Election Day, November 8

Thank you to everyone who helped us honor Dr. Michael Ison at the October benefit for Skyline Village. It was a great success.

Gift for Dr. Ison inscribed: With Deep appreciation, Skyline Village Chicago

Artist: Terry O'Sullivan October 2022

On behalf of the entire Skyline Village Chicago community, the board thanks

Dr. Ison and congratulates him on his new position.

—Phyllis Mitzen, Sandy Herman, Evelyn Shaevel, Regan Burke, D. Clancy

Women’s Salon

Second Tuesday of Every Month, 3:30-5:00 PM

Don’t Fall in Love with Your Medicare Part D!

Medicare and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan Presentation

 and Skyline Village in partnership with the 

Center for Life and Learning at Fourth Presbyterian Church 

present

Information Session on Medicare and Medicare Part D

Monday, November 14

3:00-4:00PM

Fourth Presbyterian Church

126 E Chestnut, Chicago

Make sure you’re getting the most benefit from your Medicare prescription drug Plan or Part D. It changes every year. Counselors for the Illinois Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP) will be on hand to answer all your questions. You’ll be able to sign up for one-on-one sessions to get personalized counseling from a SHIP volunteer.

This is a free program but you must sign up.

Register HERE

Skyline Village Chicago and the National Council of Jewish Women Spotlight Series

present

Living Your Fullest Life:

Common Concerns as We Age

Every stage of life has its joys and challenges. What are those challenges we face in later adulthood—and how can we best prepare ourselves and others so that we can live our fullest life? Join us for a two-part series on Living Your Fullest Life to discuss challenges and options on Mondays, Dec. 5th and Dec. 12th at 7 pm on zoom. Please invite children, friends, grandparents, and parents, as well.

 Part 1, December 5th 

Plan While You Can: The Challenging Conversations about Aging

It's never too early to start the conversation on aging, whether it's with your parents, your adult children, your friends or a professional. How to start? We’ll look at questions to ask so our wishes are heard.

Our speaker, Debra D. Feldman, MSW, LCSW, CMC, and President of the Board of the Aging Life Care Association, is a clinical social worker and private geriatric care manager. 

Part 2, December 12^th

Should I stay or should I go? Where should I live?

As in all phases of life, this question is usually raised when a significant change occurs - but in old age, the question gets more complicated. Am I safe where I'm at? What can I afford? Do I have to leave my home or community? 

Phyllis Mitzen and Brad Winick will discuss practical issues to help people retain independence and remain in control of their lives as they age.

Brad Winick, is a consultant at Planning/Aging, whose work focuses on the intersection of planning and aging.

Phyllis Mitzen, AM, ACSW, President, Skyline Village Chicago and Consultant to HMPRG, Center for Long Term Care Reform.

Register here:

Music Music Music!

Skyline Village Chicago, Restored to Sanity Singers and Amada Senior Care

Annual Holiday Sing Along

Sunday December 18, 2022

5:00 PM

900 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago--Mezzanine

Masks welcome, not required

No Registration Required

All are Welcome! Bring your friends and families. Free and for the people.

Civic Orchestra of Chicago Free Concert

Monday, December 19 at 8:00 p.m.

Free tickets ($5 fee applies)

Tickets available December 5

Click below for tickets

Spiritual Awakenings

Rossen Milanov – Conductor

Works by Simon and Rachmaninov

Sergei Rachmaninov’s youthful First Symphony blends ravishing melodies and unique Romantic themes into four movements defined by superb orchestral balance, allowing the listener to follow every voice of its magnificent polyphony. Atlanta based composer Carlos Simon explores African American tradition in Tales: A Folklore Symphony, inspired by the many heroic characters found in the works of the creative duo Black Kirby.

Free Concert

Tuesday, December 20, 2022, 12:00 PM

Fourth Presbyterian Church

Michigan Avenue & Delaware, Chicago

Repertoire

Joy in the Morning, A Christmas Gloria (Navidad Gloriosa), Hava Nashira, A Midwinter Carol, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, Carol of the Bells, Ecce Novum, A Wreath of Carols

No Registration Required--Bring Friends and Family--All Are Welcome

Get an Anti-Carjacking Sticker

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says “Tracked Vehicle” stickers will help his department find stolen vehicles and may even deter carjackings. The Chicago area leads the nation in carjackings. Even as other types of violent crime have fallen in the last two decades, city data shows carjackings have risen, especially during the pandemic. But local carjacking arrest rates have fallen to their lowest levels in 20 years.

