February 12, 2009

No pain, no gain

Councilmember Nancy Pyle WOWWs Almaden seniors

By Shana McLean Moore
Staff Writer

The mall was alive with the sound of seniors on Feb. 11 as City Councilmember Nancy Pyle’s second annual WOWW, or Westfield Oakridge Winter Walk, and resource fair for seniors brought plenty of traffic and energy to the establishment before regular shopping hours began.

Pyle launched what she plans on being an annual event last year in an effort to reach out to the senior citizens of our community. “I always love getting together with our seniors. They are so appreciative of any efforts made on their behalf,” said Pyle. “This year, I am concerned that, because of our budget issues, many programs that target our seniors will be going away. We simply can’t let our seniors down. Today’s event is an invaluable way to have all the available resources on display in one place,” she added.

J.B. Schutte, general manager of Westfield Mall, is thrilled to assist Pyle by holding the event at Westfield Oakridge. “We have a strong, mutually supportive relationship with the city of San Jose. And on a personal level, I love working with Nancy and her staff,” Schutte said.

Marketing Director of Westfield Oakridge Jennifer Dacquisto agrees, “We are proud to be community partners and support people who routinely come here to walk. Today and every day, we provide them with a safe haven and an escape from the elements to support a healthy lifestyle.”

Alongside Pyle and her fellow council members representing Districts 2 and 8, Kaiser Permanente played an important role in the day’s events. Aubrie Aviña, who works in community and government relations, was on hand to discuss the resources Kaiser provides in preventive medicine.

“We have a fantastic Senior Advantage Program,” said Aviña. “Our goal today is to speak one-on-one with the seniors in our community to answer questions regarding nutrition and offer opportunities to stay active through exercise and volunteer work at the hospital,” she added.

The morning started off with a complimentary breakfast of Starbucks coffee, Jamba Juice smoothies and granola bars. In addition to activity stations run by Kaiser, there were also booths run by other local organizations such as Curves, Super Slow Zone and the South Valley YMCA. Prior to the walk, attendees were led through some light stretching exercises and then moved on to their first one-mile indoor lap around the mall.

Art Boudreault of Almaden Valley Community Association attended the event because he likes to support a cause that encourages people to improve their lives. “It gets people moving and on a path to staying healthy,” said Boudreault. “I’m thankful to the management of Westfield and the leadership from city council for putting the event together,” he continued.

Gordon Elliott attended the event after hearing about it from friends. “I came out for the free breakfast—hoping for bacon, eggs and chorizo,” he joked, “but ended up with yogurt and a honey oatmeal bar.” In addition to the healthy breakfast, Elliott was grateful for the information he received about local hiking trails.

Friends Kathy Price and Doris Martinez were motivated by the chance to have some fun while exercising. They were happy to discover that their blood pressure was in a healthy range and were appreciative of the opportunity for camaraderie and increased awareness about health and nutrition.

Almaden resident Susie Lee also came out to walk with friends, while also looking for available resources for a handful of housebound seniors she has taken under her wing. Lee, who helps elderly friends and family members, describes her assistance in the most practical way. “Everyone should volunteer. We all live here together and we will all need help at one time or another.”

As was evidenced by the smiling faces of individual contributors like Lee and the cheerful expressions on the faces of our city council members and representatives of the community-minded groups such as Westfield Shopping Center and Kaiser Permanente, coming together to promote wellness makes for not just healthy hearts, but happy ones, as well.