Posts Tagged ‘Oak Park Arms’

The public is invited to an afternoon of movement-based learning with Brain Gym® with Aimee Edwards at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Brain Gym movements, exercises or activities refer to the original 26 Brain Gym movements, sometimes abbreviated as “The 26.” These activities recall the movements naturally done during the first years of life when one is learning to coordinate the eyes, ears, hands and whole body. There are four categories: midline, energy, deepening attitudes and lengthening.

The 26, along with a program for learning through movement, were developed by educator and reading specialist Paul E. Dennison and his wife and colleague, Gail E. Dennison.

For more than two decades, clients, teachers and students have reported the effectiveness of these simple activities. Although it’s not yet clear why these movements work so well, they often bring about dramatic improvements in areas such as:

•    concentration and focus
•    memory
•    academics: reading, writing, math, test taking
•    physical coordination
•    relationships
•    self-responsibility
•    organization skills
•    attitude

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Oak Park River Forest Garden Club of America presents “Garden Therapy,” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Club members will guide and assist participants in making beautiful floral arrangements with seasonal flowers and greens. The arrangements can be taken home.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, and reservations are required. For more information call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Monday Night Concert Series continues with pianist Jeremy Kahn at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kahn will perform some of the best songs of the 20th century. Referred to by Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich as “a rare and gifted pianist,” Kahn has played in jazz venues around the world and in pit orchestras for theatrical events such as “Wicked.” In addition, he has performed with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Joni Mitchell, Phil Woods, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Aretha Franklin.

After over a decade living in New York, this Chicago native now lives in Oak Park.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Oak Park Arms presents its popular series “You Be the Critic” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The 1996 film, “A Family Thing,” will be viewed and reviewed with radio announcer Dan Kane.

This drama was written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and directed by Richard Pearce. It stars Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Irma P. Hall and Michael Beach.

When the mother of a Scotch-Irish American Southerner, Earl Pilcher (Duvall), dies, she leaves behind a letter explaining how he is not her biological son but the son of a Black American maid who was raped by Earl’s (white) father and who died in childbirth.

The letter prompts Earl to visit his half-brother in Chicago, Raymond Murdoch (Jones). Ray blames the death their mother on Earl’s father and wants nothing to do with Earl when he shows up. As Earl is preparing to leave town his car is high jacked by street thugs, and he ends up in the hospital with nothing but Ray’s contact information in his pocket.

Ray, a veteran Chicago police officer, begrudgingly lets Earl recover in his home as the hospital is too crowded. It is there that Earl meets his Aunt T. (Hall), a loving and blind woman who eventually persuades the family to accept Earl and helps them all heal old wounds.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Taught by Roberta Kulik, the Oak Park Arms’ monthly tap dance workshop takes place at noon, Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kulik will teach 15 minutes of basic tap moves that can be done either sitting or standing. Tap shoes are welcome but not required. This type of dance is a left-brain/right-brain workout great for coordination, balance and memory.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Roberta Kulik will teach a Country and Western line dance workshop at 11 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Line dancing is performed in rows with all people facing either each other or in the same direction. All dancers, male and female, execute the same movements without physically touching one another. Each dance consists of a number of walls (a wall is the direction the dancers face at any given time) and has no regard for gender or partners.

This form of dance is similar to folk dancing and mostly performed to country western music. It has accompanied many popular music styles since the early 1970s, however, including pop, swing, rock and roll, disco, Latin and Jazz.

Kulik will teach user friendly steps and choreography for Country and Western line dancing.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Visitors are welcome at the next meeting of the Mills Investment Club at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. New members are always welcome to join or visit.

For more than 30 years the investment club has come together to learn how to follow economic trends and use that information to expand its portfolio. With guidance from club President Pat Koko, club members jointly purchase stocks and make decisions as a group.

The club provides a fun and easy way to learn about investing by combining camaraderie, education, buying power and confidence.

“Our year-to-date is 9.7 percent right now which puts us ahead of the Dow,” Koko said. “We’ve got a variety of stocks, and we’re doing really well.”

To make the best financial choices, a special presentation is given by a different group member each month. In addition, each member is in charge of following one stock throughout the month and presenting a report of the stock’s activity.

There are currently 15 club members. To formally join, attendance to at least three meetings is required, and the final decision is voted on by the group. However, anyone can attend as often as they like without becoming a member.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The public is invited to an afternoon of movement-based learning with Brain Gym® with Aimee Edwards at 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 31, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Brain Gym movements, exercises or activities refer to the original 26 Brain Gym movements, sometimes abbreviated as “The 26.” These activities recall the movements naturally done during the first years of life when one is learning to coordinate the eyes, ears, hands and whole body. There are four categories: midline, energy, deepening attitudes and lengthening.

The 26, along with a program for learning through movement, were developed by educator and reading specialist Paul E. Dennison and his wife and colleague, Gail E. Dennison.

For more than two decades, clients, teachers and students have reported the effectiveness of these simple activities. Although it’s not yet clear why these movements work so well, they often bring about dramatic improvements in areas such as:

•    concentration and focus
•    memory
•    academics: reading, writing, math, test taking
•    physical coordination
•    relationships
•    self-responsibility
•    organization skills
•    attitude

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Monday Night Concert Series continues with Steve Million at 7 p.m. Monday, July 29, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Million is a professional jazz pianist and composer. Jazz has been in his blood ever since he saw his first live performance at the age of seven. Million has since recorded three CDs featuring his writing, arranging and playing on Palmetto records: “Million to One,” “Thanks a Million,” and “Truth Is.”

Before settling in Chicago, Million lived in Kansas City and New York City. But he loves the city of Chicago, citing is as a place where one can balance making a living with being creative.

Today, in addition to performing, Million teaches jazz piano both privately and at the Merit School of Music in Chicago.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Teen Reader’s Theatre Troop from the Oak Park Public Library will perform at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 24, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kids from the Teen Reader’s Theatre group will present readings for residents and the public. Classic literature is adapted, and dramatic readings will be performed.

Through the group, the children deliver free performances for local community groups. This program is perfectly suited for teenagers who love books and acting and meets every Wednesday afternoon from June through July.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.