How it works: Owners of cars made after 2014 can register for the anti-carjacking stickers through the Cook County Sheriff's website.

•           Signing up requires filling out a consent form that allows the department to use data pulled from the vehicle manufacturer's tracking system if the car is reported stolen.

•           Registrants get two stickers for the front and back that indicate the car is authorized for tracking.

•           In the event of a theft, registrants can contact law enforcement to start tracking the car immediately, Dart says.

To all those who participated in Walk with a Future Doc this season, we want to extend our warmest THANK YOU!! We have really enjoyed getting to walk and get to know you all! 

Unfortunately, WWAFD is going to be taking a break in the winter to get organized for our next season. However, we know that even when the cold and snow comes, that doesn't mean we don't need to stay active! In collaboration with other walkers, we have put together the following list of ideas and resources to help you continue to get active this winter! 

Again, thank you for a great season and we look forward to seeing you next Spring. 

—Stephen & Lily 

Resources across Chicago: 

1.      At home chair yoga and other online classes: There are a series of free recorded sessions from the 19th Ward Alderman here: link. Many are titled “I’m Live with Loola.tv”. You can also find many more free videos on Youtube (youtube.com) by searching “senior chair yoga”. You can also search for other exercises classes you are interested in, for example try searching "home tai chi for beginners".

2.      Free fitness classes designed for people of all ability levels: Live a little outside of downtown? The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services offers free 45-minute fitness classes meant for people of all ability levels. They offer these classes twice a week at 30 locations around the city. You can find classes that are closest to you by going to this link. Or you can call 312.744.4016.

3.      Fall Equinox Yoga with CPD: The Chicago Parks District has also hosted a diverse series of yoga classes. You can find their YouTube Channel here. Or you can visit their wellbeing site here (and scroll to the bottom of the page).

4.      Free senior classes and other programming from CPD: The Chicago Parks District has a number of both virtual and in-person offerings, many of which are free for people ages 60 and up. This includes abs & core classes, aquatic classes, bowling leagues, and more.

Other ideas to get active: 

1.      Using the stairs to your advantage. Going up and down a few flights of stairs can be a great way to get some extra steps in - just make sure to know your limit - start with a few flights and slowly work your way up! Stairs can also be a wonderful way to stretch your body. Click here for a video on some simple stair stretches. There are also many stairs exercises online you can find on Youtube. Here is one example. 

2.      Standing up on the buses and subways. As you are able. It can be a great balance and core exercise! 

3.      Making a standing desk. Sitting less can be just as important as getting active! Have some old books around or maybe some boxes? You can easily convert your desk or work setup into a standing desk. Here is a quick tutorial from a physiotherapist on how to make a standing desk at home. 

4.      Using downtime to move around. Watching TV and waiting for the commercials to end? Waiting for food to heat up in the microwave? You can use that time to stand up, stretch, maybe march in place or take a lap around your house. 

Lilian (Lily) Bui

she/her/hers

MD/MPH candidate, Class of 2025

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

lilian.bui@northwestern.edu

Many of our friends are back to in-person as well as hybrid and

online classes and events.

Click into their newsletters and websites for information

• Forward Chicago Website
• Beth Finke MasterTeachers™: Website
• Center for Life and Learning 4th Presbyterian Church: Website
• Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease: website
• Rush Generations Center for Excellence in Aging:  Website
• Streeterville Organization for Active Residents: Website 
• AARP Chicago Newsletter

We would love to hear about your expeditions over the holiday season. Please include pictures with the words, and words with the pictures. Pictures should be large and words should be in an editable format. Please send them to judy.karlov@gmail.com by mid-December.

