedona every fall," Comello said.
Veterans' Day Salute Celebration
Sedona TimeBank
Now I’d like to introduce another new project that Project VOICE will be implementing this fall. It’s an internationally tested and acclaimed concept called Time Banking.
Time Banking can be as simple as a group of moms getting together to share carpooling kids to activities. It can also include services such as Help at Home, Community Activities, Wellness, the Arts, Home Repair, Transportation, Companionship, Recreation, Education and Business Services. The kinds of services people share in a Time Bank depend entirely on what their community needs.
Time Banks provide an infrastructure for neighbors to get to know each other and an incentive system for neighbors to take care of each other. For every hour you spend doing something for someone in your community, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. It's that simple. Yet it also has profound effects. It turns strangers into extended family.
Time Banks exist to promote exchanges that honor five core values:
ASSETS: We are all assets. Every human being has something to contribute that is of value.
REDEFINING WORK: Some work is beyond price. Work has to be redefined to value whatever it takes to raise healthy children, build strong families, revitalize neighborhoods, make democracy work, advance social justice, make the planet sustainable. That kind of work needs to be honored, recorded and rewarded.
RECIPROCITY: Helping works better as a two-way street. The question “How can I help you?” needs to change so we ask “How can we help each other build the world we both will live in?
SOCIAL NETWORKS: We need each other. Networks are stronger than individuals. People helping each other reweave communities of support, strength and trust. Community is built upon sinking roots, building trust, creating networks. Special relationships are built on commitment.
RESPECT: Every human being matters. Respect underlies freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and everything we value. Respect supplies the heart and soul of democracy. When respect is denied to anyone, we all are injured.
"Building a strong, local community" is an essential ingredient in every prescription for achieving a sustainable world, but how do you build a strong local community? Time Banks have been working on this problem for over several decades and there are now over 300 communities in 22 countries that are using this “pay it forward” system to weave tighter communities.
Holiday Gingerbread Houses
Helping Unite Generations
The Light Heart Foundation and the Sedona Community Center have just begun an innovative pilot project that reflects the importance of connecting generations. We are calling it “VOICES of Project H.U.G.”
Ten students from West Sedona Elementary, ten students from Red Rock High School and senior citizens from area Rotary Clubs, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Sedona Community Center are the participants. We have formed into ten three-person teams, each consisting of a youth, a high school mentor and an elder.
The students were selected by their teachers for exemplifying curiosity, compassion and academic success. Our program shows our youth that they have the ability to give of themselves, and make a difference while learning how to maintain the things that are precious to us as human beings: respect, compassion, responsibility, integrity, and citizenship.
The seniors were picked as local examples of vibrant, successful aging. These are folks of vast life experience and the stories that accompany such lives. They are standard bearers that will share their quests for wisdom and all that has been gleaned from a richly textured life.
This project gives our seniors the opportunity to share their culture, knowledge, skills and values to the next generation while creating new positive and meaningful relationships.
Project H.U.G. (Helping Unite Generations) is about breaking through prejudices, making meaningful connections and encouraging intergenerational relationships. This will be done through structured conversation and facilitated dialogue as the students build interpersonal skills.
All students will complete a pre-evaluation questionnaire prior to the beginning of this project regarding their attitudes toward senior adults. Likewise, the seniors will self-evaluate their expectations of the youth. A post-analysis will be required of all participants that will shed light on the degree of evolution regarding pre-conceptions and perceptions.
The project will take place over the course of three months, encompassing eight meetings. The students will meet twice monthly to plan and design their conversations and craft their art and computer projects. The seniors will join their team for their informal ‘interviews’ once monthly.
Art and technology will be utilized by the students to lend creative expression to the evolving stories of seniors’ lives led. This will be done primarily through digital journaling and computerized scrapbooking.
The resulting ‘biographies’ will be archived and made available to the larger community through a variety of venues – in libraries, in classrooms, at the Community Center and on the internet.
It is important to remember that in times past, when there were villages made up of extended families, elders were considered the wise ones, the storytellers to the young so that the village’s history was not lost.
Our goal is to collect and preserve the wealth and richness of the lives lived by our Sedona seniors. Each of these stories is a treasure, and we are privileged to share in the wisdom gleaned and the lessons learned.
The power of storytelling and the honoring of our elders’ voices are at the very heart of this project.
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