As Featured fridays in the Sedona red rock news

Friday, May 15, 2026

By Jan Marc Quisumbing

Programs Administrator

The late R& B singer Aaliyah’s (born Aaliyah Dana Haughton (1979-2001) debut studio album was titled “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” Released in 1994, it not only launched her career but introduced a “street but sweet” aesthetic, redefining teen stardom and established Aaliyah as an “old soul” artist with matured poise.

This coming February I will turn 48 years old. It just sounds weird to me, to say it out loud. I will be 48. What does that make me? Members of the commentariat would say that I am now considered ‘middle-aged’. Middle-aged being defined loosely as the ages of 45-64. Does this imply that my best years are behind me? I don’t think I’ve changed much but as they say “age ain’t nothing but a number.”

Every day at Sedona Community Center I meet many seniors that prove day in and day out that ‘age ain’t nothing but a number’. On Mondays and Fridays, they’re here at 8:30AM sharp for our tai chi class taught by our instructor Blaine Harris. Tai chi offers relaxation, focusing on balance, centering, and calmness. And in today’s hustle and bustle of life, I know I’m not alone in thinking we could all use a little bit of centering, and calmness. With its slow and flowing movements, no harsh straining is involved. The goal of tai chi is to improve physical strength, flexibility, and especially lower fall risks to seniors, really, for anyone.

“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” If you’re of a certain generation, you’ve heard that phrase uttered in jest or in urgency. And as time goes on, how people react to someone falling can tell you a lot about how old they think you are. If you fall in your 20s, your friends point and laugh at you. If you fall in your mid-40s, boy scouts will magically appear to ask “Sir, are you ok?” 

We all know you don’t have to be elderly to have a fall, but it is more common in older adults than any other age group. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1 out of 4 Americans aged 65 or older fall each year. The cost of treating injuries caused by falls is projected to increase to over $100 billion by 2030. Most falls result in over 3 million injuries treated in emergency rooms annually, and over 800,000 hospitalizations. CDC also notes that people with mild hearing loss are nearly 3 times as likely to fall, the greater the hearing loss, the greater the chances of falls due to an imbalance in the ears.

Now that I’ve completely ruined your morning cup of coffee with this dour news, what can be done to prevent you or a loved one from falling and not getting up? Exercise is the most effective way to decrease falls in adults aged 65 and older who live independently and is especially effective in those 75 and older. Ask your healthcare provider to do a “falls risk assessment” with you and reduce your risk of breaking bones in fall. They will ask you if you’ve fallen, the details and whether your home environment contributed to the fall. They should also evaluate how well you walk and move around along with balance or other walking-related issues. Falling is not the inevitable result of aging. Through normal lifestyle adjustments, falls prevention programs and clinical community partnerships, the number of falls among seniors can be reduced substantially.

There are simple adjustments that one can do to help prevent falls like using a cane or walker or other assisted walking device. A trip to the hardware store to get rug tape to make sure area rugs don’t move thus preventing a potential trip hazard. Search your inner “Marie Kondo” and remove any clutter and improve the lighting in certain areas, get nightlights that are light sensitive and turn on when it’s dark. Install railings to assist in walking up and down the hallway, giving that extra sense of security.

It’s food for thought. And speaking of food, we won’t have Congregate Lunch today, May 15. We’re doing some much needed upgrades in our kitchen. Meals on Wheels is still a go, and we look forward to seeing everyone at Congregate on Monday! The Sedona Community Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its mission is to contribute to the health and well-being of the Seniors in the Greater Sedona area, and the Village of Oak Creek. The Sedona Community Center is located at 2615 Melody Lane, in the heart of the West Sedona. Visit sccsedona.org or call 928-282-2834 for more information. 

Friday, May 8, 2026

By Jan Marc Quisumbing

Programs Administrator

Director Peter Jackson released the theatrical version of The Return of the King in 2003. It’s part of the now famous, Oscar-winning, blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy based on the books written by British author J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). Over the past 23 years, one phrase has entered the zeitgeist of pop culture from Return of The King: "The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!” spoken by Aragorn, played masterfully by Viggo Mortensen, one of the central protagonists of the series. “And Rohan will answer.” replies King Theodon, dramatically spoken by the late Bernard Hill. That phrase, a call to action, has become a rallying cry for help against insurmountable odds.

