Around Town: Life lessons for seniors Around Town: Life lessons for seniors (March 30, 2005)

Many of the necessities of life in the modern world -- cardiac health, personal budgets, and e-mail -- will be discussed at upcoming forums held at the Little House Activity Center in Menlo Park.

Free and open to the public, the forums will take place at 11 a.m. on four Wednesdays in April. They are: "How to budget and live on a retirement income" on April 6, "Six steps to a healthy heart" on April 13, "Welcome to retirement" (led by a financial adviser) on April 20, and "Feeling out of touch because you don't use e-mail?" on April 27.

Little House is located at 800 Middle Ave. For more information, call 326-2025.
Talk on living a Christian life

"Living a Christian Life" is the topic of a talk in Menlo Park on Saturday, April 2, by the Rev. L. William Countryman, a professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley.

The talk, free and open to the public, starts at 10 a.m. in the Great Hall of St. Bede's Episcopal Church, 2650 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park.

"We will launch a lively conversation about what Christianity has to teach us about living with integrity, courage and generosity in a world that seems increasingly dominated by blatant abuses of power, rising incivility, and winner-take-all mentalities," Dr. Countryman said.
Filoli history comes to life at library talk

The stories behind the elegant Filoli home and gardens in Woodside will come to life in a lecture and slide show at the Menlo Park Library on Saturday, April 2.

Menlo Park resident Robert Martin, who conducts Filoli's docent training program, will speak at 11 a.m. about the creation of the 654-acre estate and the families to which it was home during much of the last century.

The event is free and open to the public, with free van service to the talk available for Menlo Park seniors and people with disabilities. For more information, call 330-2512 or contact outreach librarian Roberta Roth at roth@plsinfo.org.

The library also holds other free programs for children and adults. Information is available at menloparklibrary.org.
Art festival flowers on the avenue

Under the trees and awnings of Santa Cruz Avenue, photography, paintings, ceramics, sculptures, jewelry, collages and other artwork will proliferate from Friday, April 1, through Sunday, April 3.

Menlo Park's annual Sidewalk Fine Arts Festival, in its 23rd year, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day with free admission. About 100 artists are expected to display and sell their work, organizers said.

One of the local artists is Stephen Osborn of Atherton, who will show his watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings. "I'm very intrigued by the natural beauty of abstract patterns in nature and landscape," he said. "I twist and push and pull them just for the fun of it."

For more information, call the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce at 325-2818 or go to pacificfinearts.com.

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