Let’s stay fit together! This is the campaign to keep older adults healthy with the East Lycoming YMCA. This weekend they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a rededication to the building that encompasses a pool, a senior center, and a physical therapy center through UPMC health. Several classes are targeted for seniors such as water aerobics, Drums Alive and Silver Sneakers. On Wednesdays a ‘Circuit Central’ is introduced at 9 a.m. followed by restorative yoga. With all of these choices, we don’t need to be sedentary. Even if you are recuperating from surgery such as knee or hip replacement, this is the place to come to for healing. Their LIVESTRONG program helps cancer survivors improve with strength and flexibility. Many have reported an increase in cardiovascular endurance. I, myself, participated in the blood pressure self-monitoring program through the ELYMCA and it helped me track my levels. I discovered I am on the borderline of hypertension and this program has helped me get a handle on this “silent killer” by looking at alternative ways to lower it. The program was very helpful with diet and nutrition and I got to use a monitor they provided to track my blood pressure readings for my medical providers. Now I can manage it better thanks to the help from the ELYMCA.

Now is the time to start thinking of foods and preservation techniques. I was glad to have attended a program at the Muncy Library on fermenting foods and will share this next week. I also attended a cooking class on making sauces at Orlando’s that was so much fun and informative. As we harvest our garden crops, these helpful techniques to prepare foods will hold us over the winter months. If you enjoy food, another cooking class at Penn College’s LeJeune Chef will be offered on September 8 on preparing sushi. Call them at 320-CHEF to learn more.

Pop-up dinners also are becoming very popular and some small local restaurants in the county such as the Sawhorse Cafe, the Peter Heroic House, Kathy’s Cafe and the Muncy Valley Inn have offered them. Another program for vegans has been in progress and they meet monthly at PMF industries to share recipes and documentaries on plant based foods.

Before the cold weather comes, you may want to go through shelves, drawers, closets, basement and attic and purge what you don’t need or use anymore. Technology alone has sent us to the recycling center several times as we get rid of old publications that now can be accessed online. Keep in mind that we now have a place in Hughesville. The American Rescue Workers have taken up space now in the Silk Mill Complex and will take donations. I got rid of some old movies, tapes, CD’s and DVDs recently. Our home office now has more space and over the weekend our kids saw it, and thought the room looks much bigger now since we removed some unnecessary shelving. Go wireless! Go cordless! Even the new blinds we bought for the kitchen are cordless and my new vacuum is cordless – much safer.

Muncy Events

Sat. Sept. 8 Come to 6th annual Pig Roast at Muncy American Legion pavilion, Muncy, 1-5. Proceeds benefit Sgt. John C. LaRose scholarship fund.

Mon. Sept. 10 Slime time at Muncy Public Library, ages 8 and up, 6:30 p.m.

Tues. Sept. 11 Friends of Muncy Library book fundraiser, 3-6 p.m.

Weds. Sept. 12 Preschool story time at Muncy Public Library, 10 a.m., ages 3-5.

Thurs. Sept. 13 Unwind and Design activity for adults at the Muncy Public Library, 6 p.m.

Thurs. Sept. 13 Senior Expo, Lycoming Valley Baptist Church, 4980 Lycoming Mall Drive,

Fri. Sept. 14 Community Blood Bank, the contracted supplier of blood to UPMC Susquehanna and is partnering with Muncy Valley Hospital Skilled Nursing and Rehab to host a blood drive. Donors are encouraged to stop in and will automatically be entered to win 2 tickets and a parking pass to the PSU vs Ohio State game on Saturday, September 29. Noon to 4, 215 E. Water Street in activity room of the skilled nursing center in Muncy. Crime prevention seminar at 10:30 a.m.

Sat. Sept. 15 Corvettes on Main Street in Muncy and Artists In Our Backyard event, 10-3.