Our Twins in the News

Good morning, everyone! We are so grateful for all the nice press about our big event on 11/14. Today, Milestones e-News opens with a generous article featuring none other than our very own twins! Below is an excerpt. Click Here to read the full article; Click Here to read Bernice's story "Black and White Grits". Want to hear the twins speak? You got it. Click Here for a short video.

And yes, as the article reveals, our event WILL be spontaneous and unscripted. Heehee, there's is a big surprise too. I can't say more… if you wanna know, you gotta come out. We'll ride the energy in the room and together make magic happen. Don't miss out, and DON'T BE LATE. You won't want to miss a single minute. 

Like others of their generation, the sisters have lived through momentous times, including the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights movement, and the election of the nation’s first black President.

Moore remembers going down South during the era of the Jim Crow laws, to visit her husband, then stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. “When the train got down to D.C., I had to change cars. They put on an extra car for ‘colored only,’” she says. 

A little white boy peeked through the curtain, Moore recently recounted about that incident. “He said to me, ‘What color are you?’ I told him ‘I’m red, white, and blue, the color of the flag.’”

Her story, “Black and White Grits,” based on that visit, is posted on ‘The Best Day of My Life’ blog.  ...

During the November 14 Senior Storytelling event, audience members will have the chance to meet and ask questions of the senior presenters. The free event, described by organizers as spontaneous and unscripted, is set for 2 to 3 p.m. at the Free Library of Philadelphia - Park Central Library (1901 Vine Street).

Who's Who

Getting ready to meet your fave storytellers on 11/14? By popular demand, here's a lil' preview of who's who.

Luis (Growing Up Optional)

Luis is one of our newer members in the class. It's been really nice getting to know him. He'd always refill his parking meter after class and stay later to chat with me about how class has gone that day. Luis writes about big, bold stuff. In the past few months, he’s shared about encounters with political figures he’s had and high-powered jobs he’s held. Last week, he wrote the story below - and check this out - before he started reading to the group, he placed a brown lunch bag in the middle of our table, saying that he had a little something in there to show us. Not until the end of his reading, did he open the bag to pull out two weighty cases. Guess what were in them? It’s the last thing you’d ever expect in a lunch bag: two Senior Olympic gold medals!! Oh yeah, you know our rowdy style - instantly our whole group started gasping and squealing.

Luis Fuentes
Growing Up Optional
October 21, 2010

“Growing Old, Mandatory. Growing Up, Optional.”  I love it.  This was the theme of the 2004 Pennsylvania Senior Games.  Every year the senior games are held in every state, and every two years they represent the qualifying finals for the National Senior Olympic Games.  In Pennsylvania, the games are held at the campus of Shippensburg University, and in New York, at the State University in Courtland. 

In order to qualify for the Senior Olympic games, one must medal in the top three in his or her state in the respective sport.  Starting at age fifty, and in five year increments, the various sports include track and field events, swimming events, tennis, basketball, triathlon, and cycling, just to name a few. If you were to ask me what my claim to fame is, I would have to answer, racquetball’s my game.  And, Senior Olympics is my name.  Since 1995 I have met and competed against an elite group of Senior athletes both nationally and internationally.

Over time, the participants and the sponsors have increased.  States bid for the Senior Olympic torch to be passed on to them.  The games have been held every two years in cities like San Antonio, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Howard Beach, Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky.  In Orlando, Disney World was our major sponsor, and the park was opened exclusively to six thousand seniors until 2am.  All restaurants stayed open, all food was free, and all amusement rides were compliments of Mickey Mouse. Talk about turning the clock back.  We stopped counting seconds and were like children in a goodie shop.

In 2009, twelve thousand Senior athletes were welcomed by Stanford University in the city of Palo Alto, along with their sponsors and the Public Broadcasting System.  Six million dollars dropped into their economy.  Palo Alto opened its city and its heart and made our two week stay a memorable one.  My doubles partner, Joseph Famellette, and I placed fourth in the nation.

The Senior Olympic torch already has been passed on during the closing ceremony in California and will be in Houston, Texas for the 2011 games.  And, yes, after winning two gold medals, Joe and I already have qualified in the Olympic trials and will participate in racquetball.

Finally, as we speak, hundreds of Senior athletes are gathering at the Huntsmen World Games, held every October in Salt Lake City.  Last year, fifteen nations participated.  That’s a journey that I’ve got to make.