Monday to Friday, from this humble building at 2615 Melody Lane, 7 dedicated drivers arrive by 10:30am and leave just as quickly within 30 minutes to help deliver freshly prepared lunches to on average 95 seniors in Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. These dedicated volunteers are part of a rotating group of about 55 drivers, whose selfless acts of service, are the familiar faces that bring joy and human connection to our clients. 

During the daily congregate lunch (Monday through Friday), our dining room volunteers help serve delicious meals to our guests but also help with the set up and takedown of the room. On average, depending on what the volunteer role is, whether driving for or serving meals, Sedona Community Center asks no more than a 2-to-3-hour commitment each day that they come in. But our volunteers are people too. They get sick, have doctor appointments, travel out of town to see family and friends, and have normal lives, just like everyone else. 

When this happens unfortunately, especially with our home delivered meals program, we may not be able to fulfill our goal of serving our seniors. It’s something we hate to do, not being able to take care of them, to be the familiar face they see. This is why, especially in these uncertain times, volunteering and giving selflessly to those who cannot help themselves through no fault of their own, truly matters.

Volunteerism is a great way to give back to your community for a variety of reasons, most notably that it’s great for your physical and mental well-being by reducing stress and giving one purpose in their day to day where there was none. Do you know a mature teenager who can’t get a job just yet but wants to build work experience? Bring them by, and we can see if maybe they can be a volunteer server during Congregate Lunch. Our seasoned volunteers are happy to show new volunteers the meal routes or the ins and outs of serving lunch. 

Volunteering provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment, particularly for older adults, by giving time to meaningful causes. It helps build new skills and refine existing ones, offering, for example, a way to try out new career fields or gain experience. Wanting to add to an existing or growing skillset? Volunteer! The support you can give is worth more than all the diamonds found in the dwarven mines of Dwarrowdelf in Middle-Earth! At Sedona Community Center, we light the beacons and call on you, dear readers to answer.

The Sedona Community Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its mission is to contribute to the health and well-being of the Seniors in the Greater Sedona area, and the Village of Oak Creek. SCC is reaching out to individuals and local businesses for sponsorship opportunities to be able to start showing movies beginning in the month of June through the end of the year. The Sedona Community Center is located at 2615 Melody Lane, in the heart of the West Sedona. Visit sccsedona.org or call 928-282-2834 for more information. 

Friday, May 1, 2026

By Jan Marc Quisumbing

Programs Administrator

When Harry Met Sally, released on July 21st in the summer of 1989 is the quintessential romantic comedy. The film was directed by the late Rob Reiner, starring comedian Bily Crystal and actor Meg Ryan. Heavy on witty dialogue, When Harry Met Sally is a film that begs to answer the age-old question can men and women every truly just be platonic friends. But we can ALL agree, the movie is most well-known for the iconic line spoken by a lady seated at the booth near them, played by Estelle Reiner, the director’s mother, observing Sally at Manhattan’s famous Kat’z Deli “I’ll have what she’s having.” 

Every day, from noon to 1pm, Monday to Friday, guests of the Sedona Community Center enjoy one of the best kept secrets in town, the Center’s daily Congregate Lunch. Though it’s only been less than two weeks of my taking on the role as the Center’s Programs Administrator, I can tell you that one of the things I look forward to, on top of getting to know the many new and familiar faces who visit the Sedona Community Center, is the daily lunch. 

The Center’s head chef, Paul Johnston, and his staff, do an amazing job of prepping and cooking each meal during the week. The lunch served in-house is the same lunch that’s prepared every morning, like a well-oiled machine for participants in the Center’s Home Delivered Meals program. A stalwart team of over 35 volunteers a week and on-call drivers are in by 10:30AM and out the door no later than 11am to deliver delicious meals to approximately 100 Sedona and Village of Oak Creek seniors by 7 drivers a day, 5 days a week, rain or shine. But yes, it takes a village and we can always use more volunteers whether it is delivering meals or helping to serve lunch! Stop in, or give us a call and speak with Kristen Paduchowski, Meals Coordinator, to find out how you can make a difference!

