Last Chance: Preserving Our Stories

As a young girl, I can remember being a part of my local library district's Summer Reading Challenge program. I spent days in the air-conditioned branches escaping into the worlds authors took the time to create just for me. Sitting on the carpet listening to story time and author readings. And then to get rewarded with so many cool prizes for doing something that was kin to breathing was the cherry on top.

Fast-forward to when I became a teenage mom - and then an adult mom - summer days were spent as a family visiting the various library branches to participate in the different Summer Reading Challenge programs and offerings. The excitement on their faces when my children would earn a free ice-cream cone, or even a free admission to the local water park.

Eventually I, myself, was able to feel like a kid again when many library districts started including Summer Reading Challenges and programs for adults.

These are memories I hope to never forget. How many of you have these same types of memories that you hope to never forget? That you pray will forever take space in your brain? With last month (June) being "Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month", I'm reminded not to take the ability to remember these experiences for granted. I'm also reminded of the crucial role my Creative Aging work plays in the lives of so many older adults when it comes to memory and brain health.

Things truly have come full circle for me to now be an author and teaching artist on the Nevada Arts Council and Lifetime Arts, Inc. teaching artist rosters who will be part of the Creative Aging Older Adult Summer Reading Challenge Programs for Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

My vision has always been that it not be youth programs "or" older adult programs, but to be youth programs "and" older adult programs. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be both! We can still serve the youth without forgetting about - or completely throwing away - older adults.

My final Creative Aging older adult writing and storytelling session for the 55+ community will be:

July 31st (Thursday)

Clark County Library

1401 E. Flamingo Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89119

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

If in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, feel free to drop in for any or all of the following sessions that are FREE for you to attend (no registration required):

“The Traveler” Writing & Storytelling Workshop for the 55+ Community: Travel is wherever your mind takes you and memories await you!

We've enjoyed our past sessions and are hoping to do more in the future:

June 22 (This is a Sunday)

Sahara West Library Multi-Purpose Room (MPR)

2:00-3:30 p.m. Pacific

9600 W. Sahara Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89117

July 11th (Friday)

Centennial Hills Library

6711 N. Buffalo Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89131

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

July 17th (Thursday)

West Charleston Library Conference Room

6301 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146

5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

About "The Traveler" Creative Aging Writing & Storytelling Workshops

“Travel is wherever your mind takes you and memories await you!”

The best way to memorialize your travels through life is to write about them and/or talk about them. In this fun, interactive writing and storytelling workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to do both.

Join National Arts Council and Lifetime Arts award-winning teaching artist, Joylynn M. Ross, and your fellow Nevadans or drop-in visitors for 90 minutes of reliving and retelling a moment worth writing and talking about.

The focus and theme is a moment from one of your past travels. If you need help unearthing one of those experiences, don’t worry. There will be plenty of hands-on assistance and engaging prompts provided to you by your instructor and your peers. Because in this workshop, each participant is both the student and the teacher. No one will have to travel this writing and storytelling journey alone!

And keep in mind that traveling doesn't have to be in a plane, train, or automobile across the map. It can be a mind traveling experience to a make-believe world, or traveling from one side of town to another, to a local event or one far, far away. Again, travel is wherever your mind takes you . . . even if it's simply traveling back in time to recall a moment from your past.