Walking Club

Every Tuesday, our intrepid walking club members explore the wilds of our own Ditmas Park neighborhood.

Halloween Costume Party

Ida Masino arrived looking lovely.

Our members can always be counted on to make the party fun! Some looked beautiful, some were funny, others very creative and one or two . . . weird.







Always cheerful staff member SoonJa Kim doing her own thing.

Bright Fall Events

The days may be getting shorter, but Dorchester has been getting brighter and brighter, with September's Red Day and October's Orange Day.

Color days at Dorchester

Dorchester offers a variety of fun activities that let you express your creativity to the fullest. We began this summer with a continued tradition at Dorchester. We choose a certain day to all dress in the same color. This July we chose the color to be yellow like the sizzling sun. To be honest we didn't think it would be this much of a success, but our members really enjoyed it. Most of our members participated and we had lots of fun. We even ran a contest for the most creative outfit. This August we chose the color blue like the bright summer sky. Once again, we ran a contest with prizes. It was a delightful experience to all our members and staff.


Winner of the Yellow Day Contest looking like a basset hound.

"Those Guys" at Dorchester.

On August 6th, 2010 Dorchester featured an amazing performance by a high school band,"Those Guys". This event was set up by our summer volunteers and our staff. This was a very enjoyable experience for all of our members. The band sang acoustically to a few modern songs, such as "After Tonight" by Justin Nozuka, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, and a few originals, "See the Light" and "Beat of the Drum." They say, music brings us together. Which is why our members decided to kick it with our open mic. Our very own Marty Zlott sang a couple of lovely songs. Our Senior Idol winner Rufus Stoute also decided to show off his skills, and was accompanied by Roman Drevinskiy on the piano. We had snacks and refreshments, and a bit of confetti to bring up the mood even more. Big thanks to "Those Guys" for performing at our center. We wish to have you again!'

Mt. Airy Casino in the Poconos

Happy to say that nobody lost their shirt at Mt. Airy Casino. In fact, some of us did rather well!!

SUNY Downstate RN Classes

It's important to know that people care. And people do. Our center provides the needed attention and care that everybody deserves. For the past three summers we've been working with SUNY Downstate RN classes to help educate our members about their health and how to stay healthy. We've got about 5 workshop days each summer and they've been a great success. The nurses come in to do several presentations such as the effects of smoking, fast food and lack of exercise. They also take everyone's blood pressure and discuss personal health problems with each individual who is interested. Don't worry about being shy, or scared to reveal your medical history to the world. We've got it covered. The consultations are done in private, one by one. Dorchester believes that this is an amazing opportunity to have a chat with a nurse, one on one. Not only can everyone benefit from such visits, they can also fulfill their curiosity about how to care for themselves, what food to eat, what to avoid. We're hoping to continue working with the wonderful staff and their RN students for many years to come.

2010 SUNY Downstate RN Class

You can always throw some fun into it!

Knitting and Crocheting Club

Our knitting and chrocheting instructors.

Cakes at Dorchester

Dorchester Center is not only a fun place to relax, but it is also a great place to eat. Oh, believe me on this one. Not only do we serve great homemade Kosher food, we also have Kosher cakes for all occasions! Birthdays, Anniversarys, Mother's Day, you name it! Our center pre-orders delicious cakes that look like works of art. Here are some of the cakes we previously had. We had to snap pictures fast, because everyone is always eager to taste them. Come to our center and you can get a slice too!

Summer Volunteers at Dorchester!

This summer 5 volunteers and 2 SYEP members joined our center. They are all teenage girls named Tiffany Chong, Scarlet Gonon, Sabina Vafeva, Viktoriya Tsoy, Nargiza Babaeva, Cheranne Clermont and Fiza Khan. They're here to improve our center and help you anytime. We work with them to re-organize closets, decorate our dining room and other arts and crafts projects to make this place more exciting. With them we came up with new ideas and new events for our senior members. Do you like shopping at a thift store? Well now, we have one of our own. The volunteers helped set up The Dorchester Shop that now sells donated clothes to our seniors. Speaking of which, our center is open for any clothing donations that you may have. We also came up with a list of upcoming events that the members seem to really look forward to. This includes another Senior Idol, Movie Days, Mix and Match days and other fun contests that let our members express themselves and win prizes. The girls are also here to help you. Need a glass of water? No problem. This is just to say that Dorchester is filled with friendly people and staff that are here to make your day more enjoyable. So what are you waiting for? Pay us a visit, its free.