Last Thursday, the 23rd, was a busy day for me, learning all the ins and outs of my position, and amidst a flurry of back-and-forth emails with other local organizations, being able to enjoy a delicious lunch of pepper steak, French fries, and mixed vegetables with fruit for dessert was a welcome respite to an otherwise eventful day. The daily lunches prepared and served at the Center adhere to the Older Americans Act (OAA) Nutrition Program. The program was created in 1972 and provides nutritious, safe meals to seniors (60+) to support health and independence through congregate and home-delivered services. Meals must follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, offer 33.3% of Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) per meal, and adhere to local food safety laws.

If I have done my job and whetted your appetite, visit sccsedona.org and click the SCC Meal Programs tab to view the current month’s menu. We would love it if you would join us for lunch and bring a friend too while you’re at it! If you are over aged 60 it is a $7 contribution and only a $10 cost for everyone else! If you are a local business or organization why not consider having us cater your next meeting! Eating together as a community is vital for improving mental, social, and physical health by fostering social bonds, reducing stress, and promoting better nutrition. Regularly sharing meals lowers rates of anxiety and depression, improves academic performance in children, and encourages healthier eating habits. It is simply good for the soul.

Thank you to all our regulars who come in for congregate lunch. I am enjoying getting to know many new, and once again familiar faces. To our guests who receive our daily meal delivery, we hope our dedicated volunteer drivers brighten your day as much as you brighten theirs. 

The Sedona Community Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its mission is to contribute to the health and well-being of the Seniors in the Greater Sedona area, and the Village of Oak Creek. The Sedona Community Center is located at 2615 Melody Lane, in the heart of the West Sedona. Visit sccsedona.org or call 928-282-2834 for more information. 

Friday, April 24, 2026

By Jan Marc Quisumbing

Programs Administrator

Greetings Sedona Red Rock News readers, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Jan Marc Quisumbing, and I am the new Programs Administrator for the Sedona Community Center. As the old saying goes, “Fancy meeting you here!” I’m glad to be joining an organization with a rich history of service to the senior community of this wonderful town I’ve called home for the last twelve years. The Sedona Community Center — officially known as the Adult Community Center of Sedona — has been a cornerstone of care and connection for more than 40 years.

“But Jan Marc, I’m not a senior. Why should this matter to me?” It matters quite a lot. Everyone should have and find their community. To find their “third space”. A "third space" is a social environment separate from the two primary environments of home ("first space") and work/school ("second space"). Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989, these are neutral, accessible, and welcoming places that foster community, comfort, and informal conversation. That is why Sedona Community Center exists, to be, for an oft underserved, and overlooked community, a place to gather, form deep connections, and friendship. And on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9AM, “Wiggle and Giggle”. 

If you didn’t know, the “Wiggle and Giggle” class at Sedona Community Center includes aerobic dance, balance, toning, stretching and laughter.  It’s a support group for attendees to congregate and share health tips.  Exercise chairs are available for those who wish to chair dance. Fun for all ages.  Come for a fun filled, laughing, healthy, social hour. Yes, there is a fee to attend the class but it’s very nominal, only $5. Funds raised from classes help pay for instructors and help fund the day-to-day operations at Sedona Community Center.

Looking for an event space to hold a meeting, or celebration? Let Sedona Community Center be your go-to venue for such things! I’m happy to give a tour of the Center’s available spaces. The Tudor Room is a carpeted room great for conferences, smaller meetings, and workshops. It can be set up conference style, classroom style or whatever meets your needs. Tudor Room technology includes a large screen smart television for presentations with Zoom capabilities. All you need is a laptop with an HDMI or USB port to run a presentation. Our staff handles the set up and the takedown of the room.

The Flynn Room at Sedona Community Center is the center’s biggest room, boasting plenty of light, and hard wood floors. Our daily and delicious congregate lunch is served here. A great room to have a reception or event in with table seating up to 42 guests with theater style seating up to 60. Catering is available and is always buffet style. The Flynn Room is even wired with a smart television with Zoom conferencing capabilities just like the Tudor room.

