The Pasadena Village. A community of seniors supporting each other as they age in their own homes

The Pasadena Village is a creative community of senior adults who support each other in living independently and aging together with grace and dignity. Members of the village find acceptance, friendships, and opportunities to learn and participate in activities of interest to them. These activities provide joy and combat the isolation that can come with aging.

The Village's Affinity Groups offer one way to accomplish just that. Any member who finds a shared interest among other Villagers can start an Affinity Group and plan their own meetings and activities. All Affinity groups are open to all Village members.

A new Affinity Group called “Cultural Explorations Group” (CEG) grew out of the interest of some members in learning about other cultures. This group started when a new member Prakash Shrivastava found that Toni Cavanaugh Johnson, like him, had also lived in Italy in the early sixties, and shared a common interest in other cultures. Rather than reading long books, they decided to form a group to focus on easily accessible articles, poems, films, documentaries, and short stories from other countries. As an extra attraction, their CEG meetings include potluck items of food from the cultures being studied.

At one recent event, the group watched the Italian film entitled “The Big Night” and dined on Italian food. Other meetings have featured short stories by Chekhov and Toni Morrison, a short film called “Baraka”, and a poem by Madeleine L’Engle. Particpating members have found these discussions interesting, even challenging and mind expanding. Sally Asmundson, a regular attendee says, "I’ve always loved talking about new ideas, history, art, philosophy, books, movies. The CEG has been stimulating, informative and fun”. Another participant Dick Myers said, “This is a very interesting group, it introduces topics that I would not otherwise likely to be aware”.

The Cultural Explorations affinity group meets on the fourth Thursday of each month from 6 pm to 8 pm in the home of one of its members. The host selects the topic and leads the discussion. The meeting usually consists of 10 to 12 participants.

If learning about other cultures with a small group of friendly fellow Villagers appeals to you, give the Cultural Explorations Affinity Group a try. Keep in mind that this group is open to Village members only, and that space at the meetings is limited, so it is best to sign up early via the Village's event calendar.

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