Recent Events  

Newton at Home provides a variety of interesting programs and events for NAH members and their guests.  Recent programs have included: 

• Chamber music, jazz, folk, and popular music concerts this spring and summer at the Shalin Liu Opera House, the architecturally and acoustically superb performance site in Rockport.  NAH has organized the purchasing of tickets and transportation to seven concerts and members sharing meals at a local restaurants.
• A trip to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  Our members cheered on the home team as they defeated the Detroit Tigers. 
• Gardening events that brought members to docent-guided tours at the Arnold Arboretum, the Mount Auburn Cemetery and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society reservation at Elm Bank.  Members were able to view lilacs in bloom at the Arboretum, rare specimen trees at the cemetery, and beautifully-landscaped gardens at Elm Bank.
  

• Two museum trips to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem and the Danforth Museum in Framingham.   Each trip included a luncheon where members learned more about each other and compared notes about the exhibits.

• “Senior Day” at Suffolk Downs.  Members and volunteers enjoyed a delicious buffet luncheon while listening to a talk on the history of Suffolk Downs, how to read the program, and what parameters to use when placing a bet.  The education was informative, but lady luck only helped one member who won $4.10!!!
  

We are focusing on developing affinity groups this year.  The first group that we formed was a book club that we started in April.  The group meets once a month and is coordinated by a Newton at Home member.  Based on what we learned from a recent survey of members, the Programming and Events committee is developing plans for several more groups including gardening, art/drawing, political discussions, film viewing and discussion, and a dining club.  We will initiate these groups soon.

Earlier events included:

• A visit to Fruitlands Museum - Multiple museums (art, native American artifacts, Shaker documents) in a picturesque setting in Harvard, MA.  We focused on their exhibits of New England Impressionists Rediscovered and Witness to Global Conflict illustrating the life of US combat soldiers overseas.
  

• A NAH-sponsored a community event highlighting the innovative yet practical work being done at the AgeLab at MIT and how their research “translates technologies into practical solutions that improve people’s health and enable them to ‘do things’ throughout the lifespan.” 

• Two trips to the Museum of Fine Arts to view the magnificent Dale Chihuly glass exhibit: Through the Looking Glass and to visit the new Art of the Americas wing to see a significant collection American art, furniture, textiles, silver and other artifacts.
• At the Newton Free Library, a presentation co-sponsored by the Newton Senior Services Department and Newton at Home on a new book "Aging but Never Old; Realities, Myths, and Misrepresentations of the Anti-Aging Movement".
• A trip to the Jackson Homestead Museum to view Mapping a New Town 1714 - 1874 about the role and use of maps for survey and other purposes as Newton grew from a sleepy rural town in 1714 to the 'Garden City of the Commonwealth' in 1874.
• At All Newton Music School to hear the Con Brio Series presentation: “The Adventures of John Manjiro”, a narrated suite of piano pieces widely performed throughout the United States by poet Pat Callan and composer and pianist,Yoko Nakatan.
• Performances at the New Philharmonia Orchestra in Newton Centre and of The Nutcracker at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts (with a special invitation for grandchildren).