Rental income garnered from the Flynn and Tudor Rooms go directly back to help fund Sedona Community Center’s home delivered meals program, similar to “Meals On Wheels”. The Meals On Wheels Program, began in Great Britain during World War 2 to help those who lost their homes during the Blitz. It crossed the Atlantic and started in Philadelphia in 1952. In the mid-1980s Sedona resident Margaret Flynn recognized a simple but powerful need: ensuring that Sedona’s seniors had access to healthy, home-cooked meals.

With determination and heart, she launched a small meal preparation and delivery effort under the “Meals on Wheels” program. The Sedona Community Center is a member of Meals On Wheels Amercia by the way. What started with just 23 seniors receiving nutritious meals soon grew into a thriving community service that continues to this day serving on average up to 100 seniors daily with over 55 volunteers assisting in meal serving, greeting, and delivering meals 5 days a week. Want to make a difference in the community, we’d love to have you join us as a volunteer!

The Sedona Community Center is not only here for seniors but also anyone temporarily limited by illness, surgery, or physical challenges. It’s a place where good food and good company come together — and where a caring community continues to look after its own. There is no community without YOU and supporting the Sedona Community Center whether by being a volunteer, attending the various programs offered, utilizing our rooms for your events, or in-kind donations help foster a community that deserves its respect and recognition.

I’m excited for this new opportunity to help give back to my community, and I hope you are too. Same book, new chapter. Let’s see where we’ll go next.

The Sedona Community Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its mission is to contribute to the health and well-being of the Seniors in the Greater Sedona area, and the Village of Oak Creek. The Sedona Community Center is located at 2615 Melody Lane, in the heart of the West Sedona. Visit sccsedona.org or call 928-282-2834 for more information. 

Friday, April17, 2026

By Kristen Paduchowski

April is a time in my life when I get antsy. I call it my flight month. For some reason, in April I tend to move, change jobs, or travel. Is it because it’s after the winter, or is it just because everything slowed down finally after the holidays? I don’t know, I’ve never been able to figure it out. Seven years ago, I packed up a U-Haul with what I had left of my belongings and made the trek with my best friend and her 13-year-old daughter across the country from New Hampshire to Arizona. That was the biggest move I had ever made. I have lived my life so far only in New Hampshire, it was terrifying, but I had all my family here, so that was comforting and the big reason why I moved.

Well, it’s April again and it’s time for me to make a move. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving my post here, just changing what I do. You see, after my dad passed, I felt a calling to help in a different way at the Center. After many long talks with people close to me, and many days thinking about how I could make a bigger difference, I chose to sit down with my boss and lay it all out. Through recollection of growing up and how my parents raised me to help people, my dad’s love of programs like Meals on Wheels, I had made the decision to oversee the Meals program here. It’s a perfect fit, really. As I mentioned, I moved here 7 years ago, and this July will be my 7th anniversary here. I know the volunteers, I know the clients, I love what I do, I can’t honestly imagine working anywhere else.

I’ve been in the role for almost 2 weeks and am happy to be busy with helping clients and volunteer drivers. The scheduling of 35 volunteers, the routing of 90+ clients, the steady craziness of anything that comes across my plate. I am going to continue with marketing as I truly enjoy that. I like being creative, I have worked on our Tax Credit campaign for 6 years, along with Al, and we seem to be making improvements every year. Also, ads for magazines, newspapers, etc. 

We will announce the replacement in the coming weeks, I think all of you will agree, the person we hired is a great fit! The new position will be called the Programs Administrator. They will be overseeing the volunteers, the events & rentals, the classes and instructors. Will also be taking care of the Congregate lunch program and social media as well as anything else they can think of! It will be nice to have new life and fresh eyes on how we can make the Center a better place for all who come. You may even see a column or 12 from them.

Yes, I am happy and settled in my new position. If you stop by, say hello, I’ll be up in the front office happy as a clam!

The Sedona Community Center is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization that relies a great deal on donations from people like you. In these challenging times, every dollar helps us to provide meals for the Meals on Wheels clients and congregate lunch. We deliver meals Monday through Friday in the Greater Sedona area. We also offer the congregate lunch Monday through Friday at Noon in the dining room. We do ask that you make a reservation for lunch by calling 928-282-2834 by 9:30 am on the day of, or anytime before. Visit our website sccsedona.org for more information on these programs, our monthly menu, and so much more.