Travel Treasures Outside the Big Three By Beth Najberg

Over the past several years I have been lucky to travel a lot to large, medium and small cities. Let me tempt you to try some medium and smaller cities that I refer to as “outside the Big 3” (Chicago, San Francisco and New York City). My travel companion is a retired city planner who has insight into all of the cities. There is a feeling of pride in the people and places we’ve met.

We’ve stayed mostly in the downtown areas, enabling us to see how they have grown and evolved; walking opens vistas to see city histories via their architecture. Most of the cities have good public transportation, avoiding expensive car rentals and offering other ways to see the cities. I am an art museum aficionado and all the cities have good to excellent collections. The major donors’ names on entrance walls, as in Chicago, reflect the history of the cities’ industries.



As cities redefine themselves, they draw people in with excellent new restaurants at reasonable prices. Most have downtown housing, which spurs good local groceries, enabling us to have great food at the local groceries for breakfast and lunch. Downside of some downtowns is that it is sometimes hard to find shopping, even basics such as drug stores, some cities try to revitalize as entertainment centers.

Cleveland Rock and Roll Museum, designed by I.M. Pei, is excellent, not cheesy. Good food downtown. Population 383,331 (2020). Metro area about 2.04 million people.

Kansas City: Two good art museums. Missouri River influence still noticeable. Jazz and Negro baseball museums outstanding. Known for its BBQ, Bryant's Classic BBQ is worth exploring. Good feel for history. Population MO: 491,158 (2020) and KS: 153, 014. Combined: 2,192,035.

Topeka: Most of the city has moved west of the downtown area, near Washburn University. Population 125,819 (2020)

St. Paul: Fortunate to view the very active Mississippi River, which was fascinating. Saw the home of Hamm’s, the beer refreshing. Several good restaurants. Second to Minneapolis but still things to do.

Milwaukee: So much to do! Harley Museum to Milwaukee Art Museum. Good walking. Old 3rd Ward thriving. Population 592,649 (2020). Metro area 1,563,996.      

Grand Rapids: Felt prosperous, second largest city in Michigan. Art museum collection not very developed; it was not started until the 1960s. Great food. Population 199,417           

Baltimore: Public transportation between airport and downtown. Two great art museums. Southern influence noticeable in architecture and art collections. Downtown food difficult to find except at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) adjacent to Johns Hopkins.

My New Phone

By Sydney Feuctwanger



In September I bought an iPhone 14 ProMax. With this fabulous new phone, my photography went in a new direction. These pictures were taken in Streeterville and the Loop; they were edited on my new iPhone.

I Went to College

By Judy Karlov

I went to Northeastern University in Boston, not to matriculate, though that appears to me a perfect place to do so; instead, to visit my granddaughter Jamie, who is a sophomore majoring in International Business.

Jamie is truly having the time of her life; engaged in her studies, many friends, many athletic activities. The campus is wonderful, a large oasis of highly energetic green within a few blocks of the Boston Symphony, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, Newbury Street shopping and Copley Square.

As I walked into the gorgeous old library on Copley Square I saw a line, though I had no idea what for. I decided to join the line, which turned out to be many people with reservations for high tea. I was welcomed in, to sit at the bar and have low tea that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Copley Square is where Jamie will be working next semester, in marketing for the online furniture company Wayfair. Northeastern was the university that invented work/study, in 1898, and they are still ranked tops in it. I was pleased that she got their job offer, the one she wanted, while I was there; after sending out resumes, getting interviews and receiving several other offers.

To round out the trip I stayed with my favorite cousin, Barbara, who has lived in Boston for over 40 years. We had a great time catching up with each other, and I was pleased that she and Jamie got to know each other over two lunches - at her beautiful home and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Cafe.

Alas, in a less-than-perfect world, I found out on my return that I had Covid and, worse yet, had given it to Barbara as a house gift.

You will see in my pictures that Barbara and I have a strong family resemblance, while Jamie looks just like my daughter; also, that I was lucky enough to enjoy the height of the beautiful fall colors on campus as well as the lovely courtyard of the Gardner Museum.

Thank you to our Donors:

We are grateful to all of our members and donors for your on-going support.

Places to Sketch

By Anna Rappaport

One of my favorite places to sketch is the Chicago skyline looking north from the area behind the Shedd Aquarium.