Belgrade senior committee plans mailings, walks, movie calendar and summer activities to boost attendance

The Belgrade Senior Resource Committee voted Tuesday to step up outreach and program scheduling to reach residents who do not use social media or the town website.

Committee members said a two-mailing strategy — a spring/summer postcard and a fall/winter follow-up — will target older residents who have not been reached reliably online. "He thought it would be somewhere around 35 cents a person," a member said of a printer's early estimate for an oversized postcard, and committee volunteers said the printer indicated he might discount part of the print cost as an in-kind contribution.

The memo of planned programming front-loads recurring activities that organizers and participants value. Walking groups meet Mondays and Thursdays at 9 a.m., with weekday turnouts ranging from roughly 5 to 15 people; Fellowship Tuesdays runs 10 a.m.–noon and intentionally overlaps with a toddler program to foster intergenerational connections. The committee will post a fixed movie schedule in advance rather than announce films weekly, a change members said should improve attendance.

The group also confirmed several near-term and summer plans: a free six-week bereavement support group will run May 4–June 8, 5:30–7 p.m., at North Belgrade; water aerobics is scheduled to start July 13 at 10 a.m. with organizers exploring an evening option; and a previously planned botanical-garden bus trip was moved to Thursday, June 4, with the committee covering the entrance fee and the bus cost under the current budget through June 30.

Committee members discussed outreach mechanics: a calling-tree program to reach isolated seniors in winter months and staffing a table at a busy November town meeting as a one-stop opportunity to hand out resource packets. One member noted the high turnout potential, saying the town has "just under 3,000 registered voters," and recommended planning for heavy foot traffic.

The committee said it will coordinate postings on the town digital sign, the senior center's bulletin board, and its Facebook page — while recognizing limits on sign length and print size for older readers. Kristin, who is preparing the minutes and will coordinate artwork, said she will produce print-ready files and share editable versions with Mary for final conversion to a trifold.

The committee did not adopt new fees or formal policy changes; organizers said many adjustments are logistical and will proceed through routine volunteer coordination and scheduled events.