Hazel (October Rewards)

Guess what I am training myself to do these days? Take a chill pill. I’m the kind of person who likes to give herself heart attacks every so often, and with our big 11/14 event coming up, those mini attacks are sneakin’ up on me! (Yeah, my friends laugh because I can’t even stay calm enough to last through one yoga session... embarrassing!) I really gotta learn a lesson or two from Hazel. I like this story not just for the beautiful colors that Hazel has painted, but also for her state of mind that it reveals. Peace. Maybe one day, I’ll get there ;)

Hazel Nurse
10/21/2010
October Rewards

The month of October still retains its fascination for me. Take a tip from me and test it like I did on a train to the seashore recently. From a window seat, trees still loaded with green leaves were decorated with splashes of yellow, orange, red and purple. This colorful panorama was eye-catching to say the least. However, little did I know, that this scene would be superseded by another. Under a baby blue sky from my boardwalk perch, the Atlantic took first prize. Stretches of sand bordered this  brilliant blue ocean with waves gently breaking on the shore. Reflections of the sun upon it conformed the expertise of a master artist who had thrown generous handfuls of sparkling diamonds upon it all the way to the horizon.

NOVEMBER 14 is almost here! Take 3 seconds to help us make this day extra special.

We hope you're just as excited as we are about 11/14... only three weeks until a storytelling event like no other! Oh yeah, we are ready to have a good time!

Our team has been working double-time to make this event a blast for our seniors and for you! And we'd love your help to fill every seat in the library with an excited and truly diverse crowd. We're asking all of our Best Day family and friends (that's you, too, readers!) to take three seconds to do three little things to help us rock the house on 11/14.

(1) "Like" our Facebook page by clicking Here

(2) "Attend" and "Share" our event with your Facebook friends by clicking Here (if you don't live in Philly, please still "share" since your friends may be here, or friends of their friends...you get the idea)

(3) Aren't on Facebook? Skip to item 3. Email the blurb below to all your friends (or call them up with the info!) and make sure they invite their friends too.

On Sunday November 14th, the multi-generational, multi-media organization, The Best Day of My Life (So Far) will host a large public event at Philadelphia's Central Library. Be ready to smile, laugh and even cry as our city’s seniors share personal stories on stage and on the big screen, and answer questions from the audience. Inspired by the friendship between a grandmother and a granddaughter, The Best Day of My Life (So Far) connects seniors with younger generations through diverse media, including writing classes, teen internships, leadership training programs, public events, videos and a popular blog. Support the project by following it via Facebook/ Twitter.

Check out the project website and view a short video at www.thebestdayofmylifesofar.com
For more event info, visit www.facebook.com/pages/The-Best-Day-of-My-Life-So-Far/188367173155?v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=130756660295408&index=1

This event is free and open to the public - and will be a blast, guaranteed!! Hope to see you there!

Beatrice, Hattie and Arthur (Another Amazing Week)

Trying to wrap my mind around what I like about this project once in a while: an impossible feat. I love it too much from the inside out. It's impossible to see it in aerial view. But here's something I like about the project, just one of many things: we don't just record memories, together we are making new ones too.  



(Click Here read more about our trip to WHYY TV and Radio Station and Here for our Facebook photo album.)

Beatrice Newkirk
10/14/2010
Our Trip to the TV and Radio Station

Our writing class went on a trip last week.  We had lots of fun.  We met and heard from lots of people.  We even had snacks.  They let us tour the station. We saw ourselves on TV.  We went on the mini bus.  Everyone talked and read their stories.  Some of the senior center staff, including Vicki and Jay, came with us.  We had a good time.  We liked seeing ourselves on the big screen.

Hattie Lee Ellerbe
10/14/2010
Our Trip to the TV and Radio Station       

We were the guests of TV and Radio Station WHYY last Thursday, 10/7/10.
Our tour guide was Ms. Willo Carey, who is an executive at the station. We engaged in an open, round table discussion on whatever subjects or thoughts that came to our mind.  It was a great afternoon.
I would like to thank Willo and our other hosts at WHYY for such a good time and the warmth with which we were welcomed.

Arthur Murray
10/14/2010
An Amazing Week       

When we toured WHYY TV and Radio station a week ago last Thursday, it was a great experience to be welcomed there.  Everyone was so exciting and pleasant. 

Also, I was so excited when Mrs. Benita Cooper and our volunteers Mr. Steve and Mr. Jonathan came to hear me sing karaoke at Fox and Hounds Sports Bar.  It was so uplifting to see them in support of me.  I felt so overwhelmed to see them there. 

It was a talent show.  Well, I did not win, but did the best I could.  I have two more weeks of tryouts before the grand finals.  Maybe by then I’ll have another chance to be in the finals.  I’m going to give it my best shot.

I need your prayers

P.S.  I love you