Event aims to help seniors build relationships

Congratulations to Kathy Bartz and Donna Tinker in Michigan. The two joined forces to offer seniors' speed dating and the events have been warmly welcomed by the community. Participants are also coached on keeping themselves safe and not sharing too much personal information with new friends. Companion Connections has a built in safety mechanism for participants that also ensures their safety as much as possible after their meeting with matches.
Keep up the good work!
MCauch
SageHealth Network
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Event aims to help seniors build relationships
By BARB PERT TEMPLETON

Finding new friends can be a challenge at any age and it seems for seniors, social opportunities can be ever more limited. Keeping that in mind, Kathy Bartz, vice president of sales and marketing at the Village of East Harbor, has planned a speed dating event.

"I give presentations in the community where I meet lots of seniors and there is a demand for programs where they can meet other people of the opposite sex," Bartz said. "We are providing this program because many seniors are reluctant to confront somebody on their own, so this should be comfortable and fun."

The first Speed Dating for Seniors event, for ages 62 and older, takes place Tuesday, March 23, with refreshments and sign-up at 1:30 p.m., followed by the meets at 2 p.m. The dating event will be followed by an hour of entertainment by Dusty Diamond Line Dancers. Seniors who wish to participate are asked to RSVP by March 19 to 725-6030. There will also be sign-ups at the door.

Stressing that this event is "absolutely open to the community," Bartz said seniors don't have to be residents at the Village of East Harbor and they won't be sitting through any presentations about the facility. In fact, the only information they will be asked for is their name, address and phone number; no other personal data is requested.

"This is just a totally fun and free event to give seniors a chance to meet new people," Bartz said.

To start the event, organizers will ring a bell and ask all the seniors to take seats in chairs provided around the room. Pairs of chairs facing each other will allow the men and women to sit and chat for three or four minutes before a bell rings and they move on.

"We give them some tips for sharing information with one another; maybe they should talk about where they grew up or went to school just to break the ice," Bartz said.

Once the bell rings, men in the room will remain seated as women move on to a new chair. The meets will go on until about 2:30 p.m., and then the live entertainment and dancing will begin.

"We thought adding the entertainment after the event would be nice so people could still meet and talk to each other for a little longer," Bartz said.

Planning the debut of speed dating at Village of East Harbor has been a lot easier for Bartz because she has help from another local senior center. Donna Tinker is the program coordinator at the Clinton Township Senior Adult Life Center and has hosted a number of successful senior speed dating events there during the last year.

"These are absolutely a success for us and really just a whole lot of fun," Tinker said. "In fact, we had one couple who met at our speed dating and now they are married."

Since the Clinton Township center offers a dinner dance once a month, they tied the speed dating to the same date about a half dozen times last year and got great turnouts.

"You don't have to be a resident of Clinton Township to join our center. Anyone from anywhere who's willing to drive can come in," Tinker said. "And our first speed dating event had 40 couples, which was way to big too handle, so the next ones we had we kept it to 20 couples."

By "couples" Tinker means signing up 20 men and 20 women, noting that sometimes getting that many men on board can be tough. She spread her advertising to local golf clubs and barber shops to try to ensure men would come out for the event.

"It is more challenging to get the men sometimes. I have to figure out where the men go and go there," Tinker laughed.

If on the day of the event some seniors who signed on don't show up, an overflow table is set-up to ensure even with odd numbers, everyone there gets to meet new people.

For those nervous to take on this new way of "dating," Tinker prints up a program that suggests good topics to talk about and also things people shouldn't share - like information about past relationships or ex-spouses.

Safety tips, for meeting a new friend beyond the senior center, are also offered with the standard ideas like make it a public venue at first and be careful how much personal data you reveal in the beginning.

Overall, the speed dating sessions at Clinton Township have been a lot of fun for everyone involved and Tinker will be planning another one this spring.

Bartz hopes to see the same thing at Village of East Harbor next week.

"This is basically a fun afternoon of dancing, refreshments and mingling with people," she said. "And socializing is a huge benefit for seniors, especially for those who live in their own homes who want to come in and meet new people."

Village of East Harbor is located at 33875 Kiely Drive in Chesterfield Township. The speed dating event will be at the main activity center. Reservations are required by March 19. Call 725-6030 or sign up at the door.

Original link: http://www.sourcenewspapers.com/articles/2010/03/10/news/doc4b97bfc8c97e3215382701.txt#blogcomments