Monday Top Ten: Modesto’s Age With Movement Celebration

May is Older Americans Month, a national observance celebrating people of a certain age and highlighting their contributions to their communities and the country.

In Modesto, one of the highlights of the monthly observance is the annual Age With Movement Celebration, set for Friday, May 6, at East La Loma Park. The event, presented by the Healthy Aging Association, will feature a walking course, tai chi, entertainment, bingo, a pet parade, community booths and more. Also planned is a Mother’s Day tea with two seatings, 10 a.m. and noon.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event. In anticipation of the celebration, the Healthy Aging Association’s Kim Viviano, director of health and wellness, and Samantha Borba, fitness program coordinator and health educator, offer their list of the Top Ten things to know about Older Americans Month and the Age With Movement Celebration:

▪  1. In 1963, we began to acknowledge the contributions of older people by using the month of May to celebrate Older Americans Month (OAM). Led by the Administration for Community Living, the annual observance offers the opportunity to learn about, support and celebrate our nation’s older citizens.

▪  2. This year’s theme, “Blaze a Trail,” emphasizes the ways older adults are reinventing themselves through new work and new passions, engaging their communities and blazing a trail of positive impact on the lives of people of all ages.

▪  3. While the Healthy Aging Association, Stanislaus County Area Agency on Aging and the Stanislaus Senior Foundation provide a variety of programs to older adults year-round, we will use OAM 2016 to focus on how older adults in our community are leading and inspiring others, how we can support and learn from them, and how we might follow their examples to blaze trails of our own.

▪  4. Stanislaus County is joining in the national celebration of Older Americans Month 2016 with activities and events to promote aging with movement, independence and quality of life at the 10th annual Age With Movement Celebration.

▪  5. The Age With Movement Celebration (AWM) will be held on Friday, May 6, at East La Loma Park (2001 Edgebrook Drive, Modesto). The event is from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. and is free.

▪  6. The AWM celebration is a morning of fun, movement and feeling young at heart. There will be two different walk times, senior Zumba demonstrations, live entertainment, bingo, Mother’s Day tea, Funstrummers Ukulele Band of Modesto, a photo booth, tai chi, light refreshments, a dog parade and more than 40 community booths.

▪  7. The event is free to attend, however, with just a $25 registration donation, attendees can participate in all of the activities and receive an event T-shirt. The donation gets the participants an entry into the dog parade, a seat at the Mother’s Day tea where the Funstrummers Ukulele Band will be playing, and access to a round of bingo.

▪  8. You can register the day of the event. Registration is open at 7:30 a.m., followed by the welcome speech with Stanislaus County Supervisor Dick Monteith at 7:45 a.m. Shortly after we warm up for the first walk at 8 a.m.

▪  9. Additional parking will be available at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the corner of El Vista and Edgebrook. A Dale Commons shuttle bus will run throughout the event.

▪  10. It’s never too late to get more active physically or involved in your community. Come down to the Age With Movement Celebration and participate in the variety of activities and get the resources you need to stay active, vibrant and young at heart.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Monday Top Ten: Modesto’s Age With Movement Celebration."