Trips to Governor's Island

Last summer we filled a bus on two successive Fridays for trips to Governor's Island, which is reached via a short free ferry ride from lower Manhattan. Our members enjoyed exploring the island as well as the beautiful weather, and spectacular views of lower Manhattan. We were able to view the Statue of Liberty and enjoy a nice lunch. Governor's Island also offers free bicycle rentals on Fridays, so those who dare can give that a try. Seeing that our members enjoyed the trip, we decided to visit again this year.

Dorchester's Anniversary Party

Happy Birthday to our Senior Center! With all your help and support we just turned 37! We had our annual celebration of Dorchester's founding back in 1973. Yes, it has actually been 37 years. Our members just keep coming back, and we welcome them with open arms. To celebrate our anniversary we hosted a party. Dorchester invited our very friendly DJ Mario, who got just about everyone dancing. Even those who are normally very attached to their seat left it for a good dance or two. We had delicious food, great decorations and the members themselves created a wonderful atmosphere. That sure was a party to remember. With such great feedback, we're hoping to last 37 more years and 37 more after that, and so on. Dorchester hopes to continue working with you to be the place that you'll love to return to every day.

Arts and Crafts

Our center provides activities that everyone can enjoy. Our art loving future Picassos love the Arts and Crafts sessions, with our teacher Gitana. She is not called "The Creative Diva" for nothing, I tell you. She had our members make cards for all occasions, and even the least artistic of us created something we enjoyed. The technique she uses is very different. And it makes our members proud to make things that you will not see on any store shelf. Gitana also helped us to create paper and pen holders, boxes to hold your possesions and other wonderful hand-made crafts that members get to take home and share with their families. Believe me, once you see a finished product you'll think your eyes are fooling you. So, come on down and see for yourself. Gitana returns in September; we hope to see you then.



You can also visit Gitana's artist weblog at http://gitana-thecreativediva.blogspot.com/

Senior American Idol Contest

Did you ever want to show off your talents? Well our seniors sure did! The Dorchester Center hosted our first ever Senior American Idol Contest, and it was a big success. For this shy bunch, nine brave souls decided to entertain us. We came to the conclusion that with age, people start to lose hair or their eyesight or whatnot, but judging from our contest no one lost their singing abilities. They each sang acapella and everyone did a great job. We had two fair judges, and we promise there was no Simon Cowell or anyone that could come close to him. We also let the audience clap for the singer they loved most, and counted the applause as a third judge. The winner was our very own Rufus Stoute! But to us, everyone was a winner. We're hoping to host more similar contests, and we hope you join us for the next one.

Service Fraternity/Sorority Visitors

Our center is very community friendly. And our community gives back. A very kind service fraternity and sorority from Monroe and Hunter colleges visited our center and helped us clean out our closets. Although we do have a staff that takes care of everything- we're always in need of helping hands. These young ladies and gentlemen made lots of effort to make our center a better place. We appreciate that you guys took the time to help us out.

Winter Holidays at Dorchester

During winter behind the doors of Dorchester, there's nothing but warm smiles and holiday spirit. We choose to bring traditions together as we celebrate. Therefore, we prepare holiday lunch for our diverse cultures. This winter, we had a fantastic time during our Korean, Chinese and Hannukah meals. Prepared by our lunch staff and members, we enjoyed a variety of different foods such as the latkas (potatoes), Korean noodles and much more. Our holiday decorations added a touch of joy to our welcoming setting. This is why Dorchester is the warmest place to be on